Italy Travel Guide

[aranses]

@sis letters_to_cleo balak namin skip venice para florence mapunta additional 2days or kapag nasa milan kami sidetrip kami venice kaso si hubby gusto overnight sa venice

[mama squeak!]

^Yup, ideally mas matagal kayo sana sa Florence since you also want to go to Siena and Pisa (Pisa pwedeng half day lang). Florence ideally 3-4 full days. If you only have limited time, no need to rent a car anymore. Take the trains or bus na lang. Mamuproblema ka pa sa parking especially if your hotel is inside the city center. Florence has the ZTL (limited traffic zone), only cars with a permit can enter the city center. That means you will have to look for parking outside of the city.

Now if you have a week or two to explore Tuscany, yan pwede ka pa mag-rental since sa labas kayo ng Florence mag-iikot.

Re Venice, we spent 3 nights there and we were bitin. So mas bitin pa if you do it as a day trip. Given the limited time that you have okay na rin ang overnight. Or better yet to skip it altogether and save it for another trip. Then you can concentrate sa Tuscany area (Florence, Siena, Pisa, etc.). 

[bagaholic_chewy]

I would agree na bitin ang daytrip sa Venice, IMO ha. We also spent 4 days there and ayaw pa namim umalis. Haha!

Oftentimes kasi, super dami ng tao during the day. Then late afternoon to evening, yun masarap mag-stroll at sumakay ng vaporetto kasi hindi siksikan. Chillax vibe na.

Florence is another chillax city that i loved. And yes, half-day is enough for Pisa, kasama na travel time. Before ginawa namin, Pisa sa morning by train then balik-Florence then Siena agad, by bus naman. We had late lunch and dinner sa Siena na.

[marose17]

^ Half day ba pwede na for Siena?

[artegirl]

^Spent 3 nights in Siena, and sobrang bitin talaga.  Dami pa namin gusto try na cafe and trattoria...  We simply fell in love with the place (the view, weather, and the food)

[marose17]

^ Oh really?  Our base kasi is Florence and I was thinking of doing day trips to Siena and Chianti. 

[vain_kixie]

overnight kami sa venice and for me it was enough. Depends on what kind of traveller you are. Medyo fast paced kami ni hubby and we honestly didnt like Venice. Food was blah (or malas lang kami or hindi kami marunong maghanap or both) plus ang daming pupu ng dog sa streets kaya we didn't really like it. We liked Florence and Rome better.

[mama squeak!]

^Hubby and I didn't like the tourist-filled sestiere of Venice i.e. San Marco. For that area alone pwede na talaga ang day trip or overnight. What we did love and would want to go back for are the tiny alleys and mostly-local neighborhoods where one can get lost. We actually did get lost! You discover so many things that you can only find in Venice. We also enjoyed the nearby islands like Murano and Burano. Sayang lang we didn't have time to go to the other islands like Torcello, Lido, Sant'Elena, etc.

And some of the best seafood that we've ever had was in one of those hole-in-the-wall restaurants located in one of the alleyways when we got lost. The type of restaurant where you only have a handful of tables, the menu is all in Italian and the owner is the one who cooks while his wife and kid are the cashier and server. Family affair! Ito yung tipong kung sasadyain namin ulit hindi na namin makikita. Lol!

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ me similar experience din kami sa Venice! Sarap ng food. Pero di na namin maalala how we got there, haha! Lakad lang ng lakad kasi. Actually, we got there pasara na sila for lunch service. Siguro we looked hungry na, so the owner said (in broken English) if it's ok that they clean up a bit while we eat. Binigyan pa kami free wine, kasi the owners and the staff had drinks while nagtsitsikahan. The owner's husband naman is the chef, sya nagbigay ng wine after he brought the food. Small resto lang, about 5 tables or so.

In Venice, we had a rental apartment near the university (Dorsoduro), so malayo from the "tourist center". Me malapit na Billa (supermarket) so sometimes dun kami bumibili ng food and wine namin. Our apartment host also gave us a welcome bottle of white wine from her husband's vineyard. we also went to Murano, nice colorful island. Would have wanted to visit Burano after kaya lang umambon so we opted to go back to Venice na. Lido also we wanted to go, pero next time na, when it's beach weather...

[ileina]

Sisses, what internet package / roaming sim did you use in Italy?

[bagaholic_chewy]

^ i forgot na anong tawag dun, but we got local sims sa baba ng Termini. Me cellphone network stalls dun. We were still using Blackberry nun, so we subscribed to their unlimited Blackberry services (we got the monthly package kahit 2 weeks lang kami, kasi cheaper than subscribing weekly x 2). Me local texts and calls na kasama so sulit for us.

[mama squeak!]

^^I had my roaming on but only for calls and text in case of emergency (which fortunately I didn't have to use so I didn't go over my plan). As for data, all the hotels, B&Bs and apartments we stayed at had WiFi so it wasn't a problem for us updating and answering emails. Plus most of the public areas i.e. cafes, restaurants have WiFi so pwede mag-update while on the go.

But if you want instant internet connection, there are pre-paid data sims that come with calls/texts available at their local telcos. Ask help na lang from your hotel's concierge or the local tourist board.

[ileina]

^thank you mama squeak and ^^thank you bagaholic!

[bagaholic_chewy]

Just to add, we also had our roaming on to receive texts and calls from PH..

[jenger109]

will be travelling to italy again this may.. I have questions lang mga sis, hope somebody can help me

may 19- arrival in rome, since second time ko na here (first time kasi ng mga kasama ko) gusto ko sana sa ibang place naman, but i remember to visit again the churches esp st peters para mag thank you sa answered prayers ko..

20- second day in rome

21- morning will be taking train going to florence (i googled more than an hour lang going there from rome), i read here kaya ng half day sa florence mag roam around? then in the afternoon will ride a train again going naman to venice para makarating ng hapon or night sa venice and pwede pa mag roam around then hotel na.

22- roam again sa venice before going to the airport.. but we are wondering if may flight sa venice going home or balik pa kami ng fiumicino airport?

if tinamad na kami baka we'll skip florence na lang, sabi nila sa rome and venice na lang daw.. i like to see pisa sana kaso saan namin pwede masingit sa 4d/3n namin?
marami kasi makikita sa rome kaya we decided talaga na mag 2 days doon..

[marose17]

Just got back from Italy.  Florence is the best! It's compact and we just walked everywhere.  I love the art and shopping.  I'm not really a shopaholic but I got a little crazy at The Mall.  The prices are just so low compared to Asia, plus there's a 12.5% tax refund, which you can get in cash at the tax refund office at The Mall even for purchases made elsewhere.  One must visit the Accademia and Uffizi Gallery.

We did a short tour of Tuscany.  I love Siena and the Siena Cathedral is my favorite out of all the churches we visited. The cathedral's library is breathtakingly beautiful. San Gimignano is charming and has the best gelato.

Milan is all right and it's not as boring as travel guides make it out to be. The Milanese are so fashionable.  My favorite place there is Castello Sforzesco where I attended a gala dinner.  Milan is so easy to navigate by subway (which they call Metro).  Don't miss the Duomo, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II (the SAs at Louis Vuitton and Prada are very nice to Asians hehe), Palazzo Real and Via Montenapoleone, Via Spiga and those streets with all the high-end brands.  My husband and I also enjoyed an aperitivo at Corso Como.

Como is lovely.  I wish we spent more time here.  My husband and I had the best meal in Italy here (and that's saying a lot because we never really had a bad meal in Italy). The seafood was so fresh.  This is one of the places where we plan to return and explore more fully in the future.

We were terribly disappointed with Venice.  The place is messy and full of tourists.  I was only able to enjoy it during early morning when the day trippers have not arrived.  I wish we traded a night here for an additional night in Como.  By the second day, my husband and I were so stressed with the siksikan in the places near San Marco.  It's a good thing our apartment was located in the Castello district which is more quiet.  I do love the Doge's Palace though.  The art there is amazing. 

[charm0220]

Just had our honeymoon trip in Paris and Italy. We went to Venice, Treviso, Venice, Florence, Siena, Chianti, San Gimignano, Pisa, Cinque Terre (Monterosso and Vernazza) and Rome.

Our favorite is Cinque Terre. We stayed there for two days exploring the small town of Vernazza and Monterosso. DIto kami nakapagrelax kasi the whole trip medyo nakakpagod. I also enjoyed going to outlet shops! DI ako makaresist magshopping. We went to Castel Romano, near Rome para lang magshopping. They have outlet shops ng Valentino, Gucci, MK, Versace, Roberto Cavalli etc. We also went to Space, near Florence. It's the outlet shop of Prada and Miu MIu. Kahit si hubby nagenjoy magshopping.

[noveetwenty3]

Favorite ko rin yang Cinque Terre and Venice , grabe shopping galore din si hubby dyan sa outlet shops haha!

[bzbee]

Hi! Please advise on our Italy itinerary for our honeymoon in February.

Day 1
- fly to venice from paris
- check-in at hotel (near St. Mark's Square)
- join venice free walking tour (2.5 hours)

Day 2
- visit murano and burano
- gondola ride at night

Day 3
- ride train to rome
- check-in at hotel (in Pantheon area)

Day 4
- vatican day tour, papal mass

Day 5
- rome city tour

Day 6
- free day

Day 7
- flight to manila

we have limited time in venice because we have to be in rome just in time to attend the papal mass. should we just skip murano and burano trip?

rome trip is a bit light but maybe its better to keep it that way para relax lang on the last days of our vacation.

[glacy_rein]

does anyone know a legit tour? 4days - 5days lang sana kase I can't come with my sister and mum.. Possible ba? Mahirap for them to DIY. Ang ma-DIY lang yung tickets lang from London.