We are back from our long anticipated trip to Italy. As first timers, I relied heavily on this forum to plan our trip, and I am so thankful that I did! I thought I would share some of our triumphs and defeats, as it might help someone else.
Book ahead! I knew that Italy was the a huge destination this year, and I was worried about the crowds. Yes, it was crowded, but realistically, not unmanageable. One reason is that we had tickets already in hand, tour guides lined up, and timed entry for most of our venues. I made dinner reservations for every night, and though probably not totally necessary, I was glad that I did because our table was always ready! I used the Fork app as much as I could, and it was extremely user friendly. I chose restaurants from this forum, the Rick Steves book, and cross checked on Trip Advisor and Yelp. All of our meals were excellent, and the prices were more than reasonable for delicious authentic Italian food!
Rome: We loved Rome, but it is chaotic. We were pickpocketed near the Colosseum. My husband was holding my backpack when I was busy doing something. I heard the commotion, turned around, and my husband was in the process of getting my glasses case back from the thief. I am sure the thief thought he had gotten my wallet, but ended up with my glasses, which we got back. I demanded that he open his bag so I could check to make sure he had not taken anything else. Surprisingly, he did not run away, he did open the bag, but then was apparently so "outraged" that he spit at me! Obviously, this was unsettling, but realistically we might have been shot in the United States so we realize it could have been much worse...it's another war story to tell.
Assisi: I cannot say enough about this beautiful town! I LOVED it, and wish that we had more than 3 1/2 hours. Hopefully, I will go back someday.
Florence: This might have been my favorite place if I had to choose. It was Rome's art and history without the chaos. We had an excellent tour guide who can trace her family in Florence back to the twelfth century! Our AirBnb was fantastic, and 5 minutes from the Duomo. This could not have been a better location, and it also offered us the opportunity to do loads and loads of laundry, which was very helpful, as we were sweating through everything.
Sorrento: We loved Sorrento! But--we hated our trip from the Naples train station to Sorrento because our driver's car did not have air conditioning. It was very very hot, my daughter got very ill as a result. When we finally arrived at the hotel,(we stayed at Antiche Mura--excellent), we cooled her down with a cool bath and ice. I am still haggling with the tour agency to get a refund for this part of the trip.
Shared tours: These were an excellent value, and I would recommend the tour of the Amalfi Coast from Sorrento. I would recommend the boat tour to Capri, but with a word of warning: do not do this if the heat is out of control. Our trip on the boat was great, but Capri itself was kind of a bust. It was too hot to walk anywhere, so we went to a beautiful air conditioned hotel, and had a nice long leisurely lunch.
Heat: this is serious business, and it almost ruined our trip on that one day with no air conditioning in the car. I would plan your days early, come back to your hotel, or AirBnb, reset, then go out again. That is what we did most days, and that worked.
Travel: The airlines are a nightmare, United is the worst! My bag was missing for 5-6 days when we got back. I was just relieved that did not happen on the front end. 4 out of 6 of us did carry-on, and they were the smart people. I checked my bag, and have now vowed to never do it again!
That's the short version of my report...again thanks to all on this forum who gave such sound advice!