Touring Italy
Feb 8th, 2004, 05:39 PM
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Touring Italy
My daughter will be graduating college May 1st. I want to take her to Italy for her graduation present. I don't know where to begin. Should I go through a travel agency or try to book everything by myself? I've only been to Europe once, and it was my Freshman year in college, some thirty years ago. Is one month too long and too costly? I'm open to any and all suggestions.
Feb 8th, 2004, 05:53 PM
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What a great present and a wonderful way for parent-child bonding. Planning a trip to Italy can be overwhelming. Before you do anything else, I would suggest you familiarize yourself with Italy by going to the library or bookstore and reading through several guidebooks. There are so many fascinating guidebooks written for all types of travelers.
Study the maps. Read about the main cities, different regions, places of interest. Look at the pictures. See what interests YOU. Some of the guidebooks have suggested itineraries. Some have beautiful photos. Once you are more familiar with the topic, it will help you narrow down the possibilities for your trip.
Don't try to cram too much into one trip. But before you decide on using a travel agent, going with a tour, or doing it yourself, please read as much as possible so that you can make educated choices according to your own personal preferences.
As far as time and cost is concerned, only you can decide that for yourself. At a minimum, you will need to consider airfare, hotels, food, transportation, admissions to places of interest. Don't forget to figure in the exchange rate of the Euro. If you go in the summer, you will need to make sure the hotels are air-conditioned. If you find all this too overwhelming and involves more research than you want to do yourself, you should consult with someone more knowledgable.
Study the maps. Read about the main cities, different regions, places of interest. Look at the pictures. See what interests YOU. Some of the guidebooks have suggested itineraries. Some have beautiful photos. Once you are more familiar with the topic, it will help you narrow down the possibilities for your trip.
Don't try to cram too much into one trip. But before you decide on using a travel agent, going with a tour, or doing it yourself, please read as much as possible so that you can make educated choices according to your own personal preferences.
As far as time and cost is concerned, only you can decide that for yourself. At a minimum, you will need to consider airfare, hotels, food, transportation, admissions to places of interest. Don't forget to figure in the exchange rate of the Euro. If you go in the summer, you will need to make sure the hotels are air-conditioned. If you find all this too overwhelming and involves more research than you want to do yourself, you should consult with someone more knowledgable.
Feb 8th, 2004, 06:11 PM
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Thanks so much, Suntraveler! My problem is I'd love to go back to Florence (I spent three weeks there in 1968). But I would also like to go to Venice, Capri, Lake Como, Sicily, Rome and Tuscany, not necessarily in that order
I've just ordered Fodor's Exploring Italy, and Fodor's Italy the Complete Guide this evening on half.com. I've been scanning through Tour Crafters. You're absolutely correct, this can be overwhelming. Looks like I have a lot of homework ahead of me. Thanks for advice and the words of encouragement. Linda
I've just ordered Fodor's Exploring Italy, and Fodor's Italy the Complete Guide this evening on half.com. I've been scanning through Tour Crafters. You're absolutely correct, this can be overwhelming. Looks like I have a lot of homework ahead of me. Thanks for advice and the words of encouragement. Linda
Feb 8th, 2004, 06:30 PM
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May I share with you this recent posting - - see http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34465613 - - if you wish to read it in its original context.
=====================================
Author: SalB
Date: 02/06/2004, 12:56 am
Message: Rex, I'm curious. I've seen a couple postings where you suggested "consider reducing your trip to 18-20 days." Do you have a reason for this?
------------------------------------
Author: rex ([email protected])
Date: 02/06/2004, 07:44 am
Message: I think this is paternalism in me, coming out. I know it's the advice I would give our daughters (they are now well beyond first-time travelers), or their various friends, not to mention their two-dozen-plus (first) cousins - - roughly a 50:50 split of "never-beens" and "been-befores".
My thinking is mostly, but not entirely, financial. In many cases, the posts I read here sound like a young person who has managed to get $5000 into his/her pocket, and doesn't want or need any other major purchases in life right now - - or alternatively, figures that career and earning power are going pretty well, and it's time for a little self-reward, not to mention horizons expanding - - so, maybe this is the amount of debt, credit card (quel horreur!) or otherwise that he/she is willing to take on. In either scenario, it's a sizable figure for most under-30's, measured in time to save it up or pay it off.
I say, scale back... and don't make it necessary to wait 5, or even 10 years until you can go again. I suppose I aspire to turn more (young) people into _lifelong_ repeat intenational travelers, and lifelong "world-perspective citizens" (boy, that sounds awfully lofty, doesn't it?)
I think that "life on the road", living out of a suitcase, especially solo can be longer, harder and lonelier, after two or three weeks than most novices anticipate. This COULD lead to bad decisions, or perhaps less crucial (but still not trivial), bad "value" decisions.
In my own situation - - and maybe I am still trying to teach our children this... time is money. I am essentially self-employed; I get no "paid vacations" (I would argue that nobody really gets paid vacations - - their employers just withhold pay to maintain an cash-flow of salary during worker absence - - but that's another story). So for me - - but to a lesser degree, for our daughters also - - 20 days traveling means only 10 income-producing days that month; 18 means 12, etc.
These are all very personal opinions, based on value systems that work for me and my family. I try to always offer these perspectives with verbs like "you should consider".
====================================
Beyond this, I fully support these two premises:
1. You really DO have to hit the books (I also have a recent poston the importance of books in this early stage - - and "visualizing"
2. You CAN do this without a travel agency - - it's what this forum, and "we" the "community" that it includes - - it's "what we're all about": giving you the self-confidence and the vantage point from all of our collective shoulders to put together a trip that is truly yours (and hers, in this case).
Best wishes,
Rex
=====================================
Author: SalB
Date: 02/06/2004, 12:56 am
Message: Rex, I'm curious. I've seen a couple postings where you suggested "consider reducing your trip to 18-20 days." Do you have a reason for this?
------------------------------------
Author: rex ([email protected])
Date: 02/06/2004, 07:44 am
Message: I think this is paternalism in me, coming out. I know it's the advice I would give our daughters (they are now well beyond first-time travelers), or their various friends, not to mention their two-dozen-plus (first) cousins - - roughly a 50:50 split of "never-beens" and "been-befores".
My thinking is mostly, but not entirely, financial. In many cases, the posts I read here sound like a young person who has managed to get $5000 into his/her pocket, and doesn't want or need any other major purchases in life right now - - or alternatively, figures that career and earning power are going pretty well, and it's time for a little self-reward, not to mention horizons expanding - - so, maybe this is the amount of debt, credit card (quel horreur!) or otherwise that he/she is willing to take on. In either scenario, it's a sizable figure for most under-30's, measured in time to save it up or pay it off.
I say, scale back... and don't make it necessary to wait 5, or even 10 years until you can go again. I suppose I aspire to turn more (young) people into _lifelong_ repeat intenational travelers, and lifelong "world-perspective citizens" (boy, that sounds awfully lofty, doesn't it?)
I think that "life on the road", living out of a suitcase, especially solo can be longer, harder and lonelier, after two or three weeks than most novices anticipate. This COULD lead to bad decisions, or perhaps less crucial (but still not trivial), bad "value" decisions.
In my own situation - - and maybe I am still trying to teach our children this... time is money. I am essentially self-employed; I get no "paid vacations" (I would argue that nobody really gets paid vacations - - their employers just withhold pay to maintain an cash-flow of salary during worker absence - - but that's another story). So for me - - but to a lesser degree, for our daughters also - - 20 days traveling means only 10 income-producing days that month; 18 means 12, etc.
These are all very personal opinions, based on value systems that work for me and my family. I try to always offer these perspectives with verbs like "you should consider".
====================================
Beyond this, I fully support these two premises:
1. You really DO have to hit the books (I also have a recent poston the importance of books in this early stage - - and "visualizing"
2. You CAN do this without a travel agency - - it's what this forum, and "we" the "community" that it includes - - it's "what we're all about": giving you the self-confidence and the vantage point from all of our collective shoulders to put together a trip that is truly yours (and hers, in this case).
Best wishes,
Rex
Feb 8th, 2004, 09:07 PM
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What a great gift! Here are some additional thoughts:
Where to begin - research. Get out every book your local library has on Italy and the different regions. Once you've narrowed your interests down, you may want to buy more books that concentrate on specific areas.
Especially with a month-long trip, try to vary your destinations between city and country, and different geographies -pretty much what your "want" list looks like now. Definitely do open-jaws flights (where you fly into one city and leave from another). Consider your timing a week or two weeks at a time; it's less daunting than a month. A month seems like a long time until you divide it by where you want to go. (And where does your daughter want to go?) If you went to Florence, Venice, Capri, Lake Como, Sicily, Rome and Tuscany, that's approximately 4 days per location; that sounds good, but you need to include travel time. Consider what your interests are (history, culture, people-watching, food, wine, the beach, etc.) in picking places too. BTW, my parents went to Sicily for 10 days last year, and LOVED it (the history of the island sounds amazingly diverse). But it took a long time to get there and back.
I have always booked everything for our trips (European or U.S.) myself. But you have additional factor here - time. There's not much time to plan and book hotels if you want to travel right after your daughter graduates. You might want to contact a travel agency that specializes in Italy to help you out with some of your plans.
A month isn't necessarily too long. After I graduated from grad school, I spent a month in Europe - 2 weeks in France with my mom, then she went home and my husband joined me for 2 weeks in Switzerland and Austria. It was a great trip, and I haven't had the time in my life to take a month-long trip since then.
About that long of a trip. Try to make sure that some of your stops are for longer periods of time, so you can feel settled-in once in a while. Also, do picnic meals and that kind of thing. On my month trip, I got very tired of waiting for most of my meals.
Too costly? That's up to you. If you stay in more rural areas, or rent an apartment (city or country), it'll be cheaper than a hotel every night. Picnic meals and the like can provide variety and save money. And buying food from a local market is great fun!
Where to begin - research. Get out every book your local library has on Italy and the different regions. Once you've narrowed your interests down, you may want to buy more books that concentrate on specific areas.
Especially with a month-long trip, try to vary your destinations between city and country, and different geographies -pretty much what your "want" list looks like now. Definitely do open-jaws flights (where you fly into one city and leave from another). Consider your timing a week or two weeks at a time; it's less daunting than a month. A month seems like a long time until you divide it by where you want to go. (And where does your daughter want to go?) If you went to Florence, Venice, Capri, Lake Como, Sicily, Rome and Tuscany, that's approximately 4 days per location; that sounds good, but you need to include travel time. Consider what your interests are (history, culture, people-watching, food, wine, the beach, etc.) in picking places too. BTW, my parents went to Sicily for 10 days last year, and LOVED it (the history of the island sounds amazingly diverse). But it took a long time to get there and back.
I have always booked everything for our trips (European or U.S.) myself. But you have additional factor here - time. There's not much time to plan and book hotels if you want to travel right after your daughter graduates. You might want to contact a travel agency that specializes in Italy to help you out with some of your plans.
A month isn't necessarily too long. After I graduated from grad school, I spent a month in Europe - 2 weeks in France with my mom, then she went home and my husband joined me for 2 weeks in Switzerland and Austria. It was a great trip, and I haven't had the time in my life to take a month-long trip since then.
About that long of a trip. Try to make sure that some of your stops are for longer periods of time, so you can feel settled-in once in a while. Also, do picnic meals and that kind of thing. On my month trip, I got very tired of waiting for most of my meals.
Too costly? That's up to you. If you stay in more rural areas, or rent an apartment (city or country), it'll be cheaper than a hotel every night. Picnic meals and the like can provide variety and save money. And buying food from a local market is great fun!
Feb 9th, 2004, 01:31 AM
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You have already received much wisdom and good advice here. May I add my "I second the motion" to what previous Fodorites have said re: length of stay?
I firmly believe speaking from experience that one month is too long. My daughter (now 22) and I have travelled a lot together in Europe, both with and without Daddy and with and without her friends. Being away from home especially in a culture where the language is different makes for a lot of intimacy. Only you can say when enough becomes too much. But unless you have lived in eachother's pockets for the past 4 years, you will find that nerves fray and a great time can turn sour with too much togetherness.
My suggestion? Either cut back to Rex's 18-20 days or build in time-outs when you each do your own thing for 4-5 days at a stretch or you risk the dreaded Mother-Daughter burnout slanging match! (Been there, done that...)
I firmly believe speaking from experience that one month is too long. My daughter (now 22) and I have travelled a lot together in Europe, both with and without Daddy and with and without her friends. Being away from home especially in a culture where the language is different makes for a lot of intimacy. Only you can say when enough becomes too much. But unless you have lived in eachother's pockets for the past 4 years, you will find that nerves fray and a great time can turn sour with too much togetherness.
My suggestion? Either cut back to Rex's 18-20 days or build in time-outs when you each do your own thing for 4-5 days at a stretch or you risk the dreaded Mother-Daughter burnout slanging match! (Been there, done that...)
Feb 9th, 2004, 02:50 AM
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Great advice Rex and Lexma. Rex, thanks for sending the posting. I found it both informative and interesting. Lexma, you brought up some thoughts that I hadn't even considered, especially the ones regarding the length of stay and the possiblity of driving each other to distraction! That hadn't even crossed my mind. Thanks so much. My problem, and my daughter's, wanting to cram in as much as possible for fear of not getting back for a long time. I love Europe, especially Italy. My problem has always been financial. I would have gone in a heartbeat if it were not the fact that I was a single mom with three kids. All but one are grown now. I could never even consider taking a vacation with all three, much less a trip to Europe. I've dreamed of going (both figuratively and literally) all these years.
My daughter is feeling the same urgency. However, hers is more, "I'll be starting my career and won't have the time for years." Her asperations are to be CEO of a huge company. With her accomplishments and GPA in college, along with her athletics and involvement in so many activities, sororities (both honor and social)etc. as well as working while in college, I know she'll go far.
Opps! Need to take my youngest to High School. Will continue later.
My daughter is feeling the same urgency. However, hers is more, "I'll be starting my career and won't have the time for years." Her asperations are to be CEO of a huge company. With her accomplishments and GPA in college, along with her athletics and involvement in so many activities, sororities (both honor and social)etc. as well as working while in college, I know she'll go far.
Opps! Need to take my youngest to High School. Will continue later.
Feb 9th, 2004, 04:23 AM
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LJ, I meant to thank you for your thoughts regarding length of stay. I was rushing to post a reply, and I neglected to let you know how much I appreciated your words. Mother-Daughter burnout is something to be avoided at all costs. I want our trip to be filled with fond memories. I definitely will reconsider our lenth of stay abroad. Many thanks!
Feb 9th, 2004, 04:33 AM
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You're very welcome. But first and foremost, thank yourself. You've obviousy achieved much, in providing the supportive and nurturing setting for your daughter to able to enjoy these successes, past, present and future.
I'm going to go out on a limb, and speculate that you haven't discussed this with her much (or not at all) yet. It will be time to engage her i the planing VERY soon. The time to get your air travel purchased at a best price might be today (big sales on Alitalia, if they didn't already end at midnight).
Considering your visions of her destiny in the circles of high achievement, why not engage her in the plan to set up the same plan/reward/goal for the other two kids. Could their be any greatr honor you could give her, than to shave off a week or ten days - - and put that money in a fund for the sibs' graduations? And I'll be even bolder. Any chance their father(s) would match that nest egg?
Have a great trip. Come back here often for more support and nurturing, as the plan evolves.
I'm going to go out on a limb, and speculate that you haven't discussed this with her much (or not at all) yet. It will be time to engage her i the planing VERY soon. The time to get your air travel purchased at a best price might be today (big sales on Alitalia, if they didn't already end at midnight).
Considering your visions of her destiny in the circles of high achievement, why not engage her in the plan to set up the same plan/reward/goal for the other two kids. Could their be any greatr honor you could give her, than to shave off a week or ten days - - and put that money in a fund for the sibs' graduations? And I'll be even bolder. Any chance their father(s) would match that nest egg?
Have a great trip. Come back here often for more support and nurturing, as the plan evolves.
Feb 9th, 2004, 05:05 AM
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Thanks, Rex! My daughter had planned on spending her final semester of college studying in Australia. When we found out my parents were terminal and I moved out of state to be with them for 18 months, she decided on her own to forego her plans. She had been an RA, but moved back home (we live 10 minutes from Florida Southern College where she attends)to be with her younger sister.
I knew she really wanted to go to Europe. She had expressed an interest on more than one occasion. Since we are of Italian descent, and because of my love for the country, she shared her desire to visit the country. Hearing me speak fondly of Switzerland, I know she would like to go there as well as Spain.
You are absolutely right. We have spoken regarding this, but I only decided last evening that I was taking her. So you are right on the money. I have a lot to do with not that much time.
My youngest gave me that "what about me look" when I told her what we were going to do for her sister's graduation present. I told her not to worry, that when she graduated from college we would take a similar trip if she wanted. Her eyes brightened. She knew we too would have 'our time' together, and she has something to shoot for and look forward to.
As far as father goes....he wouldn't even supply health care insurance for kids, even though the courts ordered it. He made no contribution to her going to a Catholic College Prep school for 6 years. He hasn't given her a penny for college. Not even a hundred dollars in spending money. Neither one of us would even consider asking him for any money toward her trip. Although he is very well off financially, he's really missed the boat where his children are concerned. That's what happens when one thinks of only themself. Unfortunately, in this case, children were hurt emotionally. No telling what scars, emotions, etc. they might carry the rest of their lives. Sadest part, he missed spending time with incredibly loving, talented, gifted children. Something he will never be able to recapture.
But we are so excited, and my head is spinning, knowing there is little time and much to prepare for. Thanks again for all info.
Linda
I knew she really wanted to go to Europe. She had expressed an interest on more than one occasion. Since we are of Italian descent, and because of my love for the country, she shared her desire to visit the country. Hearing me speak fondly of Switzerland, I know she would like to go there as well as Spain.
You are absolutely right. We have spoken regarding this, but I only decided last evening that I was taking her. So you are right on the money. I have a lot to do with not that much time.
My youngest gave me that "what about me look" when I told her what we were going to do for her sister's graduation present. I told her not to worry, that when she graduated from college we would take a similar trip if she wanted. Her eyes brightened. She knew we too would have 'our time' together, and she has something to shoot for and look forward to.
As far as father goes....he wouldn't even supply health care insurance for kids, even though the courts ordered it. He made no contribution to her going to a Catholic College Prep school for 6 years. He hasn't given her a penny for college. Not even a hundred dollars in spending money. Neither one of us would even consider asking him for any money toward her trip. Although he is very well off financially, he's really missed the boat where his children are concerned. That's what happens when one thinks of only themself. Unfortunately, in this case, children were hurt emotionally. No telling what scars, emotions, etc. they might carry the rest of their lives. Sadest part, he missed spending time with incredibly loving, talented, gifted children. Something he will never be able to recapture.
But we are so excited, and my head is spinning, knowing there is little time and much to prepare for. Thanks again for all info.
Linda
Feb 9th, 2004, 05:19 AM
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Hi linda,
May I suggest that 3 weeks would be just right for
Rome, Florence and Venice or
Rome, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily or
Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre or
Florence, Venice, Amalfi Coast (my favorite)
Have a great trip.
May I suggest that 3 weeks would be just right for
Rome, Florence and Venice or
Rome, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily or
Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre or
Florence, Venice, Amalfi Coast (my favorite)
Have a great trip.
