Coronavirus regroup: changing our itinerary away from northern Italy - input welcome

I’d book nothing that’s not fully refundable because you have no way of knowing where this virus will spread. Northern Italy may have seen the worst by then. This is a day-by-day situation, not a week-by-week, nor a month-by-month. You should wait until the week before at the earliest.

I booked last week for the Riviera just over the border from Italy for next week. It was a week to early. This week I wouldn’t have done it. Research all you want but so you are ready to act when the time comes, but now is too early to know where you’ll be able to go.

I live in Trieste, in Northern Italy. Universities, concerts, Carnevale and large gatherings have been suspended for a week, although friends and I question the value. Thus far, no cases of cornovirus here. Some think it's no different than the bad flu many of us experienced in 2019 and many of us have been sick with a bad flu this year, but it's not the CV.

I suggest taking whatever precautions you are comfortable with. Check out travel insurance and see what it covers. May is still a few months away. Perhaps travel insurance would reimburse you, if needed.

Also, if you use an online booking service like hotels.com or booking.com, you'll find that many hotels and B&B's have free cancellation, almost up until the time of the trip. I'm planning a trip to Sicily in April and one place offers me free cancellation up until the time of my trip. You can also call the hotels directly. Many don't ask for payment up front and have liberal cancellation policies.

Good luck with your planning!

We are planning to go to Northern Italy in the same time frame as you and are sitting tight. I am hoping it will have run its course by then.

We have nonrefundable train tickets but our hotels can be refunded close to our travel dates.

There are lots of lovely places to go. The real problem is noone can predict where the virus will be (or maybe it won't be) in three months.

Perhaps stay in the UK since you arrive LHR. Where does your VCE flight connect to your US-bound return flight? Perhaps you can skip Venice and return from the connecting city and build your itinerary around that factor. Wherever you go, you’ll enjoy!

In Italy: Bologna (I haven't been, but I regret missing it on my recent visit), Florence, Naples, Bari. Actually, Padua would be my first choice to revisit, but it's probably considered to be in the area you're trying to avoid.
Outside of Italy, places I'd like to revisit: Bilbao, Cordoba, and Valencia in Spain, and Lisbon, Porto, or Coimbra in Portugal.

I agree totally with Bets' response. You can change your locations but how do you know that between now and then the virus won't strike your newly chosen locations? Or that it won't be an issue in Northern Italy any longer by then? It's a crap shoot right now, especially when you don't know how various countries/cities are going to react to having some cases of the virus. Good luck with your decisions whatever they may be.

I think for expediency I would just make it an all Sicily trip. You could fly into Palermo and out of Catania, and would only need to rent a car for the center.
I'm especially glad I bought travel insurance this year--I am holding off on booking any non-refundable hotels (in Greece) until we get closer.

melrowgo: Good luck! We were scheduled to leave Sunday, March 1, but given the immediate situation, we've cancelled our three weeks in northern Italy with the idea of going in the fall. With your departure date, you have a little time to see how things play out.

I wish to retract my suggestion in light of a new case in Palermo--sorry!

We are going to the Palatine Hill (Rome, of course) on May 4.
We have a reserved 'tour' of the Domus Transitoria.
I just got an email from CoopCulture that they have suspended the use of the (shared) video goggles.
I assume that is to reduce the possibility of the spread of the virus on the goggle surfaces.

The point being:
MAINLY - N. Italy is in the news but Rome already has cases and is being cautious
2nd - your trip is a long way off and I'd expect the news to get worse and not better.

The thoughts and comments posted here and on the other Coronavirus threads have been interesting, albeit disturbing, reads. Waiting until the last minute to book is in Italy, based on what is happening in 3 months, makes sense and many have given compelling reasons to do so. Unfortunately that would leave us no time to book in another country if we switch last-minute. Also, while going to Italy does not necessarily equate to a danger to us, we run quite a risk of getting stuck somewhere or inadvertently being a carrier.

I feel particularly badly for 1) folks with planned trips within the next 3 weeks or so and, 2) those who spent money on trip insurance for peace of mind only to find it doesn't cover this.

My wife and I have tentatively decided to cancel the trip we have coming up for mar 18-28. Sucks but this is where we’re at.

I spoke to a friend this evening who lives in London and commutes to Milan during the week. They’re shutting up shop for the next two weeks at his office. Over abundance of caution? Probably. But he said it’s just not worth it for them.

The real unknown he said for his team members was not getting sick. It’s quarantine. You have no control over it.

Looking forward to reading all the backlash against travel insurance once this passes.

I became curious to see just what would my travel insurance cover in such a situation. (chase Sapphire Reserve). It doesn’t cover anything if I just choose to change my plans. It does cover up to $10,000 if I am placed in quarantine either causing the trip to be canceled or interrupted. Good to know. I hope I never have to use that benefit...........

Thanks for bringing this up as we also have travel plans to fly into Milan May 26-June 9. Luckily, I guess, I am just now trying to figure out our itinerary-Varenna, Bernina Express, Verona, Venice, Lake Garda. We usually book AirBnbs...which may/may not refund so I guess options are: plan this trip and wait as well as a Plan B trip from Milan elsewhere, wait, and Plan C: wait until it gets closer to cancel and hope for credit (Delta). As with everyone else, we don't want to get stuck or sick in Europe but we're looking forward to our trip. Thanks for all the information...

Perhaps stay in the UK since you arrive LHR. Where does your VCE flight connect to your US-bound return flight? Perhaps you can skip Venice and return from the connecting city and build your itinerary around that factor. Wherever you go, you’ll enjoy!

Laurel: Good thought. We considered combining Wales and Cornwall (ancestors came from here), or going to Scotland or Ireland - all places we've been wanting to visit. But by then, will the UK be quarantined? (BTW, we love Lincoln City. We had a family reunion there and had a blast.)

I agree totally with Bets' response. You can change your locations but how do you know that between now and then the virus won't strike your newly chosen locations? Or that it won't be an issue in Northern Italy any longer by then? It's a crap shoot right now, especially when you don't know how various countries/cities are going to react to having some cases of the virus.

Nancy: Yes, I agree. As you and others point out (and we've discussed ourselves), we don't know if by then this has tipped to become a pandemic that is widespread in the world. COVID-19 has apparently satisfied two of the three criteria for pandemic classification already, and it's progressing on the third. If we're going to change, we're thinking it's either better to completely change where we're going (like to Peru or Scandinavia or the Azores) or postpone until the fall or later. I reached out to AA on social media and they asked me to contact their reservations desk to see how they can help. (Corvallis is another lovely spot. Oregon is well-represented on this thread!)

We usually book AirBnbs...which may/may not refund

Texas girl: that's our preferred way to stay as well - more room, ability to cook meals, often in neighborhoods. That's part of the reason we were thinking we need to decide if we're changing locals so I can start booking lodging in the new location. But I think we've decided to go the cancellable hotel route this time.

By the time May rolls around, Italy may be the best place to be regarding the Coronavirus. Italy is taking so many cautionary measures, so it wouldn't surprise me if that turns out to be true.

I have a flight to Rome on March 9th and if I cancel or go somewhere else, I will lose quite a bit of money. This all unfolded so fast that is does make May seem too far away to determine anything. Good luck on whatever you decide to fo!

I just finished changing our trip next week from Italy to the U.K. And that may change again.

But for late May, you have time to wait and watch. If it is still a problem in Italy, consider Scandinavia.

My advice is to only book refundable reservations for hotels. Paid reservations for museums are not a big deal. We are losing some of those, but I just consider it a contributing tona good cause.

Thanks... I really prefer AirBnbs for your reasons too but I agree I need to firm up our itinerary and start looking at fully refundable places to stay.

I noticed you are going to be around Vincenza... Don't know if you are interested in ceramic pottery but I found on Trip Advisor that In Nove, Italy not far from Vincenza (30 min) is a town full of pottery stores. One place, La Ceramica VBC, is a vendor for Williams Sonoma and Tiffany. In Trip Advisor comments people mentioned they will ship or package for carrying home and give a discount for cash. Hopefully, we will be in Verona for a few days as a base and I thought about visiting. We were in Vietra su Mar a few years ago-lots of pottery-brought back a couple of pieces and wished I had shipped some back.

Hope we will all be able to make our travel plans a reality.