Italy Vacation

Parent Cafe
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<p>My wife and I are planning a trip to Italy for later this year to celebrate our 30th anniversary. We are leaning towards availing ourselves of a packaged vacation with one of the many vacation/tour companies so that our time and energy can be devoted to sightseeing and enjoying the country rather than managing the logistics of traveling once we are there.</p>

<p>Does anyone have any experience with the packaged tours? Any companies that were particularly good or which were disappointing? Also, we have flexibility to choose the dates - any time of year better for weather?</p>

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<p>I have been to Italy many times, but never with a tour, so maybe someone else could help you out with it. If you have no time constraint, I would do fall, Sep may be cheaper because everyone is back to school.</p>

<p>Florence - I believe you could do it by yourself for a few days. It’s a walking city, it’s small so you could get around easily. Good museums and shopping. Good base to go to the Tuscany countryside and Pisa. There is also a very good Prada outlet store nearby. Ferrari(?) factory is also close by, where you could take a tour.</p>

<p>Venice - must see. I love Paris, but Venice literally took my breath away. Not to go in the dead of summer because of smell from the canals. Some wonderful hotels on the water. They are mostly Westin/Sheraton properties. Lido(island off Venice) is the better place to stay. You could use your Sheraton points.</p>

<p>Milan - could absolutely skip. It’s dirty, nothing historical left to see. But Lake Como is around there.</p>

<p>Portofino coast is also worth it. I also like the beaches on the east coast. It’s a lot less touristy.</p>

<p>Rome - interesting enough, we have never been. Next trip.</p>

<p>What I would watch out for with tours is the kind of hotels they book. I have stayed at 3 star and 5 star. 3 stars are clean, but very small and basic. You could get very good food at some of those 3 star hotels. Travel by trains is great in Italy, especially if you could get upper class. I would actually recommend to travel by train rather by plane, it’s more fun and reliable.</p>

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<p>oldfort, great information, thank you!</p>

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<p>Late September/October is an ideal time. Less crowded, but don’t get me wrong, still crowded! Maybe this year less so with fewer traveling because of the economy.</p>

<p>No experience with tours, but if this isn’t a first trip and you’ve seen the major sites, I’d suggest a trip to Southern Italy. I can’t imagine a more romantic place than the Almafi Coast. Positano, Ravello, and Capri make a wonderful trip. Tormina (sp?) in Sicily is also wonderful. Enjoy!</p>

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<p>No experience on tours, but have been to Italy a couple of times, last one for the winter Olympics.</p>

<p>I would go in Feb/Mar.</p>

<p>Rome is in the 70/80s and Venice is warm too.
Turin is obviously snow and if the winter thing is for you the Italian ALps is great.
Never been to Florence and that will be our next trip.</p>

<p>Venice is somewhere you want to skip in the summer (the smell is there), but I would never go without seeing Venice. The Carnivale is amazing and makes it worth the trip. It is in the 50-60 degrees and great weather. I love Venice. Our favorite hotel is Splendid Suisse, it was just remodeled in 06-07 so it is lovely. The location is ideal, close to San Marco and the Rialto. Is located on a canal so you get to hear the gondolas and has a rooftop bar. The price is very good compared to many others.</p>

<p>Rome is worth contacting a private tour company (basically charged by how many people in the party and covers the cost of a private Vatican tour) We had our own car and driver for 2 days and for a family of 5 it was about 800. It was well worth it, we saw things that others didn’t b/c it was on our own pace. Never had to wait in line b/c there are sep entrances for private tour guides. Tour guides are licensed, so go with a reputable co. We used Amex to set it up. Also make sure to go to the catacombes. One of our favorite dinners was when we went into the little food stores, got gelato for the kids, fresh breads and meats and went back to the room and relaxed. The hotel had an outside restaurant/bar and we ate it there…again it was warm weather in Feb so it was like a spring night.</p>

<p>MILAN—I agree skip it…there is nothing to see, and the people are just down right rude to Americans, especially compared to ROME (once you see one Basilica, then you have seen enough) </p>

<p>Capri is beautiful and you will never see that water anywhere else. Naples is a little dirty, so make sure you stay near the shopping center.</p>

<p>Obviously do Pompeii if you can, the history is amazing, especially how they formed the bodies that died (short story…they noticed air pockets, pour concrete into them and that is how they created them)</p>

<p>Portofino, IMHO is worth skipping, or just spend an afternoon. It has a beach, but I would suggest go over to Nice and fly out of Paris.</p>

<p>We traveled the entire time by rail. It was easy and convenient. You can even get to Turin, cute little town and a great place if you want a nightlife while you go and ski. You can take the rail to Turin from Milan. </p>

<p>We railed from Rome to Milan to Turin to Milan to Venice. The key pts for the rail are:

  1. DON’T ALLOW THE ITALIANS TO HELP YOU GET YOUR BAGS ON THE TRAIN, THEY WILL EXPECT A TIP.
  2. DON’T EAT THE MEALS ON THE RAIL, THEY ARE VERY EXPENSIVE AND NOT THAT GOOD, INSTEAD GET SNACKS FROM THE RAIL ATTENDANT (THINK AIRLINE ATTENDANT)</p>

<p>If you plan to drive, Italy makes you have an Intl license to rent, just go to AAA and they will give you one. Rentals in Italy are very expensive, the insurance alone is unreal. The roads are confusing and they don’t have GPS in the cars so bring one with you. IMHO it isn’t worth it!</p>

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<p>Maybe it has changed, but until a year ago we didn’t have to get an international license. We always rented a car or a van. We usually rent from a place where insurance and tax were included, and always an automatic. Our van was towed away at a very small town one night, after a nice dinner. It was very comical to try to get the van back.</p>

<p>When we do go to Rome someday, we will look into arranging a private tour with AmEx. I have consistently heard they do the best tours, at least quality ones. A friend of mine did one with them to China.</p>

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<p>AMEX did a phenomenal job. I could not praise them enough. Also if you book your hotels/air through them you can get little perks. Plus you can use your pts for upgrades. At every hotel within minutes there was someone with trays of cookies and drinks for us. Also, when we stayed at the Suisse, they gave us this amazing suite. You walked in one door and then there was a sitting room, then 2 more doors on ea side, one was to another sitting room with an attached bdrm, and the same for the other side. AT night we just locked the main door and it felt like we had a wing to our own. The room cost during carnivale only 800 a night (remember it was 2 suites)…for Venice that is cheap. Expect to pay that amt for just 1 suite and if it is peak expect to pay that for 1 bdrm</p>

<p>The best part of AMEX is if you do have problems it is quickly resolved, and in every city there is an AMEX office for the worst case scenarios. For us, we were to fly out on a Sunday, but a snow storm came in and the flight was cancelled, Delta was no help at all, so we immediately called AMEX, they got us the next day. They also contacted the hotel and the tour company. We were not charged any penalties for changing our iteniary. They also had the hotels pick us up from the airport free of charge. Rome airport is not close to Rome the city, probably a 45 min ride…comp to flying into Newark and staying in NY.</p>

<p>As far as the car it might have been something that the rental co asked for. The funny part of our car, was it was automatic, but what was interesting was the front windows were power and the back were roll ups…the kids were asking us what this second handle was, we kept asking what are you talking about? When we finally stopped and looked we just started laughing.</p>

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<p>I have lived in Italy and travel back periodically to visit friends. By all means try and go in October (great weather) or November. Italian cuisine is seasonal and though the weather is not the best in November, but if your a foodie like myself its a great time to visit. Ive never been on a package tour in my life.(although I do understand the appeal of having it all planned ahead for you) I think the real downside of a package tour is it creates a sort of isolation. I think my best experiences while traveling have been serendipitous. Unexpected pleasures rarely happen when your being controlled by a tour group. Also if you do travel on your own and in the fall, set aside a few days for an agritrourismo experience.</p>

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<p>You should get an international driver’s license from AAA. No one will ask for it unless you get stopped by the police. It is basically a translation of your English language driver’s license.</p>

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<p>The Cinque Terra (west coast - not far from Pisa) is an interesting area. It’s a national park made up of 5 tiny towns hugging the coast with a spectacular hiking trail between them.</p>

<p>I went to Venice in the summer and didn’t experience any odors from the canals, maybe I was lucky. Venice is different from every other town. </p>

<ul>
<li>Rome is full of historical sites and well worth visiting.</li>
<li>Milan has the big cathedral in the center of town but not a lot of other touristy things to see.</li>
<li>Florence has a lot of things to see but it’s crowded, has lots of traffic, etc. so IMO it lacks ‘quaintness’ that some might be expecting but maybe that’s just me.</li>
<li>Siena is kind of a nice smaller city to see and has some of the quaintness one might have expected of Florence. </li>
</ul>

<p>I’ve driven rental cars around Italy a couple of times but in both cases I rented the cars elsewhere - once in Germany and once in France. I’ve rented cars in various countries in Europe many times but have never needed an international DL to do so - my California one was fine. I’ve never been stopped by the police in Europe though. I was stopped once in Australia and the cop (not a friendly one) was giving me a hard time saying I needed an international DL but I told him that I didn’t and that they wouldn’t have rented me the car if it was a requirement and he grudgingly dropped that argument and ended up letting me go as well he should have. It’d be best to check the current requirements beforehand if you plan to rent a car. If you do rent a car you might want to avoid trying to drive it into Rome.</p>

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<p>We have rented villas with family and friends in Italy. We find it to be the best of time. Most of them have pool and tennis court and a lot less expensive than hotels. Italian supermarkets have great pre-chopped fresh food that all we had to do was to saute with some olive oil. Sipping wine with some cheese watching sunset…Maybe it’s time to go back.</p>

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<p>I’ve often wondered if the Rick Steves tours would be good. We have used their guide books and found them useful. If you are going to be going to art museums, see if the museums are listed in his book called Mona Winks. It helps organize you visit to a museum and tells you the reason the famous works are famous. We have also cross checked museums in the Sister Wendy 1000 Masterpieces book.</p>

<p>My husband and I rented a bike for two in a park in Rome. We found it to be the most apt metaphor for a marriage. How to decide to brake, steer, what speed, whos’s in charge?! We still laugh about it. I had to take more risk; he had to be more cautious.</p>

<p>He bought pizza from little shops in every city we visited to compare the regional tastes. With the kids we did it with gelato (not too much variation but they were pleased.)</p>

<p>Hope you have a wonderful time!</p>

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<p>Not exactly Italy but Taormina, Sicily is a great place with spectacular views of Mt. Etna from almost every where you go.</p>

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<p>Great ideas, great information. Thank you everyone; keep it coming!</p>

<p>Twomules, your bike for 2 metaphor is very funny but true. Deciding who’s the captain and who’s the stoker on a tandem can redefine relationships :wink: . I have friends who have several tandems. The wife got fed up with the husband being “the boss” and always insisting on being the “captain” up front. She insisted that they get a tandem with true independent pedaling. Now, when ever he gets a bit too bossy up front, she stops pedaling and pulls out a book to read. Realigns his attitude real fast.</p>

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<p>Although I’m sure all tour companies are different, my friends who have gone on tours of Italy have had very whirlwind schedules. If you’re looking for a relaxing time with your spouse with time to linger over great meals, stroll through neighborhoods, take a leisurely gelato break, etc., it might be better to go it alone with a tour guide for a couple days in Rome. I have found traveling in Italy very easy and, no, I don’t speak Italian. If you want to cover lots of territory and see all the big sights, a tour would be a good way to go, however. It all depends on what you’re looking for.</p>

<p>For romance, I’d spend a couple days in Lake Como with a rental car. If you can afford it, the Villa d’Este would be an ultimate anniversary hotel or place for a special dinner. I also am a fan of getting a rental car while in Florence and taking a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano. I agree that Florence is a walking city and believe it would be pretty easy to navigate by yourself. Rome is my favorite place in Italy (Venice is beautiful but a tourist town, not a “real” city, Florence just doesn’t hit me as hard as it does others). Just spending time walking around at night and seeing the piazzas lit up and soaking up the atmosphere would be quality time with your spouse.</p>

<p>I’m a big fan of Trip Advisor on the internet and also search articles on the Conde Naste Traveler and National Geographic Traveler websites for old articles that list restaurants and hotels. Open Tables is a great way to make restaurant reservations abroad, although I’ve never used for Italy and don’t know if it’s a country that it covers.</p>

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<p>If the “hub-bub” of a large tourist town overwhelms you consider basing your tour on mid sized Italian towns. We like to stay in places that are large enough to have there own non tourist economy, and small enough only to be attractive to day trippers.
For example, base yourself for a few days in Padova or Verona and make easy day side trips to Mantova, Venice, or Vicenza. Or stay in Arezzo and its a quick 30 min train ride to Florence, or 40 min to Pisa, Lucca, Pistoia, etc. Ferrara is a great overlooked town as well as Bologna, Cremona, Urbino, Todi, (oh man, I could go on and on). Im a huge fan of Umbria, its a little more charming and not as over run as Tuscany. An ideal fall vacation in Italy for me would be five days in an apartment in Rome, pick up a car and drive around Umbria for five days visiting agriturismo stays(drinking novelli wines , wild boar and truffles) and after you return the car , another five days in Lucca or Arezzo.(with dozens of possible side trips via train from either city)
No matter how you do the trip, Im envious already.</p>

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<p>You’ve already gotten tons of good info here. Just a couple of thoughts: You do not need an international license for any reason. We’ve had an “incidente” - okay, H has had TWO incidentes over the years - in Italy and your US license suffices.
Like oldfort, we have had wonderful experiences with renting villas and flats in a number of areas. In Venice, we stayed in a (converted) 14th C palazzo for less than what a 3-star hotel would have been; in Tuscany we’ve had spacious houses with pools, etc., again for surprisingly reasonable prices. It may not be so cost-effective for short periods, but if you’re in any place for a week, not only is a villa usually less than a hotel, but it will have laundry and cooking facilities. And there’s nothing like shopping for your own food to get you out and talking (or gesturing and floundering :D) with the people.
One note on the weather: I see suggestions above for October and for Feb/March. October is a much more predictable time, and is likelier to be nicer. Feb/March <em>can</em> be nice, but we were in Tuscany in late March a couple of years ago and needed heavy coats, hats, gloves, etc. the whole time. (Still wonderful, but if you don’t <em>have</em> to take that much heavy stuff, you might be happier.)
A peerless source for rental properties: rentvillas dot com.
Rick Steves - especially Mona Winks - is well worth bringing along.</p>

<p>How long is your time frame? One fairly manageable, “best-of” type trip could be a week in Venice, a dramatic, beautiful (sick-making, if you’re my middle kid) drive over the Appenines (probably spelled wrong, sorry) into the Tuscan countryside, and then finish up with 2 - 3 days in Rome. That gives you sophisticated city time in Venice and Rome, for art/culture etc., breathtaking countryside, and then Tuscan food, Tuscan towns (San Giminiano, San Quirico, etc), plus Florence, all in easy easy driving distance. Day trips out to little towns, back to your villa to cook fresh produce at night! And then a short stay in Rome will let you see the Forii and lots of other walkable places. Of course it’s not enough time but three months wouldn’t be, either. </p>

<p>Man, I wish I were planning another trip to Italy right now! Best of luck to you - you can’t go far wrong.</p>

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<p>Google Adventures By Disney. We took a 10 day tour with them Rome-Tuscany-Venice. Summer is hot and super crowded, so you might want to try for Sept or Oct. The package is expensive, but I do have to say it was well worth it. All of the little details of transportation, luggage handling, tickets to Vatican etc were taken care of. We saw and experienced much more than we ever could on our own. Don’t worry you won’t be bombarded by Mickey Mouse. We are not Disney obsessed and were quite happy not to see mouse ears everywhere. The attention to details is amazing, the hotels and restaurants were first class all the way. They are geared to families, but also have adults only tour. I’ve heard good things about Rick Steves tours too if traveling off the beaten path and packing light is your style of travel. Have fun planning!</p>

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<p>Here’s the Rick Steves tours. [Rick</a> Steves’ Europe: Browse our 2009 Tours](<a href=“http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours09/findtours.cfm/rurl/category_ID/200/]Rick”>http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours09/findtours.cfm/rurl/category_ID/200/) One good thing is that they limit participants to 24-28, so not too huge a group. We visited Italy with the kids about 7 years ago- traveling on our own, and had a blast. We read “Let’s go” and the Rick steves books to prepare and stayed at hostels, which I booked ahead on the internet. We did all our traveling by train or on foot, visited florence, Rome, Cinque Terre, before moving on to Denmark. the “Blue Ice” gelato in Rome was incredible!</p>

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<p>I have long wanted to rent a place from Untours, but they often require a 2 week commitment which is hard on my husband’s schedule. I’ve seen now that they offer Samplers where you can stay in 2 different locations for 1 week each. They will arrange cars or local transportation passes for you. </p>

<p>I just peeked at their website. Seems that as a result of the economic situation, their prices are dropping. Hmm, maybe my husband could go for part of the time and I could have the kids for the 2 weeks.</p>