I found amazing help on this website before my trip, so wanted to share after my first trip to Italy. These are my personal opinions so take them or leave them, I hope a some travelers will get a few useful pieces of info out of this. WHAT WE DID RIGHT: Booked open jaw flights - Don't waste precious vacation time back tracking! • Private transfers to hotels. We were glad after that long flight to just be escorted out of the airport & taken to our hotel. • 2 pairs of shoes - tennis shoes & sandals both black. The Nikes were great for ruins but, on warmer days, I was very happy I brought sandals. • Wear pants 2 or 3 times each. By most standards here, we probably still over packed but, only moved hotels once so we didn't try to fit into a carry-on bag. • Windbreaker/rain jackets with lots of pockets. Versatile & light weight. Has a built in hood and hidden pockets galore. • Bought a small, inexpensive, cross-body purse with zipper pockets. Used a safety pin to clip the zippers closed. I wore the strap under my windbreaker. Bought money belts too but never used them.
• Brought our iPhones even though plan doesn't work in Rome. Hotels had free wi-fi so we could surf the web & email. The map app was great for directions from our hotel to sites. Once mapped, it was on the phone even when we left free wi-fi. GPS works without internet so this was VERY useful in Rome, it gave us a birds eye view. Just follow the blinking blue dot!
Posted by
OP
Seattle
61 posts
Great idea Nancy...thank you for the note! Part 2: WHAT WE WISH WE HAD NOT DONE OR DONE DIFFERENT: • 9 nights in Rome. Rome is charming and amazing but it is intense. You cannot get away from the crowds, cars and cigarette smoke. This wore on us after a while. • Tried to see Paestum, Amalfi, Positano, and Ravello in one day. This is a tour offered by a private driver & you only get 45 minutes in each of the coastal towns! We felt really rushed and wished we'd told him we'd eat in Positano & completely skipped Ravello. Our opinion? Ravello is cute but not worth the journey. • Paestum - this is a great site and we are glad we saw it but, it does not compare to Pompeii and is a much bigger pain to get to. Given all Italy has to offer, we would not have bothered with this site had we known what we know now. At minimum, would allow another day for exploring the coastal towns. • Ate at a touristy pizza place on Tasso Piazza. The waiter told us to tip him when he brought the bill! That's what we get for going to a touristy restaurant. We ate at one on Piazza Navona & they just added the tip onto the bill. If you choose to eat at a place on a popular Piazza, just expect them to treat you like a tourist. • Rented an international cell phone. We wished had not bothered & that someone had told us our phone's data would work in Italy. For those who want the international phone option still, I did call home once just to test it and it worked great!
• Debit cards for only 1 account. Our bank had a fluke system issue that only ended up
Posted by
OP
Seattle
61 posts
• Debit cards for only 1 account. Our bank had a fluke system issue that only ended up lasting half a day but it gave us a good scare. We did have emergency back up plan to withdraw cash using our credit cards but there are steep fees with that. Next trip, we'll likely return to Sorrento for 4 or 5 nights, then to Rome for 3 or 4 nights, maybe a few nights in the Tuscany region....not sure where, then north stopping by Pisa, then finishing with 4 nights in Venice!
Posted by
Surprise, AZ, USA
98 posts
Sounds awesome! I sent a PM
Posted by
Stuttgart, Germany
3049 posts
I love this kind of trip report, all your info and tips are really helpful. And I totally agree with all your "positive" tips for touring Europe in general! (Well, I usuall choose not to spend the money for private transfers, but if you can afford them - they're awfully nice!)