Italy (Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Florence, Pisa, Venice)
Country visited: Italy
Places visited: Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Florence, Pisa, Venice
Dates: mid September 2015 for 10 days in total
General tips:
(1) Italy should be renamed Smokisthan because of the amount of cigarette smoke polluting the city.
(2) Italy is very vegetarian friendly.
(1) Getting Schengen visa (relevant for non-US passport holders only)
Apply for the Schengen visa at the consulate of any country within the Schengen zone. The websites of the various consulates will ask you to get the Schengen visa from the country you spend most time in. For example, if your plan is to spend most of your time in Italy during your Europe visit, you are recommended to get your Schengen visa from the Italian consulate. Even though the various consulates say this, I've applied for a Schengen visa from the French consulate both times I've been in Europe (the second time I did not even visit France), and I've not had a problem. Only thing is you'll have to reserve rooms, flight, etc. accordingly while going for your visa interview and will have to cancel these reservations on time so you don't get billed. Flights usually have a 24 hour grace period for canceling, so you'll have to be careful in booking your flights right before your interview and canceling it soon after.
(2) Getting to Rome from the US
Most people's first stop in Italy would be Rome. Round trip from a big city on the west coast in the US (say, San Francisco) to Rome will typically cost between $1,000 and $1,500. If you have a choice, take Turkish airlines - their in-flight service is very impressive. Hotels in the heart Rome can be really very expensive during the high seasons. So, I would recommend booking a decent place close to the center of Rome using Airbnb. The subways (local trains and buses) in Rome are very convenient to get from one place to another, you will hardly have to take any taxis to get anywhere. Also, Rome itself is a pretty small city. If you are up for it, you can actually walk to all major attractions if you stay relatively close to the center. We stayed in a relatively decent Airbnb for about $100 a night near Manzoni and didn't have to take a cab to anywhere. Its reasonable to spend 3-5 days here.
Things to do in Rome
(1) The Colosseum:
You have to see this stunning piece of architecture atleast once. I would recommend taking the last guided tour in the day and staying until the gates close (around 7, I think). Please make sure to buy tickets online atleast one day before you plan to visit the Colosseum. The ticket lines get really long and you definitely want to skip them. Without tickets it might take you an hour to get, but with tickets it's less than 5 minutes - so act wisely.
(2) Vatican:
Again get tickets online before. The amount of time you save by purchasing tickets beforehand is ridiculous. The guided tours for St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel can sell out if you wait until 1-2 days before your planned visit. So, if you want to take the guided tour (which I highly recommend), please purchase them as early as possible.
(3) Spanish steps, Pantheon and Trevi fountain:
These places become a zoo after 10 am. I went here on two different days - one day at 7:30 am and another day at 10:30 am. At 7:30 am, me and my husband were the only two people at any of these places, but at 10:30 am on the next day, we could hardly walk near these attractions. The guided walking tour groups start arriving at these places as time goes by and the place becomes super over-crowded.
(4) Spagna:
The shopping area, if you are into such things.
(5) Walk around clueless:
Best thing to do in Rome is to get lost in the city. All streets and buildings are beautiful. Keep walking until you see no more tourists, sit on a bench (there are several throughout the city) and take the city in.
(6)Eat really well:
Food is surprising not very expensive in Rome, also surprisingly Rome is very vegetarian friendly + even an average pizzeria makes excellent food in Rome. So eat a lot!
(3) Getting from Rome to Naples
Trenitalia is probably the best way to get around Italy. You don't need to book your tickets too much in advance. Getting them just one day before may be a good idea although we didn't have a problem getting tickets just before boarding the train. The only reason online booking may be better is because there may be some deals (such as one free ticket for every ticket bought on Saturdays) which you can take advantage of if you book online. Such deals sell out pretty quickly and may not be available minutes/hours before your journey. One tip is to book in the cheapest class you get - I travelled in both the economy/normal class and Business and honestly could not tell the different expect they serve you a drink (such as water, tea or coffee) in Business which is definitely not worth a lot of $.
Naples itself felt a bit unsafe. Traffic is very random/disorganized - definitely check twice before crossing the street. I would recommend staying in a known hotel chain in Naples since it may feel safer. The pizzas are great here and very different from the type you would get in Rome. Probably worth spending 1-2 days here.
(4) Naples to Pompeii and back
The local train (which is in the same station as Trenitalia but in the lower levels) will take you to Pompeii. It takes about 40-50 minutes to get to Pompeii from Naples. The train gets pretty full. If you are not one of the first ones to get into the train as soon as it pulls in the station, there is a good chance you'll have to stand for at least a part of your trip. Get a round trip ticket back to Pompeii unless you plan on spending the night in Solerno or one of the other small towns.
In Pompeii, its a good idea to hire a guide or you can easily get lost. The best time to visit is probably early in he morning or a couple hours before close time. There are too many tour groups at all other times. \Individual tours are quite expensive - they asked for ~200 euros for 2 people. So unless you have that kind of money, it's best to join a tour group. There is a group that collects people right where you get off at the station - just join any tour group - I don't think it matters much. You;ll end up paying 20-30 euros per head with most tour groups.
(5) Naples to Florence
Again its probably best to take Trenitalia. Florence is a lovely city - so much better than what we had expected. Its worth spending 2 full days here. Hotels are extremely pricey here and Airbnb's are very good - so please do your wallet a favor and book a good AirBnB as close to the center as possible. Florence is a night city - the place magically comes to life after 10 pm. Stay out late and take in all the action.
(6) Florence to Pisa
Take the local train to Pisa from the train station and buy a round trip ticket. The train from Florence to Pisa takes ~1hour. Once you get to Pisa, the best option to get to the leaning tower is to probably take the local bus. Get out of the train station, cross the street and wait for the bus to the leaning tower. The bus takes about 10 minutes to get from the train station to the leaning tower. If you want to go up the leaning tower, It's a good idea to buy tickets at least one day in advance so you'll know your time slot and can plan to buy your train tickets accordingly. Tickets to the leaning tower were sold out for a lot of time slots when we tried to book one day before, so maybe even booking your tickets a few days in advance may be a good idea especially if you have a particular time slot in mind.
(7) Florence to Venice
Again, Trenitalia is the best option. Venice is extremely scenic. Hotel rooms are very expensive, so AirBnB is probably the way to go. There are some good AirBnB's in the city center that you'll get for a good price. You can easily spend a good 4-5 days in Venice. Make sure to make a trip to Burano also.
- S and S
Comments
Post a Comment