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Back from Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento -questions welcomed!

Hi, Just came back from trip to Italy last Friday, had blast of fun -walk a lot, lots of Gelato and Pizza in each city. Questions are welcomed. One thing I learned is to never ever use Expedia. Regards,
-Jane

Posted by
27 posts

Hi Jane, welcome back. Care to ellaborate on the Expedia comment? In the last several years I've book many, if not all, of my airfare on Expedia and have never had a problem. More than specifics about a certain place, I always like to ask more open-ended questions from fellow travelers about lessons they learned. Like, what's the one thing you WOULDN'T do, or bother seeing, or pack, again? Conversely, was there anything you wish you'd spent more time doing or seeing? And my favorite question: what surprised you the most (both positive and negative surprise)?

Posted by
8572 posts

I have never used Expedia but would love for you to share why one shouldn't.

Posted by
105 posts

I used Expedia once on a trip to Denver. The hotel was supposed to be a "four star" within "walking distance" of the 16th Street Mall area. "Walking distance" meant that once you dodged all of the hookers, drug addicts, and worse, you could get to the 16th Street Mall in a bit over an hour walking briskly. If this hotel was a "Four Star," Motel Six is an "Eight Star," and Hilton is "The Milky Way." We found another hotel on our own (that actually met our criteria-- at the SAME PRICE) and then spent 6 hours of one of our precious vacation days arguing on the phone to get out of the reservations at the first hotel. We were willing to eat what we had paid to go to the other hotel, but Expedia finally relented and let us out of the deal. Miserable experience. Never again. Now back to fun discussions of Italy :)........

Posted by
71 posts

Jane, how long were you in Italy? How much did you pack that you really didn't need and what did you leave behind that you wish you had taken? What airline did you fly, into and out of which gateways, and how was the experience overall (airport, customs, transfers)?

Posted by
8 posts

Jane, you just named my entire trip in September. So excited. Trains trains trains. I have been on the trentia, yes spelling is wrong. Did you do a pass or point to point when you got there. Having a hard time deciding. Did you drive any in the surrounding areas of sorrento. Trying to decide on personal driver or renting car. Any tips you share is appreciated.

Posted by
8 posts

Jane,
We are headed to Italy in September with this same itinerary, except we are going to Sorrento first then back up to Rome. So Venice, Florence, Sorrento and the Rome. We only have 2-2.5 days in Rome. This is our first trip is it enough? Or could we do a day trip down to Sorrento? Thoughts?

Posted by
32173 posts

Elaina, IMHO, 2 - 2.5 days is NOT long enough for a first visit to Rome. I'd suggest at least 4-days, and more if possible. It is possible to do a day trip to Sorrento or Pompeii from Rome, but it will be a LONG day. You'll need to take the "regular" train to Napoli Centrale and then transfer to the Circumvesuviana train. You can check the schedules at This Website.

Posted by
25 posts

Hi Max, Glad to share my experience. Yeah perhaps you are right for flight for Expedia but my experience for hotel has been extremely disappointing. The particular event I described is during trip from Rome to Sorrento by train(as you guessed). You have to change train in Napalis and take Circumvesuviana train to go to Sorrento. To describe this in detail, as we got down to Napolis train an elderly man came running to us and asked us where are we going. He gave information about where to get train ticket. Once we got the tickets, I gave him a Euro for token of appreciation but it seemed like he expected more and was bit intimidating. Now I have read other post on this subject about pick-pocket, etc before leaving and was aware, but this seemed bit further than that. We had normal casual cloth nothing out of ordinary but of course can not disguise luggage that we were carrying, so it was obvious that we were tourist. Regards,
-Jane

Posted by
107 posts

What is the process once you get to the Venice train station to getting to the hotel. Water Taxi? How do you get one? Walking a possiblilty?

Posted by
4152 posts

Den, take the water bus and not a water taxi. Find out the closest stop to your hotel and take that water bus. A water taxi will cost a ton of money while the bus is pretty cheap in comparison. You might be able to walk but it depends on where your hotel is and if you want to carry your luggage across all the bridges you'll come across. Donna

Posted by
25 posts

Hi All, (My several attempts to post has failed, let me see if this works) Here is the response to some of the questions. Expedia : I booked our Hotels in 3 cities using Expedia. The hotel in Venice was alright as expected and agreed upon while other 2 cities was not. In Rome we spend 3 nights. When we arrived to hotel, we were told that our reservation was only for 2 adults not for 4 and Expedia has not communicated to them for 4 adults and three was no room for 4. We called Expedia and discussed with 3 supervisors without any resolution. At the end hotel allowed us to stay 4 of us in room for 2 and I have to sleep on floor! We have paid 200 Euro per night and I still have to sleep on floor during my vacation. It was peak season(July) and all good hotels were full. Obviously, I was/am not happy about it. I called Expedia after coming from trip but they are completely unaccountable. Same thing happened during our stay in Florence. You be the judge.
(Continue on next post) Jane

Posted by
25 posts

(Continuing from above -seems long post gives error) As for my packing luggage, initially I was preacher for least possible things that you can take, but due to extended stay(18 days), I have to carry cloth(tops) that hate to put on same for more than 1 day in heat and windup taking more than I should have. Quite frankly I wish I would have taken less stuff but don't know what could I have avoided though. We stayed 4 nights in each city(Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento in that order). Out of that Venice was the best city I liked. The best place that I wished could have more time is in San Gimignano that we visited during Florence. It is truly a Medieval town that you see in some of the movies. Spectacular! We flew from San Francisco by Air France and had change over in Paris. From SFO to Paris service was typical but then again we were prepared knowing that we do not expect same service as what used to be. To me all airlines have same service with some variations -good or worst.
(Continue on next post)

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25 posts

(Continue from above)
As for number of days to spend in these cities - Keep in mind you can spend a month in each city and still find things to do but considering practical budget and time constraints- Venice - besides dirty water and humid hot weather, this is unique and beautiful city - I loved it -we seen and done most of the thing in 3.5 days but can spend weeks- if you are spending 3 days get on-line reservation for basilica and Dogge's house - Murano, Burano island is worth if you have extra time- Florence - Million things to do and you would love it if you are into art/history. That square near Uffizy gallary and David's is like party place every night! We did 1 day Pissa, 1 day Sienna/San Gimignano and 1 day Uffizy/Acadamia. Again do online reservation for Uffizy and Academia before going to save time. You can spend 1 day in Pissa/Sienna/San Gimignano in coach tour available.(we used Viatour) Rome - Is larger city than above two(also compare to Sorrento), so places are scattered and unless you can walk a lot do hop-on-hop-off bus(cost 18-22 euro) You can spend 3-4 days in covering most of the Rome. Plaza Navona was another place where you find festival atmosphere every night. Make sure to get Vatican ticket before you go if you are planning to visit. Sorrento - Is most beautiful place. We have been there before and loved it. This is the place to sit on the cliff of one of the restaurant eat Margarita Pizza, relax and enjoy. Then again, we went to Amplfi via private coach(34 euro) went to Capri(and blue Grotto) and Pampei. Taking trip around the Capri Island in boat is most memorable. Unless you see it, you can never imagine how deep blue ocean can really look. Unforgettable. Also gives you reason why you need more money by looking at those anchored yachts :). You do need at least 3 days if you want to do all of these.

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25 posts

(continue) As for traveling from one city to another - We used Eurorail. We have reserved tickets time ahead from Raileuro web site. Looking this back, there was line to buy tickets on station but not that long and if you use kiosks on station, there was no line at all. However, if/when I go again I still think I will buy ticket on-line before going - for conveniency and avoiding hassle. Buying ticket on-line has two constraints. - 1. You have to pay extra and 2. You have to catch the train you reserved. We did reservation for train going from Rome to Napalis on Rome station. It was not bad. The difficult part was to figure out which station to get down. From Napalis to Sorrento, my experience was bit uncomfortable. There were all locals and no tourist and they were looking at us strangely-or so did I feel. We took bus from Sorrento to Rome returning - which was cheaper and convenient. You don't find many people speaking English in Venice, Florence, Rome(least in Venice) - either people are local or non-English speaking European. The worst situation we faced was when we went to Rome station information desk, the gentleman was talking in Italian who did not know English and I was talking in English who didn't know Italian. Luckily my son knows some Spanish and was able to interpret Italian bit. Eurorail is efficient train and most of the passenger during peak season are American and/or tourists. Also in Sorrento, you find majority English speaking tourist but not in Venice and Florence and not as many in Rome.

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25 posts

(continue) The key to successful trip has been this for us- location of the hotel. We stayed near San Marcus Square(Palazzo Duodo)in Venice, near Duamo(Perseo) in Florence, right in Pantheon squre (Albergo Abruzzi) in Rome and near main street in Sorrento(Palazzo Guardati). We paid almost top dollars but it was worth it. The hotel facility in Sorrento was better than others. As usual you do not expect as good hotel as in US for what you pay. After reserving all travels, trains, museums and trips on line before going, our major expense was meal. For 4 of us each day it cost us about 100 euros and being vegetarian did not help. We ate almost exclusively Margarita Pizza for all the meals and of course lots of Gelato(visit 150 different Gelato types in Rome near Pantheon). Quite honestly, we did not like Margarita Pizza as much as Pizza we find here for 1/4 of the price. Gelato was fun. Even after spending about 50 euros for a meal, many times we were hungry. Make note also than when you ask for water, they will give you bottle water which will cost about 4 Euros. While walking around city in this season(July), you wind up drinking lots of liquid and require to buy that too which cost 3-5 Euro per bottle(water, coke,..)

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25 posts

(continue) - I agree 3-4 days is good idea for Rome if you want to cover most. There are lots of things to see and to reach from one point to another can be time consuming. Although taxi are not that bad if there are 4 passengers. In matter of fact it is more cost effective and convenient if you are party of 4 and want to go around and you are considering to travel by Metro or taxi. For example from Pantheon to Rome termini, it cost us 11 Euro, with Metro, we have to drag our luggage to nearest Matro and still at the end will cost more than 15 Euro. This is effective only if there are more passengers. Other example is we paid 40 Euro from Travi Fountain to Rome airport -4 passengers and luggage. Also taking day trip from Rome to Sorrento or Pomei -you can do it but can be challenging and not as much fun as they are not near by.

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25 posts

(continue) Going from Venice airport to Venice is not at all issue. You come out of the terminal(small) and walk down short distance to the water taxi. They sale tickets on the terminal and tell you where to walk down to get water taxi. If I recall correctly, it cost 15 euro.

Posted by
25 posts

As for hotel reservations after spending thousands of dollars, I learned this. If I have to do it again, I will do directly on hotel website rather than using service provider(never Expedia) or any other. They are cheaper and as reliable(or not) as these service providers. As for cash, ATM are everywhere and worked fine. We did not charge anything except some hotels on card.

Posted by
27 posts

Jane, Thank you for the insights! It's always great to hear from those that just returned and can provide a first-hand account. I've always used Expedia for flights, not hotels, so that might explain the difference in experiences. Funny how you noticed everyone "looking" at you at the station. Perhaps they just knew you were a tourist? There seems to be a lot of discussion on these boards about what to wear/not to wear in order to look less out of place.

Posted by
25 posts

Hi Elaine, With regards to your intention to do day trip to Sorrento from Rome, there is a day trip offered by Green Line 'a day trip to Capri', 'a day trip to Naples -Pompei' (looking at their literature that I brought home) more info you can find at www.greenlinetours.com. I don't have experience with them and I am sure there can be other companies doing same type of trips. HTH. Regards,
-Jane

Posted by
4152 posts

Sorry, I just have to point out a few things. Eurorail is a reseller and charges a fee. You can buy train tickets directly through the trenitalia website without the markup and the reservation fees are included. You don't have to pay extra to buy in advance, you can actually qualify for discounts with advance purchase. All the touristy cities in Italy have many, many people who speak English. I have never had a problem with language and I don't speak Italian. I'm not sure why you think the metro to get to the termini would cost 15 euros. It's one euro per person per trip. If you are just going to the termini from the spagna or Barberini stop (or any other stop for that matter) it would cost the 4 of you 4 euros total, not 15. Cab fare is a fixed rate of 40 euros to the airport from anywhere within the city walls for up to 4 people with their luggage. The man who approached you in the Naples train station was just helping in order to get a good tip. They do this all the time. Next time just tell him "no thanks". Elaine, Sorrento is not a good day trip to do from Rome. It's a very long trip and one that should be considered as an overnight. If you can get cheap lodging in Sorrento just leave most of your luggage in your Rome hotel and spend the night. This will give you more time to enjoy Sorrento and not waste all your time on the train. Donna

Posted by
1035 posts

"I'm not sure why you think the metro to get to the termini would cost 15 euros. It's one euro per person per trip. If you are just going to the termini from the spagna or Barberini stop (or any other stop for that matter) it would cost the 4 of you 4 euros total, not 15. Cab fare is a fixed rate of 40 euros to the airport from anywhere within the city walls for up to 4 people with their luggage." Donna, she is talking about Venice, not Roma.

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4152 posts

***For example from Pantheon to Rome termini, it cost us 11 Euro, with Metro, we have to drag our luggage to nearest Matro and still at the end will cost more than 15 Euro. ** This is why I don't understand where the 15 euros comes from. The metro in Rome for a 75 minute ticket is one euro each. Perhaps Jane can explain what happened. Donna

Posted by
3580 posts

There is often confusion between "water taxi" and "water bus." The taxi costs more and may take you closer to your hotel. For four people, the taxi may not be a bad deal costwise. And you can probably count on help with your luggage. The water bus is most commonly used, even with luggage. It is much larger than the taxi. There is a ticket kiosk for the bus in front of the train station near the canal. You can buy single-trip tix or a pass that is good for longer.

Posted by
25 posts

1. Yeah, Eurorail is reseller and they have their own overhead. If you notice I have written that "1. You have to pay extra" in earlier post. The things is I did not have success in using credit card with Trenitalia and thus have to buy from Eurorail. 2. Dragging heavy luggage from Pantheon to Barberini to go to termini we have done once and it was miserable. Given choice I will still to take Taxi rather then go through that experience. As I said in my earlier post "This is effective only if there are more passengers" 3. About Napolis experience, Yeah, you can "Next time just tell him "no thanks" -only if you know that this can happen -that's why I narrated my experience. 4. I tend to disagree on your statement Donna "All the touristy cities in Italy have many, many people who speak English. I have never had a problem with language and I don't speak Italian." You can get-by without learning Italian for visit purpose but it is not true that "many, many people who speak English" -at least not the one who you have to deal during visit. 5. Sorrento is not a good day trip from Rome, correct but I am giving option that if you really want to do it, there are companies who can arrange for you. 6. Swan, thanks for correcting 'water taxi' and 'water boat', however I think there is one more category -the boat which goes from Venice airport to Venice island, does not take you to your hotel -not sure what is it called. Again, these are my experience and perspective of visit. Regards,
-Jane

Posted by
203 posts

Jane, thanks for the summary! It sounds like you had many highs and lows, which is typical of any day, any where, but had an overall great experience. Don't fret if your recollection of prices and such are not spot on. Future travellers, like myself, will be double checking any relevant details before we go, anyway.

Posted by
7737 posts

My experience in Italy has been that if you're visiting the main tourist centers, most Italians that you have to interact with will know what I call "tourist industry English." In other words, they'll know enough to do simple transactions, but they're not going to get into a in-depth discussion with you about any topic.

Posted by
25 posts

I agree with you Michel. Marianne, don't get me wrong, as I said in my epilogue "had blast of fun" no doubt and we are planning to go again! The objective of writing unhappy experience here is for others to learn from it and avoid if one can. Other 99% time was all fun!!

Posted by
203 posts

Sometimes, in my opinion, posts that describe things that 'went wrong" or were a disappointment in some way, are actually more helpful than glowing, everything was just perfect, posts. Although I do enjoy confirmation that everything about Italy is wonderful! Any aggravation, extra expense or inconvenience that came as a surprise to you helps me and others take steps and make arrangements to avoid any of the pitfalls you experienced. First time visitors sometimes "don't know what they don't know", even with a lot of reading and planning. And for that, I thank you! I guess it is time to start planning your next trip!

Posted by
4152 posts

Jane, my post was not in any way meant to make light of anything you posted only to point out to those who may not have traveled to Italy some more of the specifics and different options. 1) I was simply pointing out that you can purchase on trenitalia ahead of time and save money by qualifying for reduced fares. You don't have to use a website that charges any extra fees. Trenitalia has been accepting U.S. issued credit cards for several months now but I know some people are still having problems. This usually occurs when their cc company flags the purchase as fraud and puts a hold on the transaction. 2) I agree with you that if there are 3 or more people traveling together it makes sense to hire a private transport or take a cab to the airport. I'm still not sure why you said the metro would cost 15 euros to get to the termini station. 3) I had that exact same experience on my first trip to Naples. We did tell the man "no thanks" and walked away. It's one of the better known schemes at the train station but it's always good to point it out. 4) I can honestly say that I've never encountered a single waiter, shop owner, ticket sales person, train agent or other person in the travel industry in Italy that didn't speak good enough English for us to know exactly what the other wanted. Perhaps I've just been lucky. I appreciate your perspective and the fact that you have shared them here for everyone to read. I do think it's important for people to read others experiences but I also think it's important for them not to be misunderstood and for others to know that their are options. Donna

Posted by
4 posts

Hi Jane, I know you mentioned you stayed near Duamo in Florence and in Pantheon square in Rome. Would you recommend these areas? Are there other areas in Rome and Florence that would be convenient and safe and moderately priced that you could recommend? Thank you!

Posted by
791 posts

I've been using Expedia for over 10 years now and never once had a problem with them. They are fantastic.

Posted by
25 posts

Hi Shelley, I strongly recommend these areas. Hotel near Duomo is also conveniently located at walking distance to Uffizi, and train station. We also walked to Academia from there. Hotel near Pantheon is also best location in Rome(IMHO). Walking distance Piazza Navona and many other places. We booked hotel months ago. The hotel I mentioned above both are relatively good although may have to pay little extra for the prime location. If you are not sure exact location, please check the google map -I used it extensively to assess distance and area prior to booking. Regards, Jane