First Trip to Italy

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 09:32:18 -0700, "Mimi"
wrote:


"Cord King" wrote in message
...
Hi!

My husband and I have just booked our first trip to Italy for July 2006.
We are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in
Venice. We know we want to take a tour of the Vatican Museum while in
Rome. In Florence we want to take some side trips to wineries. In Venice
I definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Any advice or recommendations for things to do, private tour operators,
restaurants, etc. would be appreciated. We will not have a car...we are
using Eurostar to get between the cities.

You're not spending much time in any of these places. Should be no problem
finding things to do. Get some guidebooks from the library to get ideas.

....and then come back here for up-to-date, first hand info.
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:38:35 -0500, Wilbur Slice
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:16:49 -0500, "Cord King"
wrote:

Hi!

My husband and I have just booked our first trip to Italy for July 2006. We
are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Venice.
We know we want to take a tour of the Vatican Museum while in Rome. In
Florence we want to take some side trips to wineries. In Venice I
definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Any advice or recommendations for things to do, private tour operators,
restaurants, etc. would be appreciated. We will not have a car...we are
using Eurostar to get between the cities.


Personally, I would spend 4 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence and 2 in
Venice. Venice is very nice, but more expensive and smaller, with
less to see than Rome. Rome is, after all, Rome.

I would consider a mere 2 days in Florence instead. Once you have seen
the overwhelmingly beautiful old town, the rest is for people that
have done their research, whereas Rome and Venice are both great for
just wandering and discovering.

Especially in Florence and Venice, to see the museums, make your
reservations ahead of time over the internet - then when you get
there, you can walk past the incredibly long lines of tourists waiting
to get in who spend all afternoon waiting in line, and you walk up to
the side entrance at the appointed time and walk right in. MUCH
better way to do it.

Also - if you're hikers, consider the Cinque Terra - there are 5
little villages clinging to the steep coastline and there's a hiking
path between them. It's an all-day hike, but it's well worth it.

I still have to do that. Pretty sad considering I live just up the
road from the place. Waiting for a clear winters day with few tourists
around...
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

Cord King wrote:
We know we want to take a tour of the
Vatican Museum while in Rome.

Try www.contextrome.com they are a hi-end tour company and their groups
are limited to 6 or less.

On their homepage check-out the Docents (guides) resumes, they are
pretty impressive.

Also google the company 'Context Rome' and 'Scala Reale' (their
original name) and try www.fodors.com/forums/ [Europe] for past posts.
It will be very hard to find any negative posts about them.
Regards, Walter



...And Paradise Was Lost...like teardrops in the rain...

"Cord King" wrote in message
...
In Venice I definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Nooooo. Run away! Run away! Or just don't take any money, credit cards or
negotiable instruments.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

You got that exactly right!! 95% of what they produce there (if they
actually do it there....) is total junk. The best Murano glass I've seen
is at my local Costco.
They get you into one of the "factories" for a tour and you can and will see
some glass blowers demonstrating. Then, comes the REALLY high pressure to
buy something and if you hold out and don't buy anything, you will be pretty
much shown the door in a rude way. Biggest waste of time I've seen
anywhere in Europe. The boat ride there is nice, but so is the boat
(vaporetto, actually) ride anywhere.. IMHO, don't go... Those people
really make their countrymen look bad.

One more little item. While walking around there, we saw a couple of
instances of a lot of raw glass from eastern Europe being loaded off of
boats. You will be told, however, that all murano glass is made from raw
materials right there. More BS..

Bruce

"Donald Newcomb" wrote in message
...

"Cord King" wrote in message
...
In Venice I definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Nooooo. Run away! Run away! Or just don't take any money, credit cards or
negotiable instruments.

--
Donald R. Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

DDT Filled Mormons wrote:
On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:38:35 -0500, Wilbur Slice
wrote:


On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:16:49 -0500, "Cord King"
wrote:


Hi!

My husband and I have just booked our first trip to Italy for July 2006. We
are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Venice.
We know we want to take a tour of the Vatican Museum while in Rome. In
Florence we want to take some side trips to wineries. In Venice I
definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Any advice or recommendations for things to do, private tour operators,
restaurants, etc. would be appreciated. We will not have a car...we are
using Eurostar to get between the cities.


Personally, I would spend 4 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence and 2 in
Venice. Venice is very nice, but more expensive and smaller, with
less to see than Rome. Rome is, after all, Rome.


I would consider a mere 2 days in Florence instead. Once you have seen
the overwhelmingly beautiful old town, the rest is for people that
have done their research, whereas Rome and Venice are both great for
just wandering and discovering.

I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it.

T.


Especially in Florence and Venice, to see the museums, make your
reservations ahead of time over the internet - then when you get
there, you can walk past the incredibly long lines of tourists waiting
to get in who spend all afternoon waiting in line, and you walk up to
the side entrance at the appointed time and walk right in. MUCH
better way to do it.

Also - if you're hikers, consider the Cinque Terra - there are 5
little villages clinging to the steep coastline and there's a hiking
path between them. It's an all-day hike, but it's well worth it.


I still have to do that. Pretty sad considering I live just up the
road from the place. Waiting for a clear winters day with few tourists
around...

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:16:49 -0500, "Cord King"
wrote:

Hi!

My husband and I have just booked our first trip to Italy for July 2006. We
are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Venice.
We know we want to take a tour of the Vatican Museum while in Rome. In
Florence we want to take some side trips to wineries. In Venice I
definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Vatican Museum: It is really, really crowded in summer. I've decided
never to go back in summer. However, since that's when you're there,
I've heard that it's actually better to go later in the day. There are
several tour groups that offer guided tours, but it isn't really
necessary if you have a good guide book.

Wineries near Florence: I only know the area around Montalcino and
Montepulciano, which are more easily reached from Siena. (Siena is an
easy bus trip from Florence. There are then busses that go on to the
smaller towns like Montalcino, but doing the whole thing as a day trip
from Florence might be a bit much.) Montalcino is a small town, very
pretty, on a hilltop and with a nice castle. You can easily walk
around the whole town and there are dozens of wine tasting shops
there. I don't know how easy it would be to actually visit a vineyard
from there. There may also be easy vineyard visits from Florence; I'm
not really a wine expert.

Glass factories on Murano: several of the factories have their own
tour boats that give very cheap tours from Venice proper to Murano. Of
course, they expect you to buy glass from their factory and I don't
know if they give you much time to walk around. You can also take the
public vaporetto to Murano; it might cost more, and the trip may take
longer, but you would have a lot more free time. I've never done the
trip. There are so many stores selling glass in Venice that any more
would be an overdose.



Any advice or recommendations for things to do, private tour operators,
restaurants, etc. would be appreciated. We will not have a car...we are
using Eurostar to get between the cities.

Thanks,
Patty


--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 00:02:05 +0100, DDT Filled Mormons
wrote:

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:38:35 -0500, Wilbur Slice
wrote:

Also - if you're hikers, consider the Cinque Terra - there are 5
little villages clinging to the steep coastline and there's a hiking
path between them. It's an all-day hike, but it's well worth it.

I still have to do that. Pretty sad considering I live just up the
road from the place. Waiting for a clear winters day with few tourists
around...

Good strategy. I wouldn't even consider it in summer. We were there on
a rainy day in October and I was almost at my crowd tolerance limit.

There are ferries that go from town to town. You can get a ticket for
the whole route and get on and off as you wish, as long as you don't
try to reboard the ferry of a different company. The coast is also
pretty from the sea. However, I still think the Amalfi coast is much
more beautiful as well as more interesting. The Cinque Terre has
little life left apart from tourism.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Hi I would highly recommend the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Unbelieveably its not as crowded as the Ufizi in Florence or the
Vatican Museum. For me its the top site in Italy - because unlike the
previous 2 its not just a warehouse of art i.e. doesn't contain
unconnected art. You are seeing the art as it was originally
commissioned in its Real setting. Plus the history is unique. Read up
on Venice first and you will appreciate this unique place - look out
for the Doge who tried to get too big for his boots and his portrait in
the council hall (Doge's Palace) is blacked out. Then walk over the
bridge of sighs to the prison.

But Venice is pricey and the food ain't great.

If you are in the Veneto consider a trip to lake Garda for the day -
stunning! A piece of the mediterean in the foothills of the alps -
Close to Verona. If you plan carefully you could get a feel for these
places in one day. Really is v.beautiful the prettiest of the Italian
lakes.

Florence is small and very easy to get an overview quickly. I can
recommend this restaurant: All'Antico Ristoro Di Cambi - near Ponte
A. Vespucci. Via Sant'Onofrio 1r (055 217 134). Open noon-2.30pm,
7.30-10.30pm Mon-Sat. Closed 3wks Aug. It gets busy here. After eating
catch the No. 12 or 13 (one goes clockwise the other anticlockwise) and
get off at Piazza Michelangelo - gives you beautiful views of Florence
- you can walk it as its close but uphill and winding hairpins - so
take the bus (10min journey).


TIP: Italians have set times for eating 12-2.30 and 7 - 11pm. In places
other than Milan, Rome you will find it impossible to eat anything
other than snacks
outside of these hours.

On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 11:05:44 +0200, Tom Peel
wrote:

DDT Filled Mormons wrote:
On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:38:35 -0500, Wilbur Slice
wrote:


On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 11:16:49 -0500, "Cord King"
wrote:


Hi!

My husband and I have just booked our first trip to Italy for July 2006. We
are spending 3 nights in Rome, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Venice.
We know we want to take a tour of the Vatican Museum while in Rome. In
Florence we want to take some side trips to wineries. In Venice I
definitely want to go the Murano Glass factory.

Any advice or recommendations for things to do, private tour operators,
restaurants, etc. would be appreciated. We will not have a car...we are
using Eurostar to get between the cities.


Personally, I would spend 4 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence and 2 in
Venice. Venice is very nice, but more expensive and smaller, with
less to see than Rome. Rome is, after all, Rome.


I would consider a mere 2 days in Florence instead. Once you have seen
the overwhelmingly beautiful old town, the rest is for people that
have done their research, whereas Rome and Venice are both great for
just wandering and discovering.

I was going to say the same thing but you beat me to it.


I agree, the only reason I said to leave 3 days in Florence was to
accomodate the one day trip to the surrounding are to see wineries.