BoulderCO

Thanks to our recent trip to Italy I am also now able to answer questions such as: what do you do if your rental car breaks down at the Autogrille on the A1, how to successfully navigate through the local hospital emergency room when you think you have broken your ankle, and how to survive a hurricane in Tuscany.
We are just back from our third trip to Italy and can answer these questions and more. I would also like to thank everyone on this forum that helped to make this trip otherwise a great success. I dont have the energy to write a trip report right now but will list our itinerary in case it may prompt questions.

Flew Denver to Rome via Frankfurt on Lufthansa
Five nights in Sorrento at Imperial Hotel Tramontano
Three nights in Rome at Albergo del Senato
Four nights near Pienza at L Olmo
Last night at Rome airport Hilton
Flew Rome to Denver via Philadelphia on US Air

All hotels were fantastic and (almost) all of the meals were terrific. Our visit to Pompei and sitting on our terrace overlooking the Bay of Naples were certainly highlights.

ssachida

Hi Boulder, I'm sorry you had so much trouble on your trip. Congratulations on getting through it.
When you are feeling better, tell us how you did indeed cope with hurricanes and car break downs and hurt ankles.
During my trip to Italy in Nov., I may drive from Sorrento to Rome via Pompeii and Naples (stopping of to see the archeological museum, but not actually seeing much of Naples). Given the traffic and parking situation in Naples, would you recommend the drive or should I just drop of the car in Sorrento and train it from there?

ssachida

stopping, not 'stopping of''
drop off, not 'drop of'

BoulderCO

You could take a train or actually two trains. The local train (Circumvesuviana) will take you from Sorrento to Pompei in about a half hour. Then you could hop back on for another half hour to Naples. From there you can take the Eurostar to Rome. That train takes 1 hour, 45 minutes. I guess it all depends how much you need the car.

ira

Hi SS,

>Given the traffic and parking situation in Naples, would you recommend the drive or should I just drop of the car in Sorrento and train it from there?<

Highly not recommended.

>...stopping off to see the archeological museum, but not actually seeing much of Naples. <

That's too bad. Naples is a rather interesting city.

nanb

Well, it certainly sounds as if you had a Trip to Remember!
The hospital visit would be the part that interests me the most.

At least you made it home??

ira

Hi Boulder,

Oh please, give us a full trip report.

ssachida

Ira, I know, I wish we had more time for Naples, but thats an excuse for another trip some day
Boulder, thanks for the feedback. Dropping of the car the previous day in Sorrento or the next day in Rome costs the same thus saving us 3 train tickets (approx 75E total). Thats pretty much the only reason we are holding on to the car.

AutoEurope seems to be flexible on the drop off date /location since cost is fixed. Maybe we can decide on the fly to drive or suck it up and pay the extra cash for the train if its that highly un-recommended.

Thanks again.

Betsy

BCO, oh please hurry and recuperate from your jet lag. This is one trip report I can't wait to read! Hurricane in Tuscany??

BoulderCO

Yes, they called it a hurricane in Tuscany. We sat down to eat lunch in a restaurant in Montepulciano when suddenly the rain started. We were right next to a balcony door and we watched as waves of rain slammed against the door. I have never seen such hard rain in my life, and the wind was blowing it sideways. A river of water flowed down the street as the people ran for shelter. Water began to pour in to the restaurant under the balcony door flooding the back of the restaurant and then the lights went out. Fortunately we already had our food and as soon as we finished eating it was over. When we left the center of town we saw trees toppled over and fire trucks everywhere. A huge tree in the park had toppled over onto a building and an ambulance was there taking injured people out. It took us nearly an hour to get out of the city center in our car. On our drive back to Pienza there was damage everywhere - large branches lying in the road, signs bent in half, etc. Our hotel pool was full of debris and the heavy marble tables around the pool had been smashed to pieces. The power remained out in the region for about four hours. The locals we talked to were quite upset about all the damage.

jabez

We survived a car breakdown ON the autostrada during a driving rain storm this May. No one stopped for hours as I stood with an umbella trying to blow away. My wife said she never was more scared.
I learned an important lession. If renting a car, make sure you have a cell phone.

BoulderCO

Fortunately our car was at a rest stop when it failed to start so there were payphones nearby. Avis was not particularly helpful when I called their emergency number. They said they would send a tow truck but wouldn't tell me where they would take us or how they would get us another car if it couldn't be fixed right away. In fact they told us we could call other Avis locations to try to find another car. Isn't that their job? Anyway the tow truck driver arrived and began loading our car on the back of his truck. He spoke no English so couldn't tell us where he was taking us or what would happen. We hopped in the truck with him and he drove us about ten miles to a tiny garage in some sleepy little village. A mechanic there opened the hood and discovered that the battery cable was disconnected. He tightened it up and we were on our way. Again thanks, Avis, for not bother to perform even a cursory inspection under the hood before giving us the car.

DianeP

Hello Boulder co
Just wanted to let you know you weren't alone in the hurricane. We were driving from San Quirico to Florence on the S222 when the rains and wind hit. It was a terrible drive and really hard to visit the wineries. We could barely see to drive. I fondly refer to that drive at our day from "hell"
Looking forward to a trip report
Diane

Covington

Boulder, please tell me about Sorrento. We will be leaving on Friday to fly into Rome, take the train to Naples, meet a driver and then staying in Sorrento for four nights. I know we want to go to Pompeii but should we take a guided tour or do that on our own? Any suggestions for things to do and day trips while in Sorrento would be appreciated. And we will be going to Tuscany later - that hurricane sounded pretty scary.

BoulderCO

We also used a driver from Naples to Sorrento but after we found out how easy it is to use the local Circumvesuviano train we opted not to use a driver for the return trip. Saved about $70 and the train ride only took about an hour. Our ride down took two hours due to heavy traffic. There are guides available for group tours at Pompeii but we didn't use one. When you walk in to the main entrance after leaving the train station look over to the left before you get to the ticket counter. There you will find free maps and detail guides to the main items of interest. All of the highlighted areas (about 70, I think) are numbered so it is easy to reference the guide to learn about each one. We spent three to four hours and felt like it was enough but you could certainly spend all day. Take a ferry to Capri - very nice. You take a funicular (kind of a combination cable car/train) to the village on top. We also took a bus to Positano as there are very few ferries going there. I would recommend getting up early and traveling there by ferry. The bus ride was not much fun and we waited forever for a bus to take us back. Sorrento is touristy but a fun town. It reminded me more of Mexico or South America than Italy in some ways. Lots of British tourists (and pubs) there for some reason. Make sure to visit Marina Grande - the old marina area. It's a neat place to walk around in the morning or go for a drink in the afternoon. It's like a quaint little fishing village located below the main part of town.
Diane - I knew someone else on Fodors must have been caught in that storm. I think it was on September 16th (Thur).

Covington

Thanks for the info, Boulder.

Budman

Just got back from Tuscany myself -- stayed in Montepulciano and heard about the "hurricane." One of the locals described it as a heavy downpour in one concentrated area that literally tore a vineyard to shreads - grapes, leaves, and everything torn from the vines. All the remainder survived for their day in the bottle.

BoulderCO, a lot of your tips and tips from others were "right on" and made our trip very successful. Glad you had a great time -- sorry about the other stuff.

prbailey

Greetings! Glad you enjoyed your trip dispite the weather related events.

My daughter and I are taking a trip to Rome this November. We are booked at the Napoloen. The Del Senato is almost twice the $$ but I have been considering splurging on the Del Senato. In your opinion, is the Del Senato worth this expense? Would you go to the trouble of just staying their the last night of the trip?

Thanks for your view point.

Sincerely,
Paula

cigalechanta

Boulder, What an adventure!!! Thanks.

BoulderCO

Paula

I don't know anything about the Napoloen so can't really compare the two. Albergo del Senato is certainly a very nice hotel. Rooms tend to be small but they are well-appointed with comfortable beds and modern baths. The location is unbeatable and the rooftop bar is fun (although it may not be open in November). As much as I like it, I personally don't think I would switch from another hotel for just one night there. Check their website - it shows exactly what the hotel looks like. It is www.venere.it/it/roma/delsenato/. Download their brochure for more pictures. Ignore the photo of the huge room - it is an expensive suite but there are pictures of the regular rooms on the website.