anuta_n

Hi,
I finally got around to planning our trip to Italy. We're going there last week of September to celebrate my husband's birthday. We'd like to spend 3 nights in Rome, and then, I'm not sure... should we spend 3 nights in Siena to make it easier to explore Tuscany and then the final 2 nights in Florence or is it not enough time in Florence? We'll have 8 nights all together. We're planning to rent a car on the way out of the Rome.
Another question is about the hotels. I'm having unbelievably hard time finding a hotel in Rome. Can someone recommend nice, well located hotels in all three locations? Budget under $250 per night.

Thank you very much.

rex

Recommendations may not matter if there is no availability, and this is a very heavily booked time of year. Take a look at www.venere.com and you can brose only those hotels that have availability on the dates you seek. Then you can come back here, if you have specific questions on specific hotels.

Best wishes,

Rex

Jean

Ditto Rex' comments. Availability and budget may determine how you divide your nights between Rome, Siena and Florence. It's going to be crowded everywhere, but, never fear, you're going to have a wonderful time.

For what it's worth, we stay at the Hotel Fontanella Borghese in Rome. In Florence, we like the Tourist House Ghiberti, but with only five rooms I would be very surprised if there is availability at this date for late September.

While you search Florence, don't disregard hotels on the other side of the Arno. This area (Oltrarno) is not as far from sights as it looks on a map, and it can be less crowded. In Siena, look at hotels outside the city walls (easier with a car) that may still have availability.

ira

Hi A,

May I suggest skipping Rome and spending your 8 nights in Tuscany?

OR,

4 nights in Venice and 4 in Florence.

Enter <Agriturismo> in the "search this forum" box.

You might find the Florence part of my trip report helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

anuta_n

ok, this is what we got reserved so far:

Rome: Cinquantatrè Hotel - 3 nights (€179 p/n)
Siena: Arcobaleno Hotel - 3 nights (€110 p/n)

Neither of the places excite me much but the reviews were mostly positive so we booked them. Pleas let us know if anyone stayed at either. Still looking at hotels in Florence, but we upped our budget there to $350 p/n.

Looks like on my husbands birthday we'll be leaving Rome and heading to Siena. If anyone could recommend a memorable place to visit in the afternoon on the way to Siena and a nice place for dinner in/around Siena I would really appreciate it.

Thank you.

gard

Hi

My wife and I had a lovely trip to Rome a couple of years back and maybe you can find some useful information in my Rome trip report with pictures, links and maps on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . But then again...we also had a lovely time in Florence and Tuscany. We just came back from Tuscany on Friday and we had 4 days in Florence and 6 days with a rental car in Tuscany. Siena was a beautiful city so you have something to look forward too

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

andrys

ROME: Our stay at Albergo Romano, 2 blocks from the Colosseum and Forum, was very nice. The last week of September seems to be high season, costing 155 euros a night for a double. But you've found a place, though you seem unsure about it.

My photo report can give you some indication of what it's like and has links to the hotel pages and to user-review sites on it.

FLORENCE: I'm in total agreement with Jean, though I imagine it's iffy re available rooms at the end of September.
I'd always return to that hotel but that's because I loved its features and its proximity to the Duomo and the museums.

For more of my own experience at both these places (photo reports), see

Florence's Tourist House Ghiberti
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/florence3

Rome, day 1
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/rome1

- Andrys

ira

Hi A,

>a memorable place to visit in the afternoon on the way to Siena and a nice place for dinner in/around Siena <

Stop off in Orvieto.

A great place for lunch is the garden of
I Sette Consoli
Pzza Sant’Angelo 1A
phone/fax 39 0763 343911

In Siena,
Cane e Gato
Via Pagliaresi 6
39-0577-33-38-79

has been very favorably reviewed.