im trying to plan our itinerary for the 4 days before our cruise leaves, where our 'home-base' will be rome, with a 1 day excursion to florence
i was just wondering how our itinerary looks-is there anything im missing? should i add anything? take anything away?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Arrive in Rome Drop off bags at hotel 10:00 am Colosseum $12 combo ticket includes the Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill 11:30 am Roman Forum Ticket bought for Colosseum 1:00 pm Lunch 2:00 pm Hotel Check in, Siesta 4:00 pm Paletine Hill Ticket bought for Colosseum 6:00 Pantheon/Surrounding Churches 7:30 Dinner Ristorante il Gabriello ($60 pp + drinks) 9:00 Spanish Steps
Thursday, July 15, 2010
10:00 Vatican Museum Tour $14 ticket Modest Dress Required Reserve time online 2:00 Lunch Hostaria dei Bastioni ($20 pp + drinks) 3:00 St. Peter’s Basilica $6 6:00 Dinner 8:00 Free time around Rome
Friday, July 16, 2010
8:00 Train to Florence 10:00 Arrive in Florence 10:30 Accademia $10.50 Reserve ahead www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi 12:00 Lunch 1:00 Duomo Museum $6 3:00 Uffizi Gallery $14 Reserve ahead www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi No bottled liquids allowed inside 5:30 Walk the Ponte Vecchio Bridge 6:00 Dinner 8:00 Train to Rome 10:00 Arrive in Rome
Saturday, July 17, 2010
10:00 National Museum $10 ticket 12:30 Lunch/Siesta 2:30 Borghese Museum $12.50 Ticket Purchase in advance: www.ticketeria.it Mandatory bag check for even small bags 2 hour limit in museum-strictly enforced 6:30 Dinner Ristorante Da Giovanni ($15 pp + drinks) 8:00 Opera
sorry it's so long!
Malvinka
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Re: girls who have been to italy
hey what cruise are you going on? we are flying to Rome the 14th and doing Rome, Florence, pizza and Venice. THen taking a cruise from Venice to Greek Islands.
You really planned out your days its great. I will try to do that as well.
jmgoncal
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Re: girls who have been to italy
You're jamming a lot into a really short amount of time - which is fine of course, but you should know that there will likely be lines outside of many of the museums you listed. For example, the line outside the Duomo or the Uffizi itself may be up to an hour - so when you list your timing, realize it may be really off and you might need to adjust.
20mrsc10
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by jmgoncal
You're jamming a lot into a really short amount of time - which is fine of course, but you should know that there will likely be lines outside of many of the museums you listed. For example, the line outside the Duomo or the Uffizi itself may be up to an hour - so when you list your timing, realize it may be really off and you might need to adjust.
that's where i got confused-i want to buy as many of the tickets in advance as possible-will we still have to wait on a line if we pre-order the tickets?
Clover23
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Re: girls who have been to italy
i have to be honest with you here - i don't think you have enough time alotted for some of the things you want to do. i mean i guess it depends on how into it you are but like for example your first day in rome - the roman forum itself can take a whole afternoon. oh and same wtih the vatican museum. just think about what's most important to you and make sure you leave extra time for those things if you want to use it. oh and the coliseum and forum are really out of the way from the rest of the city so they do take a little while to get to. just fyi. hth!
ETA - if there is ANY WAY you can get in to see the Scavi while you're at St. Peters/Vatican City - it is a MUST SEE. I would go back there in a heartbeat. trust me it is amazing. just absolutely amazing. but it's a hard ticket to get and there are some restrictions on dress, etc. bc it's a sacred area i think.
Alexandra17
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
Posted by jmgoncal
You're jamming a lot into a really short amount of time - which is fine of course, but you should know that there will likely be lines outside of many of the museums you listed. For example, the line outside the Duomo or the Uffizi itself may be up to an hour - so when you list your timing, realize it may be really off and you might need to adjust.
that's where i got confused-i want to buy as many of the tickets in advance as possible-will we still have to wait on a line if we pre-order the tickets?
you shouldn't have to but I would double check through a travel agent..if you do not get to everything, it's ok! Italy is a wonderful experience..lucky lady!
jmgoncal
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
Posted by jmgoncal
You're jamming a lot into a really short amount of time - which is fine of course, but you should know that there will likely be lines outside of many of the museums you listed. For example, the line outside the Duomo or the Uffizi itself may be up to an hour - so when you list your timing, realize it may be really off and you might need to adjust.
that's where i got confused-i want to buy as many of the tickets in advance as possible-will we still have to wait on a line if we pre-order the tickets?
As far as the Duomo goes, I really don't remember if we pre-ordered or not. BUT we definitely pre-ordered for the Uffizi and still had to wait on line.
20mrsc10
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by Clover23
i have to be honest with you here - i don't think you have enough time alotted for some of the things you want to do. i mean i guess it depends on how into it you are but like for example your first day in rome - the roman forum itself can take a whole afternoon. oh and same wtih the vatican museum. just think about what's most important to you and make sure you leave extra time for those things if you want to use it. oh and the coliseum and forum are really out of the way from the rest of the city so they do take a little while to get to. just fyi. hth!
ETA - if there is ANY WAY you can get in to see the Scavi while you're at St. Peters/Vatican City - it is a MUST SEE. I would go back there in a heartbeat. trust me it is amazing. just absolutely amazing. but it's a hard ticket to get and there are some restrictions on dress, etc. bc it's a sacred area i think.
thanks!!
our hotel is supposedly by the coliseum, so i figured travel time to that wouldn't be too bad
im just trying to do as much as we can in the time that we have..
cateydee
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Re: girls who have been to italy
i agree. i am a little overwhelmed just reading your itinerary (but i get tired easily). florence looks a little tight.
i know you want to get as many places in as possible but dont forget that the quintissential roman pastime is eatiing gelato in the piazza. i wouldnt miss piazza navona. and since i love food so much i'd recommend campo dei fiori (during the day when they have the market).
20mrsc10
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Re: girls who have been to italy
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
Clover23
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
they're not kidding. i'd say it is not something you want to be caught doing.
Clover23
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Re: girls who have been to italy
if possible you want to do the outdoor stuff as early as possible in the day. it gets BRUTALLY HOT there in july, and if the sun is out, the roman forum can be beastly bc there's really nowhere to hide. make sure you have a lot of water!!
20mrsc10
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by Clover23
Posted by 20mrsc10
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
they're not kidding. i'd say it is not something you want to be caught doing.
are there signs or should i make note on my itinerary
grr..how do ppl get pictures of the sistine chapel and everything?
Lucky2010
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
I've taken pictures - no flash. But it's been a long time since I've been to Rome so I'm not sure if things have changed on their strictness. We're going to Rome for part of our honeymoon as well. What hotel are you staying at? I have a relative who works in Rome. I'd be happy to ask him for some restaurant recommendations for you! FM me
When we were there we had pre-ordered tickets and still had to wait on some lines... but they were shorter than the regular lines. You do have a lot jammed in there and I think it's all possible. Some things may seem a little rushed... Like the Vatican... when we started out we looked at each painting, the ceilings, every friggin statue and then about a third of the way through we pretty much were just rushing past everything to get to the Sistine Chapel. If you're going to want to look at each and every piece of art then you'll probably be in there the rest of your life LOL!!!
I did Italy in one of those Contiki tours and really now that I think about it I was in Rome, Florence and Venice for 2 1/2 days each.... In Rome we saw everything you have listed and then some because we were constantly moving. We did the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, the Vatican tour, St. Peter's and the Coliseum and Roman Forum, Palantine Hill all in two days and some museums that I can't remember the name of right now. If you and Michael can stick to an itinierary you will be fine. A lot of those things are really just what I call 'drive by' locations and don't require much time. I'm going to take a look for my Italy stuff and let you know exactly what we did and how it was mapped out.
If you go to the Contiki website you can go their Italy trips and see what they cram into a day... granted those are with tour guides who know their way around and speak the language BUT it'll give you a good idea of what the MOST you can realistically accomplish in a day.... and take a look at my Italy pics on Facebook... It'll give you an overview of what we saw/did... I think I got at least one pic of everything in there!!
And I only texted you 20 minutes ago to tell you I was responding to this!!! LOL!!!
Bride825
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
Posted by Clover23
Posted by 20mrsc10
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
they're not kidding. i'd say it is not something you want to be caught doing.
are there signs or should i make note on my itinerary
grr..how do ppl get pictures of the sistine chapel and everything?
when I went it was really crowded...im sure people sneak a pic when they can...i didnt, i took so many leading up to it I didnt even want anymore lol
definitely get to the piazza navona if you can like catey said...it so cute
I might have missed it on your itinerary but did you want to see the Trevi Fountain?
Also, you might want to schedule some more time for meals...service is not like what it is here, its much more laid back...HTH
GR2010
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Re: girls who have been to italy
Posted by 20mrsc10
also-how serious are they about the whole no picture thing in some of the museums?
You just have to be sly about it. I took a picture of the David even though there were signs everywhere that pretty much said they would kick you out of the country if you even attempted it. And also they say no pics in the Sistine Chapel but every other person has their camera up and is taking pictures. And I have a monster of a camera so it's not like I could really hide it. I got some decent pictures from in there too!! LOL!!!
GR2010
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Re: girls who have been to italy
And I didn't see the Trevi FOuntain on your list!!! If I'm remembering correctly it's within walking distance from the Pantheon (and there is a really good gelato shop right over there)
You have to throw coins in over your shoulder for good luck!!!
