greenrealtor

Enzian,
I haven't checked the airfare at all - $900, does that seem about right? I wondered if maybe leaving out of Chicago would be an option. Every tip you have given I really appreciate.

greenrealtor

Such great tips from everyone! The itinery ideas and what not to miss - I really think that will be a huge help. The tour company suggestions - I will definitely check them out. What a resource this website is, please forward anything you think may help - I really appreciate it.

cmeyer54

when you check airfares, check the boxes for flexible dates and airports nearby or within 80 miles or so. You could get some surprisingly low fares -Louisville or Cincinnati might have lower fares than chicago, midway might have connections that would be lower than O'hare.

Madison

Greenrealtor - Recently I was in Italy for 13 days. I went by myself. Started in Rome, took the train to Florence, then took the train to Venice. It was so easy. If I could do it as a solo traveler the three of you certainly could. I liked the idea of saving Venice for last.

greenrealtor

Any recommendations on accommodations? - I am sold on the idea to skip the Alps this trip and hit Rome, Florence, Italy. Open Jaw - I will definitely play with surrounding airports. Great idea! Figuring out the trains, just take care of it when we get there? Maybe line up a tour at each location..... I'm feeling better..........

Keiracaitlyn

If you do a search on whatever-city hotel, i.e. "rome hotel" you will find a ton of threads about recommendations. Pick a few within your budget and then make a post to get feedback on your choices.

Worry about the trains when you get there.

I am going as a solo traveler in October, flying into Rome and out of Venice, with a few days in Florence in between. I have scheduled a couple group walking tours (namely Vatican and Coliseum/Forum) through ContextRome.

I agree with the other posters - you can absolutely plan this on your own (or between the three of you) with just plane tickets and hotel reservations, and plan or wing the rest of the trip. You'll enjoy it a lot more than a tour package.

Luisah

"I think Suze's suggestion is great - 3 cities, 3 hotels, 3 people."

I too liked Suze's suggestion. And I think flying into Venice and out of Rome is a good idea.

I loved the train rides in Switzerland but that's a different trip -- too much to add on you're limited time.

You'll have fun planning.

cmeyer54

we stayed at hotel accademia in florence - 2* I think because they don't have an elevator or onsite restaurant (you'll get used to the screwy star ratings for european hotels over time). Its very well located - within a 5 minute walk from the train station, within blocks of major sites (uffizi, accademia, duomo, medici chapels, ponte vecchio, shopping, etc). the rooms are large, floor plan of the hotel is crazy but that's ok. nice breakfast room, good staff. I'd recommend it. we splurged a bit in rome and venice with hotel points - so I don't have any mid-priced possibilities for you there. You will need to search for a triple room if that is your preference or get two rooms and rotate who gets the single in the three cities. I use venere.com to book our hotels when not using points. the star system in europe is based on objective criteria - if you don't have an elevator, the best you can be is 2* as an example - so the room could be huge, luxurious with room service but without an elevator....2 stars. Look at each description and you should get a good idea of the property; look at trip advior and also read the guide books. Rick Steves seems to have good overviews of the properties in each city without a lot of fuss or fluff.

LJ

I was part of a trio of women "of a certain age" touring Italy. The other two had never been before. We stayed in a triple room at the Hotel Sonya in Rome across the piaza from the Opera. It is basic, but charming and was interesting to us as it was part of a building that is all personal residences upstairs so you get to feel as if you are a Roman citizen! It is run by women, and though near enough to the Termini train station to be handy, not so close as to put you into the not-too-great neighbourhood which is adjacent to the station.Have a ball-we did!

Lady

One thing DH and I learned to do was to get our train information for the next leg of the journey before we left the train station. For example, when we got to Rome, we'd get information and tickets/reservations for Florence right then. That way we didn't have to worry about anything when it was time to leave. When we fly into a city at the beginning of the trip, we go ahead and go to the station the first day so we have arrangements made. Makes us feel more comfortable.

enzian

For trains, I like to go to the country's train website before I leave home, and print out the route and schedule for each of our travel days. I take these along so we don't have to worry about this aspect. I use the Swiss train site for schedules, even for Italy: www.sbb.ch

But you don't need to think about trains schedules until September for your October trip. Be assured that there are several trains a day that you can catch between your destinations.

The main thing to do now is figure out where you wish to start and end, and book your flights. I don't know if there is a difference, price-wise, between flying into Rome and out of Venice, or vice-versa. It's worth checking both ways.

If price is the same, and everything else equal, I personally would start in Rome and end in Venice. That way you will have vibrant, exciting Rome at the beginning, and peaceful, lovely Venice at the end. (I think I would find both Rome and Florence noisy and hectic if I went there after Venice. You can tell where my heart is!!) But others may have the opposite opinion, so consider both options.

$900 round trip to Italy sounds really good to me (actually Delta was closer to $860). But I'm comparing to prices from the west coast, where it is never less than $1200 on the routes I like to use. And I am willing to pay extra to get certain things----a flight that takes off in my hometown and lands in Europe (no connection or plane change in New York or Chicago); an overnight flight (so we can sleep); and reasonable layover times at the European connection airport (2 hours ideal).

I'm not sure which airport is the best place for you to fly out of---I don't have a map of the US handy, and just sugggested Chicago because it is a major hub and likely to offer an array of choices. But others who live closer to you may have good suggestions for other airports---I think Ohio and Kentucky have been mentioned. So checking the "within 100 miles" option for your starting airport is a good idea.

edhodge

Greenrealtor, you can definitely do this! DH and I (both your age group) flew to Italy last October for 13 days. We flew out on a Saturday, arrived in Venice on Sunday, had 2 overnights there. Took the train to Florence for 3 overnights. Then we took a cab to the airport and picked up a rental car, drove through the Chianti region and down to Montepulciano. Stayed at a beautiful place called Terre di Nano which looked over the Val D'Orcia with Montepulciano 10 kms away. *swoon* Dropped the car off in Chiusi and took the train to Rome where we had 3 overnights.

I loved flying into Venice first because the pace was slower than Rome. It was a nice introduction to Italy. We booked train tickets ahead of time through their website (mostly because I was worried about how to do it in the train station- stupid worry. It looked super easy).

We booked a hotel room in Florence that was within easy walking distance of the train station. Booked reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia before we left.

We purposely booked our car from the airport because it was the farthest I could get out of town. I would not recommend driving in Florence! The countryside was so easy though. If you can drive in the States, you can handle a little driving in Italy. Get good maps and figure it out before you go.

If you don't rent a car, I am afraid you might miss some of the beauty of Tuscany. We could never have gotten to our apartment with it's huge private terrace without a car. Next time we will spend a lot more time in the hill towns.

Dropped the car and walked across the street to the train station. I really didn't want to go to Rome. I thought it would be just another big dirty city. Oh my heavens, I couldn't have been more wrong. If someone handed me my passport right now and said I could go to Rome, I would leave this very minute.

We booked Context Rome tours, 3 total. The first evening we did the Rome Transcept Walking Tour which gave us a good idea of how the city is laid out. Plus the docents are so knowledgeable that they make it more fun. Best money we spent on the trip was on those tours.

The second day we did the Vatican tour with the same company. Last day in Rome, we toured Palatine Hill, the Forum and the Colosseum with a docent who has a masters in architecture. Wow! I never thought before I went that I would be so interested in marble but the color was an indication of where it came from, meaning that it was beautiful to view but also told a secret story of who had been conquered to procure that marble. Things like that made it an amazing few days in Rome.

I said all that to say- you can do it. This board is an incredible wealth of information. The help from people here made our trip so easy, so much fun and took a lot of the fear out of it.

Diane

chicagogrl33

I just found an airfare of $680.00 on the website www.tickets-to-europe.com The itinerary was flying from Chicago O'Hare to Venice and flying out of Rome to Chicago O'Hare. The dates are from 10/31/07 - 11/12/07.

In Venice, I recommend the Piazza San Marco area. I stayed at the Bonvecchiati Hotel back in 2002 and WOW the prices have gone up!! It was in a great location. In Rome, I stayed in the Piazza di Espagna area. Statyed at the Hotel II Piccolo di Spagna. It was an okay hotel, but the location made up for it! Did a day trip to Florence. Enjoy Italy, you'll love it!! I'm off to Greece in September!!

greenrealtor

Thank you all so much, I had lunch today with one of my fellow travelers - and she is scared to death to do this without a package tour - I found myself assuring her that we could do this! I told her to start reading this site! - All of the info you all have given - I will be hanging on to and referring to constantly I'm sure. Thank you!

suze

Here's my favorite hotel in Venice (have stayed there twice).
www.lacalcina.com

Reserve early as it is very popular.

That said if one person in your party is "scared to death" to travel on her own, I really might consider a package tour for your 3-some. I would definitely not want to be responsible for the happiness of a timid 1st time traveler. On a tour, if something goes wrong, you can all blame the tour organizer, instead of each other.

cmeyer54

We've travelled independently all over europe with and without children. The tour idea sounds ghastly to me but I'm more of a person who likes to follow my instincts, spend time in neighborhoods and not be herded around. That being said, we have arranged for guided tours (normandy, paris on segway, rome, rome at night, St Peter's, Vatican Museum, seville neighborhoods, cathedral in seville, gotten audio guides in museums, etc)so its not like we're wandering around and missing a lot of key information. I don't think you can really understand St Peter's or the Forum for example without a guide.

WillTravel

The scared woman is making me nervous too. She might be attached to you like glue when you are desperately trying to walk briskly and see a sight in which you have a personal, particular interest. I would make it very clear if you do/don't intend 24-hour togetherness. I think I'd prefer a simple single convent room over a shared hotel triple with someone who is indeed scared like that.

(Maybe it is just temporary butterflies and she will be fine, but I seem to recall many such stories without a happy ending.)

WillTravel

I did a 13-night trip to Italy and just visited Venice, Florence, and Rome and was at full capacity just visiting the sights in these three cities. If you stick to cities, driving is not an issue at all. If you want to include countryside stays, then you have to consider driving.

Tess_Durberville

greenrealtor --

Another great resource for travel information in Italy is the Slow Travel website >>> http://www.slowtrav.com/italy

greenrealtor

I think it is just butterflies, she's heard too much about pick pockets and kind of nervous being all females running around Italy with no "adult male supervision" as my husband likes to put it. She'll be along for the ride and I feel sure it will be fine. I'll just make sure she reads all of these postings.