First trip to Italy with a tour group

Hi, Traveling -
First off, none of the cities on your itinerary are difficult for an American to figure out. They host millions of tourists from all over the world every year, and with the occasional exception you'll find fluent to passable English spoken by the majority of the people in the hospitality/tourism industry. We've never taken a tour in Italy (yet) and haven't had a problem.

The possibility of getting lost is also not a problem; an unplanned wander is actually one of more enjoyable things to do! Take a map (we use paper versions) and you'll be fine. As your sightseeing will largely be restricted to the tourist centers, there's no worry about getting into shady areas.

I took a look at the more detailed itinerary of your tour and made some notes about what's missing:

Rome:
Colosseum/Forum/Palatine: all three of these are included under a single ticket and should be seen on the same day as they're in the same area. Advance tickets are usually advised but in mid-November, I'd just go the ticket kiosks at either the Palatine or Forum and get them there. Do not buy them at the Colosseum where lines are the longest. Note that with tickets in hand, you can miss that queue but not the one for security checks.

Galleria Borghese: Reservations are MANDATORY at this one, and must be made for a specific day and 2-hour time slot. You order them here (it's too early for November dates, though):

http://www.tosc.it/tickets.htm?affiliate=T2C&sort_by=event_datum&sort_direction=asc&fun=erdetail&doc=erdetaila&erid=912678&language=en

Churches: a few personal recommendations are the Pantheon (must do), Santa Maria Maggiore, San Giovanni in Laterano, Santa Maria del Popolo, Santa Maria in Trastevere, San Clemente and oh, way too many more! The fun thing about Roman churches is that they're all different, and almost all are free except those which have Roman ruins in the basement which can be visited for a fee; San Clemente is one of these. They do have varying open hours, though, so you want to jot down when those are.

Florence:
Uffizi: you will want to pre-purchase tickets for this one:
http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/uffizi/info_venue.aspx

No need to pre-purchase tickets for the Pitti. The gardens are large, and don't expect flowers: it's not that sort of garden. It could also be chilly in November. The Pitti complex of museums is also large, and has a fractured ticket structure so the easiest thing to do is just buy the combined ticket for the whole thing. You may not be interested in some of the minor museums - such as the silver or porcelain collections - but most of those are grouped under the ticket for the gardens so you'd end up paying for them anyway. The other part of the combined ticket is the Palatine Gallery - the largest collection - and Modern Art Gallery.

Churches: Santa Croce (Michelangelo is buried here), Santa Maria Novella, Convent of San Marco (see the Fra Angelico frescoes in the monk's cells plus other impressive works). All three do have entry fees. If you make it up to Piazzalle Michelangelo for a great view over the city, climb up a bit further to San Miniato al Monte: a lovely old church (free).

If there's time, I'd highly recommend the Bargello National Museum: a terrific collection of Renaissance art and antiquities in an impressive Medieval structure. No need for advance tickets.

Venice:
Walk. Just ramble around and enjoy the ambiance of the backstreets. They're maze-like but the old part of the city is not large. Do note that your travel to the Bridge of Sighs is not by bus; it'll be by boat ( indicated as "launch" on the tour website) as Venice is virtually pedestrianized.

A start? :O)

Great advice from Kathy.

You can easily group churches by combining a smaller one with a major one, for example, in Roma, San Giovanni in Laterano is very near San Clemente; Santa Prassede (beautiful mosaics) is a five-minute walk from Santa Maria Maggiore; San Luigi dei Francesi (Caravaggio paintings) is on the way between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, which you will want to see, and very near Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. Also on your own in Roma, take the elevator to the top of the Vittorio Emmanuele monument for 360-degree views of Roma, with labeled photo boards to help you identify the buildings.

Note that in Firenze, the original Gates of Paradise are in the Museo dell' Opere del Duomo, a worthwhile museum stop for the artwork that was originally in the Duomo over the centuries. Also in Firenze, just up the street from the Accademia, is the Museo di San Marco (used to be a Dominican convent, now a museum with frescoes by Fra Angelico).

In Venezia, I love the church on the island of Torcello. It's also a very peaceful place to walk around, although November will not have the summer crowds that choke the main drag.

Great advice already given above. For your return flight, is an airport transfer included? Many US bound flight itineraries leave Venice very early (6-7 AM) and transfer through another European hub city like Frankfurt. Depending on where you are staying, it may take well over an hour to get to the airport. You may want to consider arranging transportation to the airport ahead of time. Ask your hotelier for advice when you arrive or shortly thereafter. If you really HATE to get lost, make sure you have a map, especially in Venice. You can easily find major sights like the Rialto Bridge and San Marco because there are signs on many buildings that read "Per Rialto" or Per San Marco" along with an arrow pointing the way. If you know how to get to your hotel from either of these, you will be set!

General tips: Make sure your passport will not expire within 6 months of arrival into Italy. They may not let you enter the country if it does. Also, you will need to notify your credit card companies ahead of time where and when you are traveling or your card may not work. Also, plan to get cash with your ATM card - you need to notify your bank about this as well.

Adding to Steven's advice, if you see signs for "Rialto" or "San Marco" with arrows pointing in opposite directions, don't worry, there are two paths. You will get there.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Kathy, "way too many more" churches is an accurate description. I don't know how to choose a few in the same area.

Stephen, the tour includes transportation to the Venice airport. I have not even started looking at flights yet.

The easiest way to manage the plethora of churches? If I see one one and it looks open, in we go! And neither my husband nor I are religious!

Fortunately - being there's a church every 10 feet, I swear, and most of them a St-Mary's-Of-Something - not all of them are unlocked, and a quick peek into those which are is usually enough to decide whether to keep moving or not.

As this is your first trip abroad, a few points you'll need to consider.....

• Check expiry date on your Passports and make sure you have at least six months remaining.
• Be sure to notify all your financial institutions that you'll be travelling so they don't "freeze" your cards when they detect overseas transactions.
• I'd suggest travelling with at least two ATM cards in case one malfunctions.
• You might want to obtain €50 or so for travel expenses until you get settled in your first location.
• If you're travelling with any appliances or electronic gadgets, you MUST check EACH device to determine whether they're designed for operation on 220 VAC electrical systems.
• You will need to pack along a couple of Euro Plug Adaptors.
• Don't bother packing Hair Dryers, as most hotels supply them these days, either in the room or on request at the front desk.
• If you're taking a mobile phone, you'll have to determine if it will work in Europe, and may want to sign up on a "roaming" program with your cell network.
• Wearing Money Belts will be a really good idea in Italy, as there will be pickpockets and other scammers at work.
• You'll probably be using trains, buses or other public transit on your own at some point. On some trains and on Metro and Buses, you MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding on the day of travel, or risk hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot!
• The quickest and easiest way to get from FCO airport into Rome is the Leonardo Express (€14 PP, 32 minutes). BE SURE to validate your tickets prior to boarding. One other point to note is that there are two trains serving the airport, so be sure to board the correct train. You may want to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website for a good description.

You may find it helpful to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip, as it provides a lot of great information for first-time travellers to Europe. For planning your sightseeing outside of the tour, you may also want to have a look at the RS Italy 2016 guidebook.

These are my questions now (more coming later, of course):

What should I do after arriving in Rome? The time difference is +6 hours. I have never lost more than 3 hours and wasn't affected at all when that happened, so I know nothing about jet lag.

The 3-hour Vatican Museums/St. Peter's tour is at 8:30. The Vatican Gardens tour is at 12:45. Would I be rushed in between the tours? Insight is buying the VM/SP tour tickets, so I can't choose the times.

How many euros should I have in cash for 10 days?

Jet lag: there are many different ways people do it but what works for us is dumping the bags and hitting the streets. Coffee helps! Staying up until close to the normal hour we'd go to bed at home gets us acclimated to the local time zone the quickest. We go down on the early side but not early enough that we'd be up again in the wee hours.

We don't do big museums or much else inside on arrival day other than a stop into a church, maybe, here and there. Being out in the fresh air and just taking in street life and architecture keeps us awake.

Money: what you'll need for 10 days depends on how much you intend to spend. You can't get all of your euros in one shot as ATMS don't dispense enough for 10 days. It's not unusual to find machines with a max. limit of 200-300 euros a day so we both do the max with our individual cards on Day 1, and then more as we go. You should both bring debit cards in case something happens to one of them, and we never use our credit cards to obtain cash; only to pay the bills at hotels, restaurants and shops which accept CCs (not all of them do.)

We also always bring some euros back so we have an arrival-day stash for the next trip. As you don't have that advantage for this first trip, see if your bank can obtain enough to hold you until you can get to an ATM.

Be SURE and notify both your bank and credit card companies where and when you'll be traveling so they don't lock down your account should they notice a out-of-the-ordinary transaction.

There are 2 different opinions (well, maybe more, lol!) on Euros. Some take a couple of hundred to get them started then withdraw using their DEBIT (not credit!) cards from an ATM in Europe. Some just withdraw when they get there. I like to take a couple of hundred to get me started. I don't take Euros for my whole trip. I do use my regular bank debit card to get more cash in Europe when I need it, usually a day or 2 after I arrive and am thinking more clearly. You will need to notify your home bank you are traveling and you will want to check and see what their charges are for withdrawing cash internationally.

What you do on your first day kind of depends on where you will be staying. Most people here recommend you walk outside in the sunlight. If you are staying in the City Center of Rome, drop your bags at the hotel, take a card from the desk with the hotel name on it, take a map that they will have at the desk (if you are not sure where you are the desk person will mark your location on the map!) and head out the front door! See what is nearby. Do you know your first hotel yet?

In Venezia, you can buy something called a Chorus Pass that allows you to visit ~18 churches, scattered all over the city, admission to which would otherwise cost 3 Euro each. You buy the pass at one of the churches. You will be provided with a map with the churches pinpointed, and information about each church, particularly the art therein.

You can get euro from your local bank, it may take a couple of days. They will be fedexed to the bank. The advantages are: you will have local currency when you land, rather than doing math while jet lagged; and, you can order specific denominations (5s, 10s, 20s) so you have small bills for a coffee, snack, bus or taxi.

Downside is you will pay a bit more than if you get euro at an ATM/Bancomat, but it's very little in the overall cost of the trip.

Pam, my hotel is Rome is the Veneto Palace. I have no idea where it is.

You can also get Euros from your local AAA office if either of you is a member. I did this last year for some family members who needed British pounds on their first rushed day in the UK. We got a very reasonable rate and AAA had € and £s on hand to sell.

OK, here is a googlemap link to where your hotel is located plus a walking route to the Spanish Steps (disappointing, lol) and Trevi Fountain. I've not stayed in that area but the walk looks pretty straightforward, or, well, as straightforward as anything is in Rome! You are also near the Borghese Gardens which are very nice and could be a good way to spend some time on your arrival day, altho I am not sure how they are in November.

https://goo.gl/maps/dKsDZp8DXPK2

Do you have a Rick Steves Italy guidebook? He has some walking tours in there and I believe there is one around the Trevi Fountain/Pantheon/Piazza Navona area. He also has a free audio app and audio tours you can download.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours

As Pam said, you'll be very close to Villa Borghese, and that's one of the places we once walked on an arrival day when our hotel was in Prati. Circling around, you could take in the Pincio Gardens (far west side of the park) and Piazza del Popolo - stop into Santa Maria del Popolo if it's open; great church - then down to the Spanish Steps (not my favorite, unfortunately but on everyone's list it seems) and around again to your hotel.

DO get a good map before you go: things will make so much more sense, and you can mark the location of your hotel and things you want to see. Stop for coffee or gelato along the way somewhere. :O)

You've gotten great tips so far. Your next step should be to purchase Rick Steves Europe Through The Back Door and Rick Steves Italy. The first book has all the nuts and bolts of European travel - money, getting around, food, etc. The second has all the nitty-gritty you need for your Italian sightseeing - which sights need reservations and how to make them, exactly which bus line goes from one place to another, restaurants near your sights, etc.

It looks like I will have no problem visiting the Borgese Gallery first thing in the morning. (We don't want to go there on arrival day.) No, I don't have a Rick Steves book yet, but I have seen recommendations for them.

Thanks for all the helpful tips. I appreciate any advice that is relevant to my itinerary.

If you are going with a group, it is likely that the transfer from FCO to your hotel is already arranged.

If not, you can get a car hire (the kind where the driver greets you with a sign as you exit airport security) for 50-60€ that will take you straight to your hotel. In fact, your hotel can pre-arrange it. We did it in 2013 and it was 50€...might be more now, but the dollar is stronger.)

With two people, it can be money well spent for someone who has never been in Rome before. (The trains are great, but then you have to get from the station to your hotel, which can involve additional cost -- taxi, bus, etc.).

ss

Regarding how much cash you will need -- if your hotels and intercity transportation are already paid, it's mostly meals, city transit (taxis? You said you would NOT be using public transportation ), museum entry fees, and souvenir shopping.

As people have said, ATM is the way to go. I usually estimate $100 per day for both of us -- but I keep an eye on how much cash I have and what I plan to do the next few days, and I hit the ATM when it looks like I'm running low. (Just make sure you left ample funds in the checking account the ATM card accesses.)

So far you have received some great tips and advice. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to have travelled to Europe several times now with the Rick Steves tour company.

I would like to add a few tips for you. Using the ATM's in Europe is a snap but try to find ones that are inside if possible. That way you will not just be standing on the street with a lot of people around. We've never had a problem but it's a good safety precaution.

Make sure you have a credit card with a chip in it. They use them all over Europe and some places will not accept any other type of credit card. Good advice to have more than one debit card with you! Try and use cards that have the lowest transaction fees and rates as they can add up fast. Some banks now offer cards with no international fees.

Also, make copies of your passports and your credit cards (front and back) just in case they get lost or stolen. I have seen it happen and that is advice that Rick Steves recommends.

If you are travelling with a backpack make sure you carry it in front of you if you go on the Metro or you are in crowded places. PLEASE use a money belt...people get pickpocketed all the time but if you're wearing a money belt you won't lose anything that way. Put your cash, credit cards and your passport in your money belt. My husband usually keeps a very small amount of cash in his front pocket for small things during the day. If you don't want to carry your passport then put a copy of your passport in your money belt. If you are carrying a purse make sure you keep it close to you and closed at all times. I have a travel purse and keep it in front of me with my arm over it when I feel the need to. Just be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Most of all...have FUN! We are going to Italy in September...can't wait!

Also, don't be surprised if the desk clerks ask you for your passport when you check in...sometimes they want to keep it for a while (not sure why). It's a common practice that can be kind of disconcerting at first.

Hotels take your passport because they are required to give that info to the police. Usually they photocopy it and hand it right back, or you can retrieve it after a few minutes.

You don't need a copy of your passport if it is stolen or lost, the consulate or embassy will have your records on file to issue a new one, you will just need a couple of photos. It can be done in an hour. Don't ask how I know.

Zoe, not quite true.
Hotels take your passport because it is quicker to copy the details into their system later, and then hand you the passport back than it is to make the people checking in behind you wait until they have copied your details.
There is no requirement to automatically give details of hotel guests to the police. However, under the Schengen rules there is a requirement to check the ID and record the details of every foreigner staying at the hotel. Then, if the police later request details they can, but this is only if they are looking for somebody.

I'm with Kathy and Pam. The Borghese gallery and estate are a must. You'll need a reservation, but it's easy to do online. Buy Rick Steve's guidebook for Italy. Also money well-spent.