Italy trip recommendations

[jai6638]

Hey there,

Gonna be arriving in Rome on Dec 25th and then plan to meet up with a friend in Pisa on Dec 26th morning.

1) Hence, I have Christmas day to spend in Rome so any recommendations on what to check out?
2) Do you guys have any hotel recommendations in Rome which are reasonable priced? The cheapest I found was called Hotel Griffo which supposedly has a great location and is approx $100 a night.. My budget is max $200 a night although $100 would be nice..
3) How would I get to downtown Rome from the airport? I read that there is a direct train. Do I need to make bookings in advance?
4) I plan to rent a car and drive down to Pisa to meet my friend the next day.. Any particular company that I must stay away from and are the road signs good? I don't mind rash drivign since I have driven in Asia before. Do you guys recommend taking the car or taking the train? I figure the drive would be beautiful but the train would put a little less stress on me having to figure out roads and stuff..
5) Lastly, is 4 days in Florence too much? My friend insists on hanging out in Florence for 4 days with his friend so not sure if thats overkill.


Thanks much.

Jai

 

[skim milk]

I'm trying to plan a trip to Italy, do you know any places where I can find cheap tickets?

 

[jai6638]

Nope sorry.. I bought my ticket from Dubai so got a special deal from there. My friend bought his Boston - London - Boston ticket via BA i think for $750 with taxes and then $300 for London - Pisa - London. Hope this helps.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: fritolays
I'm trying to plan a trip to Italy, do you know any places where I can find cheap tickets?

If you are a student try STA Travel. Also look into going to London and then taking easyJet or Ryan Air from there. Not guaranteed to be cheaper but a good thing to check after doing your basic Kayak search.

OP, knowing locals is the best so if you know people in Florence I'd stay there for 4 days.

 

[TheoPetro]

Florence is neat as hell. The GF highly recommends Astor if you like a night club and theres a place on via de benci with some amazing mexican food (ya mexican in florence, I thought it was strange too but it was good as hell). The museum there is pretty sweet. Definitely see the David. The Duomo (sp?) was pretty cool too. I would say 4 days is a good amount of time to spend there. Grab some of the local ice cream (I cant remember what its called but there known for it). Hope this helps. Really all ya have to do is walk around a bit and explore. I was there about 2 years ago exactly and the weather was nice, maybe ~60F.

 

[zinfamous]

Spend the day at the Vatican. and wander through the Forum/Collosium. Julius II's tomb is nearby, so you should have time to see that if you're at the forum.

4 days in Florence is not overkill. You need a year to see everything well. 4 days in Rome is plenty, Florence needs way more time. Try to drive down to Siena if you can

Pisa sucks, any time you spend there may be wasted. Your friend might agree, which is why he insists on getting the hell out and going to Florence.

Of course, it all depends on what you're in to. If you want to see Italy for what it should be seen: art, history, wine, food, then you can get an excellent perspective by sticking to Florence, Siena, Chianti region. (Greve, San Gimignano...tons of great little towns some hour away form Florence)

Florence:
L'Accadamia (David, i prigione)
Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence's Duomo, with Ghiberti's gates of paradise nearby)
Uffizzi ( I don't personally care for Botticelli, but he's there. There is some great work by Carravagio, Di Vinci's Annunciation, and La Tondo Dondi by Michelangelo)
Santa Croce (Michelangelo's tomb, Gallileo's tomb, Fermi's tomb, etc. gorgeous Dominican cathedral)
Museo del' Duomo (one of Michelangelo's pietas, and my favorite of the ~4)
Santa Maria Novella (Giotto's crucifixion = introduction of perspective to art; so, kind of important)
San Lorenzo (Medici tombs = more statues from Michelangelo)
Piazzella Michelangelo: excellent view of the city. You've seen photos from here and everywhere else taken from this pot. the recent "photoshop my wife with santa hat thread is an example)
stroll through Old Town, cross Ponte Vechhio, etc.

Rome:
Vatican (La Pieta, Raphael's L'Accadamia, the Last Judgment/Sistine ceiling, etc)
tomb of Julius II (Moses-Michelangelo)
some old buildings.

Rome is great, just really spread out. Florence simply has so much more packed into a more manageable space, though still more overwhelming. 80% of what you "need" to see in Rome is found at Vatican city.

But if you're going for clubbing and such, well why not just go to Germany? Still, lots of that stuff in Florence.

As for food, avoid the pizzerias. Most are better in Rome, though. Trattoria Mario near Central Market and San Lorenzo in Florence is excellent and authentic, generally free of tourists and crappy pizza menus.

 

[BarneyFife]

Do not rent a car. You'll probably get killed.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: TheoPetro
Florence is neat as hell. The GF highly recommends Astor if you like a night club and theres a place on via de benci with some amazing mexican food (ya mexican in florence, I thought it was strange too but it was good as hell). The museum there is pretty sweet. Definitely see the David. The Duomo (sp?) was pretty cool too. I would say 4 days is a good amount of time to spend there. Grab some of the local ice cream (I cant remember what its called but there known for it). Hope this helps. Really all ya have to do is walk around a bit and explore. I was there about 2 years ago exactly and the weather was nice, maybe ~60F.

Gellato = Italian version of Ice cream.

Perche No? is generally considered one of if not the best gellaterias in Florence, and is always packed.

Here's how to tell if the place is any good: look at the banana gellato. if it is yellow, walk out. if it is light brown/yellow, then it's real gellato.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
Do not rent a car. You'll probably get killed.

true, but your chances are better than if you were to rent a scooter.

 

[zinfamous]

oh, btw...Dec 25th = cold in Tuscany. Rome may be a little better. You'd probably want to spend New Years in Rome if possible. I can't speak for Florence, but there is absolutely nothing going on in Venice for New Years. It's freezing and everything is closed.

 

[jai6638]

wow.. Thanks for the prompt responses

We are only going to Pisa to check out the leaning tower so after that, we will probably head for Florence. I am not really into art but since I am going to Italy, I don't mind looking at the museums and paintings. I love Italian food though so will definitely eat a lot. I think my friend is into that kinda so probably gonna land up doing it.

Not really going for clubbing although will probably check out the bars or a random club or two.. Gonna be spending New Years in Dubai ( much to my dismay but thats how my ticketing worked out to keep the prices down ) so wont be in Italy on the 31st.. I arrive in Rome on Dec 25th and depart on Dec 31st.

I checked weatherunderground and it says its gonna be on average 10 degrees celsius in Florence.. is that a good estimate? I live in Boston so I don't mind the cold as long as there is no windchill.. Does it get windy in Florence?

From what I read above, I suppose when I spend the day in Rome, I'll just hang out in Vatican City. I love Gelato so wll definitely check those places out in Florence.

I am trying to decide whether I should drive or take the train. From a cost standpoint, I think it comes out to the same but I've heard the drive from Rome to Pisa and Florence to Rome is beautiful. Is the train ride just as beautiful? Once again, I have driven in pretty rash conditions compared to the average American so I am not really scared about that. Just want to make sure that I don't get lost or enter some sort of "restricted zones" that i found on google. I guess my questoin is, is the train ride just as beautiful as driving?

Thanks much for the responses guys.. Appreciate it!

 

[zinfamous]

You may not be able to even see the tower as it's completely surrounded by scaffolding and off-limits. If it's out of your way I'd say skip it.

 

[zinfamous]

Florence is at the same latitude as VA, so it will not be as cold as you are used to. It does get very windy in the winter, however.

Also, no one really goes to bars in Italy, like other parts of Europe. They may be packed from around 11-12 am, but that's where they hand before going to the clubs.

If you've driven in Asia then you should be fine. I pretty much only took trains throughout Europe, so my driving experience is limited. Trains are cheap and convenient, but in Italy there is the scheduled once-per-month strike, so that could seriously screw you over usually on the 2nd or 3rd Sunday, iirc. I would only recommend against driving b/c of parking, and inner city trains are pretty cheap.

Either way, the scenery is gorgeous. You're going at a perfect time, as Florence would be relatively empty of tourists and students. Though much colder....
Usually need to book the Uffizzi in advance, but probably not for this time of year.

 

[Farang]

Originally posted by: zinfamous
You may not be able to even see the tower as it's completely surrounded by scaffolding and off-limits. If it's out of your way I'd say skip it.

Yep the tower is the biggest tourist trap I've ever been to and I've traveled a lot.

 

[josh0099]

Take a train don't rent a car

 

[mrrman]

Originally posted by: fritolays
I'm trying to plan a trip to Italy, do you know any places where I can find cheap tickets?

priceline.com name your own price

 

[eddiebravo]

pisa sucks. it is just one gigantic tourist trap. seriously, you look at the tower for about 20 seconds and think "hey thats really freaking leaning!", take the standard lame picture where it appears that you are holding up the tower with your finger, and then you are stuck with absolutely nothing to do. there is literally nothing to do there, the area is just lined with tourist trap souvenir stands.

florence is awesome. way better than rome, in my opinion. 4 days is not too much. i would recommend making a trip to bologna if you have the time.

 

[Raiden256]

Spend three days in Florence, and the other day in Tuscany. A trip to Siena and San Gimignano is common, and fantastic. Florence is just amazing.

 

[LS21]

in any decent city there should be an easy and reasonable method to get to city center to/from airport. land, walk to booth with tourist info/brochure, bam

 

[eddiebravo]

i thought siena was almost as bad as pisa. its basically a big shopping mall with a bunch of tourist trap overpriced crappy restaurants. definitely not worth wasting a day to see.

 

[nerp]

Originally posted by: BarneyFife
Do not rent a car. You'll probably get killed.

My experience in Italy is that althought people drive fast on the Autostrada, they actually know how to drive and don't float around in the wrong lane like dumbass American drivers.

 

[dullard]

I was just in Italy this March. It was wonderful.

In Rome, I stayed in the city center and in two hotels near the airport. The ones near the airport really weren't accessible by walking. Even though they were only a mile or two away, it was nearly impossible to reach on foot and 3 minute taxi rides were $60+ if you get a taxi at the airport (note: the exchage rate is better now so they'll be a bit cheaper). If you want a hotel by the airport, there was one and only one right ON the airport (you don't even have to go outside since it is connected with a long covered walkway). It is worth the extra cost if you want one in that area.

However, I think people are usually better off staying in the city center. Do that with just about any city in Italy and you'll be happy. That is where most of the really good sites are located and they will usually be within walking distance (usually less than 20 minute walk from anywhere in the city center). I stayed at the Hotel Seiler. It was a dump, but it was clean, charming, and really cheap.

The Rome city center is a ~30-40 minute train ride directly from the airport. You can buy tickets right at the train station - although it was a bit confusing WHO to buy them from. In a corner across from the restaurant was the true ticket station. Buy a ticket, punch it into the yellow box machines by the tracks to avoid a police fine and they do check regularly, and you are on your way.

Rome needs 3-4 days to really see most sites. The Vatican has a 2-3 hour line and a tour takes 2-3 hours minimum - so thats a day. The Roman forum, colluseum, Trevi fountain, parthanon, etc can be seen in a long day (remember many things close at 5 pm). The catacombs are outside the city and thus take a day up - or you can see a smaller one under the Vatican I think. You could spend a day seeing museums and churches too. Churches in Rome tend to be well worth the visit.

From what I've heard, Pisa is a tourist trap with nothing to do and it is a bit out of the way. I didn't go.

I spent 3 days in Florence, but my fiancee was sick on one day and we had to leave early on another day. The result was we had one day to see the town. That one day was the day the museums are closed. I only got to see the Ufuzi (not worth the 3 hour line, so get tickets in advance if you want to see it but even then it wasn't as good as people make it sound). The churches are beautiful and the town is lovely, but neither are as good as Rome. 3-4 days will be fine here if those days are the days that the museums are open (ie not on Monday).

I stayed at the Hotel Ariele in Florence. It was a little bit further out of the way, but still in the city center. I have no complaints. Again, I got it since it was cheap. But the staff was quite friendly, they especially went out of their way for my sick fiancee.

Whatever you do, get the express train to Florence. The local trains are really, really slow. And it doesn't sound like you have much time.

 

[mb]

I stayed at Hotel Julia http://www.hoteljulia.it/
Nice, clean, quiet place. Comfy beds. In central Rome, short walking distances to everything. Friendly staff. Pretty cheap, although it looks like their rates have gone up.

 

[mryellow2]

Spend more time in Florence.

Perche No! is the gelato winner.

There's a really great gyro place right off of Vecchio square by the flower shop

There's a food cart that sells panino con lampredotto (tripe sandwich) which is really good, they also sell a panino con porchetta which is fabulous. I would get lunch there almost every day

http://maps.google.com/maps?cl...&spn=0,359.983478&z=17

Buy your museum tickets early

It'll be ass cold but there might be performers out at night. I went during March and there was always a performance somewhere, be it music (vast majority) or a comedy/magic routine etc.

If you're loaded, prepare to shop, it's pricey but there are a ton of stores

Touristy thing in Florence is to put a coin in the bronze boar's mouth - if it falls into the grate below you're destined to return or rub the tongue or whatever, just something to do ;D

 

[nerp]

While in Tuscany your emphasis should be on food and walking. You've missed the olive harvest, unfortunatley. The best time is in mid-spring or mid to late October.