Advice for italy for 15 days

[lovetravellingoz]

However the biggest negative were the Italians .... rude, arrogant, inconsiderate, and I can categorically say that are the worse of the worse when it comes to all my travels around the world. .

I mean like WOW!!!

I found 100% the opposite. We had a great time and met warmth and hospitatlity everywhere we went.

Sure there were a few rude people, but the vast majority were great....from people we bump into on the street, the patient tobaccinsut whe i was buying my first ever overseas SIM, to waiting staff, to the lady serving in the Vatican Cafeteria to......

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Recommend:
Underground tour colosseum. Starts at bottom goes to the top. Limited numbers & informative. 30 odd euro. Must be booked direct with the Colosseum

No you can book online. We booked via the Internet when we were in Venice.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I find it hilarious reading some of these posts. As an Australian of Italian heritage (Aunts and Uncles still living there) the number one travel trip for visiting Italia - visit in Winter !

All the places it mentions go early or book in advance don't apply in the winter. And Rome, Florence or even Venice is not that cold in winter.

And the Dolomites in Winter (or Summer for that matter) - no words can do them justice.

Unfortunately some of us have to factor in work committments of both husband and wife, school and other activities.....as part of deciding when we can go.

It will be nice when I am retired and I can just go when I please....

 

[medhead]

It is one of the tours described here..
Italy With Us - Vatican Tours, Vatican Travel, Vatican Tour, Vatican Walking Tour

Or Italy With Us - Vatican After Hours for the exact tour.


Personally I found going in at 8am had very few people in the Sistine Chapel....and given it's much cheaper price is the tour that I would recommend...unless money is no object.....

I'm not sure. My notes are as follows:

"Helen Donegan. Night tour Sistine chapel and Vatican"

So not much help there.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

I'm not sure. My notes are as follows:

"Helen Donegan. Night tour Sistine chapel and Vatican"

So not much help there.

Quite possibly there will be several providers.

 

[casanovawa]

Was in Rome in in July, and Venice and Florence in 2008 in November/December, and while not freezing it wasn't really warm either... I have now decided all my trips to the northern hemisphere will be in May to August for the warmth and for the extended hours of daylight to get maximum touring time and good photos...

Rome
Big +1 for Chris-Syd's bit of advice about insted of going to the Coluseum to buy tickets and join a queue a mile long and wait probably an hour and a half or more, i went to the ticket selling place at the Palatine Hill and wait might have been about 15-20 minutes and then to the Roman Forum ticket station and there were about 4 people there... Buying at any of them will let you walk straight into the Coluseum..
I saw a bunch of offers for early morning/straight past the huge line tours of the Vatican costing about 45 Euros, as I had been through in 2004 and got my pic of the Sistine Chapel, i didn't feel like paying that amount, in the end i did line up about 9am for about 30 mins to get into St Peter's again, but missed the Vatican... There was a yellow caravan or ticket seller a little to the right as you walk up the street towards St Peter's and i think they were offering to get you into the Vatican straight past the lines at 3 times during the day (10, 12 and 2?) and they were only charging about 25 Euros i think, but not sure if they included a tour as well or how good it may have been, if you feel you need a tour??
After going to Rome in 2004, i found the movie Angels and Demons was a great movie capturing some of Rome's sites that after watching you can retrace some of the steps... But a couple of days will allow good time to walk around and explore many of the sites people always mention, break into a couple of zones i suppose...

Venice
Everything is over priced i found, specially internet access there...
I just got a self paced walking tour where you get a device to hang around your neck and listen to and you just press the button when you walk up to a certain building on the map and it will tell you about it, lets you go at your own pace and own order and not too expensive...
The tower in St Mark's Square is well worth doing, although one day i was there St Marks Square had flooded because of a high tide and everyone was having to walk around on raised walkways, so hopefully you won't get that..
You will get lost going through all the back allyes, how the locals even know where they are going i don't know, but that can be half the fun..

Florence
Me personally, i didn't bother going into the Uffizi Gallery as art museums aren't really my thing, more history and natural history and those sorts of things are what i go for, but i'm sure its nice...
I did go see David and even though your not meant to photgraph in the museum, i did get a snapshot, and then was duly told off... But he was bigger than i expected him to be, as opposed to Mona Lisa which everyone usually says is smaller...
I stay in hostels when i travel most of the time, so can't really give much relevant advice to members here, but the hostel i stayed at offered a couple of different walking tours of the city (think they were free) and they were pretty interesting with all the hitory of the city and De Medicis etc, so try and find at least one to do..
The Duomo is of course a must see there and its pretty crazily painted ceiling of people falling into hell and demons ripping people apart etc.. Extremely odd, so take some zoom photos to show people how they use to encourage people back in the middle ages or so to rock up and pay up... You can also cross over the river to a nice viewing platform, forget its name now...
I ended up taking a train down to Pisa for the afternoon of looking at the Leaning Tower (again surprised at its locale as i didn't think it would be in a small little square like that) before flying out of there the next day, but might be a nice day trip down there for a reasonable train price if you can book those MINI prices..

 

[Alanslegal]

I mean like WOW!!!

I found 100% the opposite. We had a great time and met warmth and hospitatlity everywhere we went.

Sure there were a few rude people, but the vast majority were great....from people we bump into on the street, the patient tobaccinsut whe i was buying my first ever overseas SIM, to waiting staff, to the lady serving in the Vatican Cafeteria to......

I really had a bad time in Italy and even my low service expectation from the start could not even be met. Two work colleagues who also went to Italy in the last two months also confirmed my opinion that their hospitality was really really appalling.

In one instance, a waiter yelled and swore at me, probably because 1) I didn't order a wine with my meal 2) sent my ice tea back to the kitchen because I ordered a lemon tea and they brought a peach tea 3) spent less than EUR30 and 4) the waiter complained that I was paying using a credit card (even though it was clearly signposted VI/MC/AX were OK). This was 10pm in the evening and I just wanted a quick meal before heading back to the hotel ... and to me money is money, 30EUR is better than no revenue, and at least they got my patronage rather than one of their many competitors nearby.

However next time I should go where you go though

 

[andrewjc77]

Lucky you, Italy is wonderful. I'd always struggled with Italy in the past, found it a bit hectic and fast for my liking, but the last two years I've rented an apartment for a month over the northern summer in Florence and had a ball. The trick I think is to find a base for your stay and then travel out from there (not having ot worry about bags each day and all of that), the trains are pretty reliable and will get you around no worries. In Florence I would try and book an apartment in town or otherwise in Oltarno on the South side of the river (where it's a bit quieter). This year I booked an apartment through a company called Sleeping in Florence, a lady called Gianna was so helpful and she owns all the apartments on their books herself so she looks after you. I stayed in their San Lorenzo apartments. Literally 50 metres from Duomo, you could see the dome from the window. Highly recommended. In addition to the usual Florentine sights I would recommend a visit to Boboli Gardens on a hot day, nice and shady, great views. Also sunset at Piaza Michaelangelo is great for views and photography. Santa Croce (church) is a hidden gem, on the inside they have crypts for Galileo, Michaelangelo and a heap of others. The science museum aroun the corner from Uffizi is great too. Further afield Siena is lovely, and are the other Tuscan hill towns, but my favourite would be Civita de Bagnoregia. It's off the beaten track and closer to Rome than Tuscany but it's just beauitful, its really only a one or two hour stop though if nearby. If you have time to get to the coast head for Cinque Terra. The walk is relatively easy between the villages if you dont take the hard one, I did it in half a day with a stop at each of the villages. I stayed in the fourth village along as you come in from Florence on th train, struggling to remember the name but it was just like a postcard, stunning. Also Portofino and Portovanere are nice as well, visited from Cinque Terra.Have fun!