Trip to Italy...Venice, Rome, Florence

Thank you again for all of your advice...For 10 days, including airfare roundtrip airfare from Oregon, train transportation for cities, daily breakfast, hotel stay and transportation to airports/hotel...it was about $7000 for the two of us.

If possible I would push for earlier May. By June are beginning to build along with the heat. Weather is generally good in that time period. Although we use Costco for many things, travel is not one of them so no experience. Use Trip Advisor for hotel evaluations AND check the actually location of those hotels. You really do not want to be in the edges and using public transit in and out. Pay the extra bucks stay closer to the city center if those hotels are not. Those cities would be VERY easy to arrange on your own via the internet. You might try that and compare prices with Costco. And use open jaw tickets - into Rome and home from Venice or reverse. It will be cheaper.

1. Yes. Generally temperatures for that period are in the high 70's to low 80's with little or no rain. Long daylight hours too. 2. Never used.
3. No. I know Cerretani although I never stayed there. It's a luxury hotel built in a 17th c. building they totally remodeled about 20 years ago.

Thank you on the advice for TripAdvisor-I read a lot of great reviews on all three hotels!

We aren't too worried about warm weather! :) We are hoping it is somewhat nice and no rain!

1. probably 2. no knowledge. BUT, did you read the thread over the last couple of days here where a woman's travel "agent" got them the wrong tickets to Venice because she got them to the wrong station? Unless the travel "agent" has been to Europe and experienced where s/he is sending people s/he will possibly not have any more knowledge than you have, or could gain on a good advice site and with a good tourbook.
3.how much are they considering charging you for these very expensive hotels? 3a. is a former, or possibly current Sofitel or other Accor line 5 star hotel about as far away from the main tourist area of Venice as it is possible to get (yes, for picky people, I know) while still on the island. Venice is a city of boats and canals. This hotel is next to the only place on the islands where trucks, buses and cars are allowed, P Roma. Wouldn't you rather be where some of the action is, or close to it. I have been in their nice lobby, never seen a room but I would never pay their prices in that area. The staff were very nice but at a 5 plus star I'd expect that. 3b. no knowledge, but I'd go with Roberto's take as he spent a large part of his life in Firenze. 3c. I stayed there for 5 nights on our first trip to Rome. It is a 5 plus star Sofitel and while the room was nice, the breakfast (I remember €25pp breakfasts I think) was nothing better than OK, and the location off Via Venato is good for the Spanish Steps and Galleria Borghese but inconvenient for everything else. I now stay much cheaper and much better either in the Prati near the Vatican or near Campo dei Fiori. But, maybe they gave you a killer deal and you can stay 5 star for the price of 2 star? Maybe you are uncomfortable with do it yourself and save money on better? There is no one size fits all travel. Good luck planning...

I would suggest getting a copy of the RS Italy book. His coverage of those three cities is outstanding, esp. for first-time travelers. You might decide after looking through it that you would rather plan this trip on your own. I have no idea how well-versed the particular agent at Costco Travel would be with Italy. Too much of a gamble to take, in my book. Late May/early June is a wonderful time for us northwesterners to go to Italy. Some warmth but not insanely hot.

Angie, Have you booked anything yet with the travel agent? If not, I'd strongly suggest taking a pause and plan this out WELL before putting any cash down on the counter! As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door soon. You should be able to find a copy at your local Library, so don't necessarily have to buy one. It would also be a good idea to buy a copy of the Italy 2014 Guidebook (available today) and pack that along on the trip. I assume you're planning to get around via train or other public transport. There are a few potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of, so it's a good idea to "do your homework" first. Regarding your questions..... 1.) Yes, the weather is generally good, but it's always prudent to plan for rain. It's going to be busy at that time of year anyway (spring shoulder season) but it might be an idea to start the last week of May and first week of June. 2.) I'd suggest researching flights online and then use the Travel Agent only for flights and Travel Insurance. You can easily arrange hotels and other details on your own, and that will give you more choice in both which part of each town to stay as well as the price range. 3.) The hotels you mention all appear to be very high end four-star properties (Sofitel?). To answer your question I've never stayed at them as they're WAY above my budget level. I'd highly recommend using hotels listed in the Guidebook, as (IMHO) you'll have much nicer travel experience and will save money. The Guidebook has LOTS of suggestions, but you could consider: > Venice - Pensione Guerrato > Florence - Katti House > Rome - Hotel Sonya or Hotel Aberdeen Good luck with your planning!

We have been to Italy in late May. Weather was warm and comfortable. We did have short rain periods in Assisi and Venice but overall, it was great. The three hotels you have ed are definitely in the above average price range. The Hotel Papadopoli is on the very edge of the Venice islands. It is about 500' from the very busy Piazzale Roma which is the only place buses and cars can arrive and depart Venice. The hotel is also one of the nearest to the Cruise ship docks. All of that being said, these other transportation hubs are really invisible from the hotel grounds. If you arrive at Marco Polo, your airport bus stop on the Piazzale Roma is 500' from your hotel. If you arrive by train, you can walk to the hotel from the train station. You will need the vaporetto pass to get to the more touristy areas of Venice. Our neighbor stayed there recently before joining a cruise and said that they really enjoyed the hotel. The Cerretani is really centrally located in Florence. Easy access to the train station, il Duomo, Academia and the Uffizi. I have not stayed there but have seen it as I have walked by. The Grand Hotel Baglioni and the Soffitel are nearby. For Rome, there are some really nice hotels near the Villa Borghese. The downside is that none of these are near the main tourist areas. But, they are near the Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, some great shopping areas. My wife and daughter were nearby a couple of weeks ago at the hotel Modigliani (which they really liked). They had to taxi and metro a bit but they liked the area. Does your travel package include any tour packages? So far, the plane and hotel part seems to be quite good albeit a tad expensive. I need to check out their brochure.

You write: For 10 days, including airfare roundtrip airfare from Oregon, train transportation for cities, daily breakfast, hotel stay and transportation to airports/hotel...it was about $7000 for the two of us. So you'll still have to pay for lunch and dinner, entertainment, museums, and more. We just went to Italy this past May for 16 days and the ENTIRE cost for our DIY was $7,000, including airfare, all lodging, ALL meals, all entertainment, all transportation and a rental car for five days. You could probably shave at least $2,000 off your trip if you did it yourself. But, of course, it's your decision. Most of the people on this board are DIY-ers.

Where do you recommend flights? Everywhere I've searched will be around $4000 in just airfare---is that reasonable? To me that sounds like a lot.

Do you really want to spend that much and want specific comments only......or are you asking if maybe you can pull off the whole deal for three grand (or less) plus airfare?

Hi-I am looking to find if I can pull the rest of the vacation under 3000 with those items included (breakfast, train transportation, airport/hotel transportation), etc.

Angie, I'd suggest watching flight for awhile, as the prices may yet decrease (but of course no guarantees). I normally use a variety of websites to check flights, including the airline websites as well as booking sites like HipMunk, Travelocity, Priceline, etc. There's often somewhat of a discrepancy in prices, but the airline sites are usually the most accurate. When I've decided on a particular combination of flights that fit my timing and other factors, I go to the Travel Agent for actually booking them. In many cases, the T.A. has been able to find slightly cheaper alternatives or better routing. I assume you'll be flying out of PDX? That's a nice airport and fairly easy to navigate. In checking flights, I'd suggest trying to get a direct flight and avoid connections in Newark or other locations on the east coast. An option might be to use SEA instead, as I believe they have some direct flights. I'll let the Seattle residents comment on that one. If you have more than one flight, I'd suggest trying to book code share flights, so that your luggage will be checked-through to your final destination. I had a brief look at open-jaw flights today on Hipmunk (PDX / VCE and then FCO / PDX). Prices are as low as about $1335 PP. Some of the easiest and cheapest connections appear to be via YVR, using Air Canada or Lufthansa. I don't know which of the U.S. airlines are better in terms of service, so I'll let other members of the group comment on that. Cheers!

I guess trying to plan out the trip separately gets so overwhelming...With flights and times and pricing, hotels/lodging, transportation between cities..etc...That is why I have looked at the Costco Travel

Angie, I find that planning is one of the parts that I enjoy the most. It is a bit of work, but for me it makes the trip so much more enjoyable. Try to break the process down into segments.... > Plan flights > Plan hotels in each city > Plan transportation between cities > Plan sightseeing With the help of the very well travelled group here, I'm sure you'd be able to work out a great trip. Are you going to be in the Seattle area in the near future? You may find it very helpful to pay the small fee and arrange a personalized consultation at Rick Steves office (ETBD) in Edmonds. In a short time, you'll have everything sorted and be able to pick up the Guidebook on the spot. I believe they also offer consultations by phone (for a fee). Given the three places you're going to be visiting, you might also have a look at the RS Venice, Florence & Rome tour (May 23 - June 1?). You could also look at a My Way Italy tour (13 days) which is cheaper but provides more than just Venice, Florence and Rome. That would take a lot of the stress out of planning (but you'd still have to deal with booking flights). You'll learn a LOT on the tour so by the end of it you'll be very comfortable travelling on your own on future trips. Cheers!

I don't think you're looking at a good deal. It looks like BA has the best price on kayak, at around $3500. Seven grand leaves that amount again for the rest or about $350 per day. I could do it for that, easily. Gut shot is $200 per day with a car, plus whatever premium is involved for Venice since I'm really weak on it. You're talking seven grand plus all the stuff Michael mentioned. Ouch! Sketch it out yourself, you only have to get semi-smooth the first time around: Airlines Hotels that suit your price Train fares Transfers and entry fees, $25/day Food, $75/day Total everything except airfare and add ten percent. Stick on the airfare. See what it looks like. Train expenses are easy to figure, you're only in one country. The hardest part will be the hotels, but you only have three to worry about. Take it in segments and it's pretty easy.

You still have plenty of time to do this yourself, if you want to. You absolutely have to pick up a copy of Rick's Italy book, esp. since this is all new to you. It will be the smartest money you spend and could end up saving you literally thousands of dollars. (Frankly, I wouldn't bother with "Europe Through the Back Door" since you're only planning on going to Italy and all the Italy-related info in ETBD is in the Italy book.) As for flights, we paid about $1500 each for Delta Economy Comfort (more legroom) this past May from Seattle to Venice and then Rome to Seattle, both via Amsterdam. $2000 each is too much to pay. I'm seeing prices around $1700 if I plug in May 23 to June 3. They might still go down a few hundred. Lower prices if you have more flexibility as to departure and return dates. Do you know that you should buy "Multi-city" airline tickets from Portland to Venice to get there and then from Rome to Portland for the return? Don't do roundtrip tickets to the same city. That way you can avoid backtracking. (Some people including Rick call that "open jaw" but you won't see that terminology used on any airline website.)

Thank you everyone for all of your advice! I will definitely be trying to plan it out myself first!
1.How should I look into reserving/booking train transportation between cities? Any companies/websites I should look at?

Angie, Don't be concerned with trains at this point. You can work that out later in the planning process. For the two easy trips you'll be taking, travel via Freccia high speed trains (300 kmH) is the easiest option. You can book those on the Trenitalia website starting at about 120 days from your travel date. It's possible to save money by pre-booking, especially if you can get the Super Economy tickets. There are only a specific number of discounted tickets on each rail trip. When the Super Economy tickets are sold out, they move to Economy tickets and when those are gone it's only Base fare (the highest tier) which is the price you'd pay if you bought a ticket at the station on the day of travel. However, one IMPORTANT point to note is that those trains have compulsory reservations which are specific to a particular train, date and departure time. You can NOT use any other train than the one specified on your ticket or you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Therefore you must be VERY careful when you make your booking, as you'll be "locked into" using one particular train on a specific date and time. One other point to mention is that when using Regionale (local) trains, Buses or other transit, tickets MUST be validated (time & date stamp) prior to boarding on the day of travel or again, hefty fines! That includes the Buses in Rome, as well as the Leonardo Express to the airport. Spend some time browsing the excellent www.roninrome.com website to see that travel by train looks like (great photos on the site). You may also find it helpful to watch this short video.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n8rITO1Eek Cheers!

Angie, all the questions you're going to ask are already answered in the RS Italy book, including how to buy train tickets. But you don't need to start thinking about those until January. The discount tickets go on sale 4 months before the travel date, on trenitalia.com.

Angie
I know you didn't ask, but did you consider the 10-day Rick Steves Venice-Florence- Rome tour? It takes the burden off planning, and I think it is very cost-effective. One thing that is hard to plan cost-wise is the cumulative costs of museum tickets, getting around town etc. You will see a lot more with the tour,eat better, and still have plenty of free time.

The 10 day Rome Florence Venice RS tour is $3200 each, so $6400 for both and doesn't include airfare.

Angie....PLEASE GET RICKS BOOK! I have used his recommendations to plan our entire trip in late May early June. We will be there for a FULL 2 weeks and our hotels for the full 14 days will be around $2500. Are we staying 5 star? No,but nice hotels in good locations and breakfast included....all with great reviews from Rick and tripadvisor. You CAN make your own arrangements for your trip. I think you will find that you will enjoy it more if you do. This forum has the most valuable information and Ricks books will literally walk you through the whole thing. As far as air fare...watch out of Seattle too... They frequently have good rates....best of luck!

Consider flying into one city returning home from another...I booked us into Rome then out of Milan for our 2 weeks in Italy and rates ended up a little cheaper that way and we are able to make better use of our time, not backtracking at all.....

Hi Angie-

I'm taking my daughter back to Italy (we went last Christmas) in a few weeks and also are visiting Venice-Florence-Rome for 10 days. The costs so far for us on this trip is $4100 total. That includes our airfare, lodging, trains,all transportation in Venice, entry fees to Ufizzi,Vatican and a Vivaldi concert in Venice. Granted, airfare is lower due to the season. I'll be taking another $1K or so for meals, taxis and entry fees to other sites not pre-booked.

We are staying in apartments (Florence & Rome) and a hotel (Venice). We did the same last year and I love it as we get places exactly where we want and much more affordable prices and IMO great atmosphere vs doing all hotels that a service would book for you. For us, once you factor in that it allows us to have our own bedrooms and the ability to cook a meal or two it's win-win!

Our trip last year covered the same route, and the total cost of the trip was a little over $5700, including everything. That's even counting a wheelchair and medications I had to buy as I broke my ankle on our first night in the country! We ended up having to take a lot more taxis than I had originally budgeted for. Also included were various splurge items like a leather jacket for my daughter and perfumes/jewelery.

I do understand the idea of wanting to not have to worry about anything and having a service plan it all out for you. But you might be surprised at just how much enjoyment you may find in planning it yourself, as well as the $$ savings. I did 80% of my planning through Rick Steve's book.

PS- FOR SURE book the "open jaw" concept. Fly into one city and out another!
EDIT: 80% of my planning with RS book AND this board. Lots of helpful information and folks on here.

Flying into Milan is easier and cheaper than Venice. Plus if you add a few days to your trip you could easily spend some time at one of the lakes. Many people rave about lake Como, but I went to lake maggiore and LOVED it!

Returned from 23 days in Italy on October 1. Took the Best of Italy tour for 17 days plus had six days on our own before and after tour. If you planning to go to just Venice, Florence and Rome, I would give a serious look at Rick Steve's tour of those three cities since this is your first trip. Yes it may cost you a little
but it will include all entrance fees to sights and no waiting in lines, all your breakfasts and half your dinners which are excellent and in very nice places. My airfare was $1100 which included insurance. I flew into Milan and out of Rome. I bought the airfare in February for the September flight and used Travelocity. United from Portland to Newark to Milan. You have about 3 hrs in Newark. I have used this flight several times and works great.
You can't beat the RS tours as they are highly efficient with their knowledge, organization, and guides. You really get spoiled. It was my fifth tour with them.

Highly recommend Hotel Aberdeen in Rome for its great location and service.

Wow-I am having a hard time finding decent priced tickets for end of may...where are you flying from in the US? I am starting in Portland, Oregon.

I just got back from RS tour Heart of Italy. I didn't read all the posts but I would say the most important thing I came away with was that city guides are well worth the money. They add so much. I can't imagine going to the
Vatican alone!

It might be worth seeing what your fares are from Seattle. We were there in May and our round trips were about $1,250 -- arriving in Venice and flying out of Rome (we purchased in late Feb). If you want to keep costs down, highly suggest looking at Airbnb as an option, as we were able to stay in great locations for about 1/2 the cost of hotels in the same area (the Sofitel is an expensive brand, so these may be higher end than you need). The weather in May for us varied -- hot/muggy in Venice, sort of rainy in Florence and then both warm and rainy in Rome (60s to high 70s).

I agree that planning the trip is half the fun - and you learn so much more about the places you'll be visiting. My husband and I are visiting for 18 days with a budget of just over $6000 plus airfare, so you should be able to do 10 days for under $4000 plus airfare. We've booked Aquavenice B&B B in Venice, Residenza il Carmine (an apartment) in Florence, and are looking at apartments in Rome for around $200/ night. But a Rick Steve's tour could be great, too. Enjoy your travels.

I agree that planning the trip is half the fun - and you learn so much more about the places you'll be visiting. My husband and I are visiting for 18 days with a budget of just over $6000 plus airfare, so you should be able to do 10 days for under $4000 plus airfare. We've booked Aquavenice B&B B in Venice, Residenza il Carmine (an apartment) in Florence, and are looking at apartments in Rome for around $200/ night. But a Rick Steve's tour could be great, too. Enjoy your travels.