After using Rick Steves’ Travel Forum for so many ideas in my trip planning I thought I would add a brief Trip Report in case it could be of any help. Our first trip to Italy so we wanted to see the classic sights, along with many, many other visitors.
In the interest of brevity I will only touch upon the highlights of most of our days.
ROME-3 nights
Colosseum-Many people suggested to skip the tour and even skip going inside. Was glad I took the tour. Very busy but informative.
Papal Audience- Advance tickets required. Ordered through the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Easy to find, and very helpful and informative orientation. Special part of the trip.
Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel-Very crowded. Ordered “early entrance, skip the line tour” through Viator. Just a note: I would skip using any tours through Viator. Overpriced and do not live up to their hype.
Some rambling’s: Piazza Navona-Coronati St.-Trestavere-Borghese Gallery-Trevi Fountain all worth exploring. Of course the city is filled with history, art, culture, and restaurants. Spend some time walking the city. Google Maps is invaluable, if not familiar with it I would suggest practicing a bit before your trip.
VENICE- 1 Night
Train from Rome to Venice, about 4 hours. After so much walking the last few days 4 hours of sitting and watching the landscape was great, farmland is prominent. Booked all train travel from home, proved to be a great way to travel. Arrived in Venice to a water-taxi strike! Walked to hotel with luggage, good thing we packed light and only had carry-on and backpacks. Crossed 13 bridges to get to hotel. Beautiful city. Every high end store seems to be located here. Another positive about packing light, no room for high end store shopping! High water is really causing problems, unable to get to St. Mark’s basilica without wading through a foot of water. Gondolas unable to maneuver under many bridges. Still worth a visit.
FLORENCE-2 nights
Train to Florence, about 2 hours. Great ride. Walked to hotel from train station. Stayed in the Oltrano neighborhood. Absolutely beautiful city. Very walkable. Duomo is spectacular. Academia Gallery, Uffizi Gallery both very much worth a visit. Great shopping, leather, gold, silver shops abound, especially around Ponte Veccchio.
PISA-Train to Pisa, about 1 hour. Since we will be returning to same hotel in Florence we made arrangements to have them hold our luggage allowing us to only take a backpack. Short walk from train station to Field of Miracles, Tower, Duomo, Baptistry. Nice visit, glad we made the detour.
MONTEROSSO-1 night
Train, about 1 hour. Beautiful area, Italian Riviera. Great hotel. Picture postcard kind of place. Some of the walking trails to other 4 towns are closed but the train runs between all 5 towns, some climbing hills required. Very hilly area, any mobility issues could be a problem, with the exception of Monterosso which is relatively flat.
MONTEROSSO-LUCCA-Train to Lucca, short walk from train station to center inside city walls. Unfortunately the rains came. Cut our visit short. Areas we saw were very nice. Grabbed an earlier train back to Florence.
FLORENCE-1 night
Back to Florence for a quick overnight. Flying out of Florence to Paris early in the morning. Great dinner.
Recap: Italy was great. The people were friendly, helpful and for these English only travelers language was no barrier.
Food was great. And very reasonably priced. Of course wine was delicious.
Train travel was excellent. Most all announcements were repeated in English.
Of course the history and culture is unparalleled and the Italian people are glad to share it all graciously with visitors.
Arriverderci Italy, you have been a great host.
Posted by
New Orleans
1217 posts
Thanks for a great quick trip report, Jmo! You really illustrate how someone can have a good first time quick visit, seeing the “big three”plus several other sights in just over a week. I look forward to more trip reports from you as you hopefully delve deeper into the glorious adventures of Italy in the future.
Posted by
San Diego, California
5602 posts
Thanks for sharing. How recent was this trip? I'd never heard of a water taxi strike. Just curious- was the strike the private water taxis or the vaporettos?
Glad you had a great trip. Where to next?
Posted by
OP
42 posts
The trip was October 17-24. Private water taxi’s were running, about $160. The public ones were on strike. A general rail and public transportation strike was called in Italy on October 20. Not all systems were effected. Many people were walking the streets with luggage. Turned out fine, a good travel story for down the road.
Posted by
California
146 posts
Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a great trip.
Would you mind sharing which hotel you stayed at in the oltrarno? I’ve never stayed on that side but enjoyed spending more time there during our last visit.
Crystal
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Hi Crystal,
I stayed at the Hotel La Scaletta. The location was great and the rooms were fine. If anyone has any mobility issues this is not the place. Stairs are everywhere, there is a small lift that holds two people without bags. The porters are very helpful.
There is no lobby to speak of but there is a nice rooftop bar with a great view of the city and it overlooks Boboli Gardens.
It is just a minute or so walk to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and there are many good restaurants within walking distance.
The only negative was an annoying desk clerk who insisted that I upgrade my room. I politely declined several times however she kept going until I walked away. However I wouldn’t let that deter you from going.
Posted by
Los Angeles
972 posts
Sounds like a great trip! Can I ask your hotel in Monterosso? How crowded was it?
Posted by
OP
42 posts
Hi CaliMom,
We stayed at the Hotel Villa Steno. Great location, we had a room with a balcony overlooking the town and the sea. I would highly recommend it. Many stairs to get to the hotel and back into town so if there are any mobility difficulties you may want to reconsider. Very helpful staff, will arrange taxi to meet you at train station and with dinner reservations. We will certainly be staying again on our return visit.
We were there in late October and the crowds were very reasonable. Enjoy!
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7799 posts
Thank you for sharing your trip report and also your hotel in Florence! I haven’t been to Venice during the high water levels. Glad your glass stayed half full during that situation. : )