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Please steer me in the right direction - Rome/Florence 3/27/2010-4/3/2010

Please steer me in the right direction - Rome/Florence 3/27/2010-4/3/2010

Old May 27th, 2009, 09:17 AM
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Please steer me in the right direction - Rome/Florence 3/27/2010-4/3/2010

Hello. I am new to the Fodor's website and appreciate everyone's suggestions/feedback as I have been lurking. I haven't traveled much and look to do so in the coming years (I am 27 and my husband is 30).
We are planning an Italy trip for 2010 (which my family is now going to be part of and I have been placed in charge of all plans! 3 families/10 ppl altogether). To say I am inexperienced is an understatement but hopefully my control freak tendencies will kick in. Since the hubby is a teacher we are very limited on times of travel - we have decided on 3/27/09 - 4/3/2010 which is Holy Week.
I have a few questions:
1. How crowded is it during Holy Week - similar to peak season months?
2, Are certain areas closed during that week?
3. Advice on the following itinerary:
-Friday 3/26 - fly out of NY arrive in Rome the next morning
-Sat 3/27 - check into Hotel in Rome (TBD) and walk around neighborhood - see the sights (trevi fountain, spanish steps, etc) - get a quick bite to eat and call it a relatively early night
-Sun 3/28 (Palm Sunday) - try to get tix for mass in Vatican City - otherwise go to mass somewhere else in Rome. In the PM go to Galleria Borghese or the catacombs - still need to do additional research here
-Mon 3/29: AM-Vatican City (St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, Gardens); PM - Pantheon
-Tues 3/30 - AM - visit Ancient Rome (Colosseum/Roman Forum/etc) - catch a late afternoon train to Florence PM: Wander around Florence (Ponte Vecchio/Piazza della Signoria)
-Wed 3/31 - AM The Duomo PM - Accademia
-Thurs 4/1 - Take a side trip someplace (Pisa, Volterra, Lucca - not sure yet)
-Fri4/2- AM - Galleria degli Uffizi PM- TBD
- Sat 4/3 - Fly back home out of Rome

Sorry to be lengthy - I am just very nervous about "screwing" the planning up and can tell a lot of you know your stuff! Thank you in advance for the time you took to read this and any help/advice you can offer - Kerry
Kerry_V is offline  
Old May 27th, 2009, 09:41 AM
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Hi Kerry,

Things working against you:
1. Accepting planning responsibility for 3 families
2. Going during Easter week when everything in both cities will be unbelieveably crowded and more expensive

Things working for you:
1. Easy trip to plan with just 2 cities that are easy to travel between
2. Plans not overly ambitiou
3. Planning early

It will help if you communicate frequently and in extreme detail with the others regarding your options and plans. Check carefully open hours/days during this week.

Also, leave activities and sightseeing in each city up to the individuals. You don't all have to stick together like glue, everyone will be much happier if you don't! Give everyone a list of your researched sightseeing and let them pick (and reserve and pay) for their own choices. Or, let them find their own alternatives that will suit their interests.

I would buy advance, reserved seat train tickets for a group this size during Easter week.

Have you considered an apartment, or are you planning on a hotel? Personally, I would choose a hotel for more privacy and a little help from the concierge!

You'll get lots of good help here and the trip should shape up nicely as you go along. Buon viaggio
Dayle is offline  
Old May 27th, 2009, 09:53 AM
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Thank you Dayle.

I already make an Excel spreadsheet of each "must see" (obviously leaving many sites off b/c who really has the time to include it all) in both Rome and Florence with hours of operation for each day of the week. I also included the neighborhood and brief description to they each know what they would be getting into.

I planned on making my itinerary first and share it with everyone and they can either choose to be part of it or go their own separate way (although I would love to see everyone at either lunch or dinner most of the days).

I looked into an apartment but am definitely leaning towards a hotel. I am at the beginning stages of researching as I wanted to nail down a schedule of where I will be (e.g. Rome first followed by Florence).

Any budget and family friendly hotels anyone can recommend?there
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Old May 27th, 2009, 10:00 AM
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Do you intend to travel from Florence back to Rome on your departure day (Sat 4/3)? If this is true, I think it is a bad idea. It would be better to be in Rome the night before to avoid any travel glitches, since most flights back to NY leave in the morning.

Therefore, I suggest that on arriving in Rome, you travel directly to Florence so you can put all your Rome days together at the end of you trip:

-Friday 3/26 - fly out of NY arrive in Rome the next morning
-Sat 3/27 - arrive at FCO; train to Roma Termini; train to Florence; check into Florence hotel and walk around neighborhood - see the sights/wandering (Ponte Vecchio/Piazza della Signoria) - get a quick bite to eat and call it a relatively early night
-Sun 3/28 (Palm Sunday) - AM The Duomo for mass PM - Galleria degli Uffizi
-Mon 3/29: Take a side trip someplace (Pisa, Volterra, Lucca - not sure yet)
-Tues 3/30 - AM Accademia PM- Catch an afternoon train to Rome; check into Rome hotel, wander in neighborhood
-Wed 3/31 - Vatican City (St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, Gardens)
-Thurs 4/1 - Ancient Rome (Colosseum/Roman Forum/etc) - Pantheon
-Fri 4/2- sights/wandering - Galleria Borghese? catacombs? Ostia Antica?
- Sat 4/3 - Fly home from Rome

Yes, there will be extra visitors for holy week--just like you.
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Old May 27th, 2009, 11:28 AM
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I am with Ellenem. Go straight to Florence after arrival. It serves many purposes. It eliminates unproductive and worrisome need to come back to Rome during the height of traffic and uses zombie hours you have to stay awake anyway after your arrival productively by traveling to the next destination. Why travel during the time you are awake and alert when there is an alternative? Also, since you are probably getting to Florence in the afternoon, the hotel rooms may be ready to freshen up before taking a stroll.

I have traveled to these two cities a week before Easter and I made sure everything was reserved.

The often cited advice of waiting until getting to Italy to buy train tickets does not work well during Holy week and for the size of your group. Every Eurostar I took was totally packed. We couldn't sit together even though I made a reservation weeks in advance.
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