TRIP REPORT
Jul 5th, 2003 | 04:21 PM
#1
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TRIP REPORT
It's 4:30 a.m. in San Francisco and, being jetlagged and unable to sleep, this seems as good a time as any to write up a trip report for the forum. Thanks to everyone who responded to my many questions as I planned this trip for my family. It was a big success for all four of us and being able to use this forum helped me with the planning. Grazie!
THE BASICS: We are a family of four: mom, dad and 2 teenage girls ages 13 and 17. We had 17 days and went to Paris, Florence and Venice. We had a open-jaw ticket on British Airways, flying from San Francisco to Paris (change planes in London); Ryan Air to Milan and British Airways home from Milan (change again in London). We rented an apartment in Paris but had hotels everywhere else. The trip cost a bloody fortune but I decided I?m too old to stay in hostels or pensiones where I'm sharing a bath with strangers.
We tried to keep the costs down whenever we could but we also realized that this was a once in a lifetime trip and we weren't going to have much fun if our main goal was to save a few euros at every turn. I did a lot of research before we left but only took the Rick Steves' Paris and Italy books with me, along with some info I had printed off this forum. Although we love good food and had every intention of tracking down all the great restaurants we had heard about, most of the time we just looked around and ate someplace with reasonable prices near where we were when we got hungry! We tended to eat dinner earlier than the natives and in simple style. Although we had some so-so meals there was nothing terrible and sometimes, we had surprisingly wonderful food. Can't say that any of it was particularly cheap though but, coming from SF, that was no surprise to us.
We had no disasters, no train strikes, no pickpockets, no serious illnesses (sore feet don't count!)
For any of you hesitating to travel to Europe with your teenagers, please take my advice and don't wait any longer! Your kids are going to see some wonderful things and you will all be richer for the experience.
Oh, and last but not least, none of us speak French or Italian and we got along just fine. Both the French & Italians were very nice to us -- even with our language deficiencies.
THE BASICS: We are a family of four: mom, dad and 2 teenage girls ages 13 and 17. We had 17 days and went to Paris, Florence and Venice. We had a open-jaw ticket on British Airways, flying from San Francisco to Paris (change planes in London); Ryan Air to Milan and British Airways home from Milan (change again in London). We rented an apartment in Paris but had hotels everywhere else. The trip cost a bloody fortune but I decided I?m too old to stay in hostels or pensiones where I'm sharing a bath with strangers.
We tried to keep the costs down whenever we could but we also realized that this was a once in a lifetime trip and we weren't going to have much fun if our main goal was to save a few euros at every turn. I did a lot of research before we left but only took the Rick Steves' Paris and Italy books with me, along with some info I had printed off this forum. Although we love good food and had every intention of tracking down all the great restaurants we had heard about, most of the time we just looked around and ate someplace with reasonable prices near where we were when we got hungry! We tended to eat dinner earlier than the natives and in simple style. Although we had some so-so meals there was nothing terrible and sometimes, we had surprisingly wonderful food. Can't say that any of it was particularly cheap though but, coming from SF, that was no surprise to us.
We had no disasters, no train strikes, no pickpockets, no serious illnesses (sore feet don't count!)
For any of you hesitating to travel to Europe with your teenagers, please take my advice and don't wait any longer! Your kids are going to see some wonderful things and you will all be richer for the experience.
Oh, and last but not least, none of us speak French or Italian and we got along just fine. Both the French & Italians were very nice to us -- even with our language deficiencies.
Jul 5th, 2003 | 04:27 PM
#2
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PARIS: We had 6 nights and so we rented an apartment in the Marais from rentparis.com, which has been mentioned several times on this forum. It cost us $169 per night and the girls had separate beds with one on a sofa bed and one in a sleeping loft. Mom and dad took the bedroom which was tiny but comfortable. The apt was a great idea as it gave us a comfortable place to stay in a wonderful neighborhood as well as a full kitchen, large bath and a washer/dryer. Although it was warm in Paris it wasn't super hot so we didn't mind that there was no A/C. However, I could see that that could be an issue if you were there during a heat wave. They were a great company to work with although they don't take credit cards which was a bit inconvenient for us. I can't say enough about staying in the Marais -- it was a perfect location for us. We were just around the corner from the Pompidou and a Metro station. We could walk to Notre Dame, the Picasso Museum, good cafes, etc. It isn't a super touristy area so we really got a feel for normal Parisian life and didn't feel so much like the fumbling American tourists that we were!
Favorite sights: Musee D'Orsay for impressionist art and the great café on the 4th fl. (don't miss the view from the terrace!); the view from the top of Notre Dame; the Eiffel Tower at night; Versailles on fountain day. Make sure you buy museum passes -- kids are free to all the museums and they go with you in the museum pass entrance and avoid the long lines --even at Versailles.
Favorite eats: The café at the D'Orsay was surprisingly good and convenient. The Creperie Beaubourg, 2 Rue Brisemiche, behind the Pompidou by the sculpture fountain was a favorite for all of us. We ate a lot of baguette sandwiches on the go and had fabulous pastries every morning for breakfast, courtesy of the many patisseries around our apartment.
Favorite sights: Musee D'Orsay for impressionist art and the great café on the 4th fl. (don't miss the view from the terrace!); the view from the top of Notre Dame; the Eiffel Tower at night; Versailles on fountain day. Make sure you buy museum passes -- kids are free to all the museums and they go with you in the museum pass entrance and avoid the long lines --even at Versailles.
Favorite eats: The café at the D'Orsay was surprisingly good and convenient. The Creperie Beaubourg, 2 Rue Brisemiche, behind the Pompidou by the sculpture fountain was a favorite for all of us. We ate a lot of baguette sandwiches on the go and had fabulous pastries every morning for breakfast, courtesy of the many patisseries around our apartment.
Jul 5th, 2003 | 04:31 PM
#3
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FLORENCE: We had four nights. To avoid a 12 hour train ride to Italy, we flew Ryan Air from Beauvais Airport outside of Paris, to Bergamo Airport, outside of Milan. It was probably the right thing to do (and REALLY cheap) but Ryan Air was an experience. Both airports were extremely inconvenient to get to and from and our 1 hour flight was 1 hour late leaving which made a very long day. You have to be really careful about the weight limits for baggage on Ryan or you will pay through the nose.
We took the train from Bergamo to Parma for the night and actually considered getting up early the next morning and heading to the Cinque Terre for the day but, because we were tired, ended up just seeing some sights in Parma instead and then heading off to Florence by train. Next time, we will try to spend a couple of days in Parma as it was wonderful -- great food & laidback atmosphere. How can you go wrong in the land of prosciutto, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar and prosecco wine! We stayed the night at the Hotel Button which was perfectly fine and had a quad room for 130 euro (no breakfast).
The train trip from Parma to Florence turned out to be interesting because, despite our best intentions, we got on the wrong platform and missed our Eurostar when it arrived in Parma. The folks at the station told us we could take the next one but never mentioned that we had to pay a reservation change fee of 3 euro each. When the ticket man came around on the next train and found that we were on the wrong train, he charged us 8 euro each as the fee increases if you do it on the train instead of at the station! Well, live and learn. We were also, accidentally of course, sitting in 1st class when we had paid for 2nd but he took pity on us as the train was quite full and said we could stay where we were.
We took the train from Bergamo to Parma for the night and actually considered getting up early the next morning and heading to the Cinque Terre for the day but, because we were tired, ended up just seeing some sights in Parma instead and then heading off to Florence by train. Next time, we will try to spend a couple of days in Parma as it was wonderful -- great food & laidback atmosphere. How can you go wrong in the land of prosciutto, parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar and prosecco wine! We stayed the night at the Hotel Button which was perfectly fine and had a quad room for 130 euro (no breakfast).
The train trip from Parma to Florence turned out to be interesting because, despite our best intentions, we got on the wrong platform and missed our Eurostar when it arrived in Parma. The folks at the station told us we could take the next one but never mentioned that we had to pay a reservation change fee of 3 euro each. When the ticket man came around on the next train and found that we were on the wrong train, he charged us 8 euro each as the fee increases if you do it on the train instead of at the station! Well, live and learn. We were also, accidentally of course, sitting in 1st class when we had paid for 2nd but he took pity on us as the train was quite full and said we could stay where we were.
Jul 5th, 2003 | 04:33 PM
#4
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In Florence, we stayed at the very comfortable Cimatori Guest House at 14 Via Dante Alighieri, around the corner from Dante's house, next door to the American Express office (www.cimatori.it) (You can buy train tickets at the AE ofc and avoid going back to the station). It was a great location on a nice, quiet street and the host, Domenico, was very helpful and nice. We had two rooms for 115 euro ea/with breakfast. This was pricey for us but I had a difficult time finding anything else that looked quite as nice. The guest house has five rooms but the building is mid-17th century with thick walls so everything is very quiet. We had good, quiet A/C and boy, did we need it! It was in the 90's everyday in Florence and we could not have survived without having A/C. Our main goal with each activity became avoiding the heat whenever possible. We ate in a lot of restaurants chosen primarily because they had A/C! We wanted to do a day trip to Siena but decided against it because of the heat and the 1 hour steamy bus ride. Hope we can do it on the next trip!
Favorite sights: The David at the Accademia (make sure you make a reservation at all the museums that you want to go to!); climbing to the top of the Duomo dome; the Ferragamo Shoe Museum (I guess it's a girl thing...) My husband loved the science museum with all the inventions by Leonardo & Galileo.
Favorite eats: Za Za restaurant across from the mercato centrale. They have great pasta and ribbolito which is a Tuscan stew made with white beans. We had gelato AT LEAST once a day and sometimes twice. We decided that Vivoli was a bit overrated. Trattoria Sabatini (recommended by Rick Steves) in the Oltrarno neighborhood, across the Arno, at 2 Via Pisana, was delicious and a real bargain. A restaurant called "Yellow" near our hotel on Via del Proconsolo was a big hit -- good pizza and A/C!
Favorite sights: The David at the Accademia (make sure you make a reservation at all the museums that you want to go to!); climbing to the top of the Duomo dome; the Ferragamo Shoe Museum (I guess it's a girl thing...) My husband loved the science museum with all the inventions by Leonardo & Galileo.
Favorite eats: Za Za restaurant across from the mercato centrale. They have great pasta and ribbolito which is a Tuscan stew made with white beans. We had gelato AT LEAST once a day and sometimes twice. We decided that Vivoli was a bit overrated. Trattoria Sabatini (recommended by Rick Steves) in the Oltrarno neighborhood, across the Arno, at 2 Via Pisana, was delicious and a real bargain. A restaurant called "Yellow" near our hotel on Via del Proconsolo was a big hit -- good pizza and A/C!
Jul 5th, 2003 | 04:36 PM
#5
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VENICE: We took the Eurostar to Venice for a 4 night stay and, this time, we had no train problems. We stayed at the Hotel Bernardi, 4366 Calle dell'Oca, near the Ca'd'Oro vaparetto stop, off the Strada Nova, the neighborhood's main drag. ([email protected]). We had two large connecting rooms with a shared bath in the annex. I gather that the annex is much nicer, newer and more spacious than the main hotel but I never did see any of the regular hotel rooms so I don?t know for sure. The annex has good, quiet A/C and very large rooms. It was 170 euro for both rooms w/breakfast. It felt like having an apartment because we were around the corner from the hotel and completely independent -- that suited us just fine. I was really pleased with the neighborhood because, although it was conveniently located, it seemed a bit off the beaten track with fewer tourists than other areas.
Venice is the most amazing place and a real surprise for all of us. It was the one place that I hadn?t researched very much. I didn't have a list of things to see and I really didn?t know what to expect. Well, we managed to fill up our days just fine, wandering around like tourists do, relaxed and adventurous at the same time. With no cars, vespas and bikes, it was a welcome change from the noise and heat of Florence. It was quite a bit cooler and that made everything more enjoyable. We spent one day on Lido, at the beach, swimming in the beautiful Adriatic -- easy to get to and very clean.
Favorite sights: Murano island which appears at first glance to be an overdone tourist trap but has some of the most beautiful, artistic glass around. Get off the main street and don't go into the shops that just have little glass animals in the windows! The Guggenheim museum on the Grand Canal; St. Mark's Square, right before dark with the water rising. The best sights for us were the Venetians themselves: the old folks who have never lived anywhere else, the kids playing soccer in the stone plazas (no grassy fields for them!) -- the Gondoliers who, anywhere else would look ridiculous but, in Venice are gorgeous...
Favorite eats: The Trattoria ai Frati on Murano, 4 Fondamenta Venier, near the Ponte Longo bridge, across from the Mazzega glass factory; the Trattoria da Alvise at the Fondamente Nove with a view of the Lagoon (order "spaghetti in the paper bag" -- it's delicious).
PADOVA: We made a stop on our way to Milan for our trip home to see the Scrovegni Chapel with the Giotto frescos (www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it). This was recommended by Rick Steves and I'm really glad that we did it. You have to make reservations but it is easy to do on the web and the chapel is within walking distance of the train station, making it a great day trip from Venice. The frescos were painted in 1302 and just restored. What a treat!
MILAN & HOME: Our flight out of Milan was at 8:00 a.m. so we stayed at the Hotel Cervo, right at the airport. Nothing special about that place and way overpriced at 93 euro a room but it is convenient. If anyone has another airport hotel at Malpensa to recommend, I would love to hear about it. Our tiny rooms were filled with mosquitoes when we got there! Well, I can say that before checking in we were feeling a bit sad about our trip being over and after spending a night at Hotel Cervo, we were more than ready to leave Italy for the comforts of home.
This was a great trip for all of us and thanks again to all of you who offered me your insights and experiences. As soon as we can afford another trip, we are going back!
Venice is the most amazing place and a real surprise for all of us. It was the one place that I hadn?t researched very much. I didn't have a list of things to see and I really didn?t know what to expect. Well, we managed to fill up our days just fine, wandering around like tourists do, relaxed and adventurous at the same time. With no cars, vespas and bikes, it was a welcome change from the noise and heat of Florence. It was quite a bit cooler and that made everything more enjoyable. We spent one day on Lido, at the beach, swimming in the beautiful Adriatic -- easy to get to and very clean.
Favorite sights: Murano island which appears at first glance to be an overdone tourist trap but has some of the most beautiful, artistic glass around. Get off the main street and don't go into the shops that just have little glass animals in the windows! The Guggenheim museum on the Grand Canal; St. Mark's Square, right before dark with the water rising. The best sights for us were the Venetians themselves: the old folks who have never lived anywhere else, the kids playing soccer in the stone plazas (no grassy fields for them!) -- the Gondoliers who, anywhere else would look ridiculous but, in Venice are gorgeous...
Favorite eats: The Trattoria ai Frati on Murano, 4 Fondamenta Venier, near the Ponte Longo bridge, across from the Mazzega glass factory; the Trattoria da Alvise at the Fondamente Nove with a view of the Lagoon (order "spaghetti in the paper bag" -- it's delicious).
PADOVA: We made a stop on our way to Milan for our trip home to see the Scrovegni Chapel with the Giotto frescos (www.cappelladegliscrovegni.it). This was recommended by Rick Steves and I'm really glad that we did it. You have to make reservations but it is easy to do on the web and the chapel is within walking distance of the train station, making it a great day trip from Venice. The frescos were painted in 1302 and just restored. What a treat!
MILAN & HOME: Our flight out of Milan was at 8:00 a.m. so we stayed at the Hotel Cervo, right at the airport. Nothing special about that place and way overpriced at 93 euro a room but it is convenient. If anyone has another airport hotel at Malpensa to recommend, I would love to hear about it. Our tiny rooms were filled with mosquitoes when we got there! Well, I can say that before checking in we were feeling a bit sad about our trip being over and after spending a night at Hotel Cervo, we were more than ready to leave Italy for the comforts of home.
This was a great trip for all of us and thanks again to all of you who offered me your insights and experiences. As soon as we can afford another trip, we are going back!
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Jul 6th, 2003 | 08:59 AM
#10
Joined: Jan 2003
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Nice report...well planned trip! Your kids will never forget it (and you've probably turned them into independent travellers now for the rest of their lives, too!)
Isn't it funny how "the trip of a lifetime" suddenly turns into the greatest introduction to future trips?
Isn't it funny how "the trip of a lifetime" suddenly turns into the greatest introduction to future trips?
Jul 7th, 2003 | 02:51 PM
#12
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Venice was crowded, but less with Americans than we expected. A lot of Europeans, including Italians from other areas. However, if you can get away from St. Marks & the Grand Canal, there are far less tourists of all varieties.
Sep 15th, 2003 | 03:53 PM
#13
Joined: Mar 2003
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laurelt:
We also were lucky enough to eat at Za Za in Florence.
It was easily the best meal I've ever had.
The meal lasted about three hours -- I had Carbonara for a first course, a mushroom pizza for a second course and my friend and I split a 1 kg Florentine steak for the main course. Everything was delicious. After the meal, our waitress came over with four Limoncellos, saying that the owner was so impressed with our eating performances that he wanted to buy us a round of drinks.
Four people, including wine and tip, and the meal was only 160 euro.
I highly recommend Za Za for anyone heading to Florence.
We also were lucky enough to eat at Za Za in Florence.
It was easily the best meal I've ever had.
The meal lasted about three hours -- I had Carbonara for a first course, a mushroom pizza for a second course and my friend and I split a 1 kg Florentine steak for the main course. Everything was delicious. After the meal, our waitress came over with four Limoncellos, saying that the owner was so impressed with our eating performances that he wanted to buy us a round of drinks.
Four people, including wine and tip, and the meal was only 160 euro.
I highly recommend Za Za for anyone heading to Florence.
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