Trip Report From Italy
 

We just returned from a fabulous trip to Italy 2 weeks ago and I want to thank everyone for their great information on this board. It helped make our trip so much easier.<BR><BR>I would have posted earlier but my computer crashed when we returned home! <BR><BR>Here is our Itineray:<BR><BR>3 Days Rome<BR>4 Days Siena/Tuscany<BR>2 Days Florence<BR>2 Days Venice<BR>1 Night Milan<BR><BR>We did so many things and saw so many wonderful things it would take forever to post them all, but here are some highlights. Feel free to reply if you would like more detail on specifics.<BR><BR>Hotels<BR>Westin Excelsior Rome - Fabulous! Very helpful staff and beautiful rooms.<BR>Casali Della Aiola - Beautiful working winery about 12 km north of Siena in a little village called Vagliagli. Peaceful and quiet. Great breakfast included and very reasonable.<BR>Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta in Florence - Beautiful and a great location. The staff was very helpful.<BR>Hotel Bisanzio - Nice rooms and great location. The staff was very helpful and a nice breakfast was included.<BR>Hilton Milan - Only there for the night but a beautiful hotel within walking distance from the Central Train station. Great rooms.<BR><BR>Favorite Sites and towns:<BR>The Colliseum, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, Siena's Plaza and Duomo, San Gimignano, Florence everything, and Venice everything. <BR><BR>Great Places to eat:<BR>Rome - Papa Baccus. We ate there 2 times! Marvelous food and service.<BR>Vagliagli - La Taverna Di Vagliagli, beautiful old building and the most wonderful bean soup I have ever eaten.<BR>Siena - Le Logge. Amazing!<BR>Florence - La Giostra. Great food and atmosphere, but check your bill carefully.<BR>Venice - Fiaschetteria Toscana<BR><BR>Travel Tips:<BR>Pack light because you end up walking almost wherever you stay, particularly in Venice. We both took 22in. rollaboard suitcases and a backpack each. We did dry cleaning once and then just washed things out in the hotel room and it worked out just fine. If you are traveling by train between cities as we did you definitely don't want tons of luggage. Also a pair of good walking shoes! I had Borns and they were wonderful.<BR><BR>Don't waste your money on a water taxi in Venice. Just take one of the vaporettos. They were easy to use and inexpensive. <BR><BR>Get lost in Venice and explore!<BR><BR>Drink lots of the local wines and eat any local produce you can! It was all wonderful.<BR><BR>I would also recommend Fodors Guide and Rick Steve's guide. They both were great! I would also recommend buying the Streetwise City maps and take them with you. They are invaluable!<BR><BR>Well there are a million other things I could tell you, but I don't want to go on too long. <BR><BR>Feel free to ask me questions about anything!<BR><BR>

Hi Paula. Leaving Thursday for Italy. What was the weather like in Rome, Venice and Florence?

Hi, I have just returned from all those places.<BR><BR>Rome was chilly but fine on the most part - the days were mostly sunny but there was still a coolness in the air and a light coat was necessary. It was very cold and wet on the day we left (Friday 8th). <BR><BR>Florence was gorgeously sunny on every day except one, but again a light coat was necessary morning and late afternoon and the nights were cold.<BR><BR>Venice was drizzly on 2 out of the 5 days we were there and cold. Coats were necessary and the evenings very cool. Weather was sunny the day before we left and the day we left so it may have improved somewhat since. You will need warm clothes however.

Paula,<BR><BR>Did you feel you had enough time in each city? We are doing a similar trip next month. We will be in Italy for 12 days / 11 nights. We are flying into Milan and out of Rome. Our plan was to spend 1 night in Milan (we have reservations at the Hilton), 3 in Venice, 3 in Florence and 4 in Rome. We will also be traveling by train. Do you think this is a good plan and would you add or subtract time in any particular city? This will be our first time to Italy so we are excited to see as much as possible. If it also helps, we are in our late 20's and like to be on the go. Thanks in advance!

Hi Paula - <BR><BR>That sounds like a fantastic trip! We are visiting in February and staying for three - four days at Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta. I would love to hear details about the rooms, neighborhood, etc. <BR><BR>Thank you.

Well let me try to respond back to each of the questions.<BR><BR>About the weather I would suggest just checking the weather channel site. We had great weather the entire time, except one morning of rain in Florence. At night it was cool so a sweater was nice. Since we were there 3 weeks ago the weather may be even cooler now.<BR><BR>I felt we had enough time in each city. Rome and Florence were busy, busy, busy, so the days in Tuscany and Venice were a nice change of pace. You could definitely be busy in both those places too if you choose, but take time to enjoy the music and atmosphere of St. Marks square on a sunny afternoon. I will never forget it! The Bellini's are so good! But not cheap! We are both in our 30's so we like active as well.<BR><BR>As far as the Hotel Morandi alla Crocetta it was very nice. It is off the beaten path and you would hardly know it was there. Our room overlooked the street but was never noisy because it was so quite at night. We had a queen size bed and there was also a twin bed in a little loft area. There was a small sitting area with a couch and TV. There was also a wonderful heated towel rack in the bathroom that was great for drying socks! The staff was very helpful and made dinner reservations for us each night.<BR><BR>One thing I forgot to tell folks to do is make your museum reservations prior to going in Florence. The lines for those without reservations were huge! And we just walked right in! Definitely worth the small service charge. I think we made ours through Weekend in Firenze.