So in the never ending HM saga, there might be another change of plans. We have everything planned for Greece, we would have to shift a week forward in order to get the places we want, but it's all planned and all we need to do is pull the trigger and book.
And then every other day there's a mass transit strike
Given the political and economic turmoil over there, we're being advised not to go. I'm devastated, because I feel like I've been cheated out of a HM. We only went to PR for 2 days, just to get away a little, and I never would have went there if I knew we would never have a proper HM. DH would rather wait until next summer to go to Greece than to go anywhere else this summer. I keep trying to say that it's not a HM then, it's just a vacation. And we'd have to put off any plans for a family, job changes, etc another year. And I'm not interested in that.
So our compromise is that now we might do a week in Italy then a week in Greece, but not to the islands, just to stay with the family and maybe end in Athens for 2 or 3 days so we're not at the mercy of 5 connecting flights that could be canceled at a moment's notice and then we miss a night at an exorbitant island hotel that doesn't give you a refund if you miss a night due to the strikes. We're giving it a few more weeks to see how it pans out with the situation in Greece, and might still go there, but we need a back up plan in case things get worse.
I'm so tired of researching, and to start from scratch now for a whole new country really isn't ideal...so if anyone has any suggestions of places to stay in Rome and Venice, or anywhere else in Italy that we could do in a week, I'd really appreciate it.
KittyGags
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
Hey Ali,
We did exactly this for our HM...it was a total of 15 days and you can coordinate the back end of the trip however you want...heres what we did!
Flew into Venice direct from JFK Sunday evening, stayed at the San Clemente Palace. Its on its own island and has a shuttle boat thats free that goes back and forth to the main part of Venice. Alot of the complaints with hotels in Venice is that they're LOUD because of the tiny streets and people walking around, so it was nice to have a quiet place to hide. The grounds are GORGEOUS and so is the pool. We stayed there for Monday and Tuesday nights, and on Wednesday we went to Rome by train. It was around 2.5 hours.
Took a taxi from the train station to the St Regis in Rome. Soooooooo beautiful. great location, we walked everywhere. There is a downtown area by Piazza Navona that is probably more convenient to stay because thats where all the action is, but it was our HM and we weren't interested in loud and busy...so we took cabs back and forth to and from there when we wanted to. We were there Wed-Sat and on Sat flew from Rome, to Athens where we connected to Mykonos.
You could stay in Athens here for a few days but we did 3 days in Mykonos at the Royal Mykonian and then took the boat to Santorini. We were there for 4 days and stayed at Tzekos Villas. If I had to do it again, I'd stay at Katikies in Santorini. We then flew from Santorini back to Athens where we stayed at the King George for one night. Flew Athens to JFK (all Delta) the next day at 11.
Another thing you could do is skip Greece all together and head up to the Amalfi Coast/Positano?
Hope this helps. If you want to call my TA, i'd be happy to pass along her info. She did all the organizational work for us and got us rates that we would NEVER have gotten otherwise.
ELluvsMB
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
We're going to Italy the end of May for 2 weeks for our 1 year...Venice, Rome, Florence and Sorrento with a day trip to Capri. I can let you know how our hotels are when we get back. I did a ton of research on trip advisor. We didn't go high end on the hotels because we plan on seeing a lot and the prices are super $$ in the spring/summer.
For Venice we're staying in San Marco, for Florence and Rome we're staying near the main train so we don't have to lug our stuff too far,
Since you won't be visitng the Greek Island, just ur family over there, what about going to one of the Italian Island, like Sicily or Sardegna? both are gorgeous, the beaches are just like Greece....There are so many different beautiful things to see in Sicily, you would love it.
Or you could even go to Capri, which is near Naples, I've never been, but my family and friends have and they says its breath-taking.
FM me if you want more info on Sicily, I have family over there and I know which cities are best to visit!
geegee827
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
I am so in love with Venice. We stayed at the Hotel Bauer Palazzo and it was amazing.
I would also suggest that if you want to do 'islandy' things to definitely go to Capri - it was stunning.
FutureMrs.M
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
I have been to italy a few times and each time I stayed in different areas. I say def stop in venice because it is an experience...overall its a kinda dirty city but its sooo unique u need to see it. Rome their are tons of hotels I have to ask my parents where we stayed there. But u need a few days there to see the forum, the colloseum, and the vatican museum. Then I would highly reccomend going to Sorrento and or Florence. They are 2 of the most wonderful cities I have ever visited. If you like art you must go to Florence and Sorrento is an amazing Southern Italy town. FM me if you have specific questions
FutureMrsG
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
We went to Italy for our HM. We spent most of our time in Tuscany but we also went to Cinque Terra and Elba. Florence is an amazing city.
meara
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
ooh I just got back from Italy. . was mostly in Tuscany and Umbria but also in Rome for a few days. . we stayed in a fine hotel but it was just kind of average so I don't know if you're looking for a nice hotel or just a decent location but happy to give info if you want. . we loved Rome though. . lots of great restaurants.. let me know if you want recs. .and vatican was amazing!
Just Cindy
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
we are going in the beginning of june as an early 1 yr anniversary trip. I will let you know about the hotels I am staying at. We are pretty much going budget since its so expensive there.
sofreakingexcited
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
I LOVED Italy! I highly recommend you go to Venice, Florence, Rome and Capri! So beautiful!!
Camroy
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
I don't have any feedback regarding your location. Sorry your having such struggles. One thing I would recommend, is a guided tour. DH and I went in September to Europe - Munich, Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg. We used globus tours. It was a bus tour with 40 people. I was a little weary but it was the best vacation ever. NO WORRIES! They did everyhting from bringing your luggage back and forth from the bus and hotels, setting wake up calls, etc. It was the most stressfree vacation I have ever been on. And we met wonderful people. We are actually vacation again this year with some people from the trip. Not sure of the costs etc and your budget but just an option you might want to consider so you don't have to deal with all the details and the planning.
FutureMrsG
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
We did a private tour and cooking classes as part of our honeymoon. It was great! The company we used was Girosole: http://www.girosole.com/
I have the contact information for the tour guide we had if you were interested in booking privately.
This is where we stayed during the tour. http://www.villailparadisino.it/ You can book directly through them- Costanza and her family were amazing! I was really sad to leave and go on to the next part of our trip I actually tried to convince DH to cancel our reservations in Elba and stay at the Villa il paradisino for the rest of our trip.
coldasice217
Posted:
Member since
Re: Italy
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions...
It seems that the news is just getting worse and worse, and the strikes are becoming more frequent. I'm almost sure we're not going to be going to Greece now. Now I'm just going to have to convince DH to go someplace else. I haven't 'nagged' him really this week about booking anything, so I'm going to try to hit him again next week. Thanks again...hope I can go on a HM. It's so depressing.
