First Trip to Italy for (near) Seniors
Jan 26th, 2017, 08:36 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
First Trip to Italy for (near) Seniors
Hello everyone-
My wife and I are planning a trip to Italy this October. It's our first time, so we are considering a tour, but at the same time don't want to be rush-rush between destinations. Our cities of choice include Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii and we're planning on about 2 weeks total.
We're around 60 and also enjoy having some flexibility and maybe even a little freedom to explore on our own if that's possible.
Any suggestions on tours (small group or even private)?
Thanks for the comments.
My wife and I are planning a trip to Italy this October. It's our first time, so we are considering a tour, but at the same time don't want to be rush-rush between destinations. Our cities of choice include Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii and we're planning on about 2 weeks total.
We're around 60 and also enjoy having some flexibility and maybe even a little freedom to explore on our own if that's possible.
Any suggestions on tours (small group or even private)?
Thanks for the comments.
Jan 26th, 2017, 08:59 AM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 754
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi sammyjenkis,
people in Fodors don't often take tours so I doubt that they can advise you about a tour. But Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii are easy to navigate on your own, there are direct trains between them: Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> Naples (to visit Pompeii you can base on Naples nearby, then take a small tram to Pompeii). Rent rooms on booking.com (choose an accommodation with rating > 8.0 ), look for trains on http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en, et voilà! you have planned your trip ^^
If you want flexibility and a little freedom to explore on your own then don't go with tour. Those cities are a pleasure to walk around in your own pace. Maybe 4 is too much, I advise you to cut it down to 3 cities, but it's up to you.
people in Fodors don't often take tours so I doubt that they can advise you about a tour. But Venice, Florence, Rome and Pompeii are easy to navigate on your own, there are direct trains between them: Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> Naples (to visit Pompeii you can base on Naples nearby, then take a small tram to Pompeii). Rent rooms on booking.com (choose an accommodation with rating > 8.0 ), look for trains on http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en, et voilà! you have planned your trip ^^
If you want flexibility and a little freedom to explore on your own then don't go with tour. Those cities are a pleasure to walk around in your own pace. Maybe 4 is too much, I advise you to cut it down to 3 cities, but it's up to you.
Jan 26th, 2017, 09:01 AM
#4
This is very easy to do independently. From your description of how you want to spend your time, a tour would not be a good option as you would not be in control to have the freedom you desire.
You can travel easily by train between the cities listed. Add Naples for Pompeii or visit it on a long day trip or tour from Rome.
You can travel easily by train between the cities listed. Add Naples for Pompeii or visit it on a long day trip or tour from Rome.
Jan 26th, 2017, 09:04 AM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,624
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You might want to look at these itineraries and see if something fits your needs:
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy
They are limited in size and from experience, I can tell you that you do get time to go off on your own.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy
They are limited in size and from experience, I can tell you that you do get time to go off on your own.
Jan 26th, 2017, 09:42 AM
#6
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A few suggestions for a first-timer:
1) With two weeks, consider limiting yourself to two base cities. The impulse with a lot of people is to try to see the whole country in one trip and it's just not possible. If you're basing yourself in big cities like Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples then there is plenty to do to occupy a week in each city, especially if you include easy day trips by train.
2) We have found better value in booking apartments with the likes of Airbnb or Vrbo than booking hotels. For example in both Rome and Florence we booked full apartments with great views for the same price that a standard hotel room would have cost. Of course if you highly value things like having a concierge, access to room service, etc. that could change things for you.
3) Assuming you are staying in more than one city, book an open-jaw airline ticket if possible so you don't waste valuable vacation time back-tracking to the city that you started your trip in.
4) If food is important to you then do some research ahead of time. We had amazing food the vast majority of the time but your odds go down considerably if you just plop yourself down at a random restaurant next to a major tourist site.
5) We found that alternating between different types of activities made things more enjoyable, one day we hit up 3 museums in a row in Florence and wound up getting temporary Virgin Mary overload
6) Have fun, you're going to love it!
1) With two weeks, consider limiting yourself to two base cities. The impulse with a lot of people is to try to see the whole country in one trip and it's just not possible. If you're basing yourself in big cities like Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples then there is plenty to do to occupy a week in each city, especially if you include easy day trips by train.
2) We have found better value in booking apartments with the likes of Airbnb or Vrbo than booking hotels. For example in both Rome and Florence we booked full apartments with great views for the same price that a standard hotel room would have cost. Of course if you highly value things like having a concierge, access to room service, etc. that could change things for you.
3) Assuming you are staying in more than one city, book an open-jaw airline ticket if possible so you don't waste valuable vacation time back-tracking to the city that you started your trip in.
4) If food is important to you then do some research ahead of time. We had amazing food the vast majority of the time but your odds go down considerably if you just plop yourself down at a random restaurant next to a major tourist site.
5) We found that alternating between different types of activities made things more enjoyable, one day we hit up 3 museums in a row in Florence and wound up getting temporary Virgin Mary overload
6) Have fun, you're going to love it!
Jan 26th, 2017, 10:13 AM
#7
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,956
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A trip between Venice, Florence, and Rome is very, very easy to do on your own without a tour. You would also save time, which is important when you have only two weeks, because the high-speed trains travel between those cities <b>much</b> faster than a tour bus does.
Once you're in Rome, you could take a day trip to Pompeii. This you could also do on your own, or take a day tour from Rome.
In each city, you could plan to take a half-day walking tour, and some tours of the sights that interest you most. This would give you a good balance between free time and organized tours.
I suggest you fly into Venice and back from Rome. I usually find flights on www.expedia.com , and you would check off "multi-city" instead of "round trip", to allow you to arrive and leave in different cities. After you've found the airlines with the best prices, I suggest going to the web sites of those airlines, because you sometimes find better flights on the airline's own web site.
Once you've got your flights squared away, you have to decide how many days you want to spend in each city. Remember that three nights is only two full days, plus part of the arrival day. Also remember that you will probably be tired on your arrival day, and maybe also on the first full day. Make a list of the things you absolutely must see in each city, and use that to decide how much time you need. I don't like to schedule more than one, maximum two, potentially tiring visits in one day.
Once you've decided how many days to spend in each city, you can use www.booking.com to find hotels in those three cities. To make sure you find central hotels, specify your destination as "Venice center city", for example, rather than just "Venice". You can sort the list by price or by guest rating. (Ignore the number of stars, which isn't really a reliable standard of overall quality in Italy.) I often sort by guest rating and then go down the list until I see a hotel that I can afford! I also tend to ignore hotels that have very few reviews, because I'm not sure that the scores are reliable in that case. When you have a short list, be sure to read the guest reviews. Booking.com has reviews from people who have actually stayed in the hotel, so you can be pretty sure the owner's brother-in-law isn't writing them.
Finally, you can buy your train tickets between the two cities. Buying well in advance allows you to find big discounts; however, if you're not sure of your dates or travel times, it's better to wait until you're sure, because the discounted tickets can't be changed without a big penalty. You can sometimes get at least modest discounts even a few days ahead, but on the day of travel you'll pay full price.
I use http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en for buying train tickets. You have to use the Italian cities (and station namees): Venezia (S. Lucia), Firenze (S.M. Novella), and Roma (Termini, or maybe Trastevere, depending on where your hotel is). You can also try http://www.italotreno.it/en which is a rival railway which serves those three cities, and often has lower prices; their trains are not as frequent as those of Trenitalia, and they serve only major cities.
Another rail web site, perhaps the easiest to use, is www.italiarail.com . They sell only Trenitalia tickets, and they allow you to use the English names of the cities. They show prices in dollars, and you might not get the very best exchange rate, but they're not terribly different and if it's easier for you to use, the slight difference may be worth it. Don't use any other third party rail ticket agents; they almost all have inflated prices, incomplete choices, or both.
Once you've decided which sights you want to see in Italy, you can look into tours of particular museums or archaeological sites, or half-day or full-day tours. There are various people on Fodors who can help you with this.
For me, planning the trip is fun, but not all enjoy it. If you really want the whole thing planned for you, it will certainly cost a good deal more, and flexibility is hard to come by.
Once you're in Rome, you could take a day trip to Pompeii. This you could also do on your own, or take a day tour from Rome.
In each city, you could plan to take a half-day walking tour, and some tours of the sights that interest you most. This would give you a good balance between free time and organized tours.
I suggest you fly into Venice and back from Rome. I usually find flights on www.expedia.com , and you would check off "multi-city" instead of "round trip", to allow you to arrive and leave in different cities. After you've found the airlines with the best prices, I suggest going to the web sites of those airlines, because you sometimes find better flights on the airline's own web site.
Once you've got your flights squared away, you have to decide how many days you want to spend in each city. Remember that three nights is only two full days, plus part of the arrival day. Also remember that you will probably be tired on your arrival day, and maybe also on the first full day. Make a list of the things you absolutely must see in each city, and use that to decide how much time you need. I don't like to schedule more than one, maximum two, potentially tiring visits in one day.
Once you've decided how many days to spend in each city, you can use www.booking.com to find hotels in those three cities. To make sure you find central hotels, specify your destination as "Venice center city", for example, rather than just "Venice". You can sort the list by price or by guest rating. (Ignore the number of stars, which isn't really a reliable standard of overall quality in Italy.) I often sort by guest rating and then go down the list until I see a hotel that I can afford! I also tend to ignore hotels that have very few reviews, because I'm not sure that the scores are reliable in that case. When you have a short list, be sure to read the guest reviews. Booking.com has reviews from people who have actually stayed in the hotel, so you can be pretty sure the owner's brother-in-law isn't writing them.
Finally, you can buy your train tickets between the two cities. Buying well in advance allows you to find big discounts; however, if you're not sure of your dates or travel times, it's better to wait until you're sure, because the discounted tickets can't be changed without a big penalty. You can sometimes get at least modest discounts even a few days ahead, but on the day of travel you'll pay full price.
I use http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en for buying train tickets. You have to use the Italian cities (and station namees): Venezia (S. Lucia), Firenze (S.M. Novella), and Roma (Termini, or maybe Trastevere, depending on where your hotel is). You can also try http://www.italotreno.it/en which is a rival railway which serves those three cities, and often has lower prices; their trains are not as frequent as those of Trenitalia, and they serve only major cities.
Another rail web site, perhaps the easiest to use, is www.italiarail.com . They sell only Trenitalia tickets, and they allow you to use the English names of the cities. They show prices in dollars, and you might not get the very best exchange rate, but they're not terribly different and if it's easier for you to use, the slight difference may be worth it. Don't use any other third party rail ticket agents; they almost all have inflated prices, incomplete choices, or both.
Once you've decided which sights you want to see in Italy, you can look into tours of particular museums or archaeological sites, or half-day or full-day tours. There are various people on Fodors who can help you with this.
For me, planning the trip is fun, but not all enjoy it. If you really want the whole thing planned for you, it will certainly cost a good deal more, and flexibility is hard to come by.
Jan 26th, 2017, 11:15 AM
#8
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 19,736
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You'll note the word "easy" comes up a lot in responses here about self-planning. I'll risk some people's wrath by saying what's easy for one person might not be easy for another, especially for someone who's never done it before. (Maybe you have, but there's no indication of that.)
Traveling on your own is rewarding and possible. To start, you'll have to do some research on the best accommodations. I suggest you start here by listing your accommodations budget and the cities you're thinking about, and getting recommendations. Similarly, you can ask for restaurant recs after giving your budget and tastes.
Then you'll have to manage getting yourselves and your baggage from Point A to Point B -- not an insurmountable task, but certainly more complicated than putting your luggage outside your room and expecting it to show up at the next destination. So you'll need to familiarize yourself with trains, taxis and other forms of transportation. Sometimes, depending on your budget, you might find that hiring a car and driver is the best way to go. But that, too, takes thought and research.
Also realize that going it on your own sometimes requires some flexibility and a go-with-the-flow attitude. What if your train is delayed? What if it's raining and taxis are hard to find? What if that quaint little restaurant you stumbled across turns out to have terrible food and service? Some people consider those things all part of the adventure. Some don't.
I'd suggest a hybrid approach. Maybe book tours in each city with someone like Viator, and take care of the transportation and accommodations yourself. Leave some time to explore on your own, but realize not all surprises are good ones.
Have a nice trip.
Traveling on your own is rewarding and possible. To start, you'll have to do some research on the best accommodations. I suggest you start here by listing your accommodations budget and the cities you're thinking about, and getting recommendations. Similarly, you can ask for restaurant recs after giving your budget and tastes.
Then you'll have to manage getting yourselves and your baggage from Point A to Point B -- not an insurmountable task, but certainly more complicated than putting your luggage outside your room and expecting it to show up at the next destination. So you'll need to familiarize yourself with trains, taxis and other forms of transportation. Sometimes, depending on your budget, you might find that hiring a car and driver is the best way to go. But that, too, takes thought and research.
Also realize that going it on your own sometimes requires some flexibility and a go-with-the-flow attitude. What if your train is delayed? What if it's raining and taxis are hard to find? What if that quaint little restaurant you stumbled across turns out to have terrible food and service? Some people consider those things all part of the adventure. Some don't.
I'd suggest a hybrid approach. Maybe book tours in each city with someone like Viator, and take care of the transportation and accommodations yourself. Leave some time to explore on your own, but realize not all surprises are good ones.
Have a nice trip.
Jan 26th, 2017, 11:39 AM
#9
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,421
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<<For me, planning the trip is fun, but not all enjoy it. If you really want the whole thing planned for you, it will certainly cost a good deal more, and flexibility is hard to come by.>>
Quite a bit of homework is required to learn which most popular sites require advance tickets and how to acquire them directly (versus third party vendors with considerable price mark-ups).
I started planning a trip to Italy with a tour, but quickly determined that we could stay in even nicer, more conveniently located, hotels for far less.
Advantage of escorted tour is transportation to included sights, so you don't have to learn the transit systems in each city. Most cities, if your hotel is well located, are "walkable", but some sights may not be. With the savings going on your own, versus a tour, plenty would be left over for taxis.
In some places, using pubic transportation makes you highly vulnerable to pickpockets. And, I've read that taxi drivers in Rome often try to cheat customers by insisting that you gave them a smaller bill. So, it's important to research traveling safely in Italy.
Also, though train travel between cities was included, baggage handling was not.
If you choose a tour, or go on your own, with trains between cities, it will be crucial to haul only what you can easily manage on long walks, stairs, getting onto and off of trains quickly, especially for Venice.
With only two weeks, I'm another who would recommend limiting your destinations to three cities, perhaps with a day trip from each. All depending on how early you are comfortable with starting out the day and how late you're usually up, train schedules, etc., moving from one place to the next could consume half or a full day. If you plan too much and are running yourself ragged day after day, your stamina and enthusiasm will diminish from one day to the next.
The Il Menu app, food glossary, seems comprehensive.
Quite a bit of homework is required to learn which most popular sites require advance tickets and how to acquire them directly (versus third party vendors with considerable price mark-ups).
I started planning a trip to Italy with a tour, but quickly determined that we could stay in even nicer, more conveniently located, hotels for far less.
Advantage of escorted tour is transportation to included sights, so you don't have to learn the transit systems in each city. Most cities, if your hotel is well located, are "walkable", but some sights may not be. With the savings going on your own, versus a tour, plenty would be left over for taxis.
In some places, using pubic transportation makes you highly vulnerable to pickpockets. And, I've read that taxi drivers in Rome often try to cheat customers by insisting that you gave them a smaller bill. So, it's important to research traveling safely in Italy.
Also, though train travel between cities was included, baggage handling was not.
If you choose a tour, or go on your own, with trains between cities, it will be crucial to haul only what you can easily manage on long walks, stairs, getting onto and off of trains quickly, especially for Venice.
With only two weeks, I'm another who would recommend limiting your destinations to three cities, perhaps with a day trip from each. All depending on how early you are comfortable with starting out the day and how late you're usually up, train schedules, etc., moving from one place to the next could consume half or a full day. If you plan too much and are running yourself ragged day after day, your stamina and enthusiasm will diminish from one day to the next.
The Il Menu app, food glossary, seems comprehensive.
Jan 26th, 2017, 02:15 PM
#10
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 7,956
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
<i> We have found better value in booking apartments with the likes of Airbnb or Vrbo than booking hotels.... Of course if you highly value things like having a concierge, access to room service, etc. that could change things for you. </i>
I rarely stay in hotels that have a concierge, and I almost never use room service. I prefer a hotel for other reasons. 1) It's much easier to find reliable reviews of them. You have to do a lot more research if you choose to rent apartments. 2) Hotels have a front desk that you can call if the shower isn't working or a light bulb burned out. 3) The personnel at the front desk can answer questions about buses, taxis, things to see and do, where to find a pharmacy, and so forth. 4) Even more important, if you have an emergency or need a doctor, there's someone to help you. 5) Hotels have to undergo rigorous safety inspections; apartments often have no inspections at all. Some are even illegally converted storage areas that wouldn't be allowed to be used for human residence. Apartments normally have no smoke detectors, no fire extinguishers, and no emergency exits. 6) I don't care to spend even half an hour of my vacation cleaning the bathroom, washing dishes, buying paper towels, or making beds.
I do stay in apartments fairly often, because we often make trips with the whole family, and it's nice to all be in one unit, with a living room to socialize in. However, when traveling alone or with my husband, I wouldn't stay in an apartment, unless it was a fairly long stay; in that case, I'd get sick of eating out and would probably appreciate a kitchen.
I especially wouldn't recommend staying in an apartment to someone who has never been to Europe before. I don't know if this is the case here, but they've never been to Italy before.
If you stay in apartments, make sure you have a working phone. I've heard of unpleasant experiences that involved someone with no way to no way to contact anyone and no way to be contacted.
I rarely stay in hotels that have a concierge, and I almost never use room service. I prefer a hotel for other reasons. 1) It's much easier to find reliable reviews of them. You have to do a lot more research if you choose to rent apartments. 2) Hotels have a front desk that you can call if the shower isn't working or a light bulb burned out. 3) The personnel at the front desk can answer questions about buses, taxis, things to see and do, where to find a pharmacy, and so forth. 4) Even more important, if you have an emergency or need a doctor, there's someone to help you. 5) Hotels have to undergo rigorous safety inspections; apartments often have no inspections at all. Some are even illegally converted storage areas that wouldn't be allowed to be used for human residence. Apartments normally have no smoke detectors, no fire extinguishers, and no emergency exits. 6) I don't care to spend even half an hour of my vacation cleaning the bathroom, washing dishes, buying paper towels, or making beds.
I do stay in apartments fairly often, because we often make trips with the whole family, and it's nice to all be in one unit, with a living room to socialize in. However, when traveling alone or with my husband, I wouldn't stay in an apartment, unless it was a fairly long stay; in that case, I'd get sick of eating out and would probably appreciate a kitchen.
I especially wouldn't recommend staying in an apartment to someone who has never been to Europe before. I don't know if this is the case here, but they've never been to Italy before.
If you stay in apartments, make sure you have a working phone. I've heard of unpleasant experiences that involved someone with no way to no way to contact anyone and no way to be contacted.
Jan 26th, 2017, 02:36 PM
#11
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 5,234
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
All the reasons bvlenci list I agree with. Plus, generally, hotels are in areas that a first time tourist will really want to see. Apartments may be slightly more off the beaten path, which I might enjoy if it wasn't a first time trip. And a longer trip gives you more time to know your neighborhood- OP has less than a week in each place probably, so not leisurely probably. Wasting precious time cooking and cleaning is not my idea of fun.
I would do the day tour from Rome of Pompeii with Context. Context was awesome. Very informative. The Pompeii tour had looked to expensive to me to start with but I wish I had booked that after all.
I'd probably do
3 nights Venice
4 nights Florence
7 nights Rome
(I would still want more time in all three, especially Venice, but you really need at least a week in Rome. It's fabulous but enormous and exhausting.)
I would do the day tour from Rome of Pompeii with Context. Context was awesome. Very informative. The Pompeii tour had looked to expensive to me to start with but I wish I had booked that after all.
I'd probably do
3 nights Venice
4 nights Florence
7 nights Rome
(I would still want more time in all three, especially Venice, but you really need at least a week in Rome. It's fabulous but enormous and exhausting.)
Jan 26th, 2017, 02:52 PM
#12
You have gotten most of the best advice for your trip: Hotels, not apartments, city center location, trains between cities, self guided or purchased tours on individual days, and travel safety. One last thing: Limit yourself to one carry on sized rolling suitcase per person. Anything more is both unnecessary and a problem getting on and off trains.
Jan 26th, 2017, 07:43 PM
#13
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 250
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We are seniors who this last October did 4 days Venice in hotel, 4 days Florence in hotel, 8 days Rome in apartment. First trip to Italy. We did little day tours out of Florence and in Rome. Otherwise just visited sites we wanted to see. Mostly walking with a couple taxis when tired. Trains between cities.
Much happier on our own. You don't have to get up early every morning. You can wander into quiet areas. But I imagine if we went to a place like Japan I would probably book a group tour to start with. So whatever you are comfortable with.
Much happier on our own. You don't have to get up early every morning. You can wander into quiet areas. But I imagine if we went to a place like Japan I would probably book a group tour to start with. So whatever you are comfortable with.
Jan 27th, 2017, 12:59 AM
#14
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,198
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thought I'd chime in about going to Pompeii. I've done the tour from Rome and it was nice to get on a bus and let them do the driving, but we felt rushed in Pompeii and would have preferred to skip the perfuctory drive through Naples in order to spend more time at our destination. It was certainly easy though.
Just in case you are the adventurous types and would like to do the day trip on your own, here is a link to a trip report which details doing a (long) daytrip to both Pompeii and then to the Naples Archeological Museum to see artifacts found in Pompeii and Herculaneum. We enjoyed thus day immensely.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-pompeii.cfm
Scroll down to March 18.
By the way, I agree that you can do Venice, Florence and Rome in the 2 weeks if you book the open-jaw flights. I've read to start in Venice instead of ending there because the departing flights leave very early in the morning and it's somewhat of a hassle to get to the airport so early.
Just in case you are the adventurous types and would like to do the day trip on your own, here is a link to a trip report which details doing a (long) daytrip to both Pompeii and then to the Naples Archeological Museum to see artifacts found in Pompeii and Herculaneum. We enjoyed thus day immensely.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-pompeii.cfm
Scroll down to March 18.
By the way, I agree that you can do Venice, Florence and Rome in the 2 weeks if you book the open-jaw flights. I've read to start in Venice instead of ending there because the departing flights leave very early in the morning and it's somewhat of a hassle to get to the airport so early.
Jan 27th, 2017, 11:26 AM
#15
Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 2,782
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A guided tour of Pompeii from Naples is seriously worth considering. Solo visitors are greeted by chaos at the admission gates with touts and guides pushing through the queues. Inside, what you see is mostly rubble, ancient rubble sure, but still a wasteland. A well-informed guide will provide the context to help you see what you are seeing. I'd favour a package tour over a random choice of the freelancers clustered at the entrance. (Sorry, no referrals; I visited on a multi-day tour.)
Jan 27th, 2017, 11:54 AM
#16
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 4,198
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
With the cities you are visiting I would not recommend adding Naples as another overnight. Go to Pompeii either with an organized tour from Rome or on your own from Rome but don't do another significant move just for Pompeii. You have enough cities to use as hubs for 2 weeks and although it's a long day, it's very easy from Rome.
Jan 27th, 2017, 12:12 PM
#18
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,118
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm going to stick my neck out and say, if you're doing the Venice Florence Rome tour, get Rick Steves Italy guidebook. Lots of practical info for first time Europe visitors, including how to make an itinerary. You can pick and choose what sights you want to see, but he generally gives you the most popular ones with opening times etc. Just make sure it's current.
Then get a guidebook with pictures to whet your appetite. Doing your own tour will mean you will have had to research places, and hopefully will learn some history/background. Makes your trip more meaningful. IMO.
Then get a guidebook with pictures to whet your appetite. Doing your own tour will mean you will have had to research places, and hopefully will learn some history/background. Makes your trip more meaningful. IMO.
Jan 27th, 2017, 01:59 PM
#19
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If by "tours" you are also meaning small, guided tours in the cities, I highly recommend Context Travel tours. They offer small group (like only 6-8 people) and private tours of all the main spots in your cities. Our first Context Travel tour was in Rome and ever since that one we seek them out in all major European cities. We have found we can absorb so much more in a short amount of time by letting professionals lead the way. And, we are sold on there small group guarantee. Here's a link to what they offer in Florence, but they have these in tours in all the cities you are hoping to visit.
https://www.contexttravel.com/cities/florence
https://www.contexttravel.com/cities/florence
