Rome pre-ABD Italy Trip

pistonfan32

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 4, 2005
My wife and 16 year old son are traveling to Italy late July 2018 and going on the 7 day Italy trip with ABD. The trip begins the afternoon of 7/27.

Our plan was to fly from DTW the evening of 7/25 and arrive the morning of 7/26 to give us a day to adjust to the time change.

I am now wondering if we should move it up a day and arrive on 7/25. That would give us close to 48 hours to adjust to the time zone change and allow us time to explore areas and sites that ABD isn’t touring. Of course we would have to pay close to $800 more per night if we stay at the ABD hotel but that’s fine.

My question is what sites are ones we really should not miss that ABD is not going to go to that we could do ourselves or with a tour guide the 2 days prior to the ABD trip?
 
We are going in late June. For our full day before the tour starts we are going to take the train to Naples and go see Pompeii, that was on my daughters bucket list.
 
We did Pompeii/Amalfi Coast as a pre-ABD side trip. Worked out great, & would do it again.
Day 1: Landed in Rome. Dropped bags @ ABD hotel. Train to Sorrento (with 1 small bag). Lounged at the awesome pool (Hilton Sorrento Palace). Early to bed.
Day 2: Hired a driver to take us down the Amalfi Coast (only way to do in a day)
Day 3: Up early, visited Pompeii (they have luggage storage at the station), train back to Rome in time for the welcome dinner.

The Sorrento Hilton had family rooms (4 in 1 room was OK) and was hundreds cheaper than the Rome ABD hotel (it's used by ABD for their Amalfi trip).
One of the greatest hotel pools in Italy.
 
There's a great step by step (with a picture of each step) on getting from Rome to Pompeii by train.
I may have linked to it in one of my previous posts, but can dig it up if anyone is interested.
 


I second the suggestion of doing a food tour in Rome - that was one of the highlights for us. Also just spend a couple hours wandering the shops and all the side streets. Everyone loved that.
 
Liv Italy or Walks of Italy will have some great ideas for your pre-day. It doesn't seem like you have much time though (depending on when you arrive on the 25th) , so I might suggest staying in Rome . There's many things to do. The Italy tour doesn't seem to go the Castel San Angelo anymore, which is, to me, a must see. There's an amazing view at the top of St. Peter's and the Vatican. It's also very near the Grand Melia, so easy to do.

If it was me:

7-25
Arrive, check in, relax
Castel San Angelo
Food Tour

7-26
Use Liv Italy to hire a driver to take you to Pompeii (much easier than the Naples Train Station, which I hear can be sketchy)... there's also a LivItaly tour that will take you up Vesivius or to Herculaneum in addition to Pompeii. Highly reccommend; I thought Herculaneum was more interesting than Pompeii, tbh.

7-27
Before tour starts.... depending on what time you meet.... relax, enjoy the nice hotel and pool (it will likely be HOT!!)
or
Go shopping
or wander the streets.

You'll have a blast. But do beware: The Grand Melia is on a hill. Very easy walk down, but nasty walk back up!!
 


If you can swing the day earlier I'd go with that. Agree with the PP's about the Trastevere Food Tour. We did that a few years ago before our Viva Italia ABD and have recommended it to others, who all came back loving it.

As far as what to do in Rome those extra days, don't focus on the big attractions (Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Coloseum, Forum) so much since ABD will cover those. Instead, take some time to wander around the city. Look into some of the small neighborhood churches. Check out the Borghese Gardens. Get away from the tourist spots and try a sidewalk restaurant or shop.
 
Our favorite hidden gem:
Basilica di San Clemente. (near the Coliseum)
It’s basically three churches stacked on top of each other. The ground-level church was dedicated to Pope Clement in the 12th century. Beneath that church is another church that was built in the 4th century. Below the 4th century church is a 2nd century pagan temple. And below the temple are Roman ruins from the 1st century where a wealthy Roman allowed early Christians to meet there.
 
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San Clemente was on my ABD. I would ask if they still go there before I do it on my own.

The Capucin bone Crypt is also a great idea and Disney definitely won't go there .
 
I would love to see the Amalfi coast. Does anyone know how long it takes to get there from Rome?
 
I would love to see the Amalfi coast. Does anyone know how long it takes to get there from Rome?
A couple hours by fast train to Naples, then transfer to a local train to Sorrento. Car, bus, or ferry from Sorrento to the Amalfi Coast.
Cannot be done as a day trip, you have to spend a night or 2 in Sorrento.

Our logic was that we'd travelled so far already, why not take an extra couple days to see some more of Italy. Southern Italy is a totally different vibe than Rome or Tuscany.

Viva Italia is perfect in that it hits most of the must-sees for your first time in Italy.
Some of the things it doesn't cover are doable as side-trips:
Pompeii: 1 day (several good day-trip services if you don't want to go it alone)
Pompeii + Amalfi Coast: 2 days
Pompeii + Amalfi Coast + Capri: 3 days
Pisa: 1 day or use your free time in Florence (don't do it)
Assisi: 1 day
Cinque Terra: 2 days
Verona: 1 day
Lake Giarda/Cuomo - Italian Alps: 2+ days
Milan: 1-2 days

OR, best of all: come back to Italy again! (that's why you toss a coin @ Trevi fountain)
 
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A couple hours by fast train to Naples, then transfer to a local train to Sorrento. Car, bus, or ferry from Sorrento to the Amalfi Coast.
Cannot be done as a day trip, you have to spend a night or 2 in Sorrento.

Our logic was that we'd travelled so far already, why not take an extra couple days to see some more of Italy. Southern Italy is a totally different vibe than Rome or Tuscany.

Viva Italia is perfect in that it hits most of the must-sees for your first time in Italy.
Some of the things it doesn't cover are doable as side-trips:
Pompeii: 1 day (several good day-trip services if you don't want to go it alone)
Pompeii + Amalfi Coast: 2 days
Pompeii + Amalfi Coast + Capri: 3 days
Pisa: 1 day or use your free time in Florence (don't do it)
Assisi: 1 day
Cinque Terra: 2 days
Verona: 1 day
Lake Giarda/Cuomo - Italian Alps: 2+ days
Milan: 1-2 days

OR, best of all: come back to Italy again! (that's why you toss a coin @ Trevi fountain)

Great stuff! Thank you. I can see I will need to do another trip after my July ABD. Next time I won't book in the summer. Not looking forward to the heat.
 
you could do Amalfi coast and Pompeii on your pre-days
visit Pisa on your free day in Florence
Verona on your post day after Venice.
If you add two more days and finish Lake Cuomo/ Lake Giarda,
you are done with Italy.
In all honesty, Pisa and Verona are totally overrated.
 
Thanks for all of the amazing suggestions.

We are either going to stay in Rome and follow some of the suggestions posted here or possibly Amalfi Coast and Pompeii which sounds fabulous. The day trip cost to Amalfi Coast and Pompeii with some of the popular tour operators is pretty expensive but we will deal with that. It’s not like the ABD trip cost was anywhere close to cheap.
 
In all honesty, Pisa and Verona are totally overrated.
Agree.
Florence is awesome & you’ll want MORE time there, not less

STRONGLY advise booking a time to climb the Duomo before you leave. It was one of our favorite things & better than climbing St Peters in Rome. A must if going with kids (this is the point where they're ready for something that's not a museum)
Advance reservation is a must!
 
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We are either going to stay in Rome and follow some of the suggestions posted here or possibly Amalfi Coast and Pompeii which sounds fabulous. The day trip cost to Amalfi Coast and Pompeii with some of the popular tour operators is pretty expensive but we will deal with that. It’s not like the ABD trip cost was anywhere close to cheap.
This was our dilemma too.
What factored into our decision:
  • My teens really wanted to see Pompeii & we really wanted to see the Amalfi Coast.
  • Food tour was not high on my kids' list and there was enough free time to see Castel San Angelo, the Cappuchin Crypt, & do some shopping
  • ABD was great, but we really enjoyed a few days with just our family (table for 4 eats much faster and gets a better table than a group of 40)
  • The cost savings of a hotel in Sorrento vs Rome more than covered our train fair and hiring a private driver for a day
  • We already were seeing a lot of Rome. This was a chance to see a different part of Italy

We didn't choose a tour operator because:
  • The rest of the trip is done as a group & we wanted a different experience (everything goes faster with a small group)
  • The adventure of riding a bullet train, chatting with an 80 y.o. Sicilian couple, the roving gypsy musicians on the local train; is still a great memory.
  • Hiring a local to drive us was our best decision: he knew exactly how long to spend in each AC town, best picture spots, and great dining suggestions! (PM me for his name)
  • The Sorrento Hilton is phenomenal! Great pool. Breakfast on a balcony that overlooks Mt Vesuvius and the Med. Sea was surreal!
We did Viva Italia 5 years ago & we loved it so much that we went back to Italy w/o the kids this year!

This forum was a great resource for planning our trip & hoping I can pay it forward by answering some specific questions now.
 
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mapsd--I really appreciate your comments. How old were your kids when you went to Italy? Since I have not booked my flights yet, if I decide to go to the Amalfi Coast area, shouldn't I fly into Naples instead of Rome and then take the train back to Rome from Naples?
 
mapsd--I really appreciate your comments. How old were your kids when you went to Italy? Since I have not booked my flights yet, if I decide to go to the Amalfi Coast area, shouldn't I fly into Naples instead of Rome and then take the train back to Rome from Naples?
My kids were 14 & 10.
They loved every day of our ABD, but our day as a family on the Amalfi Coast was about their favorite.

Yes, if you can get a flight right into Naples, that would be ideal (I used FF miles for our airfare, so it didn't work for us).
If you can get a flight right into Naples, it'd be worth $100-150/head to me (it was a really long travel day).
Since you'd have all your bags, I'd hire a car service to pick you up and take you right to the hotel.
(the service that took us down the AC also does airport pick-ups).

Take the train back to Rome, with a stop at Pompeii on your way.
 
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Please be on high alert for pickpockets in Rome Termini, Naples and Pompeii train stations. I saw armed guards walking through that carriages on the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii. I had no problems at 10:00 in the morning, but would not feel safe at night.

Only Italian was spoken at the Circumvesuviana ticket window. I had a little trouble communicating with very limited Italian but managed to buy a round trip ticket to Pompeii.

The Pompeii train station reminded me of getting off the New York Subway far outside of Manhattan. You will learn that “graffiti” is indeed an Italian word!

If you are not an experienced independent traveler in Europe, I would recommend a private tour from Rome rather than the train.

Note that some Pompeii artwork and gift shops are not suitable for children.


-Paul
 

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