Cost comparison: Dolomites vs Austrian Alps

Hello , good day everyone!

I’m non-EU citizen , vaccinated , planning to make a road trip from Germany to northern italy around 28 of july

what are the restrictions do i need to know about before making reservations?

I will be arriving into Nice in the middle of September. I have a month and will spend 10-12 days in Northern Italy and the rest in France.

My plans are to go to Verona first and then the Dolomites as I think the weather should be better at the end of Sept. Thinking 1/2 nights in Verona, then 4 nights in the Dolomite area-suggestions welcome. Maybe an airbnb and do day hikes? We will have a car.

Then make our way back to Nice stopping in the Piedmont area-again suggestions of a location not in a busy town to make day trips? Maybe also a couple of days in Turin?

Our interests are hiking, history, food and wine.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Hi all!

I'm visiting Austria next week from the USA. I wanted to check out the Dolomites.

Are there active border crossing stations at the border? If so what paperwork will I require?

Hello, my husband and I (both fully vaccinated) will be in Switzerland for one month (Sept. 21-October 21). We are thinking of extending our trip for 1-2 weeks and visiting Italy because we end up in Lugano, and would be able to take the train to Italy. (We will need to return to Zurich for our flight home, so as to avoid change fees.)

We have been to Italy several times, but have never done anything other than the main cities and tourist areas. We did visit Cinque Terre from Florence on one trip, and did the hike from village to village, and we have visited Lake Como twice, but only on day trips. We also did a vacation in Italy one time that included the Dolomites, Verona and Sienna. We love nature, hiking, quaint villages, pretty beaches, biking. We have never done the countryside in Italy (Tuscany area), seen Portofino or Genoa. Based on when we'd be there (late October), and the fact that we will need to get back to Zurich for our flight home, we don't want to travel as far south as the Amalfi Coast, so we'd appreciate any suggestions for places to visit for 1-2 weeks that are more north. We prefer being able to use public transportation, but are open to car rental, if need be. Really appreciator any advice/suggestions!

Hi,

My wife and I are planning to drive to Italy this summer. We will leave in late July and we will be staying for 3 to 4 days in Germany on the way.

So this means that the Covid test we get in Denmark before we leave will be more than 48 hours old when we reach Italy.

Therefore I am thinking that the easiest thing to do is get a Covid quick test in Germany so it is valid before we enter Italy. But I can't find much information about how easy it is to take a test in Germany and if you would be able to get it close to the autobahn?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks in advance

Hello. We are planning our trip next summer, which will be based in Italy since our daughter already has a school trip scheduled there.

We're planning to spend about 12 days in Italy, ending in Venice. We have 5-6 more days to play with, and were debating between going to Switzerland for the first time, or going to Milan/Lake Cuomo (also for the first time).

I'm hesitating to add the Switzerland portion onto our trip, out of concerns that it might complicate our travel next summer for Covid-related reasons. I'm worried about things like a difference in entry requirements, extra testing requirements, etc. We are all four fully vaccinated, but who knows what the rules will be concerning that by June 2022?

Since nobody has a crystal ball, I was hoping someone could at least talk about how easy it was to travel between Italy and Switzerland this summer (for vaccinated Americans, if that is relevant).

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. :)

My husband and I are planning to vacation in italy for our 25th wedding anniversary next year.

i am so overwhelmed with decision making and he is no help as he is very go with the flow and says yes to everything. which doesn't help me decide. lol.

we want to go to rome, pisa, florence, tuscany, amalfi coast

is it better to rent a car and travel this way or is it better to travel via train with all our luggage as we move from city to city?

or

could we be based out of one city for the entire vacation and travel to each place for the day trips?

if so, which city do you recommend to be based out of?

is renting a car a good idea?

i am planning a 14 day vacation to Italy, what is the best time of year to go?

thank you so much in advance for all of your help in planning this trip.

I am planning a 13-day trip to the Dolomites this Sept and will arrive from the East Tirol side of Austria (direction of Lienz) by car. So, naturally, my first stop is to visit Tre Cime, after which I will travel to see the Odle Group of the Dolomites. How many days shall I spend in this area? I am thinking of about 3-4 days, to account for likely rainy days that renders hiking along the Tre Cime di Lavaredo loop trail impossible. In this case, I can also enjoy some of the Alpine lakes and smaller towns. My questions:

1. It seems that Cortina is the most popular choice of a home base in this region. However, there is no accommodation choice that fulfills my requirements and budget (at a low level of about $170 per night max). Also, I am worried about potential construction noise and dust from construction for the future Olympics. Where else is a good base for 3-4 days? For example, is Padola too far? My next stop will be in the Val Gardena or Val di Funes area. I will have a rental car, but have not driven in Alpine mountains much.

2. Which cable car or gondola rides do you recommend in the Tre Cime area?

3. Beside the loop trail, what are the other easy and enjoyable Tre Cime trails?

4. What other nice places should i visit in this area? Lake Baies is one.

5. Will I need hiking poles for the Tre Cime loop trail? Should I buy some here in the US or buy them in Austria? I don't hike much, if at all, in the US. Even when I do, I won't need any poles.

Once this segment of my Dolomites trip is planned out, I will plan the Val Gardena/Val di Funes part. This is a bigger area and there appears to be more moderately priced lodging options.

Any further advice is appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hello!

I will be in Rome on Sunday when Italy plays against England. Is there any place where locals meet and watch the game on a wide screen TV? I was in Florence and watched Italy - Belgium and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had!

Best regards

Hello all:

Has anyone flown into Italy since July 29th, or is anyone flying in prior to Monday? I am getting conflicting information on what is needed to get through Italiian customs, from and from very smart travel sources.

We are Flying into Italy on Tuesday. 5 of us. My wife, 3 boys 15, 13, 11. Trip of a lifetime, and celebrating my wife beating cancer last year. This trip was delayed a year bc of Covid.

Everyone except my 11 year old is vaccinated. I understood that all we had to do was bring our vaccination CDC Cards with us to enter. And my youngest simply needed the antigen rapid test.

However, I'm a centurion card member. And a senior staff member at Amex Centurion, with 30 years experience, and massive expertise in Italy, disagrees. He said we all need PCR tests (they cost 250 each), and we won't be allowed into Italy without it. Here is the email I just got 2 hours ago.

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"To recap, the Italy Green Pass requirements for US travelers to Italy are ALL of the following:

Your official Covid Vaccine card as authorized by the CDC. Carry this everywhere, as you will need to produce for dining, museums, shops, etc.

Proof of negative Covid PCR test for each traveler taken within 3 days of flight departure to Italy.

Same negative Covid PCR tests for each traveler taken within 3 days of flight departure back to U.S.

FAILURE TO HAVE YOUR VACCINE CARDS AND PROOF OF NEGATIVE TESTS UPON ARRIVAL TO ITALY WILL RESULT IN YOU NOT BEING ADMITTED INTO THE COUNTRY VIA ITALIAN CUSTOMS.

I left you a message stating that your 11 year old son does not have to have vaccine card, as he is too young for vaccine, which is the same for Italy. HOWEVER, he WILL have to have a negative Covid test within 48 hours of going to a museum, cultural attraction, and indoor dining.

Which means since you are in Rome for 10 days he will need multiple tests to continue to visit museums."

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Has anyone just landed in Rome that can tell me if this is correct? Or is anyone traveling before Monday I feel sick about this. Delta says only CDC Cards needed for those the are vaccinated. I would rather not pay the $1250. And don't want my son to be swabbed every two days. But more than anything just want the right answers. Thanks in advance.