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Italy in December..... need help with itinerary and flights

Hello all. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am going to leave Seattle around Dec. 11-13, after my quarter finishes, and plan on staying through Jan.3.

First of all, I lived in Madrid for 5 years until 04, so I am fluent in Spanish. This helps me greatly with respect to speaking and especially understanding Italian.

I don't want to kill myself trying to see everything, and would like a more relaxing time. Should i make a home base so to speak, in a couple of places like a) the amalfi coast first? I would like to see some Greco/Roman ruins near Napoli, and maybe spend a week and a half in the area. Then I was thinking of going up to Rome, to spend the rest of the time there, but of course, I would take some day or 2 day trips. I think it would be nice however to have a "home base" to leave some things.

I was thinking of flying through Paris or Amsterdam, I guess, and maybe staying about 2 or 3 days to explore. But I realize that in Dec. it will be cold. The cold doesn't bother me. i can dress warmly.

Of course I must also think of how I will be returning to Seattle afterwards, in the beginning of January.

I am so hoping that people have some ideas for me. They would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Beth

Posted by
3262 posts

You should be able to get a copy of Rick Steves book from the library--he lays out an itinerary for 3 weeks in Italy that could be modified to fit your interests. The logistics of stopping over for a few days in Paris or Amsterdam might be difficult--you could try one of the budget airlines to fly you from Rome to another destination (www.whichbudget.com). For simplicity, you may want to consider exploring Italy this trip saving Paris and Amsterdam for another trip.

Posted by
3 posts

Be careful about Amalfi in December. We are going in late November and several hotels we checked with were closed because it was the off season. Good luck.

Posted by
1124 posts

Hi Beth,

Paris would be wonderful around Christmas time, but you may want to consider Frankfurt or somewhere else in Germany, as they have world class Christmas markets to enjoy.

Also, Italian and Spanish are not the same, or even that similar for that matter. My husband speaks Spanish and we thought that this would give us enought to eb able to understand and possible communicate with the Italians. Not even close and they were very confused. English is much better to speak there. You may want to get the Rosetta Stone or something else to pick up some Italian before you go.

Ejoy!

Posted by
3 posts

thanks for the replies. as for the italian.........i have already been to an italian conversation group and i did just fine. i took a year of italian many years ago, and i guess it stuck. lucky me.
so, should i worry about places to stay? i was thinking that i could stay in hostels and the like.

Posted by
20 posts

Hi Beth
There is a better alternative to hostel which are monasteries and convents especially in Italy. They are safe and clean and god value. I'm planning to go to Italy next year and found this website www.monasterystays.com. They seem to have access to places all over Italy so I'd give it a look

Posted by
3 posts

thanks so much for that! i will check it out asap, as i need to make my flight plans now.
;b

Posted by
19 posts

HI Beth, We are doing the same trip over the holidays just not as far south as you plan. We just bought tickets flying out of Milan to Dusseldorf (Brussels was available as well.) cheaply from Ryanair and we will travel through Netherlands to Amsterdam where we will stay for several days through the New Year. We considered an overnight train but the flight was very inexpensive and saved 18 hours transport. Good luck to you.

Posted by
586 posts

On my Italian travel blog (see my signature, left) I've got an itineraries section with itineraries my wife and I have used for recent trips to Italy, much based on Rick's guidebooks, but adapted to our tastes and interests. We did a week in Italy for Christmas last Decemeber, visiting Venice, Florence and Rome (starting in Venice, ending in Rome, with Florence as our location for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Absolutely magical!

Posted by
15791 posts

I just came back from 13 days in the north. Loved, loved, loved Venice. Florence has the marvelous museums. I stayed at the Ostella Archi Rossi (hostel) in Via Faenza. Great location, cheap and clean. I had a single (private) room, shared bath, with a PC and free internet and breakfast for 36 euro.

Knowing French didn't help me much with conversation but it sure helped me to understand written Italian. OTOH, I had no trouble in English, seemed that everywhere (except Milan, strangely) everyone spoke English.

I stopped in Pisa, Verona and Padua for 1/2-1 day en route to other places, and used the left luggage facilities at the train station. That saved changing hotels for a single night. I did a day trip from Florence to Siena.

I agree with the others, stick to Italy. Save Paris & Amsterdam (easy to do in one trip) for another vacation. That could easily be a 3-week trip by itself.