Going to Italy!

Lmayer,

Congratulations on your daughter going to study abroad in Florence!

I'd suggest getting some travel guidebooks such as Italy 2015 by RS, Frommer's, Lonely Planet, etc...
then read about Italy & decide what you & your daughter want to do & see while you're there.

Once you've decided, you may have some specific questions for this forum to help you with.

Happy Planning!

For trains between cities use trenitalia.com.

Use Italian names for cities...Florence>Firenze SMN Rome>Roma Termini

To find lodging: booking.com or venere.com

Personally, I would get the latest edition of Rick Steves' Italy and use that to plan. Sure, it's not varied, but it's very straightforward, and in my opinion, the most user friendly guidebook for first timers. I think your first step would be to decide on your locations. As others have suggested repeatedly in other posts, when planning, think in nights rather than days (i.e., Rome for four nights rather than five days) and write it out on a calendar in pencil (or computer). Such a simple thing, but it really helps with the planning. From there, you can then figure out hotels, sights, and transport. Get your hands on the guidebook and start reading/planning.

The best way to get an idea of where you want to go and how long you'll need in each location is to get a guide book and make a list of sites you wish to see. You may find that you wish to split your time evenly between Florence and Rome or you may find that you want to do several day trips from each city.

Once you have a list of what you want to see and do we can help you put together an itinerary. We can also make hotel area suggestions as well as letting you know which sites should be booked in advance.

Donna

I use either Venere.com or Booking.com to find hotels in Italy. Easy to use, and in some cases, you can cancel with no penalty if your plans change. So far, great luck using either one of these sites. you can see where the hotel or B&B is located, and there are usually photos of the rooms, bathrooms, reception and outside of the building.

No sure what you mean by "travel plans". If you are looking for how to get someplace, I'm sure your daughter will be able to help you with trains after she's been in Italy for 5 months! If you aren't sure where you want to go....get a guide book, or just start googling Italy for some ideas. TripAdvisor.com is also a great place to read reviews of sights to see in Italy.

I've been to Italy over 10x now, and I'm going back next year. Always a different region, I start knowing nothing, other than the region, then I do some research on the cities/towns and things to see.

Have a wonderful time...how exciting for you to see Italy with your daughter! I love traveling with my son or my daughter in Italy!

I agree that your first step should be to get Rick Steves Italy. First, read about Florence and Rome, and start estimating how much time you'll need in those two places. Then, you will know how much time is left to consider other Italian destinations. For a first Italy trip of 11 days on the ground, Rick's book covers the highlights and then some; unless you have a special interest, you probably won't be going to places he doesn't cover. Even so, I always like to look at as many guidebooks as possible, to get different points of view. And if a place interests you, you can go there whether Rick covers it or not (Ferrara, for example, between Venice and Florence, is one of my favorites).

You will definitely want to end in Rome for your flight, but in between you can go almost anywhere. For instance, you can do Florence - Venice - Rome if you want; the high speed trains make this very easy (Venice to Rome is less than 4 hours).

Once you know where you are visiting, you can then start to book trains and hotels. Trains schedules and tickets can be found on Trenitalia as above. For fast trains (those with "freccia" as part of the name, like FrecciaRosa or FrecciaArgento), if you can commit to non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets (or accept limitations on these actions), advance tickets with these restrictions are heavily discounted. If you want full flexibility, full fare tickets in Italy aren't that expensive.

Regional trains are like LIRR or Metro-North; no advance purchase discount, so just buy them when you get there. If you're unsure, just look at prices for tomorrow and for 3 months out, and see if there's a difference.

For hotels, in addition to Rick's listings, you can look at other guidebooks, TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, or Booking.com. You can also ask here, but be sure to state your needs (elevator, view, etc) and a price range in euros. Terms like "moderate price" and "nice but not luxurious" mean different things to different people, so you will get more useful responses if you are more specific. But again, that step is only after you figure out where you are going.

One of my favorite towns near Florence is Siena - you should definitely add that to your "to do" list. Have fun!!

Imayer,

I sent you a PM

I think it's great that you are planning now. Your daughter will probably have lots of opportunities to travel around Italy before May, so first decide together if she'd rather return with you to places she will have visited or not. You won't want to have your heart set on Orvieto, for instance, and then have her say "been there, done that." Then figure out where you'd like to go, and she can either go first and then be your guide, or go other places instead. As others have said, from Venice to Rome, nothing is a very long train ride.

You can come back here and get lots of help on planning a good itinerary, once you know where you want to go. . . without trying, I can think of half a dozen towns between Venice and Rome that I've happily spent 2-3 days in. Let us know your budget and you'll also get hotel recommendations. Have you already booked your flights? If so, what's your arrival airport?

I like Lonely Planet guidebooks in addition to the RS ones. Watch some of his videos on Italy. Chani's idea is great, your daughter may either want to show you places or see places with you that she hasn't been to yet.

I use booking.com a lot for hotels, you can usually cancel up to a few days prior to your arrival if plans change. You can also sign up for last-minute deal alerts.

www.bedandbreakfast.it

For a wide variety of lodgings, prices, and locations. Search around points of interest in each city; decide where you want to lodge from a scrolling list and lodgings near that site will come up.

That sounds wonderful! Two suggestions - Lucca is a lovely place to visit, and not at all far from Florence. And, I've been finding out about guest houses that are run by monasteries and convents - there are many in Italy, people on these forums recommend them, and you can learn about them through monasterystays.com.

Note: To find out which areas interest you, you don't need the latest version of any guide book. Get an older version in the library or in a second hand book shop.

When you have decided on some areas you can the latest version to check hotel prices, admission prices, opening hours etc.

You could just sign up for a Rick Steves tour, and then you won't have to worry about a thing!

(No I don't work here. Just throwing out another idea!)

Jan

You could just sign up for a Rick Steves tour, and then you won't have to worry about a thing!

(No I don't work here. Just throwing out another idea!)

Jan

Try Hotel Pagnini in Florence, unexpensive and right close to Palazzo Veccio

Hi Imayer,

I was just wondering...

How is your daughter liking Florence?