Train to Venice is easiest and takes you right to Venice Sanata Lucia Station - a beautiful way to e

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- Also looking for Venice hotel/B B recommendations. For our Venice hotel, we are looking for beauty more than functional - but can't afford expensive! 2 or 3 nights. (Is there enough to do in Venice for 2-3 days?)
- Any "must do's" appreciated. Other than Venice, Rome, Pompeii, and Ostia Antica, we are open to anything - bearing in mind cost and not having to pack up a suitcase every few days and taking the train somewhere.
wheels inn chatham ontario Yes, there's enough to do in Venice for 2 or 3 days. Be sure to stay in Venice proper, not on the mainland or on the Lido. You lose so much of the experience of Venice if you're not there at night. Hotels are expensive in Venice, though. You may need to splurge wheels inn chatham ontario a little bit. Can you give us a budget per night for hotels?
I wouldn't add to your destinations. You'll find plenty to do in Rome and Venice. And don't worry about communicating. Many Italians speak English, especially in the touristed areas. And everybody is eager to help you.
I would stay near Campo dei Fiori for access to the square in the morning and evening and for the ability to walk to many sights. You can always wheels inn chatham ontario take a bus but I find taxis in Rome to be affordable so you can splurge a bit and save some time.
The churches in Rome are filled with art, each more glorious than the last one. If you enjoy sculpture and Bernini do visit the Borghese Gallery (reservations required and there is a 2 hour limit inside the museum). You can take the docent led tour in English for a small fee.
Not sure you need to do both Ostia Antica and Pompei - I think the easier one would be Ostia Antica. You might do some hotel research on www.venere.com - for both cities you can put in an area, there are reviews and of course price-points. You will have better luck with specific recommendations here if you give us your budget. I'd push the budget for 3 days in Venice - plenty to do. Can you get Rick Steve's guidebooks in the UK - he has lots of moneysaving and practical, logistical info in his books. Enjoy!
First, kind of hate to start with a negative, but wish you had asked before booking flights. You could have done a multi city and flown into Venice and out of Rome for about the same as cost of train to/from Venice to Rome. However, if that can't be changed, it is minor. Just create your itinerary based on the fact that you will need to be back in Rome at the end.
Train to Venice is easiest and takes you right to Venice Sanata Lucia Station - a beautiful way to enter Venice. Much better to spend two nights in Venice. You will have only part of the first day. It is too far to be an enjoyable day trip from Rome, and people who do it only as a day trip are often unhappy with Venice.
Tours, just my opinion: Many people love tours, but if you buy really good guide books and study even a little bit, you can get do most things on your own and save lots lots of money. I may enjoy a tour, but find I actually don't remember a lot of what the guides say. You want to save money. That is one way to do it.
Pompeii: I hate this as a day trip and would not do it as a tour. Many people do it as a day trip from Rome, but I would stay a night or two in Naples or Sorrento. That is personal pref though. With a day trip,you wouldn't have to change hotels. I just hate hours of travel in one day, so don't do it. You can take the train and go to Pompeii on your own. At the entrance, you can hire a very good local guide - much cheaper than doing a whole booked tour from Rome. You could also book a guide ahead to meet you at Pompeii. I've had two tours and once with my own, quite long, written guide. I got much more out of walking and reading, but I had read a lot before hand.
You might want to include a day in Florence wheels inn chatham ontario for David, the Duomo and Baptistery and Uffizi. You would probably enjoy two days there, but with only ten days, you have to make choices. If Pompeii is a must, Florence works OK as a day trip from Rome and no checking into and out of hotels.
I highly recommend the Bed and Breakfast Association wheels inn chatham ontario of Rome for accomodations. As you say, you are looking for "functional". We used their services for a four day stay in Rome after a cruise, and were highly impressed with them. Their home page is here:
We have been to Italy three times. We are not rich. My wife scours wheels inn chatham ontario the internet for good deals on nice places. Look on my website for my write-ups. It includes where we stayed, things we did and suggestions. -
I second the idea of going straight from Rome to Venice though it does rather depend on what time your flight lands at Fiumicino; if it's quite late, you might like just to go to Florence on your arrival day, and make that your first stop.
to know how many nights you should spend where, we really need to know what time you are supposed to land in Rome, how many nights you have in Italy, and what time your flight leaves on the last day.
Sassafrass...I know, I know about the flights thing! You are so right. I am the one who always plans our trips, itineraries, etc., but for some reason Mr. Tealover has decided to play tour operator this time and he booked flights before we had really discussed exact plans. Sigh.
The main train station in Florence (Firenze SMN) is right in the center, very walkable for most of what you would want to see on your day trip. Here's a repost about a one-day visit to Florence I made a few years ago.
On a quick 5-day trip to Rome with Italy novices, I took them on a day trip to Florence. It was one of their favorite days. These friends appreciate art, but don't know much about it, nor did they express any special interests in particular sights. Our trip was during Thanksgiving weekend wheels inn chatham ontario late November. I planned the day this way for our group of 5 adults.
From the station, we took the #12 bus to Piazzale Michelangelo. Therefore, our group's first real view of Florence was from this famous scenic overlook. Loads of photo opportunities, ooohs and aaahs. (If our group had been smaller, I would have opted for a taxi. Even so, a taxi might have been a good idea, since the bus skirts the center of the city and took 30 minutes to reach the piazzale.) Having just spent 3 days in the city of Rome, the group also appreciated the views of the green hills and houses on the hillside nearby and the different style of architecture than that of Modern and Baroque Rome.
From there we went into the city, walking down the steep Via di San Salvatore al Monte, a pedestrian-only walk past green gardens. We entered the city at Porta San Niccolo just as the church wheels inn chatham ontario bells were ringing noon, the fragrance of delicious lunches in the air. We followed the Via San Niccolo through quiet streets (One friend commented wheels inn chatham ontario that she finally wheels inn chatham ontario felt like she was in Italy.) to Via Bardi, eventually turning onto the busy Ponte Vecchio, decorated for Christmas.
From there we walked through town past Piazza della Signoria all the way to the Duomo, which took my friends totally by surprise. This seemed a good moment to stop for lunch, so we had a lovely lunch at Osteria Belle Donne.
After lunch we strolled back through wheels inn chatham ontario Piazza della Repubblica and then visited the Duomo and the Baptistery. wheels inn chatham ontario My friends really enjoyed the mosaics inside the Baptistery, spending a lot of time sitting and interpreting the stories depicted. I'm sure we stopped for coffee once or twice during the day since this group became quick converts to the Italian system of coffee a quick shot at the bar and then on your way.
Then we went to the San Lorenzo markets, wheels inn chatham ontario splitting off into smaller groups to explore the wares and setting a meeting place and time. I knew my friends would enjoy this market, especially since there is no equivalent in Rome. At the meeting time, 3 were content with their shopping while 2 were still looking for leather jackets, so I indicated a nearby coffee bar where we 3 would wait while they finished. We sat for at least an hour, enjoying our thick hot chocolates and watching the buzz of the busy bar.
With the group together again, it was just after 5 PM, so I thought it couldn't hurt to see how the line was at the Accademia. There was no line, so we walked right in and had David to ourselves wheels inn chatham ontario and about 20 other people. Quite magical.
We shopped a little more and then had dinner at Trattoria Za-Za. Our return train to Rome left at 9 PM and arrived at about 10:30 PM. They loved this day, which was balanced with a short "hike", beautiful scenery, historic wheels inn chatham ontario sights, wheels inn chatham ontario shopping, relaxing in a cafe, and two good meals.
We too 'live in UK, are a happy, healthy married couple in their 50s. Love history and 'connecting the dots'. Like the arts, museums, architecture, good food, walking, wheels inn chatham ontario soaking up local culture, relaxing' and LOVE Rome tea! We have a blog www.romefromhome.blogspot.co.uk wheels inn chatham ontario which may have some useful information for you. We usually stay in apartments but have recommended Hotel Monti to friends of ours. We love the Monti area as you will gather from the blog! I agree with Adrienne Sassafrass that you don't need a guided tour for Ostia. As history art lovers you will have a fabulous trip. Enjoy!
wheels inn chatham ontario this means you have plenty of time to get to from the airport wheels inn chatham ontario on the "Leonardo express" to the main train station in Rome, called "Termini" and catch your train to Venice. if you are confident about catching a particular train, you could pre-book your tickets hopefully getting some of the cheap tickets that are on offer if you book early.
However you may decide wheels inn chatham ontario that it's just easier to buy them when you get there so you don't run the risk of missing the train you've booked. You'll find loads of info about this on www.seat61.com . there are also plenty of places at Termini to eat or to buy food to eat on the train if that's what you decide to do.
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