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Mad Cow's Italy trip discussion thread (4 Viewers)

Where should we go for our trip?

  • Italy

    Votes: 96 76.2%
  • France/Paris

    Votes: 18 14.3%
  • Other

    Votes: 12 9.5%

  • Total voters
    126
If you are really worried, I wore a "money belt" while I was in Italy, and did not have any problems. It came in handy when my wife accepted a flower from a gypsy :doh: (after I warned her about gypsies and she laughed it off), and they were clearly trying to distract us to get something.

 
If you are really worried, I wore a "money belt" while I was in Italy, and did not have any problems. It came in handy when my wife accepted a flower from a gypsy :doh: (after I warned her about gypsies and she laughed it off), and they were clearly trying to distract us to get something.
:yes:

That and there are certain bus routes (from my memory) that tend to have some issues. Like most urban areas be vigilant, especially in forced close quarters (subway, bus) and you'll be fine.

 
So I got that Rick Steve's book, and :eek: It is immense. I am sure I will love it either way, but I need someone with experience to offer their best recommendation on where to fly in, out of and what would be great for a noob. It is overwhelming. I read a section and think, I cannot miss that. Then another. My head is spinning.
Where to fly in to is hard - what do you really want to do, airfaires, etc. We flew straight into and out of Fuimicino. If cost is a concern here is a good article on airfares and airports in Europe during the summer. Great stuff there.

If you are visiting Rome my list of things that can't be missed: Coliseum, David, the Vatican, the Parthenon, Pompeii. There are a huge amount of other things that are great to take in, but (IMO) those are the big items. The Vatican and a day trip to Pompeii are a full day each. You can probably do the Coliseum, Forum (since it's right there), David, and the Parthenon in a day if you wanted.

 
So I got that Rick Steve's book, and :eek: It is immense. I am sure I will love it either way, but I need someone with experience to offer their best recommendation on where to fly in, out of and what would be great for a noob. It is overwhelming. I read a section and think, I cannot miss that. Then another. My head is spinning.
Where to fly in to is hard - what do you really want to do, airfaires, etc. We flew straight into and out of Fuimicino. If cost is a concern here is a good article on airfares and airports in Europe during the summer. Great stuff there.

If you are visiting Rome my list of things that can't be missed: Coliseum, David, the Vatican, the Parthenon, Pompeii. There are a huge amount of other things that are great to take in, but (IMO) those are the big items. The Vatican and a day trip to Pompeii are a full day each. You can probably do the Coliseum, Forum (since it's right there), David, and the Parthenon in a day if you wanted.
If we were planning on heading south to Naples, then hold the Pompeii day trip to then, I assume. :)

 
Here is what we did for the Italy portion of our trip:

Day 1 -- Arrive in Rome, Borghese Gallery, National Museum, "dolce vita stroll" in evening

Day 2 -- Pantheon, Colossuim/Fourm/Capetolian Hill, Football Game at Stadio Olimpico in afternoon/evening

Day 3 -- St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican Museum, Travel to Sorrento through Naples by train

Day 4 -- Day trip to Pompeii, explore Sorrento in evening

Day 5 -- Day trip to Capri, explore Sorrento in evening

Day 6 -- Amalfi Coast

Day 7 -- Train from Sorrento to Naples, drop bags in Naples train station, Museo Archiologico and 2-3 mile walk back through Naples to L'Antica (first pizza shop ever) then back to train station, Naples to Florence (arrive in evening)

Day 8 -- Accademia, Duomo Museum/Duomo, Bargello (Museo Nazionale)

Day 9 -- Day trip by train to Cinque Terre

Day 10 -- Uffizi Gallery and Tuscany wine tasting tour

Day 11 -- Day trip to Siena

Day 12 -- Travel by train to Venice, Rialto Bridge, cichetti bar crawl dinner, symphony

Day 13 -- St Mark's Square & Basilica, Doge's Palace

Day 14 -- Home

You could skip the wine tour in Tuscany part and shorten it by a day if you did the Uffizi Gallery on one of those other days instead. If you are trying to pare down to 10 days, I would say skip going south and do Venice instead -- you could do Pompeii from Rome, and a day trip might not be enough to do the Amalfi coast justice.

As far as getting mugged, I did wear a money belt, but felt pretty much safe everywhere except Naples. Didn't see anyone get mugged per se (saw a guy kick a door in), but it felt like the sketchiest of all of them. I think Rick's advice applies to the general tourist -- we saw some old/clueless people wandering around that would have been good marks for getting ripped off. We did buy locks for our suitcases/backpack, which would have probably deterred anybody who was thinking about trying something.

And for booking flights, in my opinion it is worth paying a little more to ensure you have a more direct route (2 connections max) and try to not have the connections in European cities if possible. We did PIT-JFK-Rome and Prague-JFK-PIT, so depending on which city you fly out of, you should be able to manage it.

 
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So I got that Rick Steve's book, and :eek: It is immense. I am sure I will love it either way, but I need someone with experience to offer their best recommendation on where to fly in, out of and what would be great for a noob. It is overwhelming. I read a section and think, I cannot miss that. Then another. My head is spinning.
Where to fly in to is hard - what do you really want to do, airfaires, etc. We flew straight into and out of Fuimicino. If cost is a concern here is a good article on airfares and airports in Europe during the summer. Great stuff there.

If you are visiting Rome my list of things that can't be missed: Coliseum, David, the Vatican, the Parthenon, Pompeii. There are a huge amount of other things that are great to take in, but (IMO) those are the big items. The Vatican and a day trip to Pompeii are a full day each. You can probably do the Coliseum, Forum (since it's right there), David, and the Parthenon in a day if you wanted.
I second all of these recommendations. I want make a slight correction and note that David is in Florence. We spent a week in Italy 2 years ago and my favorite sites were the Vatican, Michelangelo's David, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast.

 
I had thought David was in Rome also. We weren't planning on going to Florence, so I think I'm gonna cross David off the itinerary for when we go to Italy in October. I don't need to fly across the ocean to see a tiny penis.

 
I had thought David was in Rome also. We weren't planning on going to Florence, so I think I'm gonna cross David off the itinerary for when we go to Italy in October. I don't need to fly across the ocean to see a tiny penis.
It's not tiny. David is 20' tall. :o

 
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.

 
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
In Lisbon now. Just yesterday the people I was traveling with stopped one pick-pocket from taking their stuff and someone did successfully get 60 euros from them which they had carelessly put in a pocket of their backpack.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to be in Lisbon on June 12, do it. Enormous festival the whole town gets out for and parties all night. Grilled fish and pork everywhere as well as cheap beer and Sangrias with lots of music and dancing. Incredible time.

 
my .02..... i would take driving out of the equation on this trip. you would indeed need to acquire an international driving permit for 15-, which is good for 1 year from acquisition. you can save money by bringing your pics to an AAA office. FCO is an easy airport to access, with a quick express train from terminal 3 to city centre. my suggestion remains to work with RTI on a private tour. give them your wants and needs and be specific, but with a language barrier, it will be difficult for you to realistically navigate all you need to do. basic information is not so easy when you don't speak or read the language. I am intermediate and the cultural nuisances are tough. things we take for granted here are not as they seem there. heck, you don't want to share a bathroom at a hotel or get stuck without AC. these can occur. let the pro help the first time, then get some experience. make sure you build in down time....do not bite off more than you can chew. you can get overwhelmed quickly and wind up losing time and sights. I would fly to Milan and home from FCO. from Milan I would stay in Lake Como for 1-2 notes. use the first nite to get down to Milan to see the last supper, maybe the opera. spend the next full day on the lake. then head to Venice for 2 nites, but grab a bottle for the train trip, maybe some cheese. Venice is not my favorite, but people like st marks, gondolas, bridge of sighs. from Venice head to Florence for 2. set up a wine taste, get tickets to uffici and accadamia. maybe pitti palace. hang on the ponte vecchio. the duomo is epic. wander...... head thru chianti, stop at vineyards, stay in the area at a castle. the less you need to drive the more you can enjoy drinking. head to Rome for 4 nights. Vatican, other sights, maybe the necropolis. day trip to Pompeii. perhaps a train to Amalfi if you want to extend. Naples to me blows. don't dare drive Amalfi coast, you have a 50/50 of cliff diving. bring euros. act like you are in a big city. be alert. I can offer a multitude of other tips for restaurants, hotels and non touristy stuff if you like. I'm mr meeseeks look at me.

 
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
In Lisbon now. Just yesterday the people I was traveling with stopped one pick-pocket from taking their stuff and someone did successfully get 60 euros from them which they had carelessly put in a pocket of their backpack.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to be in Lisbon on June 12, do it. Enormous festival the whole town gets out for and parties all night. Grilled fish and pork everywhere as well as cheap beer and Sangrias with lots of music and dancing. Incredible time.
Definitely on our list. We've been to Barcelona and Madrid and hope to one day explore deeper into Spain and into Portugal.

Have a great time!

 
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
In Lisbon now. Just yesterday the people I was traveling with stopped one pick-pocket from taking their stuff and someone did successfully get 60 euros from them which they had carelessly put in a pocket of their backpack.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to be in Lisbon on June 12, do it. Enormous festival the whole town gets out for and parties all night. Grilled fish and pork everywhere as well as cheap beer and Sangrias with lots of music and dancing. Incredible time.
Definitely on our list. We've been to Barcelona and Madrid and hope to one day explore deeper into Spain and into Portugal.

Have a great time!
Lisbon is up there with Barcelona as my top towns, Madrid was OK to visit for museums and sites, but did not have the atmosphere of Barcelona or Lisbon. Sevilla is another great town to visit.

 
my .02..... i would take driving out of the equation on this trip. you would indeed need to acquire an international driving permit for 15-, which is good for 1 year from acquisition. you can save money by bringing your pics to an AAA office. FCO is an easy airport to access, with a quick express train from terminal 3 to city centre. my suggestion remains to work with RTI on a private tour. give them your wants and needs and be specific, but with a language barrier, it will be difficult for you to realistically navigate all you need to do. basic information is not so easy when you don't speak or read the language. I am intermediate and the cultural nuisances are tough. things we take for granted here are not as they seem there. heck, you don't want to share a bathroom at a hotel or get stuck without AC. these can occur. let the pro help the first time, then get some experience. make sure you build in down time....do not bite off more than you can chew. you can get overwhelmed quickly and wind up losing time and sights. I would fly to Milan and home from FCO. from Milan I would stay in Lake Como for 1-2 notes. use the first nite to get down to Milan to see the last supper, maybe the opera. spend the next full day on the lake. then head to Venice for 2 nites, but grab a bottle for the train trip, maybe some cheese. Venice is not my favorite, but people like st marks, gondolas, bridge of sighs. from Venice head to Florence for 2. set up a wine taste, get tickets to uffici and accadamia. maybe pitti palace. hang on the ponte vecchio. the duomo is epic. wander...... head thru chianti, stop at vineyards, stay in the area at a castle. the less you need to drive the more you can enjoy drinking. head to Rome for 4 nights. Vatican, other sights, maybe the necropolis. day trip to Pompeii. perhaps a train to Amalfi if you want to extend. Naples to me blows. don't dare drive Amalfi coast, you have a 50/50 of cliff diving. bring euros. act like you are in a big city. be alert. I can offer a multitude of other tips for restaurants, hotels and non touristy stuff if you like. I'm mr meeseeks look at me.
Let me take a look at this and get back to you. Thank you very much.

 
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
In Lisbon now. Just yesterday the people I was traveling with stopped one pick-pocket from taking their stuff and someone did successfully get 60 euros from them which they had carelessly put in a pocket of their backpack.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to be in Lisbon on June 12, do it. Enormous festival the whole town gets out for and parties all night. Grilled fish and pork everywhere as well as cheap beer and Sangrias with lots of music and dancing. Incredible time.
Definitely on our list. We've been to Barcelona and Madrid and hope to one day explore deeper into Spain and into Portugal.

Have a great time!
Lisbon is up there with Barcelona as my top towns, Madrid was OK to visit for museums and sites, but did not have the atmosphere of Barcelona or Lisbon. Sevilla is another great town to visit.
We actually both liked Madrid more than Barcelona although the weather had a lot to do with it. We stayed at the Hotel D'Art, with the big Frank Geary fish in front of it, right on the beach, but it was kinda crappy weather. Plus, I'm big into museums.

 
Mad Cow said:
Chemical X said:
my .02..... i would take driving out of the equation on this trip. you would indeed need to acquire an international driving permit for 15-, which is good for 1 year from acquisition. you can save money by bringing your pics to an AAA office. FCO is an easy airport to access, with a quick express train from terminal 3 to city centre. my suggestion remains to work with RTI on a private tour. give them your wants and needs and be specific, but with a language barrier, it will be difficult for you to realistically navigate all you need to do. basic information is not so easy when you don't speak or read the language. I am intermediate and the cultural nuisances are tough. things we take for granted here are not as they seem there. heck, you don't want to share a bathroom at a hotel or get stuck without AC. these can occur. let the pro help the first time, then get some experience. make sure you build in down time....do not bite off more than you can chew. you can get overwhelmed quickly and wind up losing time and sights. I would fly to Milan and home from FCO. from Milan I would stay in Lake Como for 1-2 notes. use the first nite to get down to Milan to see the last supper, maybe the opera. spend the next full day on the lake. then head to Venice for 2 nites, but grab a bottle for the train trip, maybe some cheese. Venice is not my favorite, but people like st marks, gondolas, bridge of sighs. from Venice head to Florence for 2. set up a wine taste, get tickets to uffici and accadamia. maybe pitti palace. hang on the ponte vecchio. the duomo is epic. wander...... head thru chianti, stop at vineyards, stay in the area at a castle. the less you need to drive the more you can enjoy drinking. head to Rome for 4 nights. Vatican, other sights, maybe the necropolis. day trip to Pompeii. perhaps a train to Amalfi if you want to extend. Naples to me blows. don't dare drive Amalfi coast, you have a 50/50 of cliff diving. bring euros. act like you are in a big city. be alert. I can offer a multitude of other tips for restaurants, hotels and non touristy stuff if you like. I'm mr meeseeks look at me.
Let me take a look at this and get back to you. Thank you very much.
I second not driving anywhere. It's nuts in Rome, and in Florence you can't even take a car into the city because of zoning laws. You can walk, cab or train anywhere, with a lot less hassle. If you want to go day trips do a tour or get a guide.

If you go to Florence, go to dinner at Trattoria Sostanza and get the Butter Chicken. Trust me on this. It's a life changing meal.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187895-d743678-Reviews-Trattoria_Sostanza_Il_Troia-Florence_Tuscany.html

If you go to Pitti Palace (or even if you don't) right across the road there is awesome, inexpensive pizza. Gusta Pizza. We went twice in a week.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187895-d1155597-Reviews-Gusta_Pizza-Florence_Tuscany.html

And the Florentine steak at this place was off the hook.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g187895-d1908799-Reviews-Antica_Trattoria_da_Tito_dal_1913-Florence_Tuscany.html

Agree with Academia and Uffizi - you might want to get the Firenze card to skip the lines..

http://www.firenzecard.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=105〈=en

If you want to see more of Tuscany - Walkabout Tours Best of Tuscany is awesome - might have been one of the best days of our trip.

 
Spain was also considered seeing as how I am very fluent and my wife is almost there. I know we could do a split of Paris and Barcelona, as well, which is always an option. I would like to keep it fairly simple as it is the first trip of hopefully many. For those saying Italy, what would you suggest for the base and side trips?
Barcelona - French Riviera - Rome

 
Ilov80s said:
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
If you go to Barcelona, I would highly recommend a money belt. The pickpockets there are no joke, maybe the best in the world.

 
Ilov80s said:
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
If you go to Barcelona, I would highly recommend a money belt. The pickpockets there are no joke, maybe the best in the world.
I've been. Lots of pickpockets, no doubt. I just put my money in my front pocket and didn't linger around in large crowds watching the stupid street performers.

 
Hong Kong is a country? Do you like it so much because of Hong Kong Phooey?
I could have said China, but since its only the third largest country in the world, I figured it was implied. Since Wal Mart rolled back the prices on cleverness tonight, I will humor you.
Hong Kong has the best crispy roasted pigeons. :thumbup:
You mean crispy squab.
Squab, baby pigeons, the same thing. I went to a restaurant in Shatin because I was told it's been in business for almost forty years. Supposedly the older the soy sauce reused to cook the squabs, the better they taste. :oldunsure:

 
Ilov80s said:
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
If you go to Barcelona, I would highly recommend a money belt. The pickpockets there are no joke, maybe the best in the world.
I've been. Lots of pickpockets, no doubt. I just put my money in my front pocket and didn't linger around in large crowds watching the stupid street performers.
Ilov80s said:
I think some people are making a bigger deal of the trip to Europe than it is. Money belts? Nah. It's not hard to get around either. You don't need some expert to walk you through it.
If you go to Barcelona, I would highly recommend a money belt. The pickpockets there are no joke, maybe the best in the world.
I've been. Lots of pickpockets, no doubt. I just put my money in my front pocket and didn't linger around in large crowds watching the stupid street performers.
I caught a pick pocket in the act in NYC once. I was so stunned my mouth hung open. They guy looked me in the eye, took his hand slowly out of the lady's handbag and sneaked away quietly.

 
I've been all over Europe, to just about every major city sans Athens.

If I could choose just one location to visit, Rome would be #1 and Paris would be #2. Barcelona would be in the 30s, maybe not even that high.

 
I've been all over Europe, to just about every major city sans Athens.

If I could choose just one location to visit, Rome would be #1 and Paris would be #2. Barcelona would be in the 30s, maybe not even that high.
I've been many places, but not as many as you. I love Barcelona, but I could be jaded because that was the first European city I ever went to. I just found it very unique and full of life, art and culture.
 
I've been all over Europe, to just about every major city sans Athens.

If I could choose just one location to visit, Rome would be #1 and Paris would be #2. Barcelona would be in the 30s, maybe not even that high.
I've been many places, but not as many as you. I love Barcelona, but I could be jaded because that was the first European city I ever went to. I just found it very unique and full of life, art and culture.
I like Zaragoza and Valencia better in Spain. Loret De Mar is awesome, maybe the best beach location I have ever visited, close enough to Barcelona to be considered in the overall experience. I just never got much from that city, glad you were able to appreciate it more than I did. Not hating, any experience traveling is valuable and I might like Riga more than others, as you will like Barcelona more than me.

 
I've been all over Europe, to just about every major city sans Athens.

If I could choose just one location to visit, Rome would be #1 and Paris would be #2. Barcelona would be in the 30s, maybe not even that high.
You lived in Europe all that time and never went to the Acropolis?????????

Athens and Crete was one of my favorite trips.

 
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i read some tidbits here about rick steves. his books are great advice. but there are many people that follow these books to the letter and find that they wind up in rick traps, so to speak. places that are so frequented by rick steves' followers they have lost authenticity. i actually use his book to avoid places he recommends.

 
i read some tidbits here about rick steves. his books are great advice. but there are many people that follow these books to the letter and find that they wind up in rick traps, so to speak. places that are so frequented by rick steves' followers they have lost authenticity. i actually use his book to avoid places he recommends.
we used to utilize his books in the late 90's and early 2000's. They were very helpful and his recommendations were not overly packed quite yet. We then just started using basic principles and looked for other recommendations for lodging and dining. I ususally wake up before the rest of my family on weekends and still enjoy watching his shows while making coffee before they are up and about.

 
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Chemical X said:
i read some tidbits here about rick steves. his books are great advice. but there are many people that follow these books to the letter and find that they wind up in rick traps, so to speak. places that are so frequented by rick steves' followers they have lost authenticity. i actually use his book to avoid places he recommends.
I have ended up in places with 2-3 other tourists also carrying around Rick Steves books. The recommendations are usually good though and I'm not put off by the presence of other tourists, so it's not a big deal for me.

 
So 2 options - Fly into Milan and then work down to Rome. Plus here is could see the Matterhorn from the back side, then to Florence and then to Rome.

Option 2 is Fly into Florence then out of Rome. Would get Amalfi this way.

Thoughts? Need to buy the tickets today. Either way will be a win, I just want to get the biggest win. :)

 
So 2 options - Fly into Milan and then work down to Rome. Plus here is could see the Matterhorn from the back side, then to Florence and then to Rome.

Option 2 is Fly into Florence then out of Rome. Would get Amalfi this way.

Thoughts? Need to buy the tickets today. Either way will be a win, I just want to get the biggest win. :)
I haven't been to Milan, but Amalfi is great.

 
So 2 options - Fly into Milan and then work down to Rome. Plus here is could see the Matterhorn from the back side, then to Florence and then to Rome.

Option 2 is Fly into Florence then out of Rome. Would get Amalfi this way.

Thoughts? Need to buy the tickets today. Either way will be a win, I just want to get the biggest win. :)
I haven't been to Milan, but Amalfi is great.
If you see Ralph Amalfi from Happy Days, be sure to say "hi" for me!

 
So 2 options - Fly into Milan and then work down to Rome. Plus here is could see the Matterhorn from the back side, then to Florence and then to Rome.

Option 2 is Fly into Florence then out of Rome. Would get Amalfi this way.

Thoughts? Need to buy the tickets today. Either way will be a win, I just want to get the biggest win. :)
I haven't been to Milan, but Amalfi is great.
If you see Ralph Amalfi from Happy Days, be sure to say "hi" for me!
I would have thought you would have been more partial to him saying hello to Arnold. :shrug:

 
I think what I am going to do is fly into Florence, out of Rome. We can choose Cinque Terre vs Amalfi Coast later.

How have you gone about getting hotels in previous trips?

What about transport? Just get in country and get train tickets, etc.?

 

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