Italia

[antoine]

hey hey

just wondering if its possible to do the following, or if its recommended. Looked at Lonely Planets week in Rome suggestion and its basically Rome, Florence, Naples. Cheers in Advance

Rome - 5 nites
Naples - 1 nite
Florence - 3 nites
Venice - 1 nite
Milan -1 nite (fly out next arvo)

[madamtrashheap]

Ciao antoine!

the itinerary is possible, but may I suggest skipping Naples and adding maybe Siena, Assisi or even an extra night in Venice. Or perhaps taking a nite from Rome and staying on the Amalfi Coast (passing through Naples on the way). Then you can visit Pompei at some point too. Just a thought.

Are you changing your plans about the cities you originally posted?

[antoine]

Yes never ending changes, less of spain and france more of Italy lol, going to school and being mates with Italians i thaught why would i need to go there lol but ive changed my mind.

Just had a look on myair.com and they fly from Venice - Barcelona for 46E. Pretty much gonna jump on this flight straight away (later tonite). So can skip Milan and add the nite somewhere else. Just wanna get most of the planing done before end of next week....... uni exams :S

[madamtrashheap]

Nice find on the flight! Go for it. Interested to see how the itinerary evolves now.
Good luck with your exams. ;D

[pointofnoreturn]

Rome - 5 niights (you can include one whole day in Naples to get out of Rome for a while)

Naples - 1 night (I've heard that Naples is really sketchy so you just might want to consider it as a daytrip from Rome via the train like I suggested above)

Florence - 3 nights (Perfect! I'm staying in Florence for 3 nights too. Tip: Book your reservations to the galleries ahead of time!)

Venice - 1 night (I heard that 2-3 nights is better if you want to explore more of the city but Venice is supposed to be expensive so....)

Milan -1 night (I am staying in Milan for one night only - just for a flight but I'm not staying at a hotel/hostel but rather at the airport. I'm planning to look around Milan during the day to enjoy the sights then just head to the airport in the evening).

[antoine]

pointofnoreturn said:

Rome - 5 niights (you can include one whole day in Naples to get out of Rome for a while)

Naples - 1 night (I've heard that Naples is really sketchy so you just might want to consider it as a daytrip from Rome via the train like I suggested above)

Florence - 3 nights (Perfect! I'm staying in Florence for 3 nights too. Tip: Book your reservations to the galleries ahead of time!)

Venice - 1 night (I heard that 2-3 nights is better if you want to explore more of the city but Venice is supposed to be expensive so....)

Milan -1 night (I am staying in Milan for one night only - just for a flight but I'm not staying at a hotel/hostel but rather at the airport. I'm planning to look around Milan during the day to enjoy the sights then just head to the airport in the evening).

Wow should of updated. Flying out of Venice on the 9th to Barca. So atm it goes a little something like this

Rome - 5 days
Florence - 3 days - Sienna & Pisa, not a full on arty meseum type
Venice - 2

Leaving me with a day, am thinking Padova (see the guy i was named after, and patron saint of portugal. My mum is part portugese so theres the connection), Which i could do from Venice or see somewhere else or Assisi lke mentioned above.

From what i've heard about Naples But then again why travel more than half way across the world to be scared to visit a place, so staying in Rome another day is doable, just got to be carefull.

Any must-do's for Florence??? Havnt really looked into to be honest lol

One month exactly till i leave. Went nuts buying Vueling tickets yesterday 20E within Spain unbelivable, so had to change my itenary again!!! Never ending lol

[herrbert]

I hope you are done, with your exams. because here is some homework coming your way: www.welcometuscany.it/tuscany/florence/florence.htm

[pointofnoreturn]

From what i've heard about Naples But then again why travel more than half way across the world to be scared to visit a place, so staying in Rome another day is doable, just got to be carefull.

It's just parts of Naples is really sketchy but you could take a day trip to Pompeii via Naples and see the volcanoes LOL! It's not like you're spending all day in Naples, just changing trains.

[antoine]

First exam in 3 days, i finish exams a week before i leave!!! lucky i didnt make it the day after, still so much to do.

Thanks for the Florence Link Herrbet. Also think ill stay another day in Rome. Even though im there for 5 nights atm, i fly in at about 5pm and doubt ill see much at all that day. Leaving only 4 full days. So another nite makes it 5 full days, and the side trip to see the Volcano.

Once again thanks a mill, hopefully when i get back i can be as helpfull as you guy have been in helping me plan my trip

[pointofnoreturn]

Do let us know how it goes and post about your trip!

[madamtrashheap]

antoine said:

So another nite makes it 5 full days, and the side trip to see the Volcano.

I hope you're only going to "see" Vesuvius and aren't planning to try to visit Pompei as well as make it up the mountain. Not because it's dangeous, but because it's not exactly easy to get to the summit - there aren't any public bus services (just private tours) and hiking is hardly something you'd do as a day trip!

As for Florence, if you're not really into art then maybe push yourself and go inside Santa Croce church - the tombs of many well-known Tuscans (Michelangelo, Gallileo) are held there, as well as some amazing frescoes by Giotto. I'd say go inside the Uffizi, but it may not be to your tastes. If you want to see the original statue of David (Michelangelo), then spend the time to go inside the Accademia. It's only a small gallery, so it won't overload you too much. If you want to go out where the locals go at night, try Meccano (Brazillian-themed club) or the disco (club) area in Central Park for dance music. Also, if you wander through the San Lorenzo markets, when you get to the end closest to the train station, on the left there is a great foccacia cafe that makes them to order - deliziozo!

Pisa can be a half-day trip from Florence and Siena will be a day trip. Don't count on doing both as you will probably find you like Florence more than you expected. Padova (Padua) isn't far from Venice and is quite pretty - palaces, cathedrals, squares to sit in for caffe and people watchin. Enjoy!

Good luck with the exams - you should be right into them by now I'm guessing.

[antoine]

Cheers one and all.

By the Volcano i meant pompeii, but didnt want to attempt to speel it. Ahhh another thing to look at, i actually want to look at the ash covered people and ruins. Didnt actually think you could climb it.

That said im not an arty type, will definately see the meuseams in Florence. Also its a good place for leather apparently?? a wallet should be in order there. Read somewhere about a leather school selling affordable goods from their students, perfect

Was thinking of getting the train from Florence to Padova then heading to Venice. Thinking about i'd be really good to see Saint Anthony's Basicila.

Got a feeling ill be re reading this topic in an internet cafe in Europe somewhere in about two months time lol

[madamtrashheap]

That clears that up!

There are moulds of the bodies scattered around the site (Pompei), however they are excavating/renovating some areas so I'm not sure what is open and what's closed. Grab a site plan from the information booth at the ticket office/entrance, that should have the latest info. Grab an audio guide too if you want to get the most out of it. And yes, you can well and truly see Vesuvius from anywhere on the Amalfi Coast! Have a look at www2.pompeiisites.org/database/pompei/pompei2.nsf/pagine/86CEFC47EC002C16C1256AB6003247E1?OpenDocument for inspiration. There is also an Achaeological Museum in Naples that holds many mosaics and artefacts from Pompei, but it's really only for hardcore fans. Wandering around the ruins is pretty impressive. Herculaneum (Ercolano - closer to Naples) is very impressive too, but don't try to cram too much in, Pompei is more your scene.

Glad to hear you'll go to some museums in Florence. I hadn't heard about the leather school deal, but yes the leather is good there. As is the jewellery (gold and silver), just stay away from the Ponte Vecchio as too many of the shops there don't charge decent prices (read: tourist prices). You'll see the "nomination" bracelets all over Italy - boys wear them and give them to their girlfriend(s) with their initials on them, but you can also get them with flags, signs, etc as an alternative to flags for your backpack. Most boys in the south of Italy wear them, but they can be bought all over, esp Florence and Venice.

Divertirti! ;D

[antoine]

madamtrashheap said:

You'll see the "nomination" bracelets all over Italy - boys wear them and give them to their girlfriend(s) with their initials on them, but you can also get them with flags, signs, etc as an alternative to flags for your backpack. Most boys in the south of Italy wear them, but they can be bought all over, esp Florence and Venice.

Yeah a cpl of my Italian friends have them, silver made up of linked blocks, that what you mean??? Will definately pick one up, we can get them in Aus, but its not 'genuine' lol

Ahhh Italians so passionate, had an argument with my Italian friend that Nescafe is coffee, and he remarked for half an hour "its not real coffee", "freeze dried is not the same as coffee", 'but it is coffee' i said in protest..... it ended with us driving to the supermarket looking at a tin and it saying 100% coffee beans. FYI i use a percolator

First and hardest exam is over YAY three more. SOooooooooooo looking forward to Europe and the more i hear about Italy the more i want to go there (and buy things) lol

[madamtrashheap]

antoine said:

had an argument with my Italian friend that Nescafe is coffee

Blasphemer! I know you were stirring him (no pun intended!), but I'm with him! Here's a little aside for you, in Italy you can order Nescafe in a cafe, but it's called a "Caffe Americano" (long black). Seriously! ;D

And yes, that's what I was referring to about the Nomination Bracelets. Happy shopping!