newt

Florence:<BR><BR>Great museums and galleries. I would say that the Academia, Bargello and Uffizi are must-do’s. Again, reserve tickets ahead of time, can pick them up at Museum of San Marco (near Academia) to avoid the lines at Uffizi.<BR><BR>If you like art, definitely allow more days in Florence.<BR><BR>Climb either the Duomo or the adjoining tower, the line at the latter is usually shorter. <BR><BR> In general, we thought gold was better at Gold Corner than shops on Ponte Vecchio, but if you have time, do shop around. In regard to leather, many small shops have nice gloves, all fairly equivalent in quality, unless you go to the real high end stores where you will find premium goods. <BR><BR>As far as leather coats and jackets, the street stall will sell you mostly antelope or pig skin pressed to look like lamb skin. Avoid them unless you know leather or at least know what you are buying. Stores at Santa Croce have lamb skin, again ask specifically whether it is lamb, calf, antelope, or pig skin. The reputable stores will be honest about it. Misuri leather next to the gold corner was over priced for what they sell, and all the cruise-ship tours herd their clients there. Vecchia Firenze at Santa Croce had good stuff. Leather Factory I found honest and will teach you about leather without giving you the hard-sale (which is always my cue to decline and make for the exit). In any case, bargain until you get AT LEAST 50% off the ticket price, otherwise you are most likely over paying. <BR><BR>Hotels: we thought the Savoy had ideal location, very central, right across from a huge bookstore where you can read guidebooks at night. City is small, you can walk to all major sites.<BR>

newt

Venice<BR><BR>When taking the vaporetto, make sure it is going in the right direction. It is easy to use, make sure you buy the tickets that are infrequently checked once on board, but if they catch you without a ticket, the fine is E20. If carrying luggage, you should pay extra. For the most part, take the #82 and avoid the #1. DO NOT take #12 to Murano, it will take FOREVER. Take the #41/42, which takes 40 minutes from San Marco. <BR><BR>Avoid buying glass souvenirs anywhere but Murano if possible. There are a lot of crappy glass goods in Rome, Florence and Venice at tourist sites. Especially avoid glass stores near San Marco. The same crappy glass on Murano is usually much cheaper, often 50% less. Murano would be where you find the nice glass goods, some galleries are by appointment.<BR><BR>For your simple glass souvenirs, we found the best details and quality on Murano at Silvy Vetri d’Arte on the street leading to the Faro vaporetto stop. <BR><BR>For masks, we found the best quality, selection and prices at Marega, in San Polo, near Chiesa dei Frari. Widest and most creative selection of masks we saw was at Il Canovaccio, which has a website www.ilcanovaccio.com. Be careful not to trample the little one-eyed dog when browsing around, he kept bumping into people and boxes. They have nontraditional masks in dragons, animals and dinos that kids may enjoy. <BR><BR>If romance is part of the trip, gondola ride at night or dusk (better view) is great to do. Ask your hotel concierge to arrange it for you if you are not comfortable bargaining with the gondolatier. A ride at night for 2 would be E75 to E100, more if you want music on board. <BR><BR>No foul smell at all from the rio in May, but I am told there is a smell by August.<BR><BR>Hotel: we stayed at Luna Baglioni, really enjoyed stay there. Superior Double room is 5 star, bigger than equivalent priced rooms at Park Plaza or the like in New York or Boston. Our room on the corner with proch had view of Chiesa della Salute, Chiesa della Giogio and is next door to San Marco. Gritti Palace would give you better view of Grand Canal, priced higher than Luna Baglioni. <BR><BR>Palazzo Ducale has the best audioguide of all the museums we visited in Italy. Chiesa dei Frari was enjoyable without the mass of crowds from cruises that mob San Marco. We ventured to the more touristy sites only very early or late to avoid the mob. <BR><BR>Caffe Florian lost the battle of the band every night we were there, to the caf&eacute; across the square (forgot the name). Dessert selection was mediocre. <BR><BR>Locals recommended restaurants Sempione (near San Zulian) and Remigio (near Museo Guidi). Remigio needed reservation on the night we visited. Sempione can usually accommodate without reservation. For a party of 6, Sempione has a table by the canal. Always ask for fresh fish to avoid the frozen stuff. Spider crabs have never disappointed.<BR><BR>Restaurant da Raphaele near Palazzo Gritti was pricey but very nice, impeccable service, can arrive for romantic meal by gondola, again reservation required, 041/5232317. Ask for seating by the rio when making reservation. <BR>

newt

In General:<BR>When shopping local stores, paying cash will get you discounts. If spending over $155, calculate whether the VAT refund will save you more than the cash discount, or try to get discount above the VAT refund. <BR><BR>Major credit cards (Citibank, Bank America) do charge a “conversion fee” for purchases, 3 to 5% of purchase price, may not be evident until when you get the bill and have the receipts to calculate euros to dollars. MBNA issues Visa and MC without tacking on this “conversion fee” rip off, and has excellent customer service.<BR><BR>Get a calling card from any local Tobacco / convenience store. Make sure you ask for an international card, making calls to Europe or USA (or whatever your country of origin). A E10 card would give you about 200 minutes, a steal compared to hotel call charges.<BR><BR><BR>BOTTOM LINE: for our first trip to Italy, we enjoyed Florence and Venice much more than Rome. We are in our late 20’s, and are definitely glad we did the trip on our own and not with a cruise or group. We found people more friendly in Florence and Venice than Rome, also Venetians all spoke some if not fluent English. Rome often reminded me of New York City, where the locals are often too “cosmopolitan” to bother helping tourists. I think the Vatican, museums and ruins in Rome can be done in 2 to 3 days, then allow 1 day for Pompei. In retrospect, I would have preferred to leave more days for Florence to see more museums, and more days in Venice to explore. A return tip for us would be 3 weeks to see Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, Sorrento, Sardinia or Sicily. <BR>

newt

Thanks to all those that helped me plan our trip to Italy. Here’s some tidbits to add to our Fodor’s files.<BR><BR>Sorry to repeat posts, out of order.<BR><BR>Rome:<BR>Hotels: Villa S. Pio – 065745174 - was very nice, 4 star accommodations at 3 star price, nice garden and breakfast, fairly nice but small rooms. We had a room with a porch with view of the villa neighborhood and garden. PRO: value, parking (request), free internet access in all rooms, service. CON: not centrally located if that is important, a E8 ride to major sites. Great for people that have been to Rome before and want to avoid the tourist mayhem.<BR><BR>Hotels: Albergo Cesari – 066749701 – rooms not as nice as Villa S. Pio, 3 star, but slightly bigger. Centrally located with Pantheon, Trevi Fountain all within 3 minutes walk. Very touristy. PRO: central location. CON: avoid the noise by asking for inside room. <BR><BR>We ran into several scams in Rome, from illegal taxi’s to rip-off restaurants targeting tourists. STAY AWAY from restaurants on Via Borgo next to the Vatican. All serve bad food to tourists. One place added E25 to our bill, when asked, waiter said it was “TAX.” We got the police around the corner and had the bill reduced to the correct price. <BR>If you do run into problems, thefts, robberies, etc. make sure to file a police report if you want to make claims with insurance company later. Go to Ufficio Stranieri on Via Genova #2. This is the only station where you are sure to find English-speaking officers and only place in Rome where you can fill out English police reports. Go early, they open at 9:00 AM, the line does get long (unfortunately).<BR><BR>Limo service: I highly recommend service run by Franco Cantoni – 065135382, [email protected]. He will transport you in a mid-size black Mercedes, point out sights along the way, humorous and speaks English well. I believe he is also available for day trips to the country side. E40 from Da Vinci to Rome center.<BR><BR>The Borghese Gallery was very enjoyable. Reservation a must. Otherwise, plan to get there at opening. Guided tour very informative with English speaking art students. <BR>Vatican museums is a mad house, even more so on the last Sunday of the month when its open to public free. Go straight for the Sistine Chapel and Raphael Rooms if that is what you are interested in. <BR><BR>Sermonetta does have wide selection of gloves. Prices and quality might be better if you look around in Florence. <BR><BR>Get the combo ticket at Palatine to include the Colloseum to avoid the long line. Sites are very crowded as can be expected, watch for pick pockets. <BR><BR>Venture off the beaten tourist path to avoid bad food and tourist traps. <BR><BR>Train travel is easy, recommend getting tickets at local travel agency in advance to avoid long lines at the station. First class Eurostar gives you a reserved seat. The car number and seat numbers are printed on the ticket, make sure you find the correct seat in the correct car of the train. http://www.trenitalia.it/<BR><BR>Guide books: almost every American (that is not part of a humongous tour group) we saw either had Rick Steve’s or the Eyewitness series. The former has good practical info, skimpy on pictures and maps. The latter has pictures, maps, but very heavy to haul around. <BR><BR>Pompei is definitely worth a visit if you enjoy the antiquity and history. Can do easily as day trip. Take Eurostar to Naples, and from there transfer to the commuter rail “Circumvesuviana” to Pompei Scavi stop. Follow the horde of Americans in Naples train station, you will not get lost. There is another train line that runs through Pompei, but the trains runs less frequently. That line goes to a train station away from the main entrance to the excavation site (but closer to the town, hotels, restaurants).<BR>

newt

topping for sabrina

newt

topping for chryso

natasha

Newt,<BR><BR>Good trip report! I just wanted to add that I found the best glass deals were in the stalls along the same street as the Rialto bridge (on the opposite side from S.Marco). They were a lot cheaper than S. Marco. They definitely were not junk. I didn't go to the area you did in Murano. I only went to 2 stores on Murano saw the prices and decided I couldn't afford to buy anything there.

newt

Digital cameras:<BR><BR>I used a digital camera for the whole trip, but did not find any internet cafe in the above cities that were able to help me transfer saved pictures from Flashcard to CD. Camera stores also were not able to help. Although I did not look hard, just happened to ask about it when I was in the cafe or store. <BR><BR>So either bring cards with sufficient memory or plan to buy more.