Repost from 08: Who went to Italy?

Where did you go? How many days? Where did you flying in and out of? What else did you include? Who was your TA? And if you could FM me approx how much it cost. I'm trying to figure this out for our HM! Thanks!

ok, I did NOT go to Italy for my HM but have been there my entire life so I can give you a few tips...

2 weeks is a sufficient amount of time to see italy. If you're looking to do a shorter trip, it's honestly not going to be enough time. You can see a decent amount in 2 weeks. 3-4 weeks is better but realistically it's hard to take THAT much time off work

Your best might be to fly into Milan [Malpensa airport] and start up north. IMO a MUST SEE is Verona [especially on your HM! soooo romantic] and Bellagio. Venice is awesome but I wouldn't stay there TOO long. It's almost *overrated* actually. Don't get me wrong, it's AWESOME, but not awesome enough to stay a week. I'd honestly rather do cities like Sermioni... but thats JMO. Cinque Terre is phenominal if you love beaches and hiking. Seriously some of the best EVERRRRR! When you head down, I'd definitely check out Firenze especially if you love art But definitely SKIP Pisa.. there's nothing fun about the tower aside from the silly pix again, JMO! If you love history, Pompeii is off the charts. Really is just a sight everyone should see once in their lives! Now Rome is a given, you can stay here for weeks and not discover all of it. SO much to do and see. Napoli is a great city to see also. I've actually never been to Sicilia but heard that it's amazing.

My TA is awesome and I'd definitely reccommend him- Tom Varghese- [email protected]

I was concidering going to Italy for my 1 year trip and the flights I was getting for the June-July time frame was around $3k round trip, non-stop. If you end up doing italy, be prepared to lose ALOT of $!!!! It's SO worth it, you won't regret it, but right now is a horrible time to go if you want to get your dollar's worth unfortunately.

Good luck and FM me anytime!

I went July 2004.

It cost me about $2-3K THEN. I traveled for 2 weeks total. Started in Rome (I loved rome...agree with the post above...lot's of history, so much to do. My fav tour was one of the sistine chapel...you really need to take a tour, we found an art history student from NYU who was making extra cash there on the site). Lots of side trips are possible by bus from here. Then spent a few days in Florence (this MAY have been good for shopping years ago, but now...I thought it was overpriced...remember the exchange rate IS going to kill you this vacation). Nice gardens, cute bridge with jewelery, nice museums. Then went to Venice...which was beautiful, and NO the canals did not stink, but there is limited # of things to see...so stay a few days here. I wish I had time to go to Pompeii!

It was a beautiful trip...have fun!

I just used any TA.

Where did you go? Rome

How many days? 7 days

Where did you flying in and out of?jfk to rome international airport


What else did you include? it included a bus tour of all the anicent stautues, hotel accodmations for 6 nights, breakfast was included

Who was your TA? traveltom

And if you could FM me approx how much it cost.

it cost us around 4000 dollars

We started our honeymoon in Italy. We originally were going to stay 2 weeks in Italy alone, but we were blown away by how much money it would have cost after the exchange rate. We had been on a bunch of cruises and after seeing all of the places we could see, we went that route.

We first flew into Rome and spent 5 nights there. Round trip airfare into Rome and out of Barcelona was only $1200 per person. We stayed at a nice hotel, but definitely not top notch. It was centrally located and was around $225 a night after the exchange. This was more than enough time to see all of Rome. We loved it there and I highly recommend going there.

Our next part of the trip was 9 nights on a Royal Caribbean cruise. Being that this was in November, the off season, we got an amazing deal on a suite. For a grand suite it was $1500 a person. Balcony rooms were only $999 per person. This includes all of your food too so we couldn't pass this up. We stopped in other parts of Italy, Naples and Florence. I got to see Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast, including Sorrento. Florence was really nice too. We spent the entire day there and saw all of the major sights. One day was more than enough time to see everything there. We used private tour guides or the ship tours for each stop. We also made stops in Greece, Croatia, and two in France. The cruise ended in Barcelona and we spent 2 nights there and flew out from there.

If you are going right after your wedding you will find cheaper deals than the summer. When we went we kept hearing how empty every site was. There were never any lines. We went in the middle of November into early December. We booked everything ourself. I actually found cheaper deals than two travel agents that we spoke with gave us. One travel agent added on some $200 fee and couldn't explain what it was for. I booked the cruise through calling the cruise line directly and booked the hotels on Hotels.com. I also booked the airplane tickets directly through Delta.

Thank you so much ladies! You all sound like you had amazing trips!

---

Posted by MrsBartonToBe

ok, I did NOT go to Italy for my HM but have been there my entire life so I can give you a few tips...

2 weeks is a sufficient amount of time to see italy. If you're looking to do a shorter trip, it's honestly not going to be enough time. You can see a decent amount in 2 weeks. 3-4 weeks is better but realistically it's hard to take THAT much time off work

Your best might be to fly into Milan [Malpensa airport] and start up north. IMO a MUST SEE is Verona [especially on your HM! soooo romantic] and Bellagio. Venice is awesome but I wouldn't stay there TOO long. It's almost *overrated* actually. Don't get me wrong, it's AWESOME, but not awesome enough to stay a week. I'd honestly rather do cities like Sermioni... but thats JMO. Cinque Terre is phenominal if you love beaches and hiking. Seriously some of the best EVERRRRR! When you head down, I'd definitely check out Firenze especially if you love art But definitely SKIP Pisa.. there's nothing fun about the tower aside from the silly pix again, JMO! If you love history, Pompeii is off the charts. Really is just a sight everyone should see once in their lives! Now Rome is a given, you can stay here for weeks and not discover all of it. SO much to do and see. Napoli is a great city to see also. I've actually never been to Sicilia but heard that it's amazing.

Good luck and FM me anytime!

---

ok what she said LOL but with a few thoughts of my own

if you are short on time i would skip florence - i felt it was very touristy and i didnt enjoy it ( i am also NOT into art)

Napoli is great BUT i could also skipping this city if you are short on time. It does give a great feel of the 'real' italy that some of the other cities lack in such a short time though - a little dangerous though so be careful there!

I would concentrate on Rome and Vatican City - I was there for 2 months and still feel like i didnt get to fully experience it

and if you want to try something different - try TAORMINA - it is in Sicily and amazing. It is beautiful and is becoming a popular honeymoon spot. Sicily has a character all its own - just an amazing place ( ok so i am biased ) also if you want to do some sight seeing, its a drive to an active volcano!!

wiki Taormina

my cousin's pictures of Mount Etna

We went for 10 days and booked everything ourselves, without a travel agent.

We budgeted $2K per person.

You should definitely purchase a travel book ahead of time, such as Rick Steve's Italy.

In the books, there are helpful tips about closings of the churches and museums (on days that you'd never think are actually holidays) and there are tips about prices and the best time to visit each site. He also suggests restaurants and hotels.
We booked our entire trip using this book.

We went to 4 cities, travelling by train from one place to another.

It was fantastic!

We went last year for 10 days. Venice, Florence, Rome, Sorrento and Capri. We planned the trip ourselves and would say it cost about 5-6k. This includes airfare, hotels, food, train, and spending money during the trip. Def a once in a lifetime trip for us so it was worth it!!!!

...and def get the Rick Steves book. We found all of our hotels in here and they were great!! Also check out trip advisor for tours. We went on the Scavi tour which was a highlight of our trip. It's a tour underneath St. Peters Basilica and they only allow a certain number of people in per day. You have to email months in advance. I would check it out. Good luck!!