First time in Itlay- planning
1-2-3-4 Rome
5-6-7 florence
8-9-10-11 venice
Sounds right? Ostia Antica a must?


Plan on using "eurial", checked railsaver.com and got some good quotes but don't know how to buy, or even should I buy know.

Should I buy the tickets now or should I wait.. is their any difference?

We are a party of six but I am afraid to be paying for eveything and then have someone not want to pay.

Hopefully not... but you never know.. so if there's no difference I guess I would wait and pay over there??

Also have a camcorder, ac/dc adaptor... input: 120v 60hz 12w output: 12vdc 600mA.. plan on getting an "plug end adaptor" should that be all I need? I am on my way to Walmart!!

Also planning to take 'walk-talking' to communicate...do you see that alot?

Thanks!!!

I think your allotment of time to the three cities is about right. I don't know that Ostia Antica is a "must," but we certainly loved it.

You need to price out point-to-point tickets to find out whether the rail pass is worth it or not. Often it isn't.

I strongly suggest you deal with issues of who pays for what and how and when before you touch down on European soil or even make any purchases related to the trip. Have travel planning meetings and iron out the details in advance.

Can't help you with the camcorder. I would never take one.

Hire a limo for Rome airport to your hotel. www.limoservicerome.com will cost about 60E for the six of you.

You shouldn't need a railpass if you are flying into Rome and our of Venice.
Rome to Florence and Florence to Venice tickets will be about 30E each trip for 2nd class ES trains. I think passes are much more expensive than 60E.

Rome to Ostia - You can train or there is a boat excursion on the Tiber. Train should be less than 10E.

Camcorder - Check your charger again- it should say 110-240 and then you just need wall plug adaptor.

US-spec "walkie-talkies" (FRS and GMRS) are ILLEGAL in all of Europe, because they interfere with emergency public-service frequencies. Look for PMR446 models.

For the money issue, just say "I'll be ordering our train tickets tomorrow, so you can drop by your check for $675.32 tonight."

For the camcorder, you will need either a voltage converter (which may or may not work) or the manufacturer's international version of the charger that will work on 120-240VAC and a plug adapter for Italian outlets.

Just do a good estimate and ask them to pay thier share up front. Then purchase when you have money in hand.

If you're sure which trains you want, it's easy to buy them ahead at www.trenitalia.com/en. Choose the ticketless option. Then you just show your printout to the conductor when he comes around on the train. As others have said, the obvious solution for payment is to have your friends pay you before you buy them.

I meant to add that I agree with StCirq. All money issues should be thoroughly discussed and understood by all before you leave home. I sure wouldn't want to be traveling with people if I couldn't depend on them to pay their share of everything.

Hi Anne,

I think Ostia Antica would be nice, but not a "must". You might wish to consider a daytrip to Orvieto.

www.railsaver.com will tell you if you should buy a railpass only if you click "only if it saves money".

It is unlikely that you would want a railpass.

>..I am afraid to be paying for eveything and then have someone not want to pay. <

You do not pay for anything until you have the money from everyone else, eg, you only buy airplane tickets after the ticket has been paid for.

Each member of your group should be aware that travel insurance is their responsibility. Once you have bought tickets, etc, they can't get it back.

I suggest that you open a bank account for your travel group.

>ac/dc adaptor... input: 120v 60hz

If that's all it says, it won't work without a voltage converter for 220 to 110.

If the camcorder itself has a standard low voltage socket, any italian universal power supply will work as long as it has at least an output of 600mA at 12Volts dc. These are pretty cheap to buy in many places once you arrive. (5-10&euro

If you do decide to buy a rail pass, I believe you must do that from the US before your trip. As mentioned above, it may or may not be worthwhile for your itinerary. Point-to-point you can certainly buy at the train stations in Italy.

With a party of six you really need to have a talk to clarify how you will deal with money on the trip. The way you phrased that sentence sounds like an accident waiting to happen.

Like StCirq I don't travel with that kind of equipment. Are you sure you need to take the camcorder?

Oh, and before you plug your $400 camcorder into a 5-10€ power supply, make sure it puts out the correct VOLTAGE and POLARITY. If it is mislabeled (not unknown), it can fry your camera.

A 220 -> 110 converter may or may not work, depending on a whole bunch of technical stuff.

I will reiterate my original recommendation that you <b>use an international charger/adapter made by the camcorder manufacturer</b>.

If you can fry it with wrong polarity, it's trash anway. No need to cry about it ;-) If the manufacturer can't afford a 1ct! diode to protect you equipment, you can't afford to buy from such a company. The risk is rather low.

Manufacturers wouldn't waste 3&cent; on a diode to &quot;protect&quot; the equipment. They simply insist that their proprietary AC supply (often with a proprietary connector) be used to charge the battery, else the warranty is void.

Anyway, no need to worry about trashing the camcorder. If the plugs don't fit, it won't work. I. myself just cut the wires and attach whatever power supply I want. It's safe (only 12 volts) and why should you pay extra money for prop. nonsense anyway.

I can read a voltmeter, too (I got my ham license in 1956, so I know a little about electronics).

But these issues are much too subtle for the average consumer. Does it put out AC or DC? Is the positive on the center pin or the shell? Is the label accurate or incorrect?

Right, so we can build a camcorder out of bunch fo EL84's ;-), which others can't (btw. are they known in the US?)

I just took a vote with my travelling partner and we both agree that the time would be better apportioned as
5 days Rome
3 days Florence
3 days Venice

Venice is a great place to spend a lot of time if you're on your honeymoon or if you live there, but for a visit three days is about right. I'm not personally fond of Florence, but I am fond of the art to be found there, still three days seems comfortable.

Rome is my favorite city so I'm prejudiced but there is so much to do and so many convenient day trips available that you really need to up the day count there.

Don't buy a rail pass and don't buy train tickets in advance. You can buy train tickets from multilingual vending machines at the train station and not have to worry about cancelled trains.

If you haven't done it already read the following

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34698212

You may want to reconsider travelling with your friends and I think everybody else has made clear what to do about the money situation.

Jawohl, but we call it the 6BQ5. Very popular in late-generation tube audio amps. Many audiophiles rate the last Dynacos using EL84s the best amps there ever were. The Mullards and Philips valves are highly prized, with Telefunken close behind.

Do you all agree on &quot;not&quot; takign a camcorder? Will be traveling with parents and wish to &quot;take&quot; one but not sure.

I would be amazed if we <i>all</i> agreed on <i>anything</i>.

Personally, I wouldn't take a camcorder, but many people like to make sweeping panoramae of famous venues. The result will inevitably stink unless the camera is mounted on a locked-down tripod and panned slowly.