Trip Report - August 2021

Thank you for your advice on my previous post. We have changed our travel plans a little bit and plan to spend 1 full day in Rome before heading down south and would love advice on how to perfect our first time in Rome. We will be arriving at Fiumicino at 5pm on July 28 and will get our rental car at the airport. We will be then driving to Rome and staying at a hotel about a minute away from the Colosseum and plan to leave the car at an overnight car park. Unfortunately, Colosseum will be fully closed on July 29, so we plan to visit on July 30 before leaving, hopefully. Here is what I have planned so far for the day of July 29 (hopefully everything is within a walking distance)

-Starting off our walk from our hotel near the Colosseum to the Piazza Venezia

-Trevi Fountain

-Pantheon, Piazza Navona

-Spanish Steps

-Castel Sant’Angelo

- Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel

-St. Peter’s Basilica

I have a few things we need advice on:

1) What is the best way to get around Rome, should we stick to walking? Should driving around with our rental car be avoided at all costs?

2) Please suggest any restaurants or cafes that you have beloved on Rome trips that we must absolutely visit.

3) Any other tips or places we should include on our itinerary.

We plan to leave Rome in the morning of July 30.

I am a bit lost to what we should do as my parents are not avid walkers but it is very difficult to decide what to do in the limited time we have there. Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi everybody !

I have a layover in Naples on my way to Albania and I’ve never been so I was hoping to visit. However, I arrive at 5 pm and depart the next day at 3:30pm. Considering that my hotel is a 7 minute walk from the airport and that I have a small backpack as carryon (that I’ll probably leave at the hotel), can I visit Naples between 5pm and 9pm the day I arrive and 8am to 12/1pm the next day?

Do you have any recommandations on things I absolutely can’t miss? And obviously, can anybody recommend a must-eat-at pizzeria?

Additionally, if someone has any insight on the whole pickpocketing situation (is it really as bad as they say? What should I avoid doing or what should I do to stay safe, beside the basic 101 of keeping my wallet close on me, etc).

Thank you so much !

We are a ‘mature’ couple traveling to Italy with 11 nights open between Rome & Florence so decided to visit Sardegna in early September. Probably flying into Olbia & departing from Cagliari.

Enjoy white sandy beaches, crystal clear water (who doesn't?), swimming, drinking local wine & local food. Also realize that beaches in Sardegna are rocky.

Prefer to stay at hotels in town to walk to dinner and stroll around town at night. Will rent a car to drive to close beaches during the day, perhaps stay at a beach hotel for 2 or 3 nights if on a beautiful beach.

Any suggestions on itinerary - where to stay & for how many nights? Perhaps 3 locations with 11 nights? The more I read on this helpful forum, the more overwhelmed I become on where to stay.

San Teodoro, Orosei, Villasimius, Isola Carloforte? Departing from Cagliari; how many nights would you recommend staying there?

Will reserve rental car prior to arrival, as well as hotel 1st and last night. Should I make hotel reservations in advance for the rest of trip? September is a busy month and may be more so this year.

TYIA!

Just looking for some additional advice or recommendations - here is what we have so far;

8/26 - Arrive at FCO 745am, will take car service to our hotel (Hotel Martis Palace) to drop luggage and start exploring Rome.

8/27 - Rome. Vatican museum.

8/28 - Rome. Colosseum tour.

8/29 - 710am Fresciarossa train to Milan. Arrives 1050am. Already booked the tickets. Pick up car rental and drive to Lake Como. Staying in Diamond Apartments in Bellagio.

8/30 - More Lake Como. Staying same place.

8/31 - Driving to the Dolomites. Staying at the Hotel Angelo Engel in Ortisei.

9/01 - Dolomites. Won’t bore everyone with the list of hikes, but the hikes and scenic pass drives are the main reason for coming to the area. That and some of the lakes in the area.

9/02 - Dolomites

9/03 - Dolomites

9/04 - Dolomites, then driving back to Milan, staying at the Sheraton airport hotel that is literally in the terminal.

9/05 - 1020am flight back to US.

I think having basically 3 full days/nights in Rome is this plenty. Not sure that a day and a half (2 nights) will give us much time in Lake Como, but we’ve never been and would like to check it out unless someone has a better option. I think our time in Dolomites will give us enough time to do some hikes and explore the area. Obviously I’d rather have weeks to spend in each area, but unfortunately that isn’t an option haha.

Any suggestions or recommendations for these areas?

Hey there. We are planning a trip to Italy (and Paris) next June. We are bringing our DDs, first timers to Europe, ages 21 and 16. I’ve been reading through itineraries, guide books, youtube videos of Italy and getting so excited. We have limited time (only 10 nights in Italy) and we are packing in A LOT I know. We are considering using Zicasso or another company to make the most of our time, especially since we are trying to do so much...Here’s our latest itinerary so far. (we like to see as much as possible/get a taste so we know where to spend more time the next time:)

. Summary. 2 nights, 1 1/2 full days in Venice,

4 nights in Florence with day trip to Cinque Terre, 5 nights in Rome with day trip to Pompeii and Amalfi

*We already bought our tickets flying into Venice

Day 1. Arrive Venice from Paris on the 13th. Half day in Venice

Day 2. Venice

Day 3. Take a late train from Venice to Florence.

Day 4. Florence

Day 5. Florence. (Day trip to Cinque Terre)

Day 6 Florence

Day 7. Train to Rome by 7pm. Stay near Piazza Novana

Day 8. Rome

Day 9 Rome

Day 10. LONG day with private guide to Pompeii/Amalfi

Day 11. Rome

Day 12. Departure day

Grazie!

As is I posted my first question on the group couple of days ago, regarding my next trip to Italy, and I felt so warmly welcomed and thoughtfully advised, I felt like sharing with you all my plan.

We will be travelling from the 2nd till the 7th of October, from Lisbon to Pisa. We are a group of five (42, 58, 60, 67, 78) and we have been traveling in Italy together 2 times, in pre covid reccent past.

And our next plan is :

Arrive in Pisa on the 2nd of October, at 11am, store our luggage, grab a taxi to piazza dei miracolli ( visiting only the duomo), have a short walk through piazza dei cavallieri, cross borgho stretto, and end up on the riverside Arno, to visit santa maria della spina. From there we will grab a taxi, pick up our luggage and our car in pisa airport around 16h and drive to Lerici, where we will stay in a beautiful airbnb, meters away from the sea and centro storico. We hope to see sunset there, have dinner and a little walk on the centro storico.

Next day we plan to depart very early in the morning and go straight to Vernazza, where we can reserve a parking spot in advance. From the parking lot they have free buses that take us downtown.

From here we will start our journey in cinqueterre. We will buy the boat pass, and concentrate mainly in Riomaggiore, Manarola and Vernazza ( just to enjoy the towns and views, and skipping the amazing trails - since via dell 'amore seems to still be closed) . If we have time, maybe have a short glance on Monterosso or Corniglia ( in a dream we would also see Portovenere, but if we' ll be able to enjoy the 3 main goals we have set, I'll be more than happy). To end our journey we plan to take the train to Vernazza, get our car back, and drive straight to Florence. I am aware that it would be cheaper and maybe easier to park in la spezia and take the cinqueterre tram. But we do prefer to have the boat rides, and we prefer to focus on the 3 i mentioned and try to avoid la spezia at the end of the day, from where i believe many people will be heading and departing from after a sunday daytrip in cinqueterre. I also think this will make it easier if unexpectedly we decide to depart earlier to Florence.

I expect we will be arriving in Florence around 21/22h, park the car outside ztl, and grab a taxi straight to our place near Ponte Vecchio. Leave our luggage and just try to eat something simple ( i'll do my research on where) and then stroll around those beautiful and so missed streets.

Next day is totally for Florence. 4 of us know the city very well, and we have already visited all the main attractions at least one time. I still want to wake up early for the sunrise, visit the uffizzi ( i plan to buy tickets in advance for 8.15h), and along the day visit Santa Maria Novella Basílica, the duomo (eventually the battistery) and end up our day visiting San Miniato al monte and watch sunset in piazzale michelangelo.

On the 4th of October , we will start our departure before 8h, taking a taxi to our car, and driving to Certaldo or straight to San Gimignano (depending on traffic conditions, time we spend on our way). Here we plan to visit palazzo publico and the collegiata. Monteriggioni and Cole di vale d'elsa were also on our sights, but this may take us too long to arrive in Siena, and we don't wanna rush in SG. We plan to depart from San Gimignano somewhere after lunchtime, to arrive in Siena around 3/4 pm.There, we have rented an airbnb, just by one of the city gates, with private parking for our car, at a short walking from Siena centro storico. There we will focus on Siena Duomo, which by then will have their floors uncovered, and the visits are extended until 7pm( if we have time left we will also visit the battistery and crypt (obviously skipping the museo and porta del cielo tour), then, we hope to end our day in piazza del campo.

Most of us also know well the city so i believe this is doable, even if we take a longer time driving back from SG.

Next day, in the early morning, I will visit palazzo publico( i really want to see the good and bad government frescoes, which i missed the last time) as part of the group will visit Santa Maria della Scala, and then say goodbye to Siena.

From there we will drive to Abadia Monte Oliveto, then pass through Asciano (probably just pass through) , and after drive back to Florence, through the Chiantigiana , with eventual stops in Greve in chianti or Radda.

We would love to go a little further down south , to Montalcino or Montepulciano, but i think that to keep a realistic plan, we must have to include Vale d'Orcia in another trip.

We want to be in Florence by night, and again park the car in a non ztl zone, grab a taxi to our airbnb, which will be steps away from the duomo. Next morning we will still have time to wake up early, for a walk along the centro storico, some little shopping, and a sneak into santa trinita church to see one of my favourite paintings ever, in capela sasseti, and then saddly say goodbye. See you soon, dear Firenze.

We hope to start driving to Pisa around 13h, to be there at maximum 15.30h, to catch our plane at 17.40h.

It may seem a bit ambitious plan, specially adding the variant car in the equation, anyway, i have also plan b's for each day, and there is always space for last minute adjustments.

Despite how difficult, and expensive, driving, parking, and all around it, may be, it was the only possible way for us to visit all these places in such a short time. In terms of costs, as we are 5, in the end we would spend quite the same, or even more, in train tickets, transfers, luggage storages, etc ( which would also take us some extra time and specially takes out our freedom of moving and even adjust plans at last minute). Also, 2 in our group are in their 70's, and i believe a car makes part of the trip more comfortable for them.

The actual covid situation is also a worry for us, and despite the fact that we are all vaccinated, being the elders in a risk group, we would be more comfortable avoiding as much as possible closed places with crowds, like trains, buses and so on.

We may have settled a lot of things to do/see in a short period of time, but we have been travelling together for a while, with "ambitious" trip plans, and all have been running smoothly, in a good pace and without much adjustments needed.

We usually save some time by not having big stops for breakfast or lunch, but having instead some grab and go simple food, and snacks during the day, and then have a good dinner where we stay.

After our return i will be happy to share with you how it went.

Due to the unique current offerings airline wise we have 6 nights/7 days in Sicily as part of a broader trip. We fly into Catania midday day 1, and our departure is from Palermo at 8pm, offering a near full-day in Palermo on day 7 (with bags safely stored with our hotel)

My dilemma is allocating the 6th night.

So far we’ve settled on 2 nights in Ortigia, 2 in Taormina, 1 in Palermo. For our 6th night I cannot determine if we should devote 3 nights to Ortigia as our base to have more time for places such as Noto etc or place a 2nd night to Palermo to have 2 full nights between transfers.

My current thinking if 3/2/1 is arrive Catania middday day 1, head to Ortigia and spend afternoon/evening there.

Day 2 - visit Noto, Ragusa, Marzememi or so one (1-2 of these).

Day 3 - visit another couple of places

Day 4- drive to Taormina, staying there.

Day 5 - visit Etna or gorges etc

Day 6 - to Palermo, spending part of the day in Cefalu

Day 7 - Palermo till leave for our flight late in day.

Is this a wise itinerary or should we forego the 2nd day of exploring behind Syracuse in favor of 2 nights based in Palermo?

My husband and I are retired and we and our son are planning to travel from Rome to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum for two or three nights in late September or early October and had several questions:

Which is preferable as a base - Naples or Sorrento?

When you visit Pompeii - what can you reasonably expect to be able to do after the visit such as a museum or walking tour - same with Herculaneum.

Any recommendations for a tour guide for each place.

Hi there,

If anyone could help with the following, we would be hugely grateful!

My partner, our very active and walking/ climbing/ running 14 month old anc me need to spend a night in Rome in mid-July. We will be coming via train from Florence some time on aSunday and taking a flight out of Rome on Monday lunch time. We are looking for somewhere with easy access to the station, but also somewhere that might provide a little bit of luxury and a treat for the final night of our trip. We imagine it maybe too hot to see much of the city with our toddler (and we will only have the afternoon) so wondered if there was a hotel that was set up to receive families or couples with children - or if anyone has had a really good hotel experience in central Rome they can recommend!

We usually stay in Airbnb’s or camp, so this is new for us.

Our budget is around 200 euro of the one night, give or take.

Thanks in advance

(Oh, and we are up to date on all the necessary covid tests/ quarantines as well as being fully vaccinated)

Greetings

I’m seeking recommendation for my last 2 nights which will be in Catania. Unfortunately my flight was already canceled once by Delta. Therefore the only flight out to Rome is KLM, ticket already purchased.

I’m looking for an accommodation that would be feasible to explore Catania historic city center as well as be able to get to airport in time fir 6:35 departure. In USA it’s recommended to be at airport now 3 hrs preflight. I’m not sure how it works in Sicily? So any hotel resources or airport support direction greatly appreciated .

ThankYou for any feedback in advance.