PiperPilot
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 30, 2007
We have returned from our Viva Italia trip and below are some tips from the trip. We had a great time.
(1) Double check the dates and airline information of your trip with the information that Adventures By Disney has. We had one unfortunate family that was not met at the Rome airport by ABD. It sounds like they made changes to the trip dates and somewhere the info didn't get updated (Travel Agent??, ABD??).
The family ended up having to fend for themselves and had to take a taxi from the Rome airport to the hotel (~$100). Also, be sure to obtain a taxi receipt. The family is trying to get ABD to reimburse them for the taxi (no receipt) and ABD is taking a hardline. To further add to their bad day, the hotel had no record of their arrival. Apparently, the front desk person was not aware of an Adventures By Disney tour staying at the Hotel Bernini Bristol.
(2) This is the type of scenario where having the 24-hour contact number for ABD in your wallet would be handy.
(3) I would strongly recommend planning extra days at the beginning or end of the trip. There are many more things to see and do in Rome or Venice than are covered with the ABD intinerary.
Two recommendations that I would make in Rome are to visit Ostia Antica and to visit Tivoli (Villa d'Este & Villa Adriana).
Ostia Antica is a 30 minute train ride from Rome to the coast and it is very easy to get to using the Rome Metro system and train. It is a site of ancient ruins dating back to the 7th century BC and it was the harbor city to Rome, built at the mouth of the Tiber River. You can literally walk through the ruins and stand, sit, etc. It is impressive to see how the buildings were designed. You can sit in the stadium theatre and eat your sack lunch. You can walk through the baths, climb to the second level of an apartment, etc. They several very well preserved murals. Ostia Antica doesn't have the popularity of Pompeii, but it is impressive in it's own rite.
The tour companies in Rome offer a day trip to Tivoli (60 Euro?) where you can visit Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana. Villa d'Este has many many fountains and gardens.
Villa Adriana is a ruins that was the site where the Roman Emporer Hadrian built his retreat.
The Tivoli tour we went on left at 9:00 from the central station (pickup at the hotels between 7:30 and 8:30) and returned at ~14:00. The guide was ok. If I could only do one, I'd pick Ostia Antica.
(4) In Rome, there is a bank ATM machine located right next to the entrance to the Hotel Bernini Bristol. It is only 10 feet away. In Venice, the nearest ATM is about a 10 minute walk away. There a couple on the Strada Nuova, which is one of the main streets that will be pointed out by the guides. I did not see an ATM in Artimino.
(5) In Rome, there is a new self-serve laundry very close to the Hotel Bernini Bristol. It is located on Via degli Avignonesi, #17, and is only 1 to 2 blocks from the hotel. If you walk straight out of the hotel, you will be walking towards the street Via Tritone. Walk past the metro entrance and turn left at the corner, and then immediately turn right onto Avignonesi (the Air Algeria business is at the corner). Walk one block and it is on the left at address #17 (note: the addresses on the left-side and right-side of the street do not coordinate together). The laundry opens at 7:30 and the workers are very friendly and will assist you with the machines (instructions are listed on the wall in English). The cost is 4.50 Euro for a washer and 4.50 for a dryer. The washer takes 25 minutes and the dryer 35 minutes. If you want, you can drop-off your suitcase full of dirty clothers and have the workers do your laundry. Return later and you will have a packed suitcase of clean clothes. I'm not sure how much extra this service costs. The laundry is very clean and all we saw were other tourists. From our limited expereience, it appears that Americans and Brits like to be clean. If we had known of this laundry, we would have packed less for our trip. The hotel concierge let us know about this new place.
We did see a self-serve laundry in Venice also. At the Strada Nuova intesection near the Vesuvio Restaurant (this place will be one of the landmarks pointed out by the guides on the first day) turn RIGHT and walk 5 minutes. The laundry will be on the left side of the street directly across from the Arcadia Hotel.
(6) You may want to bring an alarm clock. A couple of the hotels did not provide a clock in the room.
(7) My wife says that the blow dryers in the bathroom are poor at each hotel. They routinely stopped working due to overheating and didn't blow much air. Next time she will probably bring a travel blow dryer to Italy.
(8) I would estimate that about 40% of the group was suffering from allergies at some point during the trip. I'd suggest bringing your favorite allergy relief medicines.
(9) In Artimino, you may want to have some insect repellent. The mosquitos were quite large and the many bats nearby don't eat all of them. The hotel also suggests that you sleep with the windows open in the room (no screens on the windows). While the hotel claims to have air conditioning, they stated that they don't usually turn on the main unit until July or August and hence the need to open the windows. We didn't find opening the window to make any noticeable difference. It was very hot in the room.
(10) Of course, bring some sun screen and you may also want a hat. There is lots of walking in the sun.
(11) In all of the little stores (Rome, Florence, Venice) the prices on the products are not fixed. You can easily bargain down the price. Simply ask the person if they can do better on the price. They may resist at first, but if you put the item back on the shelf and start to walk away to another part of the store they usually will respond with an offer. We found it was easy to get 10% off, and usually 20%. Remember to ask for a receipt if you are going to claim for the VAT refund.
In the market places in Florence, bargaining is expected. They may also offer to take you to their business place nearby. They will walk you a block or so away from the market and open a door where they have a much wider selection of leather goods. We had people in our group who were able to bargain as much as 75% off of the starting price. Be aware that they will want you to pay cash and you will NOT receive a receipt of the transaction for heavily discounted items.
(12) The pickpockets are very prevalent. Much worse than I've experienced in other parts of Europe. I had someone try to get what they thought was my wallet from my back pocket. I couldn't tell which person it was, but definitely noticed a hand going after the folded map in my pocket. In our group, one person had their backpack zipper opened but didn't lose anything. One person said they lost 20 Euros from their pocket.
(13) The Metro in Rome is easy to navigate. If you buy a mult-day pass it can also be used for the nearby surface trains, like the one that you would take to Ostia Antica. Except for Termini Station, you will need exact change to purchase a Metro ticket. The machines have a slot for a credit card, but it does not work.
(14) I had a personal rule to NOT eat at a restaurant where a person standing outside tried to stop you as you walked by and give you a spiel about how you should eat at their restaurant. I also tended to avoid places where there were no customers. Having a recommendation is helpful.
(15) On the day where you leave Rome to go to Artimino, the bus will make a last stop in civilization at a gas station which has a large convenience store. This is a good time to buy snacks, soda, water, wine, allergy medicine, bug spray, etc. for the 3-day stay in Artimino.
(16) The day in Florence (Firenze) is very short. You will spend almost as much time on the bus traveling to and from Florence as you will in the city. While Artimino is fairly close to Florence, the traffic is quite bad. The tour consists of a quick visit to see the David at the Academia, and the rest is a quick walking tour and then the guides turn you loose at ~12:15. The group was asked to be done by 15:30 and then we walked for 15 minutes to the bus to return to Artimino.
(17) If you want to see the Uffizi Museum in Florence you MUST purchase tickets online approximately 4 - 12 weeks ahead of time. The folks at 877-728-7282 / Adventures By Disney will tell you that you can wait until you get to Rome and ask your guides to get you tickets. That information is wrong. There were several people in our group who wanted to tour the Uffizi Museum, but the ABD guides could not get tickets. The tour time is so limited in Florence, that you can't really stand in line for a couple of hours to get same-day tickets. Only 2 people in our group got to see the Uffizi (they bought tickets 8 weeks in advance).
The Uffizi Museum tickets must be purchased online for a specific time of entry (15 minute window). An entry time of 13:00, 13:15, or 13:30 is ideal. Remember to bring your ticket confirmation number with you to obtain your tickets. You must first go to Gate-3 (the 3rd large doorway from the end) 20 minutes before your assigned time to pickup the actual ticket. Then you cross the street to the other side to Gate-1 to enter the Museum at your assigned time. The local guide can point out these entrances during the walking tour. The ABD walking tour ends at the Uffizi and the meeting point for returning to the bus is also next to the Uffizi. This makes it very convenient. A tour of each room in the museum takes a total time of about 90 minutes.
Below is the URL to the Uffizi Museum online tickets. Click on the UK flag in the top right corner if the page is in Italian. http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/shopper.aspx?venueId=1
(18) The second day in Artimino, you take a surprisingly long bus ride to a castello and are given a demonstration on how to make pasta. The pasta event takes about an hour or less. Then you eat lunch and back on the bus for another long bus ride back to Artimino. If given a second chance, I would strongly consider skipping this event and hiring a taxi to go from Artimino to Florence (60 Euro). The half-day tour of Florence is too short. This decision depends on how many things you want to do in Florence. The ABD itinerary only takes you into a single building to see the David. Everything else is a quick walking tour.
(19) Marco Polo airport is very slow to get through. By comparison to U.S. airports, the time to get through the ticket gates and security can be much longer than you might expect for a small airport. Our plane departure was delayed to wait for passengers who were stuck in the slow moving lines. Lucky for them it was an international flight and the plane was held.
(20) The transfer via boat from the Dei Dogi Hotel to the airport dock in Venice took us 12 minutes. We had no other traffic and we made good time. The guides state that it usually takes about 20 minutes. Once, at the airport dock, you are then greeted by a van driver, who will drive you from the dock to the front of the airport (~90 second drive). If the van driver isn't at the dock, you can simply walk under the covered walkway on the left to the departures entrance. I wouldn't wait for the transfer van if you are running late. The van ride seems a little silly to me. You will walk farther in many U.S. airports.
(21) The group did not stay in the Hotel Paggeria Medicea in Artimino as one might have gathered from the ABD website. We were boarded in rooms in the building which used to be a carriage house. The rooms are what I would describe as rustic. There are rooms on the ground floor and on a second floor. A few rooms have the bed located up in a loft. A second floor room with a loft bed is the least comfortable for temperature (think of sleeping in a bed in an attic). A handicap room will not have a shower and only a tub. The swimming pool is not heated.
(22) Many of the museums in Italy do not allow backpacks or bags into the museum. You will be approached by a security person pointing and saying "Guardaroba", which is the place where you can check your bag for storage. Some places charge a small fee for storing the bag. Do not leave anything valuable in the bag (cameras, mobile phone, etc.).
(1) Double check the dates and airline information of your trip with the information that Adventures By Disney has. We had one unfortunate family that was not met at the Rome airport by ABD. It sounds like they made changes to the trip dates and somewhere the info didn't get updated (Travel Agent??, ABD??).
The family ended up having to fend for themselves and had to take a taxi from the Rome airport to the hotel (~$100). Also, be sure to obtain a taxi receipt. The family is trying to get ABD to reimburse them for the taxi (no receipt) and ABD is taking a hardline. To further add to their bad day, the hotel had no record of their arrival. Apparently, the front desk person was not aware of an Adventures By Disney tour staying at the Hotel Bernini Bristol.
(2) This is the type of scenario where having the 24-hour contact number for ABD in your wallet would be handy.
(3) I would strongly recommend planning extra days at the beginning or end of the trip. There are many more things to see and do in Rome or Venice than are covered with the ABD intinerary.
Two recommendations that I would make in Rome are to visit Ostia Antica and to visit Tivoli (Villa d'Este & Villa Adriana).
Ostia Antica is a 30 minute train ride from Rome to the coast and it is very easy to get to using the Rome Metro system and train. It is a site of ancient ruins dating back to the 7th century BC and it was the harbor city to Rome, built at the mouth of the Tiber River. You can literally walk through the ruins and stand, sit, etc. It is impressive to see how the buildings were designed. You can sit in the stadium theatre and eat your sack lunch. You can walk through the baths, climb to the second level of an apartment, etc. They several very well preserved murals. Ostia Antica doesn't have the popularity of Pompeii, but it is impressive in it's own rite.
The tour companies in Rome offer a day trip to Tivoli (60 Euro?) where you can visit Villa d'Este and Villa Adriana. Villa d'Este has many many fountains and gardens.
Villa Adriana is a ruins that was the site where the Roman Emporer Hadrian built his retreat.
The Tivoli tour we went on left at 9:00 from the central station (pickup at the hotels between 7:30 and 8:30) and returned at ~14:00. The guide was ok. If I could only do one, I'd pick Ostia Antica.
(4) In Rome, there is a bank ATM machine located right next to the entrance to the Hotel Bernini Bristol. It is only 10 feet away. In Venice, the nearest ATM is about a 10 minute walk away. There a couple on the Strada Nuova, which is one of the main streets that will be pointed out by the guides. I did not see an ATM in Artimino.
(5) In Rome, there is a new self-serve laundry very close to the Hotel Bernini Bristol. It is located on Via degli Avignonesi, #17, and is only 1 to 2 blocks from the hotel. If you walk straight out of the hotel, you will be walking towards the street Via Tritone. Walk past the metro entrance and turn left at the corner, and then immediately turn right onto Avignonesi (the Air Algeria business is at the corner). Walk one block and it is on the left at address #17 (note: the addresses on the left-side and right-side of the street do not coordinate together). The laundry opens at 7:30 and the workers are very friendly and will assist you with the machines (instructions are listed on the wall in English). The cost is 4.50 Euro for a washer and 4.50 for a dryer. The washer takes 25 minutes and the dryer 35 minutes. If you want, you can drop-off your suitcase full of dirty clothers and have the workers do your laundry. Return later and you will have a packed suitcase of clean clothes. I'm not sure how much extra this service costs. The laundry is very clean and all we saw were other tourists. From our limited expereience, it appears that Americans and Brits like to be clean. If we had known of this laundry, we would have packed less for our trip. The hotel concierge let us know about this new place.
We did see a self-serve laundry in Venice also. At the Strada Nuova intesection near the Vesuvio Restaurant (this place will be one of the landmarks pointed out by the guides on the first day) turn RIGHT and walk 5 minutes. The laundry will be on the left side of the street directly across from the Arcadia Hotel.
(6) You may want to bring an alarm clock. A couple of the hotels did not provide a clock in the room.
(7) My wife says that the blow dryers in the bathroom are poor at each hotel. They routinely stopped working due to overheating and didn't blow much air. Next time she will probably bring a travel blow dryer to Italy.
(8) I would estimate that about 40% of the group was suffering from allergies at some point during the trip. I'd suggest bringing your favorite allergy relief medicines.
(9) In Artimino, you may want to have some insect repellent. The mosquitos were quite large and the many bats nearby don't eat all of them. The hotel also suggests that you sleep with the windows open in the room (no screens on the windows). While the hotel claims to have air conditioning, they stated that they don't usually turn on the main unit until July or August and hence the need to open the windows. We didn't find opening the window to make any noticeable difference. It was very hot in the room.
(10) Of course, bring some sun screen and you may also want a hat. There is lots of walking in the sun.
(11) In all of the little stores (Rome, Florence, Venice) the prices on the products are not fixed. You can easily bargain down the price. Simply ask the person if they can do better on the price. They may resist at first, but if you put the item back on the shelf and start to walk away to another part of the store they usually will respond with an offer. We found it was easy to get 10% off, and usually 20%. Remember to ask for a receipt if you are going to claim for the VAT refund.
In the market places in Florence, bargaining is expected. They may also offer to take you to their business place nearby. They will walk you a block or so away from the market and open a door where they have a much wider selection of leather goods. We had people in our group who were able to bargain as much as 75% off of the starting price. Be aware that they will want you to pay cash and you will NOT receive a receipt of the transaction for heavily discounted items.
(12) The pickpockets are very prevalent. Much worse than I've experienced in other parts of Europe. I had someone try to get what they thought was my wallet from my back pocket. I couldn't tell which person it was, but definitely noticed a hand going after the folded map in my pocket. In our group, one person had their backpack zipper opened but didn't lose anything. One person said they lost 20 Euros from their pocket.
(13) The Metro in Rome is easy to navigate. If you buy a mult-day pass it can also be used for the nearby surface trains, like the one that you would take to Ostia Antica. Except for Termini Station, you will need exact change to purchase a Metro ticket. The machines have a slot for a credit card, but it does not work.
(14) I had a personal rule to NOT eat at a restaurant where a person standing outside tried to stop you as you walked by and give you a spiel about how you should eat at their restaurant. I also tended to avoid places where there were no customers. Having a recommendation is helpful.
(15) On the day where you leave Rome to go to Artimino, the bus will make a last stop in civilization at a gas station which has a large convenience store. This is a good time to buy snacks, soda, water, wine, allergy medicine, bug spray, etc. for the 3-day stay in Artimino.
(16) The day in Florence (Firenze) is very short. You will spend almost as much time on the bus traveling to and from Florence as you will in the city. While Artimino is fairly close to Florence, the traffic is quite bad. The tour consists of a quick visit to see the David at the Academia, and the rest is a quick walking tour and then the guides turn you loose at ~12:15. The group was asked to be done by 15:30 and then we walked for 15 minutes to the bus to return to Artimino.
(17) If you want to see the Uffizi Museum in Florence you MUST purchase tickets online approximately 4 - 12 weeks ahead of time. The folks at 877-728-7282 / Adventures By Disney will tell you that you can wait until you get to Rome and ask your guides to get you tickets. That information is wrong. There were several people in our group who wanted to tour the Uffizi Museum, but the ABD guides could not get tickets. The tour time is so limited in Florence, that you can't really stand in line for a couple of hours to get same-day tickets. Only 2 people in our group got to see the Uffizi (they bought tickets 8 weeks in advance).
The Uffizi Museum tickets must be purchased online for a specific time of entry (15 minute window). An entry time of 13:00, 13:15, or 13:30 is ideal. Remember to bring your ticket confirmation number with you to obtain your tickets. You must first go to Gate-3 (the 3rd large doorway from the end) 20 minutes before your assigned time to pickup the actual ticket. Then you cross the street to the other side to Gate-1 to enter the Museum at your assigned time. The local guide can point out these entrances during the walking tour. The ABD walking tour ends at the Uffizi and the meeting point for returning to the bus is also next to the Uffizi. This makes it very convenient. A tour of each room in the museum takes a total time of about 90 minutes.
Below is the URL to the Uffizi Museum online tickets. Click on the UK flag in the top right corner if the page is in Italian. http://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/shopper.aspx?venueId=1
(18) The second day in Artimino, you take a surprisingly long bus ride to a castello and are given a demonstration on how to make pasta. The pasta event takes about an hour or less. Then you eat lunch and back on the bus for another long bus ride back to Artimino. If given a second chance, I would strongly consider skipping this event and hiring a taxi to go from Artimino to Florence (60 Euro). The half-day tour of Florence is too short. This decision depends on how many things you want to do in Florence. The ABD itinerary only takes you into a single building to see the David. Everything else is a quick walking tour.
(19) Marco Polo airport is very slow to get through. By comparison to U.S. airports, the time to get through the ticket gates and security can be much longer than you might expect for a small airport. Our plane departure was delayed to wait for passengers who were stuck in the slow moving lines. Lucky for them it was an international flight and the plane was held.
(20) The transfer via boat from the Dei Dogi Hotel to the airport dock in Venice took us 12 minutes. We had no other traffic and we made good time. The guides state that it usually takes about 20 minutes. Once, at the airport dock, you are then greeted by a van driver, who will drive you from the dock to the front of the airport (~90 second drive). If the van driver isn't at the dock, you can simply walk under the covered walkway on the left to the departures entrance. I wouldn't wait for the transfer van if you are running late. The van ride seems a little silly to me. You will walk farther in many U.S. airports.
(21) The group did not stay in the Hotel Paggeria Medicea in Artimino as one might have gathered from the ABD website. We were boarded in rooms in the building which used to be a carriage house. The rooms are what I would describe as rustic. There are rooms on the ground floor and on a second floor. A few rooms have the bed located up in a loft. A second floor room with a loft bed is the least comfortable for temperature (think of sleeping in a bed in an attic). A handicap room will not have a shower and only a tub. The swimming pool is not heated.
(22) Many of the museums in Italy do not allow backpacks or bags into the museum. You will be approached by a security person pointing and saying "Guardaroba", which is the place where you can check your bag for storage. Some places charge a small fee for storing the bag. Do not leave anything valuable in the bag (cameras, mobile phone, etc.).
