What I have learned so far...anything else?

Carry a small menu translator or app. You'll want to know what "fegato" means.

Have a great time!

I have to disagree on the train reservations -- not so much that there isn't room on the train but the ticket lines for people in Venice and Florence were horrendous (but we jumped right on with our tickets printed at home).

Try to get some quick-dry clothes so that you can either wash them in the sink or in a washer where you're staying (no one has dryers).

The guide in the Rick Steves book was pretty accurate for me in terms of how many pieces of things to bring for a carry-on and what seemed like a good rotation of clothes before I stunk them out and could get to a washer! The biggest thing (esp. for March) will be to think about layering. I might suggest compression socks for the long flight, if you're a sweller (made a huge difference for me).

Lots of walking will make up for all the yummy gelato, wine and pasta :) The bottled water isn't too expensive, fortunately.

Hi Cynthia, very smart to lurk and learn like that. You're doing great with your planning. I'd just add two small things: (1) I think that some kind of very lightweight foldable poncho will be more helpful than an umbrella, if you get caught in the rain, which is likely in March; (2) maybe I'm taking you too literally, but you wrote about withdrawing cash from credit cards. If you are talking about cash advances, the costs can be significant. Better to get cash from a debit card (tapping your own money) rather than from a credit card (borrowing their money). You can charge purchases to credit cards, then pay them off quickly if you can. You have time to inform your cards and banks of your trip so they don't block any charges for being out of the ordinary. Also ask about withdrawal or foreign currency fees. You have time to even set up one or more new accounts that might save you money. I have one credit card that does not charge foreign currency fees and my bank set up a special account with a low withdrawal fee card, that I only use for travel expenses. I have heard that some credit unions have accounts with debit cards that do not charge any withdrawal fees, although I myself don't have such an account so can't speak from personal experience.

I'm sure you and your daughter will have a wonderful trip, hard not to in Italy!

Cynthia,

"Not worry too much about train reservations but remember to validate our tickets if we don't make any"

Some further clarification is required on that point.....

If you're travelling on one of the premium trains where reservations are compulsory, you MUST have reservations specific to the train you're on for a particular date and the departure time or you'll be subject to fines on the spot! There's no need to validate tickets for those trains, as they're only valid for one specific train.

The Freccia high speed trains, InterCity trains, etc. always require reservations. If you're willing to commit to a particular departure time, pre-purchase of tickets can save some money. If you'd rather maintain more flexibility in your travel times, just buy tickets locally at the Kiosks or ticket office and pay Base fare. Tickets will include the reservation supplement. Depending on which routes you'll be taking, you could also consider the Italo trains.

If you're travelling on Regionale trains which don't require reservations, you MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. That includes the Leonardo Express to the airport in Rome. Note that tickets have a "shelf life" once validated, which is typically about six hours. Validating tickets is also necessary when riding Buses. With those, the validation machine is sometimes on board the Bus, usually behind the driver.

If you could provide some idea of which rail journeys you're planning to take, it would be easier to provide more information on train details. You may find it helpful to watch THIS short video. You could also have a look at the excellent Man In Seat 61 website.

Happy travels!

Book some private guides especially in Rome

I've never found this necessary and consider it an expense that is not needed. Most of the sites have wonderful tours that are often a fraction of what a private guide will cost. These tours are very informative and offer the same skip the line benefits that other tours offer along with other benefits. I would go with the regular tours offered by the sites and spend the money saved elsewhere.

I agree with all the info you've been given about the trains. Buy in advance and no need to validate if you have a seat assignment for a specific train.

I would simply notify the cc. company of your travel dates and locations. I would also ask them to raise your daily limit. Also, check to see what their fees are. Italian banks don't charge fees so any that you get will be from your own bank.

Pack clothes you can layer. Stick to one color palette.

Donna

• If you order a cappuccino after 10am you will immediately be kicked out of the country and asked never to return.

8) Not to expect italian trains to ever be on time: expect 15-25min delays, most of our trains were running late, including the trains that require reservations

About raising your withdrawal limit on debit cards: note that the Bancomat (ATM) may have a lower wthdrawal limit than your debit card; you can do multiple transactions or go to a different Bancomat.

Have a wonderful time!

You want to make sure your debit cards are set up to withdraw on a chequing acount instead of savings. For some reason, we had our powerchequing account set up in the bank machine as savings (??!) - so when we wanted to take money out...no go...both in Europe and the US. We use 2 diff banks, so we just used the other card...but when all the paycheck money went into the one designated savings (really powerchequing), and we couldn't set up a transfer online to the other bank (what is wrong with Scotiabank?!) then we just had to hope we wouldn't overdraw. We fixed the savings/chequing designation at the bank this week...so make sure your debit card is set up to withdraw from CHEQUING account. And let the banks and cc companies know ahead that you are going to keep your card from being flagged/not working.

And yes, the friggin trains in Italy...we ended up missing a connection because one train was late arriving by 5 min after our connection left (instead of the 10 min early it should have been, so it was actually 15 min behind schedule), incurring an hour wait for the next train; and when we did Rome thru Pisa to Cinque Terre, the trains just kept getting later and later...I think in the end about 45-60 min late. And we had a 2 min window in Milan to make a train change when we should have had a 15 min window, therefore missing our connecting train, thus beginning our train day from hell with wrong trains (you had to be there), missed connections and general crappiness. This was 08, maybe there have been improvements (and our bad trying to save money...our first trip...we used mostly the slow regional trains instead of the fast trains).

We have made several trips to Italy--and ALL of them were in March! They were wonderful, all of them, and the weather wasn't a concern. You just have to take clothing that you can layer. Indispensible were my silk long underwear. LLBean still carries them, I believe. These things weigh next to nothing, roll up into just a little tube in your suitcase, and wash out and air dry in a flash, especially with those wonderful heated towel-racks in Italian hotels.

We ran into a little snow one year in Tuscany--but it wasn't any trouble. We were on a bus tour (unusual for us, but I had plantar fasciitis that year) of Pisa, San Giminiano, and Siena, and just saw the snow from the bus! Another time we had a great week in Venice, and on the last day it turned cold and windy. I do remember wearing all my layers that day--the silk longies, turtleneck, slacks, fleece vest, fleece jacket, and my raincoat with the zip in lining--and a hat! But we were in VENICE!!! We sat out in a campo and ate pizza that day, ha!

Have a grand time! Italy is the best!

On weather . . .The silk long-johns suggestion is an excellent one. We landed in Rome one time, on April 12; and the temperature was 32 F at 8:00 AM. Only reached 40 F that day. We were unprepared for such a chill and pretty miserable. Check out WinterSilks as well as LLBean. I got mine there at a very good price. It's the kind of item that should be on sale now.

I would also like to double check that you are withdrawing money with a debit card (that can also be used as a credit card) attached to a checking account rather than a stand alone credit card as that would add significant cost to your trip for the cash advance fees. If you only have a credit card, you are better off paying your hotel bill with that credit card (and forgoing the discount they may be giving for cash payment) rather than take cash advances with a credit card.

I would also urge you to make advanced train reservations as you will get a better price and peace of mind that your train ticket is in hand. Not to worry as they won't sell out, but so much more convenient if you have them ahead of time.

Bring a couple of light scarves to keep warm if need be.

In Florence, see the Duomo at night.

Eat lots of gelato!

Your #6 is "Notify the credit card companies that we'll be withdrawing cash to pay the bed and breakfast places." Did you mean to say "debit card companies" instead of credit card companies? I sure hope you're not planning to use a credit card to take a cash advance - you'll pay a whopping fee if you do. Get an account with a credit union or some other place that doesn't charge you anything to take cash out of your account.

An alternative to silk long underwear is Cuddleduds. I've also been known to wear two pairs of slacks (talk about layering!).

Thank you all for these excellent suggestions. Doug, about that translation: fegato = liver? Not sure if this is a positive or a negative.

Concerning cash withdrawals, I do intend to take two debit cards with separate checking accounts in case we have a problem with one or the other, plus a USAA Mastercard that I can use in an emergency. I do not usually carry much cash when traveling domestically, but the B & B's we are staying at all require cash only. At 100-150 euro per night, that's a lot of euro. I will check with the banks ahead of time but am thinking I will have to do cash withdrawals every day with the debit cards in order to come up with enough euro.

My plan is to fly into Venice, stay three nights, then take a train to Florence where we will stay two nights. From there a train to Rome, for four nights before heading home. I think I need to spend some time on the Trenitalia website, but my first inclination was to not make a reservation and just wing it as we are taking the basic Venice-to-Florence-to-Rome route and don't have to arrive in Florence and Rome at any particular time. I love train travel and consider it part of the whole experience, so the idea of second class tickets doesn't bother me as these are relatively short trips. However, the feedback above about long lines to buy tickets gives me pause. Maybe I should just commit to a time and make reservations.

I had not thought of silk long underwear but that sounds like a perfect lightweight solution for layering!

It seems to me that hiring a guide is worthwhile. I am afraid I will find Rome overwhelming without one; plus my teenager doesn't view me as the voice of wisdom on anything but a guide conveys instant credibility.

Also, thanks for all the support about a March trip!

I will definitely post a trip report when we return. I got a kick out of reading Stella's recently.

Cynthia

Packing Tips: Packing Cubes,Packets of Flushable Wipes, unidose packets or sheets of laundry detergent. I take these things on EVERY trip. The packing cubes (ebags.com or eagle creek) help you to fit everything easily into your carry-on luggage bag. Measure the INSIDE of your bag first and order the appropriate sizes. Flushable Wipes (Cottonelle) can be purchased in small packets at your grocery store or big-box store. Carry them everywhere. Laundry soap - you can purchase unidose packets of Tide at Wal-Mart or fabric sheets embedded with Purex soap at K-mart. Take about 3 for laundry. Have a great time! ---Barb

More important to know what "cavallo," "equina" and "asino" mean for things that pop up on Italian menus than "fegato", I would think.

I guess they've just about covered every subject. Looks like you have a good handle on your trip. You'll be glad you went earlier in the year, as Summer heat can be unbearable. Italian a/c is often substandard per U.S. standards.

You'll want to notify both your bank and your credit card company of the dates and countries you'll be visiting. Some countries are notorious for fraudulent drafting and charging of cards.

100-150 Euro B&B's? That's out of my rather frugal budget. Other than Florence, we stayed in great B&B's and agriturismo apartments for 70 Euros our last trip to Italy.

Don't worry about the weather as it's out of your control. Just be ready for anything.

Cynthia,

"However, the feedback above about long lines to buy tickets gives me pause."

While there are often queues at ticket offices in larger stations, you can also buy tickets at the automated Kiosks, which rarely have queues (there are lots of Kiosks). That's the method I normally use in larger stations.

Your rail trips are all straightforward, but you'll need to be clear on the stations you'll be using since most cities have more than one.

A few thoughts to add.....

• Venice to Florence: Depart Venezia Santa Lucia and arrive Firenze SMN. You can use either Trenitalia or Italo, as both offer high speed service and use the same stations. If you're willing to commit to a particular departure time, pre-purchase tickets. If you'd prefer more flexibility, just buy your tickets on the day of travel.
• Florence to Rome: Depart Firenze SMN and arrive Roma Termini. Trenitalia would be the easiest choice on that route. You could also use Italo, however note that they use Roma Tiburtina or Ostiense, so if your preferred destination is the Termini area, you'd have to take the Metro or whatever from (for example) Tiburtina to Termini which adds one step.

You should be well prepared for your trip!

If you plan to use Regionale trains between Venice and Florence expect a long day and changes of train. The Regionale works up to Bologna, but only an InterCity(once a day) or high speed train will get you between Bologna and Florence without changing, and the InterCity is to Firenze Campo di Marte and then a Regionale into SMN.

Plan for a reasonable time and get early reservations on a Freccia or .Italo out of Venice Santa Lucia, sit back, enjoy the ride and smirk that your €9 or €19 advance ticket (with leather seats in second class on the .Italo) on the high speed is less expensive than the combination of Regionales, even more so when you ad in the InterCity.

"100-150 Euro B&B's? That's out of my rather frugal budget. Other than Florence, we stayed in great B&B's and agriturismo apartments for 70 Euros our last trip to Italy."

David, would you please post a list of these in the new forum on Italy Hotels/B&Bs? I am currently planning a trip to Italy and am having a hard time maintaining a 100 euro per night average.

@Bob: Tell us in which towns/cities you'd like to stay, and I'm sure many of us would be glad to oblige.

Janet,

I posted the question over in the new Helpline: Italy Reviews: Share hotel & restaurant reviews

Ponygirl - if you want a good guide for Rome I, and others on the site, can recommend Francesca Caruso ([email protected]). She is a great guide and a lovely person. Book her early as she is busy but if she can't help you, she will give you some other guides to contact.

Cynthia,

If you want a guide for at least part of your time in Rome, I would also highly recommend Francesca Caruso. She has an incredible knowledge and presents the information in a very easy-to-understand fashion. As Lesley mentioned in the previous reply, she's a really nice person.

Cynthia,
When we were in Italy last April, I preferred the flexibility of not buying train tickets in advance and be tied to a specific schedule. I did screen shots of the Trenitaila search results for each leg of our trip, which I viewed on my ipod. That way when we got up in the morning, we could look at the schedule and have an idea in advance as to which train we wanted to catch. This prevented us from just missing a train and having to kill an hour in the train station.

We purchased all the tickets from Kiosks. We had problems in Florence as many of the Kiosks did not take cash, and the debit or credit cards we tried didn't work. We then discovered that in the area where the ticket windows are, there were a couple kiosks with a picture of money, which took cash. After that, buying tickets from the kiosks was easy.

Wow--such thoughtful replies. I very much appreciate all of you who took the time to write. So glad to see Francesca Caruso's name come up. I bookmarked her website and plan to email her this week. I requested tickets to the Scavi tour about six weeks ago and gave two dates and was hoping to know by now whether my request was accepted and thus be better able to plan the Rome itinerary. But I read that they are famously slow to respond so I am going to contact Francesca anyway.

As a former horse owner I am aware of all the ways it can appear on menus in Europe. However I have learned through this thread to order cappuccino only until 10 and presumably wine thereafter. Also noticed that Rick has a tour in Venice on the same dates we are there so perhaps we will fasten ourselves onto his pub crawl.

Still studying my train options and again, thank you rail experts.

Ciao,
Cynthia

Take gloves. Fleece ones would work great.

For ATM withdrawals ... frequently Italian bancomats will not accept your pin number if it begins with a zero, e.g., 0123 ....

In Verona in Sept 2012 I needed to use a different bancomat, same bank, different machine to get money from the atm because of my pin beginning with a zero.

I never leave home without my Wintersilks .... saved me from some very cold travel days.

Enjoy your trip.

I was being facetious on the cappuccino thing. If you want a cappuccino, go ahead and order one no matter what time of the day it is, nobody will care despite what some people on this board will tell you.

Cappuccino: Nobody will care if you order a cappuccino in the afternoon. However to us Italians cappuccino is a breakfast drink and the notion of drinking one in the afternoon makes my stomach upset. But you do what you want. Italians know that foreigners have strange eating habits and have learned to live with it. Many Italians actually believe that Americans put Nutella chocolate spread in their spaghetti. Not sure where they got that from, maybe they do in some states, but not in California to my knowledge.

Queues to buy train tickets: queues are at the ticket windows, but there are no queues at the automatic kiosks, and the kiosks have prompts in multiple languages including English. You just have to use a credit card since they don't take cash.

Nights in each city. As a Florentine I am appalled that you allocated only 2 nights to Florence. The proper allocation is Venice 0 nights, Florence 8 nights, Rome 1 night (and just because you need to catch a flight in the morning).

Weather: March is unpredictable as noted in this famous Italian Rhyme: Marzo pazzerello guarda il sole e prendi l'ombrello (Little crazy March, look at the sun and take the umbrella). The rhyme is however very old and dates back to a time when Italy had no immigrants from Africa. Nowadays if you are caught in the rain unprepared don't worry. Within 5 seconds from the first raindrop there will be scores of African immigrants that magically will appear from nowhere selling umbrellas and ponchos or any other rain gear. It is important in such case to bargain hard Italian style. Last July we got caught in a sudden storm in Florence. My wife and her sister paid 12 euro each for the umbrella from the magically appeared seller. That's ridiculous. When it was my turn the bargaining was so intense that Japanese tourists took videos. I got my umbrella from the African seller for 2 euro. My wife and sister in law demanded I paid for their gelato since they felt I let the umbrella salesman take them to the cleaners.

I usually have a good idea the day before of which train I want to take. I've found it's less stressful to spend the extra time either around midday or, better yet, in the evening, to drop by the train station and get my ticket when there are few people, if any, in line. Then I know I just have to get to the station in time to find and board the train. I once missed a train from Florence to Rome because I didn't do this. The first couple of machines would only take cash, which I didn't have, and when I finally found a machine I could use, I was stuck behind 3 20-something German tourists (ditzy blond 20-somethings) for a good 20 minutes who were trying, unsuccessfully, to buy tickets for some future date. Luckily there were trains every hour. The line at the ticket agents was so long, I think I still saved time by using the machine!

I've also found that I prefer to take evening trains, after a full day, rather than "wasting" the best sightseeing hours sitting on a train.

To counter Roberto's note on train ticket kiosks - some do accept cash, you just have to find one that does. As someone above mentioned, there will be a little picture at the top of it that should explain whether it is card only, or accepts cash. (This was current as of 2011 when I lived there, it may have changed since but I would expect some still take cash - Italians love cash!) I always chose the Italian option instead of English so that it didn't shout at me in the train station, "Your change, coming out, in the lower right," but that is your choice haha.

1. Keep your luggage close to you on the train, even if is means standing (you can take turns). Do NOT leave it at one of the end compartments and then sit somewhere else.

2. Not as much of an issue if you are flying into Venice instead of taking the train in- but Venice has two train stations. Make sure you get off at/purchase tickets from the correct one.

3. Don't sweat the small stuff. Even the most carefully planned trips hit snafus sometimes.

4. Since you are carrying on, consider getting some of your toiletries over there. Saves on space and the liquid allowance.

5. If you are feeling frustrated, a smile, good manners, and an attempt to communicate in Italian (however little you know) goes a long way.

Have fun!

I know the "cappucchino threat" is a joke but to minimize eye-rolling from the Italian waiters I will drink it only at breakfast. I will also not order tap water as I saw on another thread that is considered ill-mannered.

Umbrella-bargaining tips much appreciated too!

Cynthia

I'm going to differ from the poster who suggested buying toiletries after you arrive. First of all, you would need to find a venue. European cities don't have Walgreens or CVS on every corner, as some American cities do. Secondly, you might have to buy a much larger size than you want, at a price that will shock you. Example: we were in Dubrovnik in May. My husband had forgotten his travel-size sunblock. We had to pay almost $20 for the smallest size available in the nearest pharmacy, and then there was the time in Italy when I had to pay $8 for ddental floss. Third, many products we are accustomed to finding in supermarkets or convenience stores, such as ibuprofen, are only available in pharmacies in Europe. I bring travel sizes of what I think I'll need, decanted into small containers, if not sold that way, including bandaids (once paid $10 for some in a pharmacy in Italy) and some packets of tissues (very allergy prone). I guess I'm a cheapskate in such matters, but it really galls me to waste my money that way. I don't think my toiletries add any significant weight to my luggage.

"I don't think my toiletries add any significant weight to my luggage."

Not to mention that when you buy full sized products there they will still have to go into your luggage unless you are only visiting one place. Not only will it be heavier than travel sized products it will also take up more room!

Julie, that's an urban myth about Italian ATMs not accepting PINs that start with a zero. No truth to it at all.

Two of my absolute favorite apps, available in the iTunes store, are Eat Rome and Eat Venice. I've visited both cities many times, but found even more great restaurants using these apps last trip. You can search by location, type, open days, price, etc. and look at menus and maps and find a phone number for making reservations. Such a time saver when you want to find something great nearby.

I'm not saying I buy all of my toiletries over there. But if I am going somewhere sunny or really dry, there is no way I can pack enough sunblock and lotion and still carry on. So I just buy it there. And if I travel for longer than a week, I start running out of toothpaste and shampoo/conditioner/soap. So I don't even attempt to pack everything, I just get refills as I go. And I have rarely had a problem finding comparable products, if not the exact same products, in Europe. I understand why this isn't for everyone though. just an idea!

Julie, your advice about Italian ATMs not accepting PINs starting with a zero is incorrect. My PIN starts with a zero and I have not had any problems using ATMs in Rome, Venice and Florence (as well as many other European countries).

Do book private guides they are well worth it. A guide can get you places you cannot, has local knowledge you will not have, IMO they are the best use of money in Italy.

Don't want to change the subject but is ordering tap water really considered gauche? Cheap? I do realy prefer it to mineraly, fizzy drinks.

@Dorothy,

When ordering a bottle of water with dinner, you can also request Acqua Naturale, which is just plain water with no carbonation. It's often served chilled which is nice after a hot day of touring, but if you order tap water it will likely be at room temperature and nowhere near as refreshing.

Cheers!

Dorothy, there's an exhaustive discussion of ordering tap water here:
Tap Water in Italy

I suggest we not hijack this thread, but post any additional comments on that specific topic there instead.

Cynthia, you've had lots of responses here! Just listen to Ken. He knows what he's doing/talking about and he's my "go to guy."

Donna, thanks, and while I agree with your assessment of Ken after reading his many detailed and helpful posts, don't sell yourself short! I am so grateful that this thread has truly covered all the bases for my trip and will report back. At this time with two months to go, I have booked everything except train tickets and private guide for Rome (Francesca Caruso is busy unfortunately). We did get into the Scavi tour. For anyone looking to do that, it took six weeks for the Vatican to reply to my email request, as I sent it in November and just got an email response two days ago that the reservation is confirmed.
Best to all,
Cynthia

I have to disagree that "Italian trains are rarely on time."
I'we have been travelling by train in Italy for over 10 years, and have never once been on a train that was either late leaving or late arriving.
BTW: don't let anyone "help" you when you are figuring out the ticket-kiosks; you don't know if they are trying to scam you or not.
Just take your time, and you will easily figure it out on your own.

the website: roninrome.com has an excellent tutoral on train tickets, buying and using, including photos of the kiosks and tickets. You will not get confused if you take a good look at it before the trip!