I always check the Fodors boards before going overseas. Thanks, everyone for the info and leads! Here is my quickie trip report...

Rome:

Sleeping: Casa Il Rosario ([email protected]), run by some nice Italian nuns who speak little English. We booked there because it was relatively inexpensive and close to the Colosseum (my husband ran the Rome marathon). It is close to the Coloseo and Cavour metro stops. They only had single beds though and when we tried to put them together we discovered they were different heights! Breakfast was breads, granola, yogurt, coffee and juices. 80E a night.

Recommend:
- Tour: Had an informative tour of Ancient Rome (enjoyrome.com) with Valentina, a native Roman, former archaeology student. 21E pp
- Shopping: Enjoyed the store Taba (scarves, purses, jewelry) on Campo Fiori and Fabriano (stationery) near Piazza d. Popolo

Don’t recommend:
- Restaurant: La Piazzetta, not bad, just not great (recommendation from Frommer’s)

Wish we had:
- Gotten to the Vatican museums earlier. We arrived Saturday just as it was closing (should have checked). Monday we got there around 10am and the line was at least three hours long...we had to catch a train and never made it.

Florence

Sleeping: Residenza Il Villino (recommendation from tripadvisor). This very nice small hotel located a couple blocks east of the Accademia is #4 on tripadvisor in popularity which explains why it was full of American women while we were there. The hosts are very nice as are the rooms. Breakfast is okay. This was our most expensive stay on our budget trip...fun to have BBC for a few nights. I just wish it were one long block more central to the center of Florence. We paid 110E per night. I recommend room 46, Podium. It has its own little terrace. No elevator.

Recommend:
- Driving: We took a day trip to Montalcino and San Gimignano. We had a good experience with Avis, but you can probably get a better rate if you shop around and/or book earlier. We were surprised to get a car that can be either automatic or manual as we assumed we’d have to drive manual. Also, it was probably the best Florence location for getting out of the city with no problems:

Avis - Firenze Est - FI5
Via Borgo Ognissanti 128 R, Florence, 50123 , Italy
(351) 39 55 213629
Sun 08:00AM-01:00PM; Mon-Sat 08:00AM-07:00PM

Driving tips:
- cross the city on the southside of the river...much easier
- refilling the tank was tricky...the station we stopped at was self-service and since we didn't have a bankcard we ended up losing 14E (no one was there) since we didn't have smaller notes
- Church: Sant’Antimio, a Cistercian abbey is a little gem just outside Montalcino.
- Winery: We had a nice winery tour at Fattoria Barbi also just outside Montalcino (www.fattoriadeibarbi.it)

- Restaurants: The oft recommended Trattoria Mossace was a good basic meal. Our hole-in-the-wall find was Pane e Vino. I think it was on Via Dell Agnolo (just kind of wandered around), north of Santa Croce. We were the only tourists.

- Shopping: Hubby bought a nice leather folder from Livium (?) on Via Del Proconsolo near the Duomo. We found out the binding is done by the owner’s father’s cousin.

- And yes, do make those reservations for Uffizi and Accademia

Don’t recommend:
- Ponte Vecchio. Better seen from afar.

Venice

Sleeping: Casa Petit B&B (www.casa-petit.com). They have three rooms, two share a bathroom that is not right next door. We stayed in Sul Cortile which had a bathroom right in the room (think loft style, wall but no door or ceiling separating the bathroom area from the bed area). Raphael is an architect and I like their bright colors and decorating style. Breakfast was basic, good French press coffee. A good deal for Venice - 80E, close to the Accademia bridge.

Recommend:
- Museum: Peggy Guggenheim, nice little modern gem
- Tour: Secret Itineraries tour at the Palazzo Ducale, made a reservation a day ahead (041 5209070)
- Wine bar/cafe: Vino Vino (from Frommers) You order from their limited menu at the bar and then sit down. We really enjoyed the lasagna and pasta we had while we were there.

Don’t Recommend:
- Restaurant: Trattoria Ai Cugnai (from Frommers) in Dorsoduro...pushy owner, kept trying to get us to order their seafood antipasti. Also, we had to leave early because I felt ill and she tried to make us stay

Transportation:

Flew into Rome, out of Venice

Rome: took the train from the airport to Termini, no problems

Trains to Florence and Venice:
- took Eurostar for the first leg and the IC for the second. Eurostar is modern and has typical rows of seats, IC was a little shabbier and cheaper. It has cars of six seats each within which you can control the temperature, etc.
- booked ahead of time on-line because I like to have those things set


Venice: took the vaporetto to the bus station and took the bus to the airport, not a problem but buses do run infrequently on Sundays

Ponte Vecchio better from afar? Not if you love gorgeous jewelry and/or window shopping. I couldn't imagine being in Florence without spending at least half a day on the Ponte Vecchio. I've been several times and will return to Florence in November for a week and will definitely be back to enjoy the jewelry.

Thanks for the report. Especially enjoyed the restaurant notes (I always do!).

Welcome home.

Thanks; your report is a model of succinctness.

What is the route of the Rome marathon? I'm just imagining all those hills -- and the Italian runners pausing for smoke breaks and shopping.

Thank you for your report. I always like to know places where other Fodorites have had bad experiences--with so many restaurants to pick from in Venice, it's good to know which to avoid.

We too had good luck renting from Avis in Italy.

Thanks for sharing, nita

Great report, nitajan, and well outlined. Thanks for sharing.

The Rome marathon runs by many of the central famous monuments: starts at the Colosseum, runs by Pzza. Venezia, Circo Massimo, up the river, across to St. Peter's, up past Foro Italico, across the river at Moschea, then back into Rome by Pzza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps, the Trevi fountain, and finally this out and back loop that turns around at St. Paul's, finishing back by the Colosseum. One interesting thing I noticed was that the number of female runners was something like 10% of the population.