End of March trip with 2 young-adult sons: Rome, then where? (Part 3)

Melissa - you posted a lot to comment on, but I would begin by suggesting that you're focusing south of Rome at the wrong time of the year. Yes, the weather could be mild, but the towns are likely to be dead. (The same would go for the CT). Consider Florence.

To your question, 4: Did I misread that your sons are 18 and 21? As in adults? If they function independently at home, I would have no worries about them in Italy.

I've got daughters (20& 27) so a little different but. We love Sorrento & to ferry to Capri & Positano but during March not so sure you'd experience the same fun. Pompeii & the Museum in Naples are great but if you can't make it down I really recommend Ostia. It's easy & inexpensive on public transit and takes 1/2 day. Rome is full of energy and your sons would probably want to go to Campo di Fiori at night. I've never felt uncomfortable in Rome, just watch for pick pockets and the cars that never stop. (even watched a nun once trying to cross the street & they wouldn't stop). Orvieto is fun (but again we were there in June). Lots of students abroads there. Florence really shouldn't be missed- if it's not your style you can see lots in a few days. My daughter studied there and went to Cinque Terra for Easter and said it was VERY quiet. My girls would be bored.

Doug,

You're right, my sons are adults and are very independent here. My concern was more about the scams and con artists abounding in guidebooks and message boards. I didn't know of these types would target people my sons' ages who are obviously non-locals. I'm glad to hear they'd be able to be as independent in Italy.

When you mention areas south of Rome being dead, do you mean no tourists or nothing is open? I would welcome the former, but the latter would obviously not be good! We loved the short shore excursion we spent in Florence, but I wondered if its art-intensive sights would end up glazing over my sons' eyes by the second day (even though they're good sports and there would be such beautiful things there.) It seems like I'm making them out to be overly-protected, immature, young men but they're really not that at all. I'm just trying to balance our collective interests.

Thanks for your feedback!

Melissa - I'm afraid I do take questions such as yours from parents of young adults as implying either immaturity on the part of the kids or over-protection on the part of the parents. My opinion is that these kinds of issues (petty crime, safety) are ones the travelers themselves should be taking responsibility to learn at their ages and are not effectively communicated through parents. I mean, are they going to use money belts because you tell them to?

Let's Go is full of good advice as is Europe Through the Back Door. Countless thousands of young people - European, Australian, Asian, travel through Europe each year. Your sons won't stand out as not "local".

Please don't take my reaction too personally. I just see a lot of similar questions from parents on this board, particularly. And I wonder what to think of the kids.

That particular sermon being over, what I meant by towns being "dead" is that out of the tourist season many places have shorter hours or are closed. It can be very dull, unless the weather is fine and you're able to enjoy hiking or other outdoor activities.

Good luck, and I hope you get helpful responses to your questions.

Thank you, Doug and Karen and those who have contacted me directly. I appreciate your insights and look forward to reading future postings from you and others on this board!

You're asking about the weather, here's a weather chart showing averages by month, scroll down to the Italian locations http://tours.ricksteves.com/tours09/weather.cfmAnd you mentioned "slow travel", here's a good site called (guess what) Slow Travel Italy http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/index.asp, if you click around you'll find there's a lot on this site.

Melissa
First of all you've got some great ideas going and your itinerary looks pretty doable to me. Two of our trips to Italy were with students from the college where my husband teaches.

I think your sons will be perfectly fine on their own with a good map and a little safety advice. Use a money belt or travel wallet and be wary of street transactions with strangers. Your younger son will be of legal drinking age in Italy. If that's an issue for you then discuss that with him before you go.

Amalfi is beautiful that time of year and I've never been to Capri so I can't comment. Pompeii is fascinating. If you book some sort of tour see if you can get something with Herculaneum and the Museum in Napoli included.

As an alternative you could go directly to Florence and base yourself there before going to Rome. There is plenty to see and do there and you could take day trips to nearby Siena, Lucca San G or even a train to Assisi for the day. There are some places that do bike rides out of Florence that sound interesting. This year we're taking a pasta making class in Florence. There are some great all day wine tours out of Florence that have been well reviewed on many travel boards.

With ten days you want to maximize your time as much as possible. Rule of thumb says you lose a half day each time your change accomodations. By basing yourself in two locations (Sorrento/Rome or Florence/Rome) you'll preserve more time for seeing and doing.

If you go with a Florence/Rome trip there are tour companies offering Pompeii day trips out of Rome. Ostia Antica was also very interesting but might be overkill if you're also going to Pompeii.

You will have some chilly nights that time of year so pack some layerables. My husband still has his "Gubbio" longjohns he bought at the open air market then immediately went to the bathroom and put on! continued

Basically it comes down to if you're group prefers beautiful ocean scenery (and giagantic oranges YUM) or more of an art/wine country experience?

Guides can be a tremendous value added to any trip. BUT with some research and a good guide book you can do a self guided tour as well. The trips with the students were through a travel agency and so we had excellent guides at the major sites. The last few years we've gone in May on our own and mostly self guide. This year we're going with a couple who've never been before so we'll be adding a few professionally guided tours.

Rick Steves has free podcasts that you can download for use with an mp3 player. We will be using some of those this year. Pompeii has a very good audioguide for only 4.5 euro. We had an outstanding guide for the Forum and Colesseo three years ago that really had the students interested. We're planning to use Jason Spieher (sp???) a guide recommended by RS this year.

I found the guides for the Ufizzi Accademia San Marco and Bargello in Rick's Tuscany guide excellent.

Safety:
Melissa, I don't think it's your sons' youth that makes them vulnerable, rather it's lack of preparation which affects everyone equally.

Before my first trip to Europe/Italy I read EVERYTHING I could about tourist scams, pickpockets, slow count, credit card/cash scams etc. etc. It was absolutely worth the effort. I know what to watch for, how to protect myself, how to avoid potential problems. I learned from other people's mistakes instead of making them myself. If you and your sons prepare in this way you will be fine. As Doug says, it's up to them.

Check out the Graffiti Wall:Tourist Alert Scams. Read them ALL. Search Travelers Helpline for old discussions about moneybelts, pickpockets, etc for more good stories. There are other excellent websites/blogs on these scams, but I can no longer recall them. Try some searches.

Keeping perspective: Reading about all these scams can make you paranoid. Remember most people in Italy are good people and honest people, but your odds of being targeted are never 0%. It only takes one person to ruin your vacation if you're not prepared. The odds of running into that one person are higher in Rome than perhaps the CT, but don't be anxious, just prepare.

Conversely, the odds of being targeted are not 100%--even in Rome. This means most people have no problem at all. This is a good thing, but can also lead to lack of perspective as well. Just because no one liberated your wallet from your front pocket YET doesn't mean you're smarter than the pickpockets. It means you've been lucky so far. If your sons read the sad stories on the boards from others who let their guard down, then heed the advice, they'll be as safe & as prepared as anyone can be.

I hope this is helpful-- I know it helped me.

Thanks to all who have posted. You've given me good things to think about. I always feel that reading and learning about a place I'm going is so helpful, especially when it's from seasoned travelers like all of you! I appreciate your help.

Melissa

Melissa
The southern part of Italy is wonderful but will not be fully appreciated at that time of year. Many towns will not be fully open until after Easter (Positano). The Cinque Terre is delightful but if time is limited and a return always in question, then Florence and Venice must be experienced!!!

A better option is a train to Florence (3 hrs), spend a few days there on your own with recommendations from guidebooks and friendly hotel staff. Guides are great but can be costly. Rick has recommendations but also check out Initaly.com as a search engine.
Then take a train to Venice (3hrs) and do the same.
My son is presently in Florence in a study abroad program and there are thousands of young American students there during this time.

Reasonable judgement and they will be safe.