richardab

So much to see, so much to eat. You need at least 5 days.

Check out Rome on my websight...

http://richardab.home.comcast.net/Fl...Departure.html

lilleyl2

Nikki, sorry about your negative experiences in Italy, with the pickpockets and taxis.

I think it's great that you posted your positive and negative impressions of Italy. It kind of gives new travellers to a country a sort of "heads-up"--I know I was more aware of gypsies from the posts I've read here and elsewhere...

To avoid being pickpocketed, I kept very little money in my baggy jeans jacket, and kept EVERYTHING in the breast pockets (both inside and outside) of my denim jacket. When we finally did venture on the Metro, we emptied all our pockets except for the euros needed for the train ticket (and my sister took charge of that), and when we were standing at the station waiting for trains, we usually form a triangle--there were 3 of us, with our backs toward each other. We also never hopped on trains that looked crowded. On some of the forays on the Metro, I was also carrying a camera bag, and I always slung it across my chest AND kept one hand on the bag itself. I don't know if these techniques worked well or we were just lucky, but we did not have a problem with the public transport system in Rome.

Lil

JenniferW

I think the only foolproof way to not be pickpocketed is to wear a moneybelt inside your pants or shirt.

That is what we did when we went to Italy....we never had any problems and I didn't have to constantly watch my pockets or purse (I just took a cheap purse with me sometimes only to hold Kleenex, lip balm, etc)

I think moneybelts are the best bet to insure this.

RDixon

Thanks Nikki for helpful trip report. Question about cell phone use in Italy-was it less expensive than getting long distance calling cards or just easier to use in an emergency (perhaps difficult to find pay phones?)

marcy_

It is definitely cheaper to use calling cards, but a cell phone is very convenient.
I like having my cell phone because we can give people at home our number and they can reach us at any time if they need to. (I guess that could be construed as a negative, depending on how you look at it!)

We have bought a GSM cell phone (about $100), and then get SIM cards for each country we visit, with prepaid calling time. I think calls to the US run about 50 cents a minute in Italy.

RDixon

Thanks Marcy. And Richard, great site! And Ira, multimap is great. I will make good use of it.

Nikki

RDixon, our cell phones were not the least expensive option for calling the US, or even for calling within Italy. Through T-Mobile, our international rates are $1.00 per minute. We only brought them because it was less expensive than renting cell phones would have been for the very limited use we intended to give them. We wanted to have cell phones in case we split up and needed to reach each other, and possibly to call for a restaurant reservation while touring, and they certainly came in handy in an emergency.

Since we used the phones so little, we probably spent about $20.00 on cell phone calls, including the credit card reporting, which compared favorably with the other options.