Italy help - Venice and Florence

september2004 Posted: Jun 30, 2004 01:39 PM

Italy help - Venice and Florence

we are thinking about going to italy for a honeymoon... we have places to stay in milan, but want to explore venice and florence - has anyone been and can provide info on good places to stay?

thanks

merf99 Posted: Jun 30, 2004 01:40 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

We stayed in both places and LOVED our hotels- The Westin Excelsior in Florence and the Westin Europa and Regina in Venice. Both cities are AMAZING and romantic!

september2004 Posted: Jun 30, 2004 01:43 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

Posted by merf99

We stayed in both places and LOVED our hotels- The Westin Excelsior in Florence and the Westin Europa and Regina in Venice. Both cities are AMAZING and romantic!

thanks!

what price range am i looking at? how long did you stay in each city? did you find it too long or not long enough?

merf99 Posted: Jun 30, 2004 02:01 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

They were pretty expensive! I can't remember what we paid but I think most hotels there, esp in Venice are very pricey. We did 3 days in each city I think and that was enough time.

When we were in Venice, we toured the island of Murano and saw all the glass-blowing which was so cool and then went to the island of Lido one night for dinner by boat.

matron Posted: Jun 30, 2004 02:12 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

My DH and I are going for our 2 year anniversary and staying at:

HOTEL MONTECARLO S.R.L. in Venice

and

HOTEL IL MARZOCCO in Tuscany

We were originally going to stay in

Calzaiuoli Htl in Florence but my friend who spent a lot of time in Italy suggested we stay in Tuscany (MONTEPULCIANO) instead and take a day trip to Florence.

I'm so excited. GOOD LUCK! Are you going anyplace else in Italy?

lesleyw Posted: Jun 30, 2004 02:17 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

We stayed at the Pensione Academia in Venice and really loved it. I think we paid about 230 euros a night. I can't remember the name of the hotel in Florence. It was right off the main Piazza, so it was kind of noisy, but nicely located.

You will love Italy!

september2004 Posted: Jun 30, 2004 02:19 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

Posted by matron

Calzaiuoli Htl in Florence but my friend who spent a lot of time in Italy suggested we stay in Tuscany (MONTEPULCIANO) instead and take a day trip to Florence.

do you know why this was suggested?

I'm so excited. GOOD LUCK! Are you going anyplace else in Italy?

we are trying to figure out what we can afford and how long we want to stay. FH has relatives in milan so we will stop in and say 'hi' for a bit. we want to hit venice for alone time and i was thinking we could tack on another city time and $$$ permitting...

how did you go about your research, any tips?

matron Posted: Jun 30, 2004 06:27 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

I think my friend suggested Tuscany over Florence for my DH & I just because she knows us well and thought the countryside would be more our style. Tuscany is known for their vineyards and DH & I love going to wineries and things....I don't know .... she just thought it was more my style.

As far as research, I did a lot online and bought a Fodors. Haven't done much more in the way of research. I figure we'll figure it all out once we get there. I'm so psyched.

matron Posted: Jun 30, 2004 06:29 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

BTW, we are going to Rome, Tuscany, Cinque Terre, The Lake Region, Venice, and Paris. The cities we chose in Italy were based solely on other people's suggestions.

dm24angel Posted: Jun 30, 2004 06:41 PM

Re: Italy help - Venice and Florence

I was just researching Venice last night...I used Yahoo travel and expedia.com....none of the hotels I picked out ( and I did price checks on about 20) were more then $2500 for airfare for two people and 8 nights 9 days hotel stay ...Some of the ones I bookmarked were even like $1500-$1750 for ALL
( air, hotel)
I would check it out...