We just returned from a wonderful 2-week trip to Italy. The main purpose of the trip was to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. Four of us traveled together the entire time and we met up with more friends in Florence where we held the birthday celebration. Out of the four of us it was my third trip to Italy, the birthday celebrant's second and the first time for the other two. The Italian "virgins" went to Rome two days before us so they would have more time to see the major sites. We used frequent flyer points for business class seats from Atlanta to Rome and on the return Venice-JFK-Atlanta. <BR>I'll break the report down by city. <BR>ROME: <BR>We arrived in Rome in the morning and were picked up by a pre-arranged driver(www.rome-shuttle.com). The driver was there waiting for us and we were driven in an older, but very clean Mercedes sedan to our hotel. The cost was 80,000 lira. We stayed at the Hotel Santa Chiara (www.albergosantachiara.com). The hotel has a great location just behind the Pantheon. Our room was small and somewhat charmless but it had a comfortable bed and a spacious, modern bathroom. The rate included a buffet breakfast which was pretty good and consisted of assorted breads, cereals, meats, cheeses, juice, coffee, tea and some fruit. The hotel staff were efficient and seemed happy to make restaurant reservations and give directions. I really liked the hotel's location and based on that and the fact that the rates weren't outrageous I'd stay there again. <BR>I had reserved tickets to the Borghese Gallery (www.ticketeria.it) and we enjoyed seeing that. You are only allowed 2 hours to tour the gallery and only 30 minutes to see the painting collection so you have to go pretty fast. <BR>One night we had dinner at Risorante Abruzzi which is a casual, family run restaurant. Another night we dined at Ditirambo which is also a casual place but with more of a bistro-type atmostphere. <BR>We went to the Jewish Ghetto for lunch one day in search of the much celebrated restaurant Sora Margherita. After finally locating the address we found out it had been closed for several months. We ended up having lunch at La Taverna Del Ghetto and were able to have the fried artichokes and some of the other items we'd come to the neighborhood to have. <BR>We tried to sample lots of gelato (for research purposes, of course) and decided our favorite in Rome was Giolitti. <BR>Rome remains one of my favorite cities and our two days there were only enough to have me looking forward to our next visit.

NAPLES: <BR>We took an early morning Eurostar train from Rome to Naples. The Eurostar trains are very nice and a great way to travel. Our hotel in Naples was the Hotel Miramare and it is a delightful place. We arrived at the hotel around 11:30am and our rooms weren't ready so one of the very nice people there escorted us up to the roof terrace where they served us coffee and pastries. In just a little while we were taken to our rooms. Although I'd reserved just standard rooms they upgraded us to deluxe rooms overlooking the Bay of Naples. The room was large and had 2 sets of French doors opening to balconies. The decor is charmingly quirky. The bathroom was large and very well-equipped and included a jacuzzi tub and washclothes(a rarity in Italy). The Miramare is located in a very pretty part of the city and is also a short walk to the Royal Palace and Opera House. We had lunch at Brandi-which is one of the famous Neopolitan pizzerias. We were a little disappointed in our pizzas-they were pretty good but the crusts were a little soggy. Our first afternoon the hotel arranged for us to have a driver who took us to some of the important sites around the city. This was a good (and easy) way for us to see the city in a short time. <BR>We had a nice dinner at a Mimi Alla Ferrovia which has a lively atmosphere and good food. The stuffed pepper antipasto was especially good. Later in the evening we had coffee at the very beautiful Gran Caffe Gambrinus which was just a short walk from the hotel. <BR>The hotel serves breakfast on the roof garden and it's a very good buffet consisting of several breads and pastries, meats, cheeses, wonderful fresh fruits, cereal, juice and coffee. <BR>We wanted to see Pompeii and one of the hotel staff arranged for us to get a driver to take us there and then to drive us along the coast. Our driver, Sergio, took us to Pompeii where we got a guide to give us a 2-hour tour. This may not be enough time for some people but with just 4 of us with our own guide it was fine. After the Pompeii tour Sergio drove us to Amalfi. The drive was very pretty and Amalfi is a very charming town. We wandered around there for awhile and then went just outside of town for lunch. We ate a place called Trattoria da Ciccio. The decor is rather non-descript but the view is wonderful and the food was excellent. It was also here that we sampled Limoncello for the first time. We then drove along the coast through Positano stopping to see the view and take photographs just outside of town. Our last visit was to Sorrento where we wandered around and did a little shopping before Sergio took us on the scenic drive back to Naples. <BR>We had dinner at La Cantinella which was right by the hotel. It is considered one of Naples' finest restaurants. The decor was sort of a strange mishmosh of styles but the food and service were very good. After dinner we wandered around the area, peeking in some of the other hotels and then strolled over to the small marina area and sampled some Neopolitan gelato. <BR>We really liked what we saw of Naples and the area. We especially liked the Hotel Miramare and its people.

CAPRI: <BR>We took a hydrofoil from Naples to Capri where we were met by a porter from our hotel who took our baggage and got us tickets for the funicular. We stayed at the Casa Morgano (www.casamorgano.com) which is owned by the same family as the famous large Hotel Quisissana. Casa Morgano is about a 5-minute walk from the main area of Capri Town in a beautiful area of gorgeous villas. The hotel is small and beautiful. It sits on the side of a hill and you enter on the top floor and then go down to the rooms and the pool. Our rooms had beautiful sea views. The rooms are very nice in a simple, elegant way. The floors are white tile and the walls are painted white so the feeling is that of serene coolness. Off the bedroom was a spacious terrace where you can lie and take in the scenery. The bathroom was very large and filled with all the bells and whistles. There is a beautiful pool area where they serve lunch. There is no menu-you just tell the waiter what you want and they fix it for you. <BR>Capri has excellent shopping for those on a big budget-lots of designer shops(ie Ferragamo, Prada, Gucci etc). We had good dinners at Al Grottino and La Capannina plus excellent pizza at Aurora. We hired a driver to take us over to Anacapri and show us some sites on the island. His name is Salvatore and he was most charming and informative. <BR>Capri is a beautiful and delightful spot. We liked it best at night when we felt we had it to ourselves. We were able to take advantage of off season rates as well. The weather was exceptionally nice while we were there.

FLORENCE: <BR>We left Capri via hydrofoil to Naples and then went to the Naples train station for our trip to Florence. We left Naples at 11:30am and arrived in Florence at around 3:00pm. <BR>Our hotel in Florence was the Monna Lisa (www.monnalisa.it). It is in an old palazzo and is very beautiful. Our room was fairly spacious and had pretty furniture and paintings. The bathroom was a bit on the small side. The hotel staff ranged from very nice and helpful to borderline grumpy. There is a pretty bar area in the hotel which served as a nice meeting place for our other friends who were in Florence. In our group we had people staying at the Helvitia and Bristol which is a more expensive, luxury hotel in a great location to the more moderate Hotel Paris which our friends liked to the more bargain priced Hotel Mario's which seemed like a great budget choice. <BR>We had a very fun and good meal at La Giostra. It's been written about quite a bit on this board and was an excellent choice for our group. We also had dinner one night at La Baraonda and Beccofino(which was and excellent more modern, trendy place). We had a nice lunch at a place called Dante-they had good pizzas and salads. <BR>The big event for us in Florence was the 50th birthday celebration. I had checked out quite a few options for the event and ended up going with a woman named Majla at a company called Accidental Tourist (www.accidentaltourist.com). There were 15 of us for the event. We were picked up in two vans and taken to a beautiful estate where we had a wine tasting and sampled olive oil made on the estate. We then went for a dinner in a lovely private villa. The charming owner Massimo greeted us at the door and his lovely wife, Martina cooked the dinner. We had an opera singer and harpist perform beautiful Renaissance music. Before dinner we were served rose petal wine made from roses on the estate. Martina prepared a lovely dinner which was accompanied by lots of wine. When the singer began to sing an Italian accented version of "Happy Birthday" a dessert complete with sparklers, roses and 50 candles was presented. The dessert was a chesnut cake which took Martina 6 hours just to peel the chesnuts. We had birthday toast with Prosecco and then coffee. We then reluctantly returned to the vans and back to Florence. <BR>The next day we arranged for a driver and guide to take 10 of us to Montalcino and Pienza. Our guide was a very well informed woman named Paola (www.florencetour.com). She took us for a winery tour and tasting at the Altesino Winery. This is one of the places where they make the excellent Brunello di Montalcino wine. <BR>We had lunch in Pienza at a place called La Cucina di Florella. Pienza is a very pretty little town with some significant architecture. We also spent some time in the charming town of Montalcino.

VENICE: <BR>After our wonderful time in Florence 5 of us took an early train to Venice. We arrived in Venice around 11:30 and, since there were 5 of us to split the cost, took a water taxi to the hotel. We stayed the Hotel Flora (www.hotelflora.it). It was everything one wants in a small hotel but rarely find: charm, friendly staff and great location. If you prefer big, American-style hotels then the Flora's not for you. But if you like a place with lots of charm and character then you'll love the Flora. <BR>One of the highlights for us in Venice was seeing the Biennale exhibits. Lots of countries have pavilions representing contemporary art. The exhibits ranged from beautiful to provacative to weird but it was very interesting to see and experience. <BR>We had a pretty good dinner at Al Mercanti and an excellent (albeit expensive) one at Da Fiore. <BR>And then it was time to come home... <BR>If anyone has any questions I'll be glad to try and answer them. I got lots of useful information from this board.

Excellent net report Steve. You had obviously done your homework, especially on your choice of hotels. Did you get most of your info here?

I am several shades of green. This trip sounds divine and your selections were excellent! <BR> <BR>Thanks for sharing your experience. <BR> <BR>BC

Great report Steve, sounds like a great trip. Could you please provide the costs of the hotels you stayed at as well as the costs for the various drivers and guides you used. Thanks.

Thanks for such an informative report. I am interested in your experience in Venice at the Biennale. Is it all in one place or spread throughout Venice? Do you pay separate admission to each pavilion? Where were most of the things you saw?

Here are the answers to the questions: <BR>Bob-I gathered information from many sources including this board. I also save articles from magazines and keep those on file. I also used personal recommendations from friends and acquaintences as well as some guidebook information. <BR>Vern- I can give you the costs of the hotels because I still have the confirmations on those. Some of the drivers and guides we hired onsite so I don't have the exact amount. <BR>Hotel Santa Chiara(Rome)-390,000 Lira per night <BR>Hotel Miramare(Naples)-410,000 Lira per night <BR>Casa Morgano (Capri)-400.000 Lira per night <BR>Hotel Monna Lisa (Florence)-530,000 Lira per night <BR>Hotel Flora (Venice)-400,000 Lira per night <BR>Our guide in Tuscany charged $70 USD per hour. I can't remember exactly how much the drivers in Naples were but I believe for the afternoon trip it was around $80USD and the day trip was about $200. The driver in Capri charged us around $25USD per hour. The airport shuttle in Rome was 80,000 Lira and the water taxi from the hotel to the airport in Venice was 150,000 lira. <BR>Julie- I'm afraid the Biennale ends tomorrow so if you want to see this one it's too late. The main pavilions were mostly at Giardini, there were also some at the Arsenale and some others scattered thoughout the city. You bought one ticket to get into all the exhibits. We just had time to see all the ones at Giardini.

Greetings! <BR> Excellent info! My husband and I are planning approx 12 days in Italy. What areas would you suggest? I am thinking (the obvious) Rome, Florence, Capri and Tuscanny? I just began my research. What do you think? <BR>Sharon

Hi Steve, liked your report. I can't open your web site for the hotel in Capri (either one you mentioned there). <BR>Any more info on how to book where you had your birthday dinner? I looked up the site you mentioned, and I suppose you just request it? Thanks.

Sharon: We did all of our trip in 12 days, but if it's your first visit to Italy you may want a little more time in some of the "biggies". I might suggest you concentrate on Rome, Venice and Florence with perhaps a day trip or two from Florence to some of the Tuscan countryside. <BR>Mae: Try this link for Casa Morgano:www.caprionline.com/morgano <BR>For the birthday celebration I just emailed the company and told them what I wanted. After that I just worked out the details with Majla who is one of the owners of the company.