Please sign in to post.
Holiday Sale! Save 20% Storewide!

London, Prague , Sorrento and Rome

Posted by ( Mexico) on

Hello , just returning from another wonderful trip to Europe and wanting to share some of it and thank all help received:
* TRANSPORTATION
Found a great price for a flight Los Angeles -London/ Rome -LA ($386 total) We found it in the middle of the night, I think we were half asleep and booked it not from the airline but from a third party "cheapoair" on top of everything!
I got so scared reading opinions here that I stopped mentioning it and was ready to "accept all consequences of my acts! " . Fortunately everything went perfect! But I'll "try" to book directly with the airline next times.
We booked with easy jet for the London - Prague and Prague - Naples flights, again, everything on time and smoothly.
We took the train from Naples to Rome , reserved months in advanced for €33 each. Train remains my favorite mode of transportation within Europe!

LODGINGS
Thanks to advice from people here (thank you Emma from London!) we changed our mind and booked a hotel instead of an airbnb for our two nights in London and it was the right decision!

We booked the "Z hotel" Victoria Station and it was perfect for us.

In Prague we used airbnb , an apartment VERY close to the astronomical clock that we liked VERY much. The host was extremely helpful and the apartment, lovely.

It's in Sorrento where my happy place happens to be, Villa Monica B&B, so it was a very easy choice. Third time there and it remains as my favorite place in this world!

Another airbnb in Rome, an
apartment close (maybe too close!) to Trevi fountain. Cute, clean, with some tiny plumbing issues that they fixed immediately both times. It's just that you don't want to be dealing with these kind of things while vacationing. But a good choice overall.

No. Of days in each destination

LONDON : 2 nights. Obviously way too little time here! BUT , I "felt" the city and now I know, that I need to go back!
Beautiful and exciting city with plenty of places to go and things to do!

PRAGUE: 3 nights, we could have used more but it was good. A beautiful city ( with amazing beer! )

SORRENTO: 4 nights I just LOVE it here! It's never enough for me

ROME: 4 nights . I had been to Rome twice for one night each time and what a difference four nights did!

I loved the city , it is just magical!

Cont...

Posted by
162 posts

Hi! It has been complicated to continue writing this review due to work . I'll try to continue mainly as a way to being thankful to all people who helped me with answers. Know that the time so many of you spend writing so many advices, recommendations and opinions are very valuable.

Of course I didn't like the "why bother going to London for two nights?" I got from some of you and you're not totally incorrect in the tense that, of course London deserves way more time but in this case, it was a great weekend!

We arrived around 3:00pm , being six of us it was easier and affordable to take a private transport . About one hour later we were at our lovely hotel near Victoria Station. It had complimentary wine , cheese, grapes, olives and chocolate for guests . It was a great welcome!
After a toast for a wonderful vacation we were out and about just strolling near the hotel. We got to Buckingham Palace ( less than 10 min walking) , Westminster Abbey, had something to eat and it was all for that first night .

The following morning we went as early as we could to "Tower of London" (previously bought tickets) . We got to see the jewels of the crowns almost to ourselves ... thanks to your advice!!!
Like 30 min after we left the building there was a huge line to get into that specific place... it made me feel so grateful (and less guilty! lol) of the hours invested reading this forum!
We really enjoyed the Tower of London, nice place full of history.

We continued our day going to the London Eye ( I was not interested but my friends were) , walking, sightseeing, enjoying this beautiful city!
We walked to Picadilly Circus , China town , all that area.

We walked and walked and walked!

We saw all we could without getting into any other museum . Just not enough time.
Fun night in one pub , it was a very welcome rest after all the walking .
What a beautiful city!
Next morning my husband and friends really wanted to go to Abbey Road . I was the designated photographer so early we woke up to try not to get roll over by a car trying to get the famous Beatles shot. It was a fun morning after all. Then we splitted (there were six of us) some wanted to go shopping and the rest went to St. Paul cathedral. It was Palm Sunday , we got to be in part of the mass and take a look of this beautiful place!
We continued walking and sightseeing til' it was time for the taxi to pick us up and take us to Gatwick airport. One of the reasons we chose the hotel we stayed in was its proximity to Victoria Station that has the express service (not sure that's the name) to Gatwick but it was canceled that day!

Just a minor inconvenient .
I now know that I HAVE to go back to London . I fell in love with what I got to see , I feel very fortunate that I could go to this wonderful city. Hopefully I can spend at least a week , next time.
Cont...

Posted by
162 posts

We continued our trip to Prague .
Prague had been in my bucket list forever . This was our (me and my husband's) sixth trip to Europe and Prage was always taken out of the final iteniraries due to being usually the furthest city in our previous plans. Two years ago , people on this forum convinced me to let Prague go and we chose Florence instead ( it was a great decision we loved Florence!) .

This time, acting mischeviously (lol) I didn't ask for any advice until we had bought our flight tickets Lon- Prague and Prague - Naples .
I didn't want anybody to convince me not to do it!

Tell me about stubborness!
I do not regret doing it . I TOTALLY get the advantages of exploring one area and although I didn't completely fell for Prague , I don't think it was because we didn't give it enough time (three nights) or you think that was the reason?

We arrived late at night , we had a transport service waiting for us ( one of the advantages of traveling as part of a group!) . We thought it was the best thing to do doing the fact of late arrival. They dropped us exactly at our airbnb. A lovely place just like two small blocks from the astronomical clock.
No problems at all with this airbnb apartment . A great experience.
The following morning we left the apartment ready to explore the city . We only had a concert booked for that evening, the rest was free to discover the city.

We ran across a free tour in Spanish ( our friends don't understand any English, so booking some of the ones recommended here , was out of the question) with a very energetic guide so we felt it would be a good idea to join one. We really enjoyed the almost three hours tour .
Our friends are some how obsessed with buying souvenirs ( I am not) so, after the tour, we spent a couple of hours checking for some souv.
That evening we attended a concert at the Spanish Synagogue. The place is beautiful , the concert was just so-so.
Two years ago we went to another concert at Saint Chapelle in Paris and I think that set the bar too high for my expectations.
I love having these kind of experiences even if I don't find them to be completely wonderful.
We got to taste a few delicious beers that night!
Next day our group splitted , they went on another tour and my husband and I went on our own to take some pictures of the beautiful city. We walked up to a park ( don't remember the name) with beautiful views of the city and its bridges. From there , the castle was very easy to reach. We spent there a couple of hours, strolled our way down to Charles bridge (loved it!)
We were kind of hurried cause we were hungry and we had a "Tour de la cerveza" (beer tour) scheduled to 6:00pm . We randomly found a restaurant with the most delicious Czech food!

I really wanted to go to a restaurant kind of close to the castle that I read about here, but due to time restrictions , we just couldn't make it. Luckily our finding was very good.
I tend not to look for specific restaurants recommendations online because I think it could be too much time consuming trying to find them.
I'd rather have recommendations from local people there.
I 'm not going to go deep on my opinion of the "Tour de la cerveza" due the fact it was in Spanish and I don't think people here could be benefited with my opinion. Just let me tell you that it was my first bad review ever!
Next morning we left to Naples.
My overall opinion of Prague is (nothing new!) that is a gorgeous city , I 'm glad I went but not eagerly looking to go back .
Is it normal? Do you think I didn't give it enough time?
I'm used to fall in love with new places and it didn't happen with Prague. Although there wasn' t anything I didn't like .
Hopefully my less than perfect English let me explain myself correctly .

Thank you!

Cont...

Posted by
162 posts

We arrived to Italy! It is beyond my words the feelings I have for this country. Love, love , love it!
Love the smells, the colors, the noises, I love all of Italy!
I don't know when I'm going to see all the places I want to see in this world if I continue having this great desire to go back to Italy time after time.
We spent four nights in Sorrento. We have always stayed in Villa Monica b&b . I just LOVE it!
It's like feeling I have a home in Italy.
First afternoon, had lunch in Il Leone Rosso a very turistic but good quality restaurant. We strolled around my beloved Piazza Tasso . It is a very simple piazza, I just don't know why I like it so much!
The following day we day tripped to Capri.
This was my second time there and we enjoyed as much as the first one. I don't see it as a tourist trap.

We arrived around 9:30 am, took a boat for a tour around the island (loved it!) , then we went to Augustus gardens , beautiful views!
We took a taxi to Ana Capri (again being six people the convertible taxi it was almost the same price as the bus, plus we felt very jet set lol!
Ana Capri is just lovely! Both times I 've been there I 'found people to be kind and helpful .
Went up to Mount Solaro, relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful weather and views. Took the boat back to Sorrento at 6:00 ( or 6:30 not sure), we arrived on time to enjoy the most beautiful sunset. It reminded me why I love Sorrento so much!

We had planned to go to Amalfi Coast towns the following day (Friday) but we felt we were too tired to wake up early and fully enjoy the beautiful area.
One of the perks of traveling independently, being able to change plans if feeling like.
So instead, my friends went to Pompei ( I had been there two years ago and loved it!) and my husband and I went to Naples . I hadn' t been able to go to the Archaeological museum before . We went , enjoyed it very much, had a delicious pizza , strolled a little in this very interesting city that has grown in me.
We took the circumvesubiana both ways and felt very safe at all times. Every time we needed help (where to find something, where to buy the metro tickets, where certain restaurant is) we always find a person willing to give a hand, always!

On Saturday we went to Amalfi Coast by boat just to do something different from the other ocassions , it was fun!
We arrived in Positano, took some beautiful pictures, (so easy to do in this pinturesque town) took the bus to Amalfi, saw the famous church then took the bus to beautiful Ravello.
We went to Villa Cimbrone (amazing views!) and back to Amalfi town. Our plan was to get back to Positano and watch the sunset having a drink or two but we saw from the bus the enormous line of people waiting to get the bus in Positano (to Sorrento) so, we decided to skip the stop in Positano ( now this will be my excuse to go back) .

Back in Sorrento we had the most delicious dinner at "Da Filippo" my most favorite restaurant. Full of locals and serving wonderful food. A great way to say good bye to Sorrento...
Cont..

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.