Please help ASAP Travel after Olympics
 

We Are flying into Rome and spending a few days before going to Turin for the last 5 days of Olympics. We would like to spend another week to 10 days traveling. My husband has never been to Europe. I have been many times but never in the winter. I was thinking Prague and Cesky Krumlov but was hoping for other suggestions closer to Swiss or France border. We need to decide very soon so any suggestions greatly appreciated. Also in areas suggested ideas on centrally located moderate hotels. I love this site everyone is so helpful. Thanks in advance. Margie

margie,
-----------------
from Milan, you can take an hour train ride to either Lake Maggiore(Stresa) or Lake Como(Varenna) just to relax.

from Bergamo Airport about an hour away to the east of Milan (or about 45 min from Lake Como--Varenna), you can also hop on a Ryan Air flight(can't beat the cheap airfares) to major European cities. for example, you can fly to london, dublin, stockholm, or girona and back to rome--this might work out well especially if you have to catch your flight back home from rome.

----------------------

or....

take the train to venice for the last two days of Carnival of Venice 2006, which ends on Feb 28th, 2006. ( schedule: http://www.carnivalofvenice.com/even...orno=2006/2/27 )

from venice, you can take a train to innsbruck or salzburg (both cities are just beautiful during winter months)

---------------

or...

from Turin, take the train down to Monacco and French/Italian Riviera--this is another good way to explore small, quaint towns away from the tourists.

-----------

hope this helped. have a good trip!

I personally would go to Bergamo [Citta Alta]. A lot would be closed down at the Lakes at that time of year.
Bergamo has great museums and restaurants. Il Gourmet is a nice little reasonably priced hotel there.

Further afield I would consider the northern and central parts of Switzerland, eg Bern and Bernese Oberland. Bern has covered arcades and good museums. On a Swiss Pass you can also stay warm by riding trains: the scenery is magnificent and most of the mainlines are open throughout the winter. As the Swiss Pass also covers boats and buses you need to be aware that some mountain passes are closed to road traffic in winter, and some of the boats have only limited runs, eg on Lake Luzern.

If you want to go into France I can recommend the train trip from Geneva to Lyon.

I would avoid coastal places like the Riviera at that time of year.

Have a great time at the Winter Olympics: to me they are the ones to see - and I'm also from Oz!

To Mo Mo & Sue Lynne: Thank you so very much for your input. Actually we will be fling out of Milan on our return to San Francisco. What are your thoughts on getting to Germany? I visited Baden Baden and thought very beautiful. Is it difficult from Milan? Also thought of Swiss border FRom Turin. Many years ago went up the Zugspitz ( possibly incorrect spelling). Any help with Central hotels greatly appreciated or especially your input as previously stated I've never been to Europe in the winter. Thanks in advance. Margie

margie,

hmm...i'm afraid that if you stay in the alps, you might get tired of seeing mountains after the winter olympics...

baden baden in winter might not be too interesting since the town is mostly famous for spa and casino--unless that is the reason why you want to go there.

from milan to baden baden, it takes about 6.5 hrs to 8 hrs via train with one connection (there is a night train; however, you might not be sleep well since there is a connection.). to get rail information from/to italy, go to this web site:
http://www.trenitalia.it/en/index2.html

this is another great tool to figure out the eurail routes:
http://downloads.raileurope.com/map_...itzerland.html

if you want to visit switzerland, the glacier express is a great way to cover the most scenic area. (http://www.glacierexpress.ch/en/1glac_1.html) in swiss, you may want to visit bern and lucerne.

once you decide on your route, i can help you with the lodging

To Mo Mo: You have been so helpful. My friends have decided to stay in Italy. We are going to spend a few nights in Milan and then 3 nights in Venice. Do you have any ideas for B& B or hotels centrally located around 135 Euro's. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Margie

try to stop in vicenza for at least a night on way to venice. It is such a concentrated town, full of palaces and amazing architecture and plazas. very walkable. fun restaurants, too.
we loved it.

we stayed at the boscolo hotel which was very nice. you can get good rates there sometimes.

try www.gtahotels.com, www.venere.com or expedia, or www.sidestep.com.

and to find other hotels do a search here for venice hotels and you will get a lot of great reviews.

locando orseola seems to be popular.

we stayed at Hotel Flora and loved it years ago, but out room was great but other rooms were just very functional. (ours was a family room looking out over a palatial home and its courtyard).

hi margie,

good choices! i recommend you visit Venice for about four days--two during the carnival and two more after the crowd dies down. although the hotels will charge more for accomodations during the carnival, you have a rare opportunity to experience the infamous Carnivale di Venezia! considering your return flight is from milan, it makes better sense making milan your last destination.

here are my recommendations:
-------

Hotel search engines:
venere.com
italyby.com
hotel.de
expedia.com
otel.com

-------
Venice:

1)Locanda Art Deco:
http://www.locandaartdeco.com/ (avoid top floor rooms or no. 100

2) B&B Palazzo Duodo Gregolin
http://www.palazzoduodo.com/

3) Hotel Marconi, San Polo
http://www.hotelmarconi.it/hotel_mar..._venice-en.htm

4) B&B, San Polo
http://www.vacanzeinfamiglia.it/show...ENG&ID=175

5) B&B, Cannareggio
http://www.vacanzeinfamiglia.it/show...ENG&ID=132 (avoid the 'ground' level room. if you want to contact the owner directly, i can give you the info.)

-------

Milan:

1) Antica Locanda Leonardo
http://www.anticalocandaleonardo.com/en/index.htm

2) Locanda Milano
http://www.italyby.com/milanolocanda/

3) Antica Locanda dei Mercanti
www.locanda.it

4) La Dolce Vite
http://www.ladolcevite.net/
review: http://www.karenbrown.com/property.a...0-d9b3175f8641 )

good luck!

To Mo Mo: You have been so very helpful. I can't thank you enough. If you ever come to San Francisco I hope to return favor. If you have the owners name at Cannareggio it would be greatly appreciated. We need 2 rooms for 2 people each room. We have tentative reservation at La Calcina Ruskin House. Have you heard anything about this B&B? This B&B Palazzo Duodo Gregolin looks lovely. I have e-mailed to see if opening. I thought since last night of Carnevele we would have problems booking. Thank you so very much in advance.
Margie

margie,

my pleasure to help. i will take you up on your offer if my husband and i ever go visit the bay area in near future. :)

below is the contact info on the owner of the B&B in Cannaregio, Venice. Francesco, who speaks fluent English, is the son who actually manages the properties his dad owns. if there is no room at the b&b, ask him about other properties his family owns--i showed us a nice two bedroom apartment he rents out daily. it was big and recently has been restored in summer of 2004 (about 4-5 min walk from the b&b). if you book the rooms directly through Francesco, you should be able to save the service fee for the 'middle-man' (www.vacanzeinfamiglia.it in this case...)
---------------
Donà Francesco

Cannaregio, 3904/a
(Cà d'Oro)
Venezia
Tel: 041 2960654
Cell: Elvio 348 5502309
Cell: Francesco 348 5508699

-------------
La Calcina Ruskin is another good choice--i remember reading good reviews about the establishment (i personally never stayed there before.).

hope this helped.

i meant "...he showed us a nice two bedroom apartment he rents out daily..." in my previous post. i shoud make a habbit of proofing what i write before posting up. :)

To MoMo: Any other ideas for Milan? I'm having a very difficult time obtaining a room for one night Feb.27, possibly because of the Olympics and close proximity of Milan to Turino. You have been so helpful. Thank you again in advance. Margie

do you have to stay in milan for the night of Feb 27th? would you consider making an over night trip to some where else?

------
OPTIONS:
1) Acqui Terme: you can either rent a car from Turin and go to Acqui Terme (hot spring) to spend an over night at this beautiful B&B, Baur B&B. http://baurbb.com/ you can just relax and enjoy the laid back italian life style for a day. While staying there, treat yourself to a day at the Terme Spa (its healing mud is sold to spas throughout Italy)

2) even if it's late, how about going to venice a day earlier than planned? trains operate until late.

To MoMo: Thanks for advice but my husband wants to see Milan. If my choice it would be the spa. I will talk to him but did find some places in Milan. I may just check out myself. Have you ever been to Roman Irish Spa in Baden Baden? It was the most wonderful experience. Thanks again and is any chance coming to San Francisco area hope I can reciprocate. Margie

hi margie,

aren't you going to milan after venice to catch the return flight? i thought we were spending at least a day in milan before coming back home...

by any chance, are you thinking about taking the train from venice to milan in the morning of the day you return home? just so that you are aware, italy is notorious for their train strikes (usually only lasts one day). i suggest staying the last night in milan (or at least, plan to).

so much to plan for, i know. hope all is worth it once you get there~ :)

have a great trip.

Hi Margie,
What about Florence and the Tuscan Countryside?
Please take alook to www.myowntuscany.com and see if you can find something interesting for you!

Ciao


Marco