Italy Travel Guide

[bitt3rswit]

@sis Water and wine, thank u for sharing your experiences. Nakapunta na ako Italy a few years ago with my family. We joined the Globus tour. This time I want to go back but with my H2b naman, sort of our honeymoon trip =)

[mom_G]

Sa mga sis who have been to Florence, any hotel recommendations?  We are going to Rome-Florence-Venice next month and di ko pa na-finalize yung accomodations namin.  DIY lang kami and we are travelling with a toddler!  I've been browsing tripadvisor and I was just wondering kung meron kayong ma-recommend

[italiandoll]

Girls, is going for a gondola ride in Venice really worth it? TIA for the inputs

[lavieenrose]

Girls, is going for a gondola ride in Venice really worth it? TIA for the inputs

For me, personally no. It would also depend on who you are with. If you are with your special someone and you can afford it, why not?

Not sure if the price is still current but back in 2008 it was 100 euros.

[italiandoll]

Thank you lavieenrose, I'll be with my whole family.  Yeah been thinking about it , its pricey.

[Water and Wine]

^^ If you ask us, it's worth it    Kasi parang a Venice trip isn't complete without experiencing the activity Venice is most known for.  It's like going to Paris without going up the Eiffel Tower.  Besides, it's also a good way of having a quick view of the city as you explore the tiny canals.  I would say it is Venice's version of a city tour.  100 Euros is quite pricey but your family paid thousands of euros just to get there, what's 100 euros more diba?

[chinita8]

Our family of 10 (with kids) are sure na of going to Italy next year, last week of April. We have to plot our route and make our itinerary since this will be a DIY trip and because of the sheer number of our group, we opted to just hire a van with a local driver. We have done this actually before when we went around Switzerland and we super enjoyed it as we were able to reach smaller but more charming towns along the way. Super tedious lang mag-plan.

I have personally been around Italy - twice. Once as part of an arranged group tour and the last one, as part of our cruise excursion, so all were escorted. This time is a diff thing - we will be doing a DIY trip and will just be hiring a van with a local driver, pero kami na bahala on where we want to go and what route to take. 

Here is just a draft of the itinerary that we're thinking of. We have decided to make Rome our end and starting point.

I hope someone here who has been to Italy DIY style or has lived there can give their inputs on our itinerary. Please! Please! SOS!

We have somewhat finalized or plotted our route na and the towns/cities that we really want to visit but I will be needing your feedback, suggestions or recommendations (violent reactions okay too  ) -- especially on the MUST SEE and MUST DO categories ... where to eat and where to shop!

It's a 13day (12night) trip around Italy ... here it goes 

Day 1 - Arrive in Rome (check in hotel)
Day 2 - Explore Rome and visit the usual landmarks
Day 3 - From Rome - Head to Pisa for some picture ops - then proceed to Florence (check in hotel)
Day 4 - Explore Florence and visit usual landmarks
Day 5 - From Florence, proceed to Milan - Lake Maggiore (check in hotel)
Day 6 - Explore Lake Maggiore and excursion to Lake Lugano
Day 7 - Proceed to Venice, passing by Verona (check in hotel in Venice)
Day 8 - Explore Venice
Day 9 - From Venice, proceed to Assisi - Perugia, passing by Ravenna (check in at Assisi)
Day 10 - Proceed to Sorrento, passing by Pompeii (check in at Sorrento)
Day 11 - Explore Sorrento and take a day trip to Capri
Day 12 - From Sorrento, proceed back to Rome
Day 13 - Head to Rome Airport

For those who have been to any of the places above, pa-share naman on what we should see (landmarks - the usual ones but most esp the unusual & not so touristy spots) and where we could DINE, etc. Madami kasi kami so medyo talagang planning ang kailangan.

Plus, does anyone know if there is such a thing as a tourist pass that can be pre-bought online for the landmarks in Rome (we will surely get churched-out but we adults are willing to go through it so the kids in the family can see it all as well) - educational tour kumbaga. 

Any inputs on Capri and the 2 Italian Lakes? Dami kasi nag-suggest, nice daw! Totoo ba?

Thanks in advance to those who will reply 

[Water and Wine]

Hi chinita8! We've been to Capri before... if you're planning to go to Grotta Azzurra, it might be a bit uncomfortable for the kids especially yung small boat ride.  In our case, naka-transfer na kami sa maliiit na boat pero ang daming nakapila in getting inside the grotto kaya we ended up waiting while riding the small boat for so long.  Pero maganda naman.  As with the town na Anacapri, okay naman sya but personally I was kind of disappointed kasi parang akala ko suuuper ganda.  Super touristy sya and madaming tao, but it's something different naman so okay na din.  If you've been to the small isles in Greece, medyo may ganoong feel pero hindi lang kasing ganda   

[mama squeak!]

^Wow extra challenge yan sis! But you are right patience and careful planning lang katapat nyan. Same as you I am also planning our itinerary for Italy next year. We're planning around late March to early April as the airfares and hotels are cheaper. Plus it's the start of spring so the weather should be okay. We will be renting a car to drive around Tuscany and Umbria. It will be a two week trip too. Actually three weeks, the first week will be in France discovering the chateaus at the Loire Valley then the rest will be in Italy na.

Our tentative itinerary naman is like this:

One week - Loire, France. Rent a car to discover the valley.
Day 7           - Flight on Easyjet from CDG to Venice Marco Polo
Day 8           - Venice
Day 9           - Morning train to Florence. Stay in Florence for 3 nights and rent an apartment. Discover Florence plus daytrips to Pisa and Cinque Terre.
Day 12         - Rent a car and discover Tuscany and Umbria for 5 days. See Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, etc.
Day 17         - Arrive Rome and return car.
Day 18         - Rome
Day 19         - Rome
Day 20         - Flight home from Rome.

 
 

[wengerts]

@chinita - ang saya naman italian road trip!!!! siguro masusuggest ko lang is to find out ilang hours (or minutes) ang travel time as you move from one city to another. suggest ko to visit viamichelin.com accurate naman ang estimates ng site na yan feeling ko kasi baka too little time to roam around e. feeling ko lang naman iyon! haha! yung Rome, habaan mo pa. ang sarap sarap umikot dyan, also hindi kayo mag Vatican?

[italiandoll]

^^ If you ask us, it's worth it    Kasi parang a Venice trip isn't complete without experiencing the activity Venice is most known for.  It's like going to Paris without going up the Eiffel Tower.  Besides, it's also a good way of having a quick view of the city as you explore the tiny canals.  I would say it is Venice's version of a city tour.  100 Euros is quite pricey but your family paid thousands of euros just to get there, what's 100 euros more diba?

hmm.. you have a point.   Thanks!  I'd research more.

[huit]

i wantto go to italy. my uncle lives in rome. sobrang madugo lang kase process pagkuha visa eh. =( also, how much ba dapat pera sa bank para makakuha visa. what's the ideal number of days to enjoy italy...like rome, paris, venice, etc.? Thanks! ^_^

[lavieenrose]

^I think what's important is that you show them that you have enough money to spend for your trip.  Ideal number of days depends on you really-- what you want to see, your traveling style. Perhaps 2-3 days in large cities would be ideal (e.g. Rome, Florence). And also Paris isn't in Italy

[huit]

^I think what's important is that you show them that you have enough money to spend for your trip.  Ideal number of days depends on you really-- what you want to see, your traveling style. Perhaps 2-3 days in large cities would be ideal (e.g. Rome, Florence). And also Paris isn't in Italy

Ah yeah, near Italy pala..hahaha. naiisip ko rin kase pumunta sa France since medyo malapit na siya Italy eh. ^_^ Is 100k enough for Italy?

[Water and Wine]

^^huit what's good about applying with the Italian embassy is that they have a fixed computation of how much your money should be, at least.

You can see the table here:
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Ministero/Servizi/Stranieri/IngressoeSoggiornoInItalia.htm

 

[huit]

^^huit what's good about applying with the Italian embassy is that they have a fixed computation of how much your money should be, at least.

You can see the table here:
http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Ministero/Servizi/Stranieri/IngressoeSoggiornoInItalia.htm

 

Thanks for this... =)

[mama squeak!]

@water and wine, did you buy your train tickets online with trenitalia or at the train station na? Hubby and I will be taking the train from Milan to Venice upon our arrival in Italy. Was wondering whether it would be problem if we get our tickets on the same day of departure.

And what's the difference between first and second class in terms of comfort? Would it be similar to the TGV trains? Big difference din kasi between the two seats.

[Water and Wine]

^^mama squeak, the first time, we bought our tickets before leaving manila (a 3-day railpass from our travel agent, which we didn't get to maximize the unlimited use, sayang).  so the next time we went, we bought tickets at the station a day before departure.  we contemplated din whether we should buy online (discounted if bought in advance) but decided later on to buy on the spot.  The problem lang naman with making an advanced purchase online is mas madaming restrictions in case you want to change your departure date/time.  In our case, we bought it a day before and hindi naman kami naubusan.  We bought the return ticket na din that day.

We haven't tried TGV but I think it's pretty safe to say na Trenitalia is not so nice compared to TGV.  Their trains are the oldschool type. ( http://i55.tinypic.com/2iux0k7.jpg ) I didn't see much of the differences between 1st and 2nd class (we saw the 2nd class really fast lang kasi we boarded the wrong car... more on that later.. haha) except that in first class, at least in our train, there are only 6 passengers in one compartment so 3 on one row, and 3 facing that row (the hallway is on one side).  Enclosed with a sliding door so it's less noisy.  Sa 2nd class, there are 8 passengers, 4 on one row facing another 4 (aisle on the middle, in between 2 passenges).  If you'll be bringing with you a huge suitcase, I suggest you take the first class as it might be a problem in 2nd class.  Sa first class at least there's an overhead storage for carry-ons, and you have space for a suitcase outside your compartment. (Thank God all the other 4 passengers in our compartment didn't bring suitcases, or else, we'd have nowhere to put ours pa din).  Sa 2nd class, no overhead storage and suitcases will be on the end of the car.  You'd be lucky if there's enough space for everyone on your car.

Bigger leg room also in first class but if you ask us, it's not much of an issue as the intercity rides are usually short naman.  One significant difference we noticed lang talaga is the luggage space.  So just decide between 1st and 2nd based on how much luggage you'll be carrying with you =)       

We took the train from Milan also and be very very careful with the car number.  We thought it is the number painted on the car, yun pala it's not.  In our case, the car number is printed on a small bond paper posted outside the door... really small.  We made the mistake of boarding the wrong car and it's not easy to move from one car to another with luggage in tow.  Check out this photo we took:
http://i54.tinypic.com/21edguq.jpg
We are not claiming to be train experts (haha) but there are no other signs visible naman so we'd think it's car number 2.  Hindi pala.  There's a small sign somewhere else indicating the car number.  Based on the photo pa nga lang parang 'where else could the car number be?'  You have to be fast in finding your assigned car to give you enough time to walk towards it (imagine being on the wrong end of the train), and enough time to load your luggage (you have to carry your luggage 4 steps up from the platform) before the train leaves again.

[mama squeak!]

Ladies, has anyone experienced or personally knows of anyone who has tried renting a villa or farmhouse in Tuscany? Any recommendation?

Hubby and I will be renting a car and we plan to spend 5 days touring the countryside of Tuscany. We would like to base ourselves somewhere in between Florence and Siena so the driving would be easy. Would appreciate any feedback if any.

Thanks!

 

[mama squeak!]

^^Thanks for your feedback, water and wine! That's what I thought too. Same with the TGV, first class is quieter and has more space. As of today, our itinerary in Italy will involve shorter and less train trips as we will be renting a car to go around. We will be concentrating on Tuscany too so out na muna si Venice. I'll be posting my tentative itinerary here soon and would welcome any comments and tips you and the other ladies may have.