Everything KDR said. Vatican, Sistine with the Plaza right outside and La Pieta inside, Forum, Colosseum, Spanish Steps, Fountain, etc.. this is all walkable, depending on where you stay. Probably you should take a gondola ride, and wander those little bridges into a shop for some espresso in the a.m. I had a great time, and made no reservations anywhere. All the food wherever we were was excellent. I just don’t think you can go wrong in Italy.

Been there late last year.

Enjoyed a nice small hotel a block and a half from Piazza Spagna (Rome) . A stone throw from the metro (can get from airport to hotel in a breeze). Perfectly located. Hotel Manfredi. Actually, there are two hotels in the same building.

Note that cab fares from city to airport are a fixed fare visible on the cab.

Same in Paris.

Important advise, get your tickets in advance
through the internet for all venues and avoid endless lines. We didn't know and cooked our asses waiting or gave up.

Exchange offices were always available and nothing to worry about. CC rule.

0-0

quote:

Originally posted by urbanwarrior238:
Never been to Italy so can't help you there but I do Really Really want to go. So, I will carry all your luggage for you, get your morning paper etc.. All I ask is you get an extra ticket for me.

Urbanwarrior, I may just keep that in mind when I plan another trip--I'm a little infirm and could use the help. I'd pay the way for a traveling companion. Are you only interested in Italy?

flashguy

It's hard to say because there is a lot to see in Italy, and a lot of different types of places to see.

I've been there 3 times and my favorite areas are the Tuscany and Umbria regions (Florence, Sienna, Assisi, etc.) I found it to be more laid back and rustic (outside of Florence).

Of course, if you've never been to Italy, Rome is a must. But, you can spend a week in Rome and feel like you've hardly seen anything.

quote:

Originally posted by Oat_Action_Man:

I don't know much about the Adriatic coast.

We went down the Adriatic coast on one of our trips. It was beautiful, but the further south we went, the more difficult it was to find people who spoke English. This was a while ago (2007) and so things may have changed.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
However, I think the most unusual (and not heavily visited) place I sent was Bagnoregio, a little mountainntop village I found quite interesting. The only access is via a very long bridge--in 2006 I was still able to walk that far.

Agreed. It is a fascinating place. When we went there, I was having some issues with my leg and was not willing to risk the walk across and not being able to make it back. So, we just looked at it and then drove to another beautiful hilltop town, Orvietto.

We’ve been several times and again this July.

Best times to travel is shoulder season April to June and Sept. to October.
Generally, we fly into Rome or Naples for best prices.

How many days will dictate itinerary.

People crap on Rome, but it is what you make of it.
Spend at least 3 nights, lots to see and lots of day trips if so desire.

If you have never been to Italy a good compact itinerary is Rome, Florence, Tuscany
I would add Venice but they are having bad flooding for now.

My trip in June will be
Rome, Grand Sasso (Abruzzi), Agropoli, Naples

Amalfi is a literal waste of time... do Sorrento instead.
Same for Capris, do Ischia instead.

In Rome we are staying in the Trastevere district, cheaper and great access to important points.
Quiet at night and a nice little community.

If you stay in Tuscany, stay at an Agrtorismo, farm to table fantastic food.
I can recommend a good one if you desire.

I love Sicily, might be best for a second trip... if you want to I’ll add more travel notes for that.

When I return to Florence I would recommend staying on the Olto Arno
My favorite destination in Tuscany is Pienza, great jumping off point for many hill towns and thermal springs.

Montepulciano, Siena, Perugia.

I love Italy, you will have a fantastic time!

I did Italy for a combination of almost 4 weeks in 1994. Beautiful place.

Working from south to north, check out:
Paestum -Ancient Greek city on Italian coast
Amalfi coast - for spectacular views, beautiful towns, and amazing pottery (pasta serving bowls, fruit bowls, platters, etc.)
Pompeii - Simply incredible
Trevi
Assisi
Sienna
Cassino
Rome - Oh, boy... The Vatican, the churches, the Roman Ruins, if you do the ruins, make sure you get out of town and see Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
Florence
Venice
Lake Como - IMHO, the best food in Italy is in the north.

Drink Italian wine everywhere you go. It's amazing. Even the cheap table wine served in pottery pitchers at country restaurants.

Eat everything, and talk to people. The Italians, in my experience are wonderful people.

The one caveat: Keep an eye on all of your stuff all of the time; don't leave a car door unlocked, even when you are in it, and have zippers on every pocket. I loved Italy, but portions of the population will steal you blind.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
I did Italy for a combination of almost 4 weeks in 1994. Beautiful place.

Working from south to north, check out:
Paestum -Ancient Greek city on Italian coast
Amalfi coast - for spectacular views, beautiful towns, and amazing pottery (pasta serving bowls, fruit bowls, platters, etc.)
Pompeii - Simply incredible
Trevi
Assisi
Sienna
Cassino
Rome - Oh, boy... The Vatican, the churches, the Roman Ruins, if you do the ruins, make sure you get out of town and see Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
Florence
Venice
Lake Como - IMHO, the best food in Italy is in the north.

Drink Italian wine everywhere you go. It's amazing. Even the cheap table wine served in pottery pitchers at country restaurants.

Eat everything, and talk to people. The Italians, in my experience are wonderful people.

The one caveat: Keep an eye on all of your stuff all of the time; don't leave a car door unlocked, even when you are in it, and have zippers on every pocket. I loved Italy, but portions of the population will steal you blind.

This is great advice. I have not read the entire thread so maybe this was mentioned, but the Rick Steves book is good.

Been to Italy 3-times in the last 7 years, yes, its a favorite destination and I would not hesitate to go back. Most of my travels have been in the North but, a quick trip down to the South, whetted my appetite for another return trip. For first timers, its easiest to stick with the Big 3 minimum: Rome, Florence and Venice. Plan at least 3-nights minimum at each location, add another 3-nights to see the Amalfi Coast (Naples, Sorrento, Pompei..) and you will be motivated to return and explore the region that was your favorite for another trip. Fly into Venice and return home thru Rome, avoid flying in/out of the same location, you don't want to do any backtracking if you can avoid it. Any stay shorter than 2-nights you're gonna feel rushed, and you'll be living out of your suitcase ...its a vacation remember. Spring (April-May) or, Fall (Sept-Oct) is the best times to travel, Summer is hot and uncomfortable as the crush of tourists all descend in Jun-Aug.

If you're looking for a guided trip, you need to consider your budget and time. Guided trips can take the stress out of trip planning however you'll pay for that accommodation and service. I personally enjoy self-guided trips as I enjoy planning and route finding, however I can understand wanting to take a guided trip for the convenience and especially if its for the first time. A solid per day rate for a guided tour would be $300-350/day, below that you're likely looking at a budget operation.

My aunt recently took a 21-day Eastern Europe Rick Steves tour and returned saying it was the best guided tour she's ever been on. Mind you, this is a women that's been traveling internationally for over 60-years, both guided and self-guided trips. Steves website, books and podcast have been excellent resources for all my European travels. She really enjoyed the smaller groups (20-25), the experienced guide and driver was with them the entire time and worked hard to engage each guest. Schedules included plenty of free/personal time and group meals weren't mandatory or, overly regimented. Other mid-priced tour operators that many people consider are Collette, and Insight Vacations. High-end tour operators would include Abercrombie & Kent and Tauck. Trafalger is a major operator that isn't quite a budget operator but, does contract with various well known companies such as Costco Travel.

Provide some parameters to your budget, time of year, activity level you and your spouse are able to do, and you'll get more advice and strategies.

Go in may before the big summer rush and still have great weather, and reasonable prices.

Rome 2-3 days max,
Florence is one of the best cities great history, great food, great shopping.
Venice STAY ON LIDO best laid back small island in the area.

Good point above. Italy gets HOT in the summer. Like over 100 in August. Added to which, a bunch of stuff is closed or limited open during August.

Also, some religious sites have a dress code so know the local and cultural rules and idiosyncrasies.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Neither of us love the idea of riding a bus on someone else's schedule. The idea of a leisurely trip, seeing some of the less traveled areas, and setting our own pace, is where we're at.

I think maybe the Amalfi coast would be a great fit for us, maybe a few light historical settings but we also really need a battery recharge and time together. Not so much a checklist of sites, if that makes sense.

Thanks for all replies so far!

I have a friend who has been using the tour company called Intrepid Travel or their sister company Peregrine Travel for 15 years straight. She has been all over the world and matches trips with people she met on past trips.

I used them in '15 to tour Italy, and booked their Italy Experience. It started in Venice and ended in Rome. I arrived a day early in Venice and then met up with the group. After the trip, I went down to Sorrento and Capri for 3 days.

The reason why I mention this is I like Intrepid's trip style and it sounds like what you're looking for. You are NOT lead around by your nose by the same tour guide with the same people and hopping on the same tour bus. The leader arranged all hotels and transportation and you travel like Europeans (only time I was on a long-distance bus is when there wasn't a train). When you arrive in a city there is a 2ish hour introductory walk lead by the leader, and maybe one group dinner. You're on your own the rest of the time, you can go with other people, go by yourself. For example, in Cinque Terra most people in the tour wanted to hike but another guy and I liked being on the water so we took the water taxi between the cities while everyone hiked (split into groups based on speed) and then that night we all met up as a group at the hotel where we departed for a pesto making class. The tour leader will make suggestions and help you book reservations (e.g. Vatican).

I guess it depends what you like but for a week I suggest Rome, Florence, Venice.

short trips ~2 hours from Rome-Florence and Florence-Venice

To see the highlights:
Rome is the biggest and takes the longest time
Florence you can see the highlights in a full day
Venice you can see the highlights in 2 days.



Italy gets hot in the summer spring or fall may be your best bet.

Once you dial in the agenda a bit we can help you with more specifics.

We went in June and Early July weather was quite good. Got a little hot at times as A/C and cold beverages are rare.

The one thing you ABSOLUTELY MUST do while in Italy is walk the streets of Rome and the Vatican in the middle of the night after 2am. The experience is so surreal! It is so different compared to the hustle and bustle of the day. So quiet, very few people, no cars, it was such an amazing experience.
I have pictures of us walking down the middle of Mussolini’s Entrance (Piazza San Pietro) to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Colosseum, Trevi, The Pantheon, etc. are all amazing and completely different experience than during the day.
We flew out of Rome at 8am so we just Romed the streets the night before instead of getting a hotel or sleeping.

I would go back anywhere except Bologna. What a nasty, dirty, drunk hippie, college town. Only time on the whole trip I felt unsafe. Though there was a fella in one of the squares that sang the absolute best rendition of Pink Floyd’s I Wish You Were Here. Yet he spoke no English.

If you make it to the Abruzzo region I high suggest going to Scanno. There is the Park Hotel on Lago Di Scano that is very nice. We stayed there the longest of any place we stayed. The lake and hotel are at the bottom of the mountain with the town of Scanno being up top. It is a hefty walk but the little town is so great. Not much English is spoken there and you will likely be the only Americans around though the people were very welcoming and patient with our crappy Italian.

https://www.parkhotelscanno.it/wp/

Scanno is home to likely one of the coolest little churches.

https://enchantingitaly.blogsp...lake-scanno.html?m=1

We also did all the normal tourist stuff. Rome, Florence, Venice, etc.

Another cool thing we did was rent a van in Ancona Italy hopped on a car ferry went across the Adriatic landing in Split Croatia (so beautiful) drive around Croatia for a final stop in Medjugorje Bosnia.

https://www.medjugorje.org/

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I would go back anywhere except Bologna. What a nasty, dirty, drunk hippie, college town. Only time on the whole trip I felt unsafe. Though there was a fella in one of the squares that sang the absolute best rendition of Pink Floyd’s I Wish You Were Here. Yet he spoke no English.

Interesting, I had the direct opposite reaction to Bologna. I very much enjoyed it, and found the streets to be fine, perhaps things have changed. While a college town and yes, very much liberal, I mainly focused on the food...oh, the food in Bologna, the gastronomic cradle of Italy. I ate two dinners in one night there, yeah, there was a lot of alcohol involved.

quote:

Originally posted by daikyu:
Florence you can see the highlights in a full day
Venice you can see the highlights in 2 days.

This is backwards, imo, although I don't think you can see either in that time. But Venice is much smaller with less to see than Florence. Of course, I am an architect and could spend two days at the Duomo in Florence.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I would go back anywhere except Bologna. What a nasty, dirty, drunk hippie, college town. Only time on the whole trip I felt unsafe. Though there was a fella in one of the squares that sang the absolute best rendition of Pink Floyd’s I Wish You Were Here. Yet he spoke no English.

Interesting, I had the direct opposite reaction to Bologna. I very much enjoyed it, and found the streets to be fine, perhaps things have changed. While a college town and yes, very much liberal, I mainly focused on the food...oh, the food in Bologna, the gastronomic cradle of Italy. I ate two dinners in one night there, yeah, there was a lot of alcohol involved.

I was there 14 years ago so things may have changed some but when I was there I did not enjoy it. Right off the train got to see one hell of a Carabinieri beat down. No clue what the dude did but man did he get thumped and those white drop holsters were a flopping.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
I would go back anywhere except Bologna. What a nasty, dirty, drunk hippie, college town. Only time on the whole trip I felt unsafe. Though there was a fella in one of the squares that sang the absolute best rendition of Pink Floyd’s I Wish You Were Here. Yet he spoke no English.

Interesting, I had the direct opposite reaction to Bologna. I very much enjoyed it, and found the streets to be fine, perhaps things have changed. While a college town and yes, very much liberal, I mainly focused on the food...oh, the food in Bologna, the gastronomic cradle of Italy. I ate two dinners in one night there, yeah, there was a lot of alcohol involved.

I was there 14 years ago so things may have changed some but when I was there I did not enjoy it. Right off the train got to see one hell of a Carabinieri beat down. No clue what the dude did but man did he get thumped and those white drop holsters were a flopping.

I was there three years ago so, things have improved.

While there, the Piazza Maggiore (main plaza) was getting ready to hold a 'protest concert', of course all the commie flags were flying and the spectator area was barricaded off limiting the size of the crowd. Surrounding the piazza, at each entrance/exit was two Carabinieri Sprinter riot vans, with 15-20 guys all jocked-up. Cages over the windows, shields and batons in their racks, helmets at the ready, each guy giving the hairy eye-ball to everyone that walked into the piazza. Meanwhile, at various intersections leading up to the piazza, the Polizia and Carabineri did joint-watches. The Polizia appeared to be older and much more relaxed in appearance and demeanor, the Carabineri were definitely younger, fitter and held to a higher standard.

Be prepared if you need to grab a cab. Them summbitches are friggin crazy over there behind the wheel. They’ll create 7 lanes out of a 4 lane road. Lines are merely a suggestion. As a pedestrian you absolutely do not have the right of way.