Trip to Italy
 

My husband & I will be taking our 18 yr. old grandson to Venice, Rome, & Pompeii for 12 days. Do you have any suggestions?

If you want hotel suggestions, you need to tell us your budget.

If you want sightseeing suggestions, you need to tell us your interests. Have you asked your grandson what he wants to see and do?

What time of year is your trip? How will you be visiting Pompeii? As a day trip from Rome? Will you be traveling entirely by train?

Consider flying into Venice and out of Rome. This is called an open jaw ticket (multi-city). It costs about the same as a roundtrip ticket but saves the time (and money) you would spend backtracking to your arrival city.

Better into Venice, out of Rome, than vice versa because Venice is more relaxing when you're getting over jet lag, and flights out of Venice connecting to the US leave very early, giving you less time on the ground.

If you click on Destinations on this web page above under the Fodors logo, you can get lots of suggestions about travel in Italy.

Hello, thetravellers. I so agree with Mimar suggestion regarding your flights.

And as a grandmother of grandsons (they grow up so fast, don't they?) I would suggest that you encourage your grandson to do research too regarding your trip. I have so enjoyed taking my grandsons on trips with me and getting them involved has sure added to the fun, for them and me. Well not so much after three hours in a computer store, lol, but I think you get the idea! Best regards.

For Venice - once you get into town, your first order of business is to get a transit pass for as long as you need. YOu G-son will need to get a "Rolling Venice" Card, then get a three day Youth trasit pass. The Rolling venice card gets many discounts around town for youth. Check out http://www.hellovenezia.com/jsp/en/index/index.jsp
There is a very good Naval Museaum in town if he likes military stuff. - Also, if there is any chance at all that he might like opera, seeing an opera at Teatro la Fenice is highly suggested.

Also, please see http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...italy-trip.cfm

In talking to our grandson, he seems open to anything. We are on a tight budget & thought 2 full days in Venice & Florence, 5 days in Rome & a day in Pompeii & travel by train to Florence & Rome as an extra part day. He does seem interested in the historic part of Italy.

I don't know where you're coming from, but if it involves a long overnight plane flight and a change of several time zones, you will be tired the first few days in Italy. And likely to fall asleep at odd hours. It's always good to allow for this at your first stop.

Venice can be expensive. One inexpensive option for accommodations is convents. Here's a link on such for all Italy: www.monasterystays.com/index.php. If you search this forum, you can find more information on staying in convents.

Another possibility is hostels. They house all ages and have some private rooms.

As for Pompeii, you can do this as a (long) daytrip from Rome, either by tour bus or by yourselves. In the latter case, you'd take the train to Naples and, inside the main Naples train station, walk downstairs to catch the Circumvesuviana commuter train to Pompei Scavi.