Seeking advice for Rome and Italy
 

I am helping friends plan trip and seek advice:

Flying to Rome Oct. 12; plan to spend a few days in Rome and considering taking six night tour of Northern Italy through Italiatours.com (Florence, Venice and Como.

Anyone has experiece, good or bad, with Italiatours.com?

What area or areas in Rome would be best to stay. By best I mean comfortable for seeing the tourist sites and be safe. I am uncomfortable about staying in the Termini area. i had thought of staying in the Vatican City area. I am trying to keep the costs between $100 to $150 and there seems to be nice places in that range (Holiday Inn, Quality Inn among others. I might try priceline, maybe. I have had terrific success in the US but priceline lumps all of central Rome in one area and, as stated, jittery of being around the train station. They do offer bidding in the Vatican City area. All suggestions and comments welcome.

How much are cabs? My friends can walk some but trudging all over Rome is simply too much stress on bad feet (they are about 60) and cabs and metro lines will be used.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to respond.

If your friends can't walk very far, then suggest you find accommodation near a metro station, although buses are readily available as well (bus routes available online). Vatican area would be fine but is a fair way from Termini and lots of the other sites. However, the historical centre of Rome is quite compact and readily walkable, especially with regular stops for coffee!

You could try wwww.booking.com as another alternative for accommodation. Giving a budget in dollars is of limited help as we don't know what kind of dollars they are and you'll be paying in euros anyway. Maps of Rome are readily available on the internet, at least enough to figure out the rough location of a hotel (and often a street view as well). Personally, I think staying at a chain hotel doesn't give you a great feel for the city you're visiting.

Can't comment on the tour company or cabs as I've never taken either in Italy.

Good luck.

ps. 60 is young! well at least young-ish.

Vatican City is not a good area for sightseeing. Many people would prefer the train station area over the Vatican area.

>>>(Holiday Inn, Quality Inn among others<<<

There are no Holiday Inns or Quality Inns in the historic center or close. You would have to take buses or taxis to reach anything.

You will not find Priceline useful for Rome unless you are bidding 5 star which will be over your budget.

Your budget is very low for a major city. That is only 80€ - 122€. You might find a convent for 80€.

Vatican city is good or stay near the spanish steps. Also, there is a tram that runs through most of the tourist areas in Rome that is pretty inexpensive, if I remember correctly its around a euro for a ticket. You can buy tickets at most coffee shops. I don't know that I would stay near Termini unless you want to rely heavily on public transportation. If so, you can pretty much get to any of the sights from Termini via public transport.

I actually don't think the Termini area is that bad at all and it's very convenient. What have you heard that makes you hesitate? And I'm guessing you'll be out seeing the sights most of the time.

The Vatican area is nice so long as you stay somewhere near the metro line, as mentioned. We stay in that area because it is quiet, relatively safe, and usually offers parking. The prices are also a little bit lower. You can take the metro to any major attraction. A cab ride is about 10-15 euros, at most, depending on where you are coming from.

If they aren't bringing a car, I would suggest looking at the small hotels near the Trevi fountain as well. I wouldn't worry about being near the main station. All of the stations are in the middle of main areas.

Hi floydvic, I'm not familiar with the tour company you mentioned but 2 days in each of those places doesn't seem like much. Plus it's at least 2 hours between the cities so that takes away from the 2 days, eh? It may be fine to get a "taste" of the places though.

On our first visit to Rome, we stayed in Novo Domus hotel. It was very basic but in a quiet area and a straight shot to the Vatican Museum entrance. Upon googling, I see it is calling itself 4-star now so maybe they re-did it. If you google hotels near vatican, piles and piles show up on the map.

FYI: http://www.novadomushotel.it/