Help, please!

Hi Sarah,

I am taking my first trip to Italy in three weeks. Planning the trip myself has been a great deal of fun. The only thing I did was pick up Rick Steve's Italy book, ask questions on this website (the people are extremely knowledgable and helpful) and really consider where you want to spend your time. Think about what you want to spend your time doing; museums, countryside, in the city, etc. Iam spending three weeks in Italy with three girlfriends; we are starting in Venice and making our way around the boot to end up in Barcelona. I found that the packages at Travel Agency would stick use to a schedule. We didn't go that route because we wanted a lot of flexibility in our trip. Read and watch some of the Rick Steves travel shows on TV or you can get a free DVD from this website. I really can't speak to your budget question. Everybody's different, however, I'm just a working stiff (as they say) and I only decided at the beginning of the year that I wanted to go to Europe. We have watched the airflights to try for the best price and we are using a friends Timeshare in Barcelona to save money. You will be surprised at the different ways to cut cost. I say, plan it yourself! You will be happy in the end and you will be spending your time seeing and doing the things you want to.

August in Venice is packed with tourists and is very hot. So get a hotel with air cond. for sure. Venice will be your most expensive accomodation average in Aug. for 3 w/ ac at least $250-$300 per ni and may incl brfast. you are wise to plan early. You can easily do it yourself to plan and train most of it except Tuscany. Which can be done easily by rental car and/or to select locations by bus.You will pay alot more if you ask a travel agt for air and hotel reservations. Or just get a Rick Steves guidebk or similiar and plan your own. Best set a budget then decide.

Sarah,

To begin with, as none of you have any experience travelling in Europe, I'd highly recommend that you start by reading Europe Through The Back Door. It has an enormous amount of information on travelling smart in Europe, and will help you in the planning process. Pay particular attention to the "Rail skills" chapter.

I wouldn't suggest travelling in August, as it will be hot, crowded and probably more expensive. August is also the month when a lot of Italians take their holidays, so some businesses close then. The "fall shoulder season" (Sept./Oct.) would be a much better choice!

I normally use a Travel Agent to book long distance flights (as Rick also does, according to his books). You should be able to plan a great holiday just using this website (and others) and the Guidebooks and videos. I always pack the Italy Guidebook along for reference when I'm travelling there.

There are LOTS of fantastic places in Italy, so my suggestion would be to spend 2-3 days in Venice and then explore other locations. Rome is worth more than "a few days".

Locations in Tuscany you could consider are Florence, Siena or other towns depending on available time. You could also consider Umbria and the small town of Orvieto. In northern Italy you could visit Verona, Lago di Como, Lucca or Stresa (from Stresa you can take a day trip into Locarno, Switzerland on the scenic CentoValli Railway and then return by boat) and of course the Cinque Terre!

Good luck with your planning!

I would suggest focusing most of your time outside of Venice, as it's literally as packed with tourists as Disneyland. It's insanely crowded, albeit beautiful. Stay outside of Venice, about a 10 minute Vaparetto ride on the Island of Lido. Less crowded (if there is such a thing around Venice) and there are beaches, restaurants and some mild reprive from the crowds.

For other more desirable locations; I would also recommend the Cinque Terre, and Lake Como up North. Both the best places I saw this summer, spending 4 weeks in Italy for my first time.

Pricing is not really horribly expensive in Italy, except for August. Venice is the most expensive place in all of my 6 week European travel this summer. 2 days in Venice is enough to see it and still get out with some money left.

Hi Sarah,

HOw wonderful that you are going to Italy! It is a lovely country. We were there for 2 weeks in Late June/early July this summer and loved it. We did 2 days in Venice and while it is a beautiful and unique city, I do have to say that it was not my favorite part of the trip. Based on what others have said about it in August, I might reconsider and give a couple of days to other destinations. We LOVED Tuscany. It was simply enchanting, much slower paced (not Florence, it is still a city, ut the country side and hill towns are simply enchanting. We stayed at an agritourismo (basically a bed and breakfast on a working Tuscan farm) and wished we'd had more time.

I did not use a travel agent, planned the whole trip myself and was glad I did. It was a lot of fun. I relied heavily on Rick Steve's book and this site. Also, if you can afford it, I suggest a guide for ancient Rome. We used Ron in Rome and he made the ruins come alive. He was also very helpful with suggestions that made the rest of our stay more enjoyable and so that we could use our limited time well.

As for cost, we looked for cheaper hotels (go to venere.com and search the reviews) clean with air conditioning was mostly what I was looking for and $200/night was my price and we were able to stick pretty closely to that. We didn't spend much time in the rooms so clean and cool for sleeping and getting ready was all we really needed. Anyway, I think we spent about$2000-$2500 per person. We cut NO corners on food and pretty much did what we wanted, we were prudent about souvinirs/clothes, etc, but we did buy cheese and olive oil and shipped it back from a shop in Pienza.

Anyway, hope all that helps a little. Have a wonderful time! We certainly did!

Jodie

Sarah,
My husband and I are doing something similar in September (first time in Italy). We are taking my mom and my sister. I found that it was so much cheaper to rent an apartment in Rome, Florence, and Venice than getting hotel rooms. We rented beautiful apartments for around 140 euros a night. We found them in homeaway.com and vrbo.com. Because you are renting directly through the owner, you can negotiate the price that appears on the website. By doing this, we will also save some money on food because we can make some meals instead of eating out all the time - I want to use my $$ for shopping!! It will help with the packing as well because all the apartments have washing machines.

Hi Sarah:

With this site and the books suggested, YOU can surely plan this trip…and have a great time doing it. People are so helpful. Also, you will arrive being informed which will allow you to enjoy everything all the more.

As a few have stated, two days in Venice is adequate. Thank goodness for tourists because it keeps the town afloat (that and the pilings), but the analogy to the crowds in Disney Land is right-on. There are so many other incredible sights to experience in Italy that irrespective of what you guys want; museums, coastal towns, country towns, big cities, ruins etc, etc…you can find it. Just allow yourselves enough time to NOT feel rushed. Perhaps looking at an “open jaws” flight will allow for leeway and more options in planning?

Happy travels!

Sarah,

As Jan mentions, open jaw sure helped us out. We flew into Venice and out of Rome. I did a lot of checking before booking and the open jaw plan actually ended up being a little cheaper for us.

Happy Travels

Sarah, On our first trip to Italy, I did the planning from Rick's book & this website. We started in Rome, then Pompeii 2 nights, Florence, and ended in Venice. We really liked Venice, I think partly because after Rome & Florence it seemed relaxing. Because there is no traffic, it was all at our pace and it was a great way to end a trip when we were tired from traveling.

Since we travel in fall or early spring, I can't speak about the summer crowds but we have never experienced the flooding. Walking around Venice at night is great. The day trippers and cruisers are gone and we walk the back streets and just enjoy.

About Rome, you can certainly spend more than a few days in Rome and not run out of things to see. There is always more to see in Rome and I don't think anyone could get bored there.
My opinion is that you can get more first hand experience from this helpline than from a lot of the travel agents around.

I hope you all have a great trip, and what a wonderful sister & brother in law your sister has!
Mimi

Maybe an apartment would be better for you because there are three of you. You'd either need two rooms or have no privacy for the entire trip!