Hi,
I need help planning my trip for my family of 4 to Italy. We want to go for three weeks, visiting Rome, Venice and Florence. We live in Los Angeles. I would love to avoid having to go back to Rome for an overnight stay in order to catch our returning flight. Any ideas on how I can plan our trip? We plan to take trains from city to city and will probably stay in Airbnbs and hotels. Thank you!
Have you looked into flying 'open jaw' or , as some airlines call it, 'multi-city', into Venice and out of Rome (all booked together rather than one-way flights)? No back-tracking that way.
I agree that choosing a multicity ticket into Venice and out of Rome ( or vice versa) would allow for a more efficient linear direction of travel. And 3 weeks is sufficient time to add one or 2 more places into the itinerary ( or just more day trips away from your base towns.
Thank you! These are very helpful suggestions! I’ll look into a multiple city itinerary- what airlines do you recommend?
When are you planning to begin this trip?
Do you have "airline miles" thru a reward system or is the airfare portion of your trip at your expense?
Do you plan to visit these three Italian cities in the order you have listed?
Looking at Matrix-IT.com, looks like the least expensive nonstops are with Norwegian and Alitalia airlines. I would look at a site that compares airlines and fares. I know airlines typically don’t fly every day of the week.
I suggest you search for flights on kayak.com, using the "multi-city" option. I did a search for LAX-Venice and Rome-LAX on random October dates and found several flights on Delta, Alitalia, and other airlines (many involving code-sharing). There are several nonstops between LAX and Rome. Venice requires changes at places like JFK, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, and others. Try to stay with one airline if possible (including code sharing) so you'll be on one ticket, guaranteeing a later flight in case of delays enroute. If you have a layover, especially after a long flight that might be delayed, try to make it at least two or three hours. I like to fly to a European airport first (from Seattle), so if I miss a connection at least I'm on the right continent with multiple options.
When you've found the flights you like, schedule-wise and price-wise, book them on the airline's own website (which should also have a multi-city option). That will make things easier if you need to change plans later, including a missed connection.
EDIT -- Flying into Venice may be a better idea than flying out of Venice, simply because Venice is an island and the airport is on the mainland. Depending on where your hotel is, you may have to take a boat part of the way. Weather and other uncertainties of water travel might complicate getting to the airport, risking a missed flight. Getting from the airport to the city doesn't involve the same time pressure.
If you're flying in the near future, I'd fly Norwegian Air Shuttle to Rome. Norwegian flies out of Venice to Oslo with seasonally connecting flights to Los Angeles. It's doubtful they fly 7 days a week, however the price will certainly be right.
The alternative would be Alitalia non-stop both ways. Let me just say it's not the most popular airline in Europe.
If your trip is next year, you might want to check into the financial condition of either of these airlines. They've not been profitable in the near past. Any ticket purchased should be on a credit card.
I’m planning to fly from LAX into Rome, spend 5 nights there then travel to Florence via train, 5 nights there, then train to Venice, 5 nights there. We’re planning on a January 2020 trip. Maybe a side trip to Montepulciano.
You may want to reverse the order of your trip. It's much easier to fly into Venice and out of Rome than the other way around, especially if you have an early departure time. Getting to the Venice airport early can be difficult and expensive whereas getting to the Rome airport early is very straightforward.
You are wise to be making inquiries and planning with a nine-month future travel date. Several have suggested Norwegian Air Shuttle as a possible option for your departure from LAX. I agree - although there is a cloud of uncertainty regarding Norwegian's future. Hopefully, there will be some good news from them. I have flown Norwegian often from several locations and I am a fan of their service. In checking just now, Norwegian has not released their flight schedule from LAX beyond October of this year. They do currently offer non-stop service from LAX to Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris and Rome. I'd suggest keeping an eye on the Norwegian website as your plans develop.
We are traveling to Italy in July. Last year I started looking at flights to see what the pricing was and what was a "good" deal. We are in Phoenix, AZ but chose to fly out of LAX since it was $500 per ticket cheaper than flying directly out of Phoenix and when you multiply that by 5 its a huge savings. I looked at all the consolidators, Travelocity, Kayak, etc and I found a good deal offered by Lufthansa but booked directly with Lufthansa and not Travelocity. We fly out of LAX, stop in Newark and then land in Venice and we will be flying out of Rome, via Munich and back to LAX. Our outbound flight is on United and return on Lufthansa. I find if you start looking early and do your research you can find a decent price and be ready when you can book your dates. Its not direct but I'm happy with our choices since we only have 1 stop each way.
