Vacation Fall 2012 in Italy
 

Hi,
I am new to this forum and have been using searches to try to narrow my vacation plans down and cannot seem to find exactly what i am looking for. It may seem like alot of wants.......but i have actually narrowed it down. We live in Texas and our travels have gone no further than Hawaii.

I have searched and searched about guided tours, vacation packages, reviews on them, ripoff.com and so on and so forth......and i am so overwhelmed with the information. I have a stack of packages from goaheadtours.com, touritalynow.com, smartours.com, ricksteves.com, EuropeanDestinations.com....and can't seem to quite choose one.

Our guestimated time to travel is btwn mid-October to mid November.....about a 20 day trip give or take a day or two.

Can someone direct me to a company that can help with the following arrangements?

1. I am not against a fully guided tour (that would allow us to take a break if we wanted to).
2. I would like a package that handles all the details (airfare, transfers, hotels, trains and buses).
3. I would like to be in Rome on our 25th Anniversary which falls on November 2.
My husband does not want to drive at all. (Not knowing the roads, traffic conditions, traffic laws and blah blah blah....to keep worry free more or less).
4. We do have a budget...i would like to keep our travel package under $4,000 a person so that we will have $$$ for food expenses, souveniers and whatnot.
5. I am a little concerned about picking a decent hotel....it doesn't have to be fancy, but I don't want to be afraid to step out of the room or onto the street either.
6. If we get the opportunity to fish that would be super awesome.

What i would like:
1. Land in Sicily - visit Palermo
2. (Train?) to Naples ....visit Pompeii and Capri
3. (Train?) to Rome (Be at this location on November the 2nd)
4. (Train?) to Tuscany region...visit Florence and Pisa
5. (Train?) to Venice
6. Fly to Paris, Francis for the last day or two.

At first i had Macedonia, Athens, Sparta, Santorini included and then decided to make Greece a 2013 vacation.

Any suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Sandra :)

Sandra,

With the destinationa you name above, I think you will have a very hard time finding a tour company that does all of these on one tour.

Also, know in advance that if you are doing a tour, you will be on a bus for your travel between destinations.

Travel in Italy is really very easy, especially if you want to visit the destinations you name. All are simple via train.

Skip Paris and keep this an all Italy trip. 2 days in Paris isn't nearly enough anyway and you might as well get the most for your money by changing destinationa less.

Also, I wouldn't recommend traveling to Sicily just to visit Palermo on it's own. It's your trip and you certainly can if you want, but you need to consider costs.

Start by looking at train travel times and costs on www.trenitalia.com.

Also, help us by telling us what had caused you to pick the destinations you list. Art, history, architecture, scenery, famous sights?

Do you mean $4000 per person to include airfare? That's really tough for a 20 day trip. Also, do your 20 days include flight days to/from the US?

Know that you can do a trip to Italy for MUCH less if you do it yourself. If you pack light, you don't need anyone to handle your luggage. If you ask questions here and do your homework, you don't need anyone to arrange taxis or anything at all!

I've done 4 trips to Europe on my own using the wonderful advice from Fodorites and information from trip reports here. You can do it too!

I agree, drop Paris and you could do the rest nicely in 20 days. To strat in Palermo you will likely have to connect via Rome of Milan, but why not? Also, from Palermo you may decide to fly to Naples but stay in Sorrento. Nice trip---keep plugging.

Thanks, for a quick response!!

Paris- I could do without going here this round. We did decide to cut out Athens because of the time and expense...and you are probably right about Paris. It was just kind of a throw in .....and when we talked about Paris, my husband did say well...if we are going to France..we might as well visit Normandy....saving this for a future trip would most likely be best!!

Thank you for the train schedule...my concern about us taking the trains is.....the ease of getting to a train station and figuring out how to use the system.

History and architecture is the biggest reasons...When in Rome i would love to visit Lake Nemi, The Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, The Pantheon and many others...and i cannot leave out the food!

I do want to visit the island Capri and Pompeii....Sicily and Palermo are not one of the really high items on my list.
Since they are so far south....your right about it cutting out alot of the time and expense.

Most of the packages that i have printed out the itineraries are btwn $3,000-$5,000 but they don't have exactly what i am looking for......i may end up doing one of the packages just to make the plans easier.

I would love to make all the arrangements myself...i am so afraid of not getting something right.

Do you know anything about going through a travel agency...would they be able to plan all the details out at a reasonable price ?

4 trips to Europe...that is awesome! What hotels in Italy have you stayed at that you would recommend?

Thanks for all your suggestions..they have helped!
Sandra :)

Bob,

Thank you too for your quick response...I am definetly going to keep at it...I have been non-stop looking for 2 solid weeks! Very excited....When i started planning...i figured i would start at one point and work my way up or down....I need to read more into the transportation system...
I think you too are prob right about skipping Paris...another time :)
Sandra :)

Sandra, I'm also going to chime in here to encourage you to do this on your own. You will find good advice here and by studying some guide books. For me, the planning and research was half the fun.

Don't know what your budget is for hotels per night but I was just in Rome in April and stayed at the Hotel Raphael just off Piazza Navona and it was wonderful. We walked everywhere except a few times at night when we went further afield for dinner and then we took taxis which seemed reasonably priced.
Another hotel that has been recommended to me and is a little cheaper is Hotel Artemides on via Nazionale.

The first time we went to Rome and took our teenage son (2008) we stayed at the Relais Le Clarisse in Trastevere which is a very old part of Rome across the Tiber river from the historical centre. It was quite a reasonable price, included a lovely breakfast and the staff was very helpful. Again we were able to do a lot of walking from there or we took the tram.
You can find all these hotel websites through Google.Sorry I'm not savvy enough to include the links.

I agree you should save Paris for another trip, on our first trip there we had nine days and did not tire of it or run out of things to do.

I think you could also save Sicily for another time and perhaps stay in Sorrento and see Pompei and Capri from there.

Also to save backtracking you might want to book an open-jaw trip, for example: fly into Venice and fly home from Rome , or vice versa. Just be aware that most flights back to North America from Venice leave very early in the morning.

And keep asking questions here. Also check out people's trip reports to Italy. Starting with Bob the Navigator's, he has great ones and good advice.

Good luck, you can do it!!

You may want to take a look at "Untours" which offers independent travel with support from local staff. They provide the essentials for the trip, accommodations (usually apartments), transportation within the country (train or rental car), transfers to and from the airport, and orientation upon arrival. You are then on your own to do as you please yet there is a support staff member available to help with logistics. It is a great compromise for those who would like some direction but do not want to be tied to a tour group/itinerary. Website is www.untours.com, go to "Untours Samplers" which allows you to pick different areas for one week stays. We did the Prague, Budapest, Vienna untour a few years ago and it was very easy to navigate with all of the information and direction that was provided. Have fun with your planning.






www.untours.com

Do reduce your fears of the train system, you might begin by reading the excellent description and instructions for the Italian train system at this link:

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/index.htm

I would not use a travel agency to plan and book your trip unless it claimed to be an Italy specialist PLUS I would want to hear personal reviews from their clients.

Here's a link to lots of info on trains in Italy, written by a long-time, reliable Fodors poster (GAC) and a former poster who lives in Italy (Alice Twain).

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/

Raincitygirl,
Thank you for your suggestions...i will look into those hotels! It has been fun trying to plan, but at the same time I am not all that sure I will plan efficiently :) It is good to know that the taxi prices are reasonable! I do not mind long walks at all.
Thanks for the tip on Sorrento too! I probably will save Paris for another round!!!
The Tiber River...i can't wait to see that as well!
Thanks so much for your help!!

Cjogo, i will check into the untours..i have never heard of them :)

Ellenem and Jean, thank you both for the train link..i have saved it...it will help learning more about the train system....I've used the subway in Japan and the train in Chigago...somehow the ones in Europe sound complicated!

Thank you too for the tip on travel agents, i will keep this in mind.

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to respond....anything else you think of will be gr8!

Sandra :)

Dennis_Joseph,
Thanks, yes, i maybe taking a closer look at maps and mileage will help me out.
I appreciate the suggestion too!
Sandra :)

I just returned from a two-week trip to Rome, Florence, Venice and Paris. It was a package arranged by Costco Travel, and the cost of about $3200 per person included airfare, airport transfers, hotels and train fares, and limited sightseeing in each city. And the hotels were awesome...4 and 5 stars. These packages can be customized to spend as many days in each place as you wish. I thoroughly recommend it.

Thank you, Azzure, i will check into it :)
Sandra :)

Congrats Sandra with all your requirements you would do better

self guiding my wife and I travel well and cheaply over there

a lot we just booked up 3 weeks in the spring flights on

aa.com AAdvantage Credit Cards 20000 FF miles per leg

seat61.com/italy regional trains cheap go everywhere anytime

you like easy to hop on off 3 euro per hour of training.

www.eurocheapo.com www.slowtrav.com We usually come in under

$1k/wk per person easily this way.

We do splurge on hotels like intercontinental.com

Rome Ville $180 bid priceline.com in May betterbidding.com

Hilton 5 star in Venice $120 bid priceline.com in May last

$120 happy planning.

More structure less fun will not do the route you want

smartours.com perillotours.com affordabletours.com

for discounts on Globus and Tauck all good but lots

of early AM bus rides and stale hotel food with folks

you might or might not like.

Still not bad for a newbie but self guiding cheaply

works best for us these days we get exactly what we

want when we want never wire money always paywith no

foreign fee CC and insuremytrip.com worksbest for us.

Happy Planning!

Sandra do be aware you have commercial trolls on your

thread in clever disguise as a "helpful" poster

Caveat Emptor! use only bbb.org A rated compamies

like smarttours.com Perillo Tauck for best experience.

qwovadis,

Thank you for all the great links and advise. I will definitely check to make sure the company has good ratings/reviews. I have heard that insuring the trip is a good idea...do i need insurance for everything..i do have medical insurance through my job....
Thanks,
Sandra :)

I'm afraid you're headed to the Amalfi coast and Capri at the wrong time of year. A beach resort off season - when it can be chilly and raining is not really ideal. By November some hotels and restaurants will be closing for the season and ferry service may be completly stopped or cut way back. Also seas are much more likely to be rough - which means ou can't do the Blue Grotto - even if you can get to Capri.

Not sure if you have looked at the weather in Italy the time you will be there. October and be quite pleasant - but by mid November many places are likely to be chilly and rain is certainly possible. Also daylight hours are very short and some sights have off-season hours (open only from 10 to 1 or 2 in the afternoon).

Also - you idea of having someone arrange everything for you is likely to be way beyond your budget - since it would require considerable time of a travel agent (at hourly rate) to sort out all of those arrangements.

Agree that if your budget includes air fare it will be a tight squeeze with modest hotels (shared bath and elevator) and some picnic meals.

"I would love to make all the arrangements myself...i am so afraid of not getting something right."

Just because you go with a tour or agency for planning does not mean everything will be "right."

Things happen: flight delays, cancellations, weather, strikes, closures, high or low water levels. If you read enough trip reports here, you will see that even the best, most concrete plans can take a different twist, and believe me, it is probably more likely to happen with a tour than on your own. Please don't worry about getting everything right. Of course you plan, but sometimes the best experiences come out of things going a bit awry. Because of plane changes due to storms, we've ended up in different cities, and once in a different country. Both times we had the best trips. Wherever your travels take you, just enjoy the moment.

You seem to think of cities for the most part. You could take the ferry from Palermo to Naples. You might be interested in my trip reports, Sicily for our stay in Palermo and then the one covering Naples, Rome and Florence this past year. I highly recommend the B&B in Naples. Click on my name to find the reports.

Because your travels can be done by public transportation, I see no need for a tour. You might want to follow the recommendations of other travelers for accommodations in Rome and Florence. A general guidebook on Italy might be the most appropriate (Michelin Green Guide and/or Fodor's) given the amount you want to cover and the time restrictions. Each of these guidebooks will have enough to do and see for the time you would be in each city.

Sandra,

I wouldn't recommend using a travel agent. Very few have the extensive, first hand experience the Fodorites have.

Here's what I would recommend:

Fly in to Venice
4 nts Venice

train to Florence
4 nts Florence
use 1 or 2 days for day trips to countryside
either by bus or private guide

train to Sorrento or continue on by SITA bus to one of the Amalfi Coast towns
4 nts
visit Pompeii
visit Capri if weather allows
do the Amalfi Coast via SITA bus

train to Rome
5-6 nts

Venice is a nice place to get adjusted, get over jet lag and gain some basic knowledge of how to get around and do things in Italy. It won't be crowded in late Oct. No cars, relatively quiet, fun to walk. Relaxing.

No. of days in Florence is up to you. Personally, I would spend 2 nts there, rent a car and head for 4-5 nts in a hilltown! Driving in the countryside is a breeze. Make sure to have a detailed map, understand your route before setting out for the day, don't rely completely on a GPS. They get confused in ancient hilltowns.

Personally, I wouldn't want to stay in Sorrento. I would visit Pompeii either on the way to/from one of the Amalfi Coast towns. Weather that time of year could be anything, but at least the Amalfi Coast won't be crowded - and much more enjoyable in that sense. Also, nice time to see Pompeii, not so hot and dusty.

If you must visit Capri you may need to leave this part of your trip unreserved as far as lodging. You won't know if you can get over/back. Personally, I didn't care much for Capri on a mid-Sept visit. Far too touristy, overpriced, insanely crowded and not any more beautiful than the Amalfi Coast. There were things I enjoyed - small boat tour around the island, hike up to Villa Jovis - away from the crowds.

Finish in Rome. You will be ready for it by now. You will enjoy it more if you have enough days there not to feel too rushed. So much to see and do! Busy, wonderful city. Rushing too much with the sightseeing can be overwhelming. If you need a day trip out - many easy ones to choose from.

If you have a full 20 days on the ground - add one or two nts along the way - maybe Verona on the way to Florence. Maybe Orvieto on the way to Rome!

Does this give you some ideas?