What do you recommend we do if we get lost?

Do what we do - agree to meet at the spot where you both last made eye contact with each other. Don't try to anticipate where your partner might have been heading - backtrack instead. Your backup plan could be to return to your hotel if that doesn't work, say if you've been looking for each other for more than X amount of time.

Where this is most likely to happen is when you're in a sea of humanity, like down in a Metro station when the train comes in. If you see that starting to happen, grab a hand.

(BTW, Two-way radios are illegal in Italy. )

So I guess you won't have cell phones? How about those little two way radios? Or each of you get one of the free tourist maps that are everywhere, circle a few main sites, and agree to stay at the last one you were closest too when you lost each other - or something like that.

We just got a new Vodafone sim for my daughter's cell phone - 5 euro with a phone # and some air time. If you have cell phones that are unlocked, take them with you and throw one of these in -

James, I had to laugh when I read your question. My son (16 years old) and I got separated at the Capitatine (sp?) Museum while in Rome in June. My son was hungary and wanted a doughnut from the cafe inside the museum. Well...the two gentleman at the counter would not help us and just pointed to the cash register around the corner. I tried my best to explain "donut" using hand gestures and pictures, but the poor lady just wasn't getting it. After several minutes, the two elderly started grumpling and stomping their feet behind me, I just gave up and said nevermind and walked a way. My son gave ME a lecture about how rude I was. Not a good thing to say, especially after being made to feel like a fool trying to get him a stinkin' doughnut. He did not like me lecturing him back and reminding him who the parent was and stormed off into the next room while I continued to take pictures off the balacony. Few minutes later, I walked back into the room and he was gone. I walked to the adjoining rooms, no luck. Finally, I saw an exit door thinking he must have walked out. Nope. Wanted to walk back into the museum, but the guard with a large gun was a little intimidating. There was a wedding that just finished at the entrance so it was extremely crowded. After an hour, I walked to our hotel which was a few blocks away thinking he must have gone there looking for me after so much time had passed. We had been in Rome for 3 or 4 days at this point so we were very comfortable finding our way to hotel. Not there, I left message with the front desk, that if he was to arrive, tell him to stay there. Went back to the museum and actually used my Roma Pass to get in AGAIN to find him. Nope! Back to hotel then back to museum. I finally found him walking toward to hotel, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours later. Apparently, he was waiting inside at the front entrance, while I was at the entrance, but outside. I couldn't communicate to get a doughnut, but he communicated to have employee call....

...the hotel. He had a map the hotel had given to us that happened to have the phone number on it, but they told him I was not there. We laugh about it now, (he still says I was the one that got lost) but it scared the crap out of me. It was like an episode of Seinfeld. As he went to the next room, I walked into the room he just left, sitting outside, while he sat inside...etc..

After our experience, I think the best thing to do would come up with a plan for a meeting spot if you get separated, for example: meet inside at the front entrance, or certain spot such as the gellato stand. Great question, I wish we would have discussed this before hand.

Always carry the name, address and phone number of your hotel. If worse comes to worse, you meet there or if you think you might get split up, at a pre-designated place and time.

Or, if you are at a major point of interest, you can have an agreement that if you get separated, at the top and bottom of the hour, you'll go towards the entrance or exit to reconnect.

Kristen--is it possible your "donut" even was one where they were trying to tell you to pay first, then get the food?

You are probably more likely to get separated at a venue than out and about, except on the metro.

At venues, set a time and place to meet, if you get separated. On the metro, if one of you misses the train, perhaps the best solution is either [1] agree to meet at your destination station or [2] meet at the upcoming station.

Thanks for all of the helpful tips guys. I told my girlfriend that it's very likely we will get split up at least once so it's best to have some kind of plan to meet up somewhere. I was thinking either back at the hotel or predetermined spots on the map.

Also, if worse comes to worse and you don't have cell phones, you could both call your hotel and relay a message to each other that way. We always take the business card from our hotel which has the info you need.

You could always hold hands like they do on kindergarten field trips! I agree with the poster who recommended that you go back to the place where you last saw each other. You are unlikely to get separated on the street, but inside a busy and cramped museum like The Vatican, you might get split up. Be especially careful when getting on and off buses during rush hour. The buses are so jam packed full of people that you might get separated while attempting to squeeze on or off the bus.

When we traveled with our two sons we always had prearranged spots. Each had the written address of the hotel and 10E or so to take a cab. That was the ultimate fallback if the next two failed. Prior to entering a site or a museum, it was meet over there are 3 PM., and the first fall back to meet where we last had contact. The order was to meet where we last had contact but after 10 mins or so of waiting go to the prior arranged spot at the prearrange time. That way you don't waste a lot of time waiting and maybe not everyone remembers when we last had contact. We never had to use the ultimate fall back.

"You could always hold hands like they do on kindergarten field trips!"

Believe it or not, my dad and I did this quite a bit and I'm 26! Especially in crowded areas like buses and metros, holding onto each other was a good way to make sure we stayed together. We also did this when starting to cross the street. It's too easy for one person to get distracted and not notice the other one has started across.

We also each carried/wore something distinctive, which would increase our chances of spotting each other. And lastly, we each carried the business card of the hotel we were staying at.

Never had a problem.

Well it is a good question,, but I've never lost anyone( and I have travelled alone with a child, alone with a friend who spoke only english, and alone with my dad) on a trip together so can only offer a suggestion.

With children I was just careful to keep very close( and I took my dd when she was 12 and son when he was 14,, and trust me,, he would not have tolerated hand holding. LOL ) and to make sure they had a hotel card and money for a taxi on them. With an adult,, I would often suggest we split up and meet back at main entrances to certain sites,, mainly museums,, as I prefer to enjoy them solo anyways. It always worked out.

As you are two adults I think just agreeing to meet at hotel is fine.. or at entrance to site you got split up in.. In metro station hold hands at rush hour maybe?

You should always have a rule that no one will leave the store/museum/Vatican without the other. You could modify this to mean you could meet on a bench just outside the front entrance. No one should be randomly leaving a museum and going back to a hotel.

As a society we are losing some skills because of cell phones and gps. We used to have these conversations as a matter of course. "Meet me under the giant chandelier."

Good point Karen,, cell phones etc make things easier in some ways,, but perhaps they also make us a little more careless.. or lazy,, not sure which. Years ago parent drilled their kids on staying together, holding hands in busy areas, not wandering off etc etc.. or honoring meeting times and places.

Are you two staying in different hotels? No? Then WTF? Have fun and see ya' later. Are you three?

James,

Cell phones would definitely make this situation a lot easier to deal with, especially using texts (which are cheap). However, as the others have said it's easy just to make an arrangement with your girlfriend that if you get separated, you'll meet at a predetermined spot at a certain time (perhaps back at the Hotel?).

Make sure you've both got small Maps so that you can find your way around (most Hotels have small tourist maps that they provide to guests which are simple and work quite well). Write the address of the Hotel and the phone number on the back of the Map for easy reference.

Cheers!