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Please, please help with our May itinerary!

Please, please help with our May itinerary!

Old Feb 8th, 2011, 09:49 AM
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Please, please help with our May itinerary!

With the help of this wonderful forum, I booked our air tickets last weekend. Up to last month, I was so sure we were going with a group tour to Italy for our 1st ever trip to Europe. So now I'm scrambling to gather info, book hotels, and plan our 2 1/2 weeks itinerary. I have a couple of guidebooks and this forum is INVALUABLE to read and plan so I pretty much know what we want to see once we're there. My problem is where do we go outside of Venice and Rome?

I've read lots of threads on this forum but am still a little overwhelmed and was tearing my hair out last night. So I told my husband that I will seek help on this wonderful forum.

For hotels, I've found in the last week that most if not all of my initial list of favorite hotels in Venice and Rome are booked up for the period that we'll be there (May 10-26). I'm now trying to find alternate hotels, something less than $150 to $200 a night that are atmospheric, quaint, central, clean, friendly, close to restaurants and shops, and in a safe neighborhood. I've found many recommendations from here and have emailed those hotels. I would welcome any suggestions you may have for the above criteria for all cities Venice, Florence, Rome. Please keep in mind that the popular ones on TripAdvisor which meet my criteria are booked up - I hate for you to waste your time letting me know. :]

In addition to trying to find us decent hotels, I'm trying to map out our itinerary. I only know Venice since that's where we'll fly in from LA and Rome where we'll depart from. I know we want to be in Florence, but DESPERATELY NEED your help with the itinerary.

Just a little background on us so you can help us. We're active, love to walk, wander around exploring, bike if possible in small towns (cruising sightseeing type, not mountain biking , photography, culture, good local food or small restaurants, markets, the outdoors, being sociable, not into clubbing/bars, like museums and churches but can't do it all day.

Re:Florence/Tuscany, should we should Florence as a base then do day trips? We love to stay someplace where we can walk to restaurants and shops in the evenings and walk around with lots of people at night. We prefer not to drive if possible. So here's our itinerary so far. We would like to maximize our trip as far as seeing as much of Italy as possible, but also have plenty of downtime to simply wander and soak in the sights, sounds, and smells of Italy.

May:
10 - Venice
11 - Venice
12 - Venice
13 - Venice
14 -
15 -
16 -
17 -
18 -
19 -
20 -
21 -
22 - Rome
23 - Rome
24 - Rome
25 - Rome
26 - Go home

I apologize for the long beginning but wanted to give you all our info possible. Thank you SO VERY MUCH!!
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:15 AM
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Re:Florence/Tuscany, should we should Florence as a base then do day trips?

I'd say no.

The donut hole in your itinerary is absolutely screaming out for a Tuscan villa rental, with daytrips from there.

You already have big cities on either end of your stay. I think you need to get out into the beautiful surrounding areas and stretch your legs.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:22 AM
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Others will surely offer individual suggestions, but if you wish to investigate the variety of accommodations in Venice, take a look at this site:

http://www.turismovenezia.it/eng/dynalay.asp?PAGINA=437
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:24 AM
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I totally understand your reluctance to rent a car. If you really feel strongly about avoiding a car rental, I think the most economical option to see the Tuscan countryside and hill towns without renting a car is to stay in Siena, which has the best bus connections in the region and is worthwhile place to visit itself. You could spend 14-16 in Florence and then 17-21 in Siena with daytrips to hill towns in between Siena sightseeing. From Siena you might even splurge on a day with driver/guide Luca Garappa of hillsandroads.com to get to more out of the way locations.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:27 AM
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I agree that Tuscany (or some time in the countryside somwehere) would be lovely - but you would need a car.

You could do a couple days in Florence, and then a week in the country at a lovely villa.

Or if you wanted to use only trains/public transport you could do a few days in Florence and a few days somewhere else - some ideas: Lake Como/Milan, Bologna, Cinque Terre - trying to think of places en route to Rome from Venice.

I would say whatever you decide to try to spend at least 2-3 (preferably 3) in each place to get a real feel and relax.

As for hotels in Venice try www.hotelgalleria.it or http://www.aitagliapietra.com/ we have stayed at both. They are basic, but in good locations and good value we thought.

Enjoy the planning!
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:41 AM
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haha mr_go, I agree with you, that big donut hole is screaming for something out in the country. I totally agree with everyone's suggestion. We have enough city at both ends, and need to have a change of scenery.

Michael - thank you for the link, I'll check it out.

ellenem, it's good to hear from you! Is Siena a town with a busy evening life, lots of shops and restaurans to go to at night? I have my Rick Steves book but this forum's knowledge is way better. There are just two of us and we don't want to be out in the country somewhere at night all alone. Though we love being in the country during the day and hear the birds sing and the trees whispering and feel the warm Tuscan sun...Re:Mocenigo, I filled out an online booking form, sent them my credit info, then absolute silence since. I was a little disappointed and worried to say the least since they were so responsive before.

jamikins, I love to visit Lake Como and Cinque Terre! Do you suggest staying a night or two in there areas? Are they easily doable from Florence with public transportation? I don't know Bologna, will read up on it. Milan, is it worth going to? I know it's the fashion capital of the worth but will be out of reach shopping wise I'm sure. Anyone has any small hotel or b&b recommendations for these Como and CQ?

I've contacted Hotel Galleria, I hope to hear from them soon.

I'm feeling so much better already. You guys are SO AWESOME! Thank you.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 10:52 AM
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There are direct train lines from Milan to Cinque Terre. I believe the line also goes through Pisa - so there must be some connections to Florence so maybe it would fit in after or before Florence. Its quite a trek to get to on the trains so I would plan to spend at least 3 nights there to make it worth it.

We stayed here: http://www.arpaiu.com/english.html and highly recommend it!

I havent stayed in Lake Como area yet - its on my list! Perhaps others can shed light.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 11:02 AM
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ellenem, I also like your suggestion of staying in Florence for a few nights, then stay in Siena then take day trips. Will Siena and day trips give us the feeling of being in the Tuscan? Full of sunshine, and olive groves, and birds and bicyles...like it's been portrayed in the movies. Just sounds so lovely.

Or we can stay put someplace and rent a car just to drive around and explore the small hill towns like mr_go suggested. So many options! I like them all unfortunately.

Do we need to reduce the 4 nights in Venice? Is this too much. So we can use it for the "donut hole" part?
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 11:09 AM
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I dont think you should reduce Venice. You will likely be tempted to go to all the places suggested - which will lead you to a whirlwind trip, changing hotels every few days - which eats of time and money. I highly recommend choosing fewer places and actually spending time enjoying them and the pace of life. In the countryside the stores all close up tight from 12-2ish every day for lunch so you can only really see them in the morning and afternoon, enjoying a lovely long lunch in between. Thats the beauty of Italy. If you try to go too many places you will just rush around and not experience that!
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 11:12 AM
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what about after Venice doing 3 nights in FLorence, and then heading out into the country for 5 nights in Tuscany doing day trips with a car and then dropping hte car somewhere like Orvieto and taking the train in to ROme. Sounds ideal to me!

Driving in the country is not hard at all. Get a good sat nav and you are good to go. Villages usually have big parking lots outside the main centre so you dont have to (or want to) travel into the tiny streets. Avoid driving in Florence as there are lots of restricted zones you can get tickets. Pick up the car at the airport or a village outside Florence and head out.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 11:14 AM
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Sorry - meant to say the stores all close up tight (with unsightly metal shutters) so you cant really enjoy the village atmposphere during that time. So it limits the amount you want to do everyday so you max your enjoyment
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 11:52 AM
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Why do you want to go to Florence? Are you big fans of Renaissance art and architecture? If not, consider staying in Siena and daytripping to Florence. (There's an easy bus from the center of Siena to the main Florence train station.) Siena quiets down a night but restaurants are open and busy. In fact, it's really great to be in Siena at night; it gets all dark and mediaeval-ly, and you feel transported back in time.

Or, if you stay in Florence, do daytrips: by train to Lucca (rent bicycles and ride around the top of the walls), Pisa, and maybe smaller towns like Pistoia or Prato. And, of course, the bus to Siena. Plus take the local bus up to Fiesole, which has a great view of Florence in the distance. There are some hikes you can do from there.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 12:51 PM
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I've thought and thought about the different options and I think we'll save the lakes for another trip. We'll split the donut hole between 2 nights CT, 3 nights Florence, then 3 nights Siena. Is this too much changing hotels? There are some good threads here re:taking local day tours from Siena and Florence so I'll do more reading on that. Just one question, how is Florence vs Siena at night, is Florence more lively? We like walking around at night, think the main street in Honolulu at night, just without all the craziness.

Also, logistically, someone mentioned that they took a train from Venice to CT, stayed 2 nights, then trained to Florence. Is this doable? On the subject of trains, do we purchase one pass for the whole 2 1/2 weeks in Italy, or buy different passes for different cities? I need to read up on this too. I've assigned my husband this task since he hasn't contributed to the trip planning yet and there's still so much to plan.

Mimar, we like art enough but are not art buffs. We're more outdoorsy people, camping, skiing, fishing, riding bikes. We love riding bikes, we've done it in Bali, VN, China even! We try to rent bikes whereever we can on our travels. That was the highlight of our China trip in '03. We got there 4 days before the tour group and one of the days went to Beihai(?) park, rented some bikes and rode around for 1/2 day, had lunch there, watched the local men fish in the lake, it was just wonderful.
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 01:19 PM
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Hi there! I am just done with our itinerary so I know how much work it is for this! Believe me!
We will be in Venice May 8-11, Rome from 11-15, and Sorrento from 15 to 18.
We found the Palazzo Abagnole in Sorrento was such a great price! I should have stayed outside the main cities for the two others. But a trade off is convenience to the sights I suppose. We are going for convenience and location.
Where are you in Venice? If you are interested in meeting up, let me know! Tina
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 01:21 PM
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I suggested Siena precisely because it is a beautifully-set hilltown, but a larger one than many so it would have more of a nightlife of many restaurant choices and places to walk. And also for the bus connections. You are really going to have to decide if you want/need a caar if you consider Tuscany.

Florence would be much more lively than Siena. It a larger city with many many tourists as well as university students to keep evenings lively.

Whether you need a train pass is a constant debate. I suspect you will just need to purchase point-to-point tickets for your train trips. You are not planning to travel great distances. You can research ticket prices and schedules here.

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 03:55 PM
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Paige,

You can take the train from Venice to CT, but you will have to transfer in Florence or Milan. I checked for May 14th, and you're looking at 5 to 6 hours of traveling (depending on what time you leave).

It may be better to train from Venice to Florence (2 hours), stay 3 nights, then train to CT (2.5 - 3.5 hours) and stay 2 nights. If you decide to get a car for the countryside, from CT you can train to Pisa, pick up a car and drive to Siena for 3 nights. Then drop the car off in Orvieto on your way to Rome.

BTW, I can relate to your husband not contributing to the planning. I keep assigning DH things to do, but then I don't have the patience to wait until he gets around to doing them

Anyway, DH and I will be just a couple days behind you, and are following the same itinerary Venice, Florence, CT, Siena, Rome. I've priced out the trains and the passes are not worthwhile. DH and I will have an addition leg (Milan to Venice) and the passes are still not worth it.

As an aside, you mentioned that you enjoy the outdoors and bicycling. I know that the agritourismo I'm staying at outside Siena offers bikes for their guests to ride around the countryside. I can't imaging they're the only place offer that, so it may be something you want to look for when booking. Even if they don't, maybe they can recommend a bike tour for you. I imagine cycling around the Tuscan countryside would be quite a memorable experience!
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Old Feb 8th, 2011, 04:44 PM
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I like CT better than Florence, but for two nights I don't think it is worth it since it is so far from the rest of your selected locations-- too much train travel, too much hotel changing for just one full day on CT. I was there for 4 nights last May and could have stayed even longer. I would probably pick some place in Tuscany (like Siena) and do some day trips. Also consider adding a day to Rome.
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Old Feb 9th, 2011, 10:05 AM
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Jamikins, I'm leaving Venice as is, 4 nights. :]

Tina, we'll be at Al Ponte Monicego. We'll arrive 5/10 and will be there for 4 nights. We can meet up somewhere.

Ellen, I finally heard from Monicego. They said that my emails had gone to another email address but it seems to be the same exact spelling when I checked again. It's a relief to finally secure a place in Venice. There are so many hotels and I've spend days and days just reading reviews or contacting them. I will take your suggestion of splitting that donut hole between Florence and Siena.

I found somewhere on this forum really inexpensive government day tours in Florence but now can't seem to locate the link in my spreadsheet. We'll most likely save CT for another trip but will check out abenedek's route suggestions just out of curiosity, thank you for the detailed explanation! That's just what I need for a Europe newbie like me.

My husband said "no problem, I can drive in Siena" so that's a possibility. How much are rental cars, similar to our rates for much more?

Thank you everyone for taking the time to help me!
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Old Feb 9th, 2011, 10:11 AM
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Forgot to say, we'll add another day to Rome!
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Old Feb 9th, 2011, 10:51 AM
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Glad you have been able to confirm at Al Ponte Mocenigo. There are a number of good, reasonably-priced restaurants nearby if you are too tired to explore for dinner.

If you decide to rent a car for your entire visit in Siena, you might find it helpful to choose a hotel outside the center at the base of the hill for easier parking and driving to other locations.

From what I understand, car rentals cost about the same until you factor in the high costs of gasoline and the fact that in Italy you will probably be required to purchase the CDW.

I suspect the Florence info you recall may be found at this website:
http://www.firenzeturismo.it/itinera...-florence.html
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