Thanks to everyone for the advice they share on the Forum! I mined it well in preparing for our trip to Italy this summer. Posting a rolling trip report as train rides allow…
DH, me and 2 teens traveled to Italy in late June / early July to see Rome, Venice and the Dolomites.
Rome: We had a nice time but also a lot of frustration with trying to use both taxis and public transportation - buses that just inexplicably did not show up, Google maps not being well integrated with what was actually happening on the ground, couple taxis scamming us by telling us there was a flat fare rate within the city for certain destinations (but not having enough spare time to make a tour slot to waste on getting out and waiting for an honest taxi driver), missing a train stop as the stop had zero signs at it, etc. I’ve traveled to a decent number of spots in Europe and not had such challenges with moving around as I did here.
That said, here’s what we did in Rome: We stayed at Little Queen Pantheon B&B which was 2 blocks from the Pantheon & a lovely little spot (beautiful room & very good AC level).
1) Vatican visit at 4:00 Friday - we skipped out on our tour and just saw what we wanted at the pace we wanted. Contrary to Rick’s advice I saw no signs for “Corso Breve” and so we had to just follow where most people were going. It was crowded for sure. Glad we ditched our tour - kids (and DH) would not have had the patience for it.
2) St Peter’s - got in line about 5:30 Friday and it was SUPER long but we were in by about 6. Dinner at Il Marchese which was very good.
3) Santa Marinella beach - day tripped here Sat. We went to the Angeletto beach club. It was almost all Italians - although they did have signs in English too - and the owners were nice + good food at the restaurant. Four lounges and 2 umbrellas ran us 56 Euros. Water was very clear although the sea bottom had some of the local sea life plant growth on it. Not glamourous but quite nice and the kids enjoyed riding scooters down to it (note you need to check the scooter park zones carefully - nearest one is about 3 blocks up from the beach).
4) Later Sat - Popped into Pantheon with timed tickets. Line was decently long for those without tickets at 6. Dinner at Marco Martini to try a Michelin star spot in Italy - pricy but absolutely delicious and delightful.
5) Sun - Colossseum/ Palatine / Forum tour with Roman Guy. I’d recommend them - our guide Stefano was very good. We did not roll the dice on the underground tickets; we bought the arena floor ones originally but they ended up not able to snag those and refunded us a bit to put us on the regular tour. Lunch at a really delightful spot two blocks back from the Pantheon that was actually good (unlike almost anywhere else within blocks of the Pantheon) - Osteria Pizzeria di Agrippa (had plenty of non-pizza options too).
6) Train ride to Venice - half our group did a longer Italo ride a few days ago. This time we took Trenitalia. Having done both I’d recommend Italo - our AC in a Trenitalia salottino never worked and they didn’t really care about this.
Venice…Stayed at Hotel Rosa Salva which is about 3 blocks from St Mark’s square and had a huge, lovely family room with good A/C.
1) Did Row Venice which was a very memorable experience. Good to have 4 of us so each took breaks from the taxing rowing.
2) Did St Mark’s and Doge’s Palace. Definitely glad we went in the former; honestly I would say the latter felt skippable to me.
3) Wandered a lot - but too much! We were meandering in one of the areas with poor bridge connectivity so kept getting stuck and looped back to the same area. :) Would recommend having a general idea of the bridge connectivity if you’re in one of the further out zones for aimless exploring.
Dolomites…