Open jaw or round trip?

It's probably too early to search airfare for November. But you can do a "dummy" search for late February (a similarly off-peak travel date to mid-November). As a general rule, open-jaw flights are no more expensive than round trips. It's not a special service, and it doesn't cost the airline anything. If cost were the only factor, you would have to add the price of a train ticket (again, do a dummy search on Trenitalia for a date in February to get prices) to the price of round-trip airfare to get a true comparison with open-jaw airfare. In your situation, convenience is going to trump any small cost difference, so I'll bet the open-jaw plan is likely to be the better choice.

I agree that i'd do the open jaw, unless it's really a LOT more expensive. We found the prices to be fairly comparable, especially when you factor in the cost of the train trip back to your original destination. As for the direction of travel, I'd consider which day you want to have your "jet lag recovery" day. Which hotel do you think you'd enjoy lazing around a bit in and which will feel the "easiest" on that first, very tired day. Enjoy!

We have found that open jaw tickets are generally in the same ball park as single destination roundtrips. You may run into situations where there is a special fare to somewhere that is cheaper for roundtrip, but the convenience of not having to return to the same city for departure outweighs the extra cost. Just be sure youare ing the multicity option when you check the booking sites, rather looking at two one way tickets. My initial reaction to your proposed itinerary was not that you need to do more but rather that you are packing too much into the time you have allowed. Remember that changing locations, especially in Italy, takes up at least half of a day. If you could add 2 or 3 nights to your schedule, I believe that it would make for a much more enjoyable trip. With 8 nights I'd suggest 2 nights Milan, 3 nights Florence and 3 nights Rome.

I generally find that flying into a northern Italian city such as Milan or Venice and flying back from Rome is less expensive than the other way around, and it's often less than flying round trip to Rome. I've used open jaws several times in Italy, and I can't think of a time when that wasn't the case. Be sure to factor in the cost of a return train when comparing open jaws and round trip prices.

Thank you all for the advice - sounds like I need to definitely search for an open jaw flight. And I am sort of doing a "dummy" search using February dates - several sites wouldn't go out as far as November. Thank you again!

If this is your first trip to Italy, Milan (both the airport & the city itself) is a much calmer entry point to ease your way into Italy than Rome. With your Mom using a cane, I'd try to avoid any more trains than are absolutely necessary and spring the extra bucks for open jaw tickets (the price difference is typically minimal once you compare it to buying a return ticket to your original entry point, not to mention time lost sightseeing or relaxing because you are backtracking).

I also recommend starting in Milan because your only "must-see" is the Last Supper. If you aren't too tired, there are other things to enjoy but you won't feel rushed. If you want to spend enough time in the Vatican museums to enjoy them and not just whiz through to get to the Sistine Chapel, that can easily fill an entire day. You may need to return the next day to appreciate St. Peter's.

A little off topic but you should check tickets to the Last Supper. We considered going there in July and all the tickets were sold out. We found some in tours but not by themselves. In the off/shoulder season it might be different.

Open jaws are worth the slight additional expense because I feel vacations are more exciting when you don't have to "double-back" to fly out where you started; psychologically it's more gratifying.

I booked a open jaw in Nov for May 2012 travel that I felt was a good deal. I checked kayak.com pretty much everyday and bought tickets when I saw a price that I felt was "right" and that didn't require > 20 hrs travel. I paid $950 for Denver>London>Rome and Zurich>London>Denver I have a friend that lives in Switzerland and who travels frequently to Boston and who told me if I see <$1000 jump on it. I only saw <$1000 that 1 day, so it pays to take the minute or so to check daily. I had been planning on waiting until 60 days out, but you never know...good luck:)

We use open jaw for nearly every trip. And have never found them to be more expensive and often are cheaper than RT into popular areas like Rome. A recent Denver, Rome, Zurich, Denver was $200 cheaper than a RT to Rome. For your suggested trip, open jaw is essential. I don't think it makes any difference which way you go.

Laura, I also fly open-jaw and find it's about the same price as a simple round-trip, considering the extra cost of a train ride to get back to the original city. One thing to look out for: many train stations and museums have elevators, which will make it easier for you and your mother to get around. Museum galleries are long, but even those that don't have benches for tired tourists will have friendly museum guards who will give up their chair for a few minutes' break if your mother needs it.

I have been to Milan twice and tried unsuccessfully to get a ticket to the Last Supper on the internet. It requires patience and luck, I think. Another possibility is to approach one of the tour companies in the morning. They buy blocks of tickets for their tours. I was told (no official source) that they are willing to sell them if they don't have a full tour going on the day. Or, of course, you can join a tour. It's pricier than seeing the Last Supper on your own, but of course, you have the whole tour - which may be a good way for you to see Milan. You will have just as much time with the Last Supper on a tour or on your own anyway.

For our Nov/Dec Italy trip, we booked our tickets in June. I settled on $759, flying into Milan and out of Venice. I really was waiting on the tickets to go lower, but it wasn't happening. In fact, after purchasing in June, they cost only seemed to go up, so i was pleased that I took the bait when i did. Our trip order was slightly irratic but we managed it well. Milan 1 night, Florence 3, Siena 2, Assisi 2, Rome 4, and Venice 3.
On another note, with your mom, I would stay away from Hilltowns like Siena and Assisi. Street inclines can be so steep that they turn into stairs. Even my fit husband recognized the challenge of maneuvering thru the towns. We totally worked off the pasta.

Personally, IMHO, you are planning too many places and too many things in 7 days. Also, you may have jet lag upon arrival making you both feel terrible. Then going from city to city find your hotels in a strange locations takes time. I do not think you can fit more things into your planned time in Italy. Buon viaggio, RB

fly open jaw if possible, always compare Milan airports, LIN or MXP make sure to schedule your days so that you are in each city when the major sights are open
that may determine which city you hit first

I also think you are planning a lot for 7 days. At the museums, ask if they have lender wheelchairs. Your mother is able to walk but with the wheelchair, she will always have a place to sit and rest.

Denise, that's exactly what I was thinking. We did that in London - used the wheelchairs everywhere we could so that we could save her "steps" for those places where a wheelchair wasn't possible.