I need help planning a trip to Italy!!! We will be there for 16 days, Venice, Rome & Tuscany...???

Question

I am looking for any input on places to stay, eat, see, etc. We will be there for 15 nights, probably 5 in each location. We were hoping to find botique hotels or B&B's that are off the beaten path, something other than the typical tourist hotel to stay at. I would love any tips on villages to visit, restaurants to eat at, sites to see, what the weather will be like etc. Any help and input you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thank you all so much!

Answer 1

Milan - The Refrectory of Santa Maria del Grazie to see The Last Supper (Tickets in advance)

Venice - Saint Mark's Square, The Doge's Palace, Rialto bridge, Bridge of Sighs, Arsenal, The Accademia, Giacomo Cassanova's house, The Grand Canal and Murano.

Rome - Vatican Museums which include the Sistine Chapel, St Peter's Basillica, Castel Saint Angelo, Forum, Colosseum, Palatine, Circus Maximus, Via Appia, Gallery Borghese, Capitoline Museums, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and many many churches.

Florence - Uffizi Gallery (tickets in advance), Accademia (Michelangelo's David is there, Bargello, Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia with its sculpture, various churches and family chapels, Palazzo Pitti, Fort Belvedere.

Vinci in tuscanny to see the birthplace of Leonardo da VInci.

Naples- Pompeii, Herculanium.(1.5hrs from Rome)

Padua, Verona, the lakes, the Dolomites etc etc.

I can only list a few things here or I'd be going on for days

If you're pushed for time then train travel in Italy is very cheep and efficient.

Great guide books are the Eyewitness Travel Guides. They have photos, every attraction you can think of, opening times and great maps.

Take a look at these web sites and enjoy your trip.

http://mv.vatican.va/3_en/pages/mv_home....


http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/englis...


http://www.whatsonwhen.com/scripts/query...

www.venere.com

buon fortuna

Answer 2

Your so lucky. Italy is my favorite destination and Venice is always lovely and fascinating. I do have a recommendation for a wonderful, small hotel in Venice where I have stayed many times (see link below)

http://www.locandaorseolo.com/en/

This family-run hotel is in the heart of Venice, steps from the Piazza San Marco, with lovely rooms and a great staff. Matteo and Barbara are a young married couple who love what they do and the guests who stay with them. I highly recommend them and their warm and quaint hotel.

I was in Rome last month and stayed at the Albergo del Senato located in the Piazza della Rotonda, next door to the Pantheon. This is my third stay there. The location is unbeatable, the rooms are lovely (albeit small, as are most European hotel rooms) and it is within steps of some of the great sites of the city. I should say, however, that it is not an inexpensive option and the staff may sometimes be a bit aloof. See website below:

http://www.albergodelsenato.it/

If you get to Florence be sure to eat at the wonderful Quattro Leoni (four lions). It is a bit off the beaten path although the website has an easy to follow map (see below). I especially recommend the "Fiocchetti de pere" and have had it every time I visit. See website with menu below:

http://www.4leoni.com/

Have a wonderful time.

Answer 3

It is easy to find boutique hotels by doing a search. There is a huge difference in cost between boutique hotels (very expensive and B&B which are called pensione in the cities or agroturism in the country. When you say Tuscany does that mean you want to be in Florence and Siena or in the countryside for which you will need a car. Rule number one is to never eat near the Cathedral or main piazza as that will be the most expensive and full of tourists. Rule number two is never eat in a restaurant where the menu is in 4 languages, go where the menu is in Italian and you hear Italian being spoken. You don't say what month you are going. It is cold now and you can find rain and snow. You can check out specifics on the weather channel.

Answer 4

I cannot give you detailed answers, but I've been to Tuscany, and Tuscany is sandwiched between Florence and Pisa, so you can stay in the Tuscan countryside when visiting both these cities. I also spent an evening, roaming an olive garden where Leonardo Da Vinci's house was, in the same area. Italy will be warmer than most of europe during the winter, probably in the 40s., but there's always some sunshine. Have a good time.

Answer 5

You are going to be cold. Do not rent a car, just take the train from town to town. Most towns are walkable, but DO bring comfortable shoes. By day 7 of my last trip, walking in cute shoes, I felt like I was walking on broken feet. LOL In Venice, I stayed at the Hotel Nazionale. It was a very nice 3-star hotel, moderately priced, and served breakfast in the morning. It IS on the canals, so you may get a room with a view. Don't spend too much time in Rome, its a tad boring. Write to me and I can tell you where I stayed, I just can't remember right now :) . See the *other* parts of Italy. You will fall in love with it, it is an amazing country.

Answer 6

Venice (Venezia) really needs no release, see ways to get there with hotelbye . This city is a fabled location for centuries. Only the name Venice is sufficient to conjure up a host of photographs, even for those who have not even collection base in Italy. From gondoliers in striped jerseys to the Rialto and the Bridge of Sighs, bad balls, fantastic barges, courtesans in gondolas and crumbling palaces experiencing roads made from water Venice is an incredible city. After the sole link over the Grand Canal, Rialto Bridge scars the location of the island's first settlement, named Rivus Altus and has become one of the lots of place that Venice needs to offer.

Answer 7

I went to a lovely little house for the perfect romantic spot called Angileos House. You will need to get in line for the vatican early or you will be in line for hours at a time. There are to many stealers in rome and you need to keep a eye on your wallet or purse. The colloseum is a long line in also. Bring a unbrella for shade. Take as many tours on buses as you can. Eat alot of pizza! Make reservtions and buy tickets in advance. See the Pope at the sunday services. Be at the airport to leave early. Have fun!!

Answer 8

Journeying on to Florence through the Tuscan countryside: Lucca, Pisa and other delightful towns dot the road to Pisa where who are guested of the Agostini family Villa di Corliano. The family - and 2 resident ghosts - still welcome guest at the Villa, much as it they were at the height of its fame in the 1770’s. The stay at Bagni di Pisa (health giving waters are still offered to an international clientele) and visit Pisa during one of the city’s festivals, staying at the Agostini Palace to enjoy the best view of the festivities. The Villa http://www.villacorliano.it has hosted many illustrious guests such as Gustavus III of Sweden, Christian II of Denmark, the Royal Family of Great Britain, Benedict Stuart Cardinal of York, General Murat, Luigi Buonaparte, Paolina Borghese, Carlo Alberto of Savoy, the poets Byron and Shelley, and various other personages from the history books.

The area of the Pisa hills was already an attraction for enlightened travellers in the first half of the 1700s with the growth of the thermal spa of San Giuliano, which became a fashionable spot for the well-off classes. The mansions on the road along the hills, already renowned as places of gentle idleness and relaxation in the heart of the countryside and also for their small industrial facilities for the transformation of agricultural products, soon assumed the characteristics of true leisure resorts, just like those narrated by Carlo Goldoni and which we can continue to enjoy today. The Relais dell’ Ussero at the Villa Agostini della Seta di Corliano is on the road which runs along the foot of the hills from Pisa to Lucca, passing through the small town of San Giuliano Terme. The Villa is a historical fifteenth century mansion surrounded by a centuries old park. It is a property of great charm in which the owners offer, in 12 rooms and 2 suites, a relaxing stay immersed in the beauties of the local countryside. Guests, if they like, can join in the day to day activities of the villa. They can have relaxing strolls in the park, potter around in the gardens, chat or have dinner with the owners in the farmhouse of the villa – today a high class restaurant with authentic simple dishes of the Tuscan flavours.

The Villa della Seta is very conveniently located near the village of Corliano only 2 Km along the road from the health spa of San Giuliano Terme, and halfway between the historical cities of Pisa and Lucca (a 15 minute drive to both). Florence is only an hour away and Siena an hour and a half.

They can also organize all the necessary details for your meetings, convention, weddings at 1700’s small private church or at 1400’s sky garden or at the park of the Villa or at the oldest Italian cinema, restructured with modern audio visual technologies on 2004 near the historic Caffè dell’Ussero, founded on 1775 and seat of the meetings of the first Italian Congress of Scientists on 1839. Last but not least you do not forget a very good ice cream at the old “diacciaia” (now De Coltelli gelateria) of the Ussero palace.

Answer 9

Hi,

You have lots to choose from!

Have a look at this site to get some good ideas:
http://www.italyexposed.com

Have a nice trip!

Answer 10

YOU DEFINETLY HAVE TO GO TO ASSISI, ITALY. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL LITTLE VILLAGE ON A MOUNTAIN. ALL OF THE STREETS & BUILDINGS ARE MADE OF WHITE STONE, THERE ARE PASTRY SHOPS EVERYWHERE, AND ITS ONLY ABOUT TWO HOURS AWAY FROM ROME. its also where St.Francis lived.