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+--- Thread: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! (/showthread.php?tid=118792)
What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - dmann - 06-17-2011
Planning my first trip to Italy in the fall and have been hanging out at all the usual suspects:
Rick Steves
Lonely Planet
Fodor's
Frommer's
etc.
Any sites you recommend?
I'll be going with a friend and we'll be seeing as much as we possibly can in Rome, Venice and Florence/Tuscany in 9 full days. We are both pretty low maintenance so we don't need fancy hotels just decent places in safe neighborhoods. Will be traveling by train between cities- no car. My friend has been there before so I am sure we'll split up at various times to go see different things but I want to try and get my own "must see" list in order.
TIA-
DM
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - Black - 06-17-2011
Train travel-- sounds great!
I've been to Florence and Venice, but not Rome.
No sites to recommend, just wasting pixels :-)
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - pipiens - 06-17-2011
Here is a link to a B&B that I have stayed at. They will pick you up and drop you off at the train station.
http://www.bed-breakfast-italy.com/
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - Drew - 06-17-2011
FlyerTalk, discussion board.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/italy-634/
Trip Advisor, discussion and traveller's reviews.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187768-Italy-Vacations.html
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - space-time - 06-17-2011
dmann wrote:
...
I'll be going with a friend and we'll be seeing as much as we possibly can in Rome, Venice and Florence/Tuscany in 9 full days. ...
sounds just like my honeymoon seven year ago
Historic sites, Museums, Cathedrals. Don't miss those Latin ATMs!!! (Vatican)
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - CaBob - 06-17-2011
Train stations in the popular tourist attractions (Rome, Florence, Venice) have tourist offices where you can get a hotel room at a quoted rate. In Florence, you basically just get off the train and when you get to the end of the tracks, just look over to your left. They will have a chart or tell you what the range of rates is for one star, two star, three star etc. Two star might be a room with a sink, and for a little more money, a private bath. I am told that it is possible to do better on room rates, but the fact that the hotel is known to the tourist office and does business with them everyday is probably an advantage.
In Florence (Firenze to the Italians), zillions of things. Make sure to see the new palace of the Medicis (only goes back to the 1500s). The Uffizi Gallery is one of the top art galleries in the known universe -- you can make a reservation for a couple of Euro and come back at a convenient time instead of waiting in line. The Academia Gallery in Florence has the David statue, but there are others there also worth seeing. The tourist guides that everybody uses are generally fine.
In Italy, the old historic part of a city is called the centro storico (pronounced chentro) and in Florence is actually the area around the train station and a little beyond towards the cathedral. The word for cathedral is duomo (pronounced dwomo) and they are generally centers of activity, particularly in Florence and Milan.
Venice can be a difficult place to get a hotel room, particularly at a reasonable rate. This is worth planning ahead. If you do the tourist office thing, get there in the morning. I don't know whether travel agencies are useful, but almost anybody should be able to do better than I did.
There is another gallery called Academia, but this one in Venice. It is also one of the top museums in the world. I recommend taking the English language tour, and then taking your time.
Of course, if you dislike Renaissance art, ignore these suggestions.
One other thing -- if you can possibly get access to a class in Italian, even at the rudimentary level, this will make your life easier and enhance your experience. It's useful to know how to order a roll and coffee, and to be able to tell the clerk your room number in his own language. You don't have to be great at it, but I think it helps to have some ability to pronounce words in at least a barely comprehensible manner. One of the things I did long ago was to buy some childrens' books (Italian ones) that have pictures of different kinds of food and other things, and give the Italian words for them. The words for different kinds of foods are not taught early on in the standard language class, but they are words that will help you enormously -- unless you want to live on nothing but coffee and gelato.
Here's your first word in Italian: Pizza. Try the 4 seasons (quatro stagione) or bianca (white) or just plain pizza. You can get it in lots of places, including McDonalds.
Hidden secret: McDonalds generally have restrooms you can use.
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - DavidS - 06-17-2011
I LOVE Italy - have been twice and Rome, Florence, Venice are my three favorite cities. The first time by myself and the second with my wife for our one year anniversary. I went in the pre-internet days, so I relied on a Let's Go! for myself and a travel agent for the wife and I.
My favorite place to recommend in Rome is the Capuchin Crypt.
Go to the Jewish Quarter and see the synagogue. You can also easily do a day trip to Pompeii, if that interests you. Train down to Naples and then change to the Pompeii line.
My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Alexandra on the Via Veneto across the street and up the hill. It was walking distance to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and many many other sites.
Florence is beautiful. There are actually 3 David statues - the Accademia and two that are outside, one near the Uffizi and the other across the Arno in the Piazza Michaelangelo.
In Venice, do a boat ride over to Murano and go to a glass factory. You'll be able to get a free ride over and back, sponsored by one of the factories. Do their tour, but then wander around the island, looking at other shops. Also, take a tour of the Jewish Ghetto. It was the original ghetto. Eat a late night dinner or dessert in San Marcos square and listen to the bands at the cafes. Take a gondola ride - it's very pricey, but worth it.
We went in early September and were there for the Venice Film Festival. It was interesting watching a Woody Allen movie outside in an open square, sitting on bleachers, and trying to ignore the Italian subtitles.
Oh yeah, I currently use TravelAdvisor.com quite a bit when planning trips.
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - freeradical - 06-17-2011
The food is insanely good there.
Enjoy
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - SteveO - 06-17-2011
Colour me jealous! Second the TripAdvisor rec. Enjoy and safe travels!
Re: What are your favorite travel related sites/blogs? I'm going to Italy! - JoeM - 06-17-2011
I second tripadvisor.com. Always good reviews and comments that are helpful there. Besides everything written above you might like a trip to the Pitti Palace at Ponte Vecchio in Florence. We loved it and the gardens are huge.
I was told to be careful near the train station in Florence as pick pockets and drug dealers hang out there but we had no problems and were staying close by at Hotel Baglioni. The church of Santa Maria del Fiore or Duomo Cathedral is pretty impressive.
In Venice, the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari or just Frari Church is amazing for the art and statues by many famous artists including Bellini's Madonna and Child. The Murano glass showroom was beautiful. There was a nice lace shop near St. Marks Square that you get to from inside the square that we enjoyed.