Oneworld To Italy

[bigmal]

I will be taking an extended break next year fro 7 weeks with travel, through the states and then planning on 4 weeks in Italy, hopefully doing a house swap (we live in Cairns). Not sure on the best way to get info on this as "Googling" tends to be a very laborious way of getting specific details.

Has anyone any "great ideas" on somewhere (even info on nice relaxing areas) in Italy.

Also we intend staying at the W Hotel Times Square in New York. Any experiences there and ways of knocking the price down a bit?

 

[Keith009]

Sounds like a oneworld RTW fare would come in useful for you. A myriad of oneworld airlines fly to Italy (CX to FCO via HKG, BA to various cities via LON etc).

I'll be staying at the W Times Square for the first time in February due to mum's refusal to stay anywhere outside Times Sq. I've drunk here a few times - the crowd is pretty touristy; but stick around Whiskey at 2am and the locals start to arrive. Friends have said good things about the hotel itself and from the pics the decor looks pretty good. I got my room for $299/night which is pretty good for NYC at that time. Personally I'd avoid the Times Square location... YMMV. I can understand the magic of Times Square if it's your first time to NYC but the crowds do get to you after a day or two.

But I heartily recommend the W Union Square (which is one of the funkiest Ws out there imo) if you don't mind paying a little bit more. The Union Sq/Grammercy neighbourhood is pretty cool too - MUCH hipper than Times Sq. Oh and the bartenders at Union Sq make an awesome lychee martini. The crowds at its Living Room are also much cooler than that of the W Times Square.

 

[Va Bene]

Not sure about the house swap thing but as far as relaxing places, Lucca in Northern Tuscany is a great place that friends and ourselves have stayed during 2007. It is surrounded by 10metre medieval walls which you can walk, jog or hire a bike and ride around. It is a pedestrian friendly town with great shops and restaurants (as you would expect in Italy).

Some links are

Lucca Virtuale Walkthrough Virtual Tour
Destination Lucca - maps of lucca, tuscany, italy maps and accommodation
Homepage for knowital Lucca, Tuscany, Italy. general site
Sito ufficiale APT Lucca - Homepage official town website

It is 1.5hrs train ride from Florence and less than 1hr to Pisa. BA fly from LGW to Pisa. If going via Rome FIU with CX from HKG or BA from LHR, there are trains from Fiumicino to Rome Termini and from there you can take the Eurostar to Florence and a regional train to Lucca. This is a bit of messing around but probably a similar hassle to transferring from LHR to LGW, flying to PSA then catching 2 trains to Lucca.
Lucca isn't as 'touristy' as Florence or Sienna and is a good base to venture to these both of these places as well as others such as Cinque Terre and San Gimignano.
Suggest you get a Tuscany and Umbria (for Perugia, Assisi) guide book like Lonely Planet and do some research on the best place that might suit you.
Ciao

 

[littl_flier]

Hi bigmal. I'm not much use for the House Swap either but I did a quick google and noted there were plenty of options available in Italy on Home Exchange and House Swap with Swaphouse.org, the website for home exchange and house swap. Just home exchange and house swap. Go to seach offer, advanced seach and Europe, Southern Europe, Italy etc.

As far as Italy goes, you would have heard about the usuals. Venice and Rome would be great but Lake Como comes highly recommended to me as well for a nice realxing and scenic break. It's also where George Clooney holidays if that excites you or the other half.

You could be in worse places than Tuscany as well. A drive through the countryside and wineries would also make for a relaxing break. A cooking class with 'mama' would also be an experience!

As far as getting there, a xONEx could be an option (but quite expensive for the economy option unless you're going to use lots of the extra flights (but will cover departure from CNS)), along with the cheaper STAR option from $1499 + taxes. (don't know much about it, so it could be a dud though). You could also look at Finnair option from $1949 + taxes.

As other have noted, you could as simple a routing of CNS-SYD-JFK-FCO-HKG-CNS on the xONEx but you would have the option of some other flights if you wish.

Have a great trip- NYC and Italy sounds like a great combination for a holiday.

Cheers,
littl_flier