Which Italy Trip? Looking for advice..

[caseykck]

Hi - my husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in October (or Sept) of 2010. Has anybody been on the Italian adventures?

We're trying to decide between
Italy
-Rome
-Tuscany
-Venice

and

Central Italy
-Sorrento
-Amalifi Coast
-Florence

They both sound wonderful, so we're having a difficult time picking. On one hand, the Italy trip seems like a "classic" Italian vacation. On the other, the Amalfi coast and countryside of the other trip sounds incredible. We're in our late 20s and are no-too-picky "foodies" of sorts. We like cities and countryside, I like shopping, he might get bored if there's too much. Any tips or reviews from people who have been on these (or similar) trips?

Thanks!

 

[Diskidatheart]

There are many reviews on this board regarding the Viva Italia trip (Rome, Tuscany, Venice). I've done a lot of research on this trip since we're going next May. I think they are two totally different types of trips, so it really depends on what you want to see. My wife wanted the Viva Italia trip because she said that if she's going to Italy for the first time, she wants to see Rome. My suggestion is to read the itineraries, do a search on both trip names and then see which one appeals to you the most. I'm sure whichever decision you make, you'll have a wonderful time.

 

[mikeb1982]

We did the Viva Italy in July of this year. What we did was to fly into Rome 3 days ahead of time and then took the train to Naples, (although in hindsight might have been easier to fly into Naples, but couldn't get it to work with our side trip to London at the end), and from there went to Sorrento and stayed in the same hotel that Disney stayed in for 2 nights. The hotel (Europa Palace) was built into the side of the coast and I got us a room with a oceanview and we had views of Vesvius every morning. I really wanted to see Pompeii while we were there, so thats why all the extra work in the begining. I would recommend it highly, although be prepared there is NO SHADE. Pompeii as it works out is half way between Naples and Sorrento on the Circumvesviana local train, so we went to Naples after Pompeii and got some real Pizza. I would have liked to stay an extra day to see Capri or explore a little more of the Almalfi Coast, but we were already over 2 weeks with our extra side trips. We are in our mid 20's and it was a fun experience, might not recommend with small Children, but there was a group on our trip with teenagers who flew from Venice at the end of the trip to Naples to see Pompeii.

 

[tink576]

The sound like two totally different trips...from my experience I loved Venice and couldn't get enough of the atmosphere, the culture, it was just amazing to walk around... but florence I didn't care for as much, there are museums and cathedrals but not the atmosphere... If you choose the Italy trip I would also recommend going early like one of the other posters said so that you could do pompeii... I'm sure you would absolutely love either trip you choose though.

 

[glassslipper2004]

We did the Viva trip - it was fantastic. I loved every single day - I would someday like to return to Rome, and am really hoping to go back to Venice sooner rather than later - it was magical. I wouldn't want to go to Italy and miss these places. I am also very interested in the Amalfi coast trip, but if we ever do, we will combine it with a few days in Venice - maybe then take the train down to the coast. Don't miss Venice and Rome!

 

[pjacobi]

No need for Disney. Just fly into Venice, and fly back from Rome. Get an Italian train pass to cover the distance. Use Rick Steves' book as your guide. if you get lost, just ask another American carrying a Rick Steves book.

It's lots more work than listening to an ABD guide, but you will learn so much more.


-Paul

 

[PearlySwan]

DH and I have been to Italy twice. We didn't travel with ABD or any other travel touring company. We did the touring on our own armed with The Rough Guide to Italy. Both trips happened when we were in our early thirties and didn't yet have any children. Our trips both consisted of the following itinerary: Milan, Venice, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Siena, Sorrento, Pompeii, Capri, and the Amalfi coast.

There is definitely a different 'flavor' to all the various regions of Italy. We appreciated all that each region/town/city had to offer at each of the above mentioned places. Now having said that, here's my recommendation, if you've never been to Italy, I would suggest doing Rome, Venice, and Tuscany first. Rome and Venice are 'classic' Italy. I couldn't see myself visiting Italy for the first time and skipping Rome or Venice.

Now I'm a bit confused as to the two itineraries you mentioned, on the "Italy" itinerary you list Tuscany (the city of Florence is located in the Tuscany region of Italy so I don't know why they would skip it). The second itinerary, "Central Italy," lists Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, and Florence. As I said earlier, Florence is in Tuscany which is north of Sorrento and Rome. Why would this itinerary circumvent Rome?

If you don't want to miss something on the Central Italy trip, do as others here have already suggested, fly in earlier and/or stay after the ABD tour is over to add a visit to the destination(s) you don't want to miss. My recommendation in the Sorrento vicinity are: Capri and Pompeii. Both amazing places! If you visit Capri don't forget to do the obligatory Blue Grotto excursion. It's a definitely a touristy stop but simply put, just beautiful!

 

[Pakey]

We did 2 weeks in Italy on our own, hitting the same areas as PearlySwan. Neither of the AbD trips would be my dream Italian vacation. My husband and I loved Venice and we loved Florence. We did two days in Venice and four days in Florence and didn't feel it was enough for either. The Vatican was great but other than that, we would place Rome as third to re-visit. While the Amalfi coast was nice, I wouldn't go back and we did not enjoy Sorrento, Capri or the Blue Grotto at all.

Except for Milan, we found Italy to be pretty easy to navigate on our own. We either took trains, cabs or had a private driver arranged through a travel agent. We really enjoyed the many places we found to dine at and would have hated to miss that experience by doing a tour.

 

[sayhello]

We did 2 weeks in Italy on our own, hitting the same areas as PearlySwan. Neither of the AbD trips would be my dream Italian vacation. My husband and I loved Venice and we loved Florence. We did two days in Venice and four days in Florence and didn't feel it was enough for either. The Vatican was great but other than that, we would place Rome as third to re-visit. While the Amalfi coast was nice, I wouldn't go back and we did not enjoy Sorrento, Capri or the Blue Grotto at all.

Except for Milan, we found Italy to be pretty easy to navigate on our own. We either took trains, cabs or had a private driver arranged through a travel agent. We really enjoyed the many places we found to dine at and would have hated to miss that experience by doing a tour.

Do you think you could please give more detail about what it was you liked/disliked about these places? Since what people like/dislike when they travel is SO different from person to person, it would be much more helpful if you could elaborate a little bit.

Sayhello

 

[Pakey]

Do you think you could please give more detail about what it was you liked/disliked about these places? Since what people like/dislike when they travel is SO different from person to person, it would be much more helpful if you could elaborate a little bit.

Sayhello

Rome is very large with terrible traffic and large crowds. It was harder to navigate the city. It was the only place we saw pickpockets. I did not really enjoy touring the ancient Rome areas (Coleseum, etc) as much as I thought I would. The Vatican is amazing and we loved going to the church, St Peter in Chains which has an amazing statue by Michelangelo that I'm so glad we didn't miss. We found it more difficult to avoid the heavily tourist populated areas in order to relax and just enjoy being there.

Capri was a tourist trap IMHO. I hated feeling that way as we really tried to avoid the touristy vacation. Only tourists go there and only tourists go to the Blue Grotto where the boat people insult you if you don't give them large enough tips. We experienced this with the boat driver getting us from Capri to the grotto and then, even worse, the boat drivers that take you into the grotto. They were so rude to this one elderly man (it's actually physically difficult to transfer to/from those little boats) that I wanted to cry for him. The hotel we stayed at in Sorrento was absolutely gorgeous but it was the only place where we encountered rudeness. The waiter in the lounge actually made a comment to my husband along the lines of how could he stand being married to an American woman. In the two weeks we were in Italy, this was the only area where we encountered anything other than wonderful hospitality.

I was also disappointed in Pisa. It was full of beggars, pickpockets, and swap meet stalls where the sellers were so aggressive that they were touching us. We had hired a private driver to take us there and I regretted the waste of that day!

Venice was full of tourists too but we were able to get lost (literally) in our own world there and it's so unique that I couldn't help falling in love with it. We didn't have any plans while there and we kind of just wandered around, further and further from St Marks square, found some places to eat where nobody spoke English and loved the experience. Our time there went by too fast.

Florence has so much art. We spent an entire day at the Uffizi Gallery and wish we could have spent another there. There were so many other places that were so easy to access. We were able to find lovely squares to sit and enjoy long lunches and beautiful streets to walk and just enjoy the architecture (as opposed to Rome where there were so many people and so much traffic that you had to pay attention to your surroundings at all times). There are some lovely churches with small admittance fees that were quiet and fairly empty. Even St Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, was not as busy as I had expected. The only busy area we encountered was the Ponte Vecchio and even that was a relaxing stroll.

Hopefully this helps to explain my opinions. It was a dream to go to Italy and the great experiences far outweighed the mediocre ones.

 

[DisFan10]

Rome is very large with terrible traffic and large crowds. It was harder to navigate the city. It was the only place we saw pickpockets. I did not really enjoy touring the ancient Rome areas (Coleseum, etc) as much as I thought I would. The Vatican is amazing and we loved going to the church, St Peter in Chains which has an amazing statue by Michelangelo that I'm so glad we didn't miss. We found it more difficult to avoid the heavily tourist populated areas in order to relax and just enjoy being there.

Capri was a tourist trap IMHO. I hated feeling that way as we really tried to avoid the touristy vacation. Only tourists go there and only tourists go to the Blue Grotto where the boat people insult you if you don't give them large enough tips. We experienced this with the boat driver getting us from Capri to the grotto and then, even worse, the boat drivers that take you into the grotto. They were so rude to this one elderly man (it's actually physically difficult to transfer to/from those little boats) that I wanted to cry for him. The hotel we stayed at in Sorrento was absolutely gorgeous but it was the only place where we encountered rudeness. The waiter in the lounge actually made a comment to my husband along the lines of how could he stand being married to an American woman. In the two weeks we were in Italy, this was the only area where we encountered anything other than wonderful hospitality.

I was also disappointed in Pisa. It was full of beggars, pickpockets, and swap meet stalls where the sellers were so aggressive that they were touching us. We had hired a private driver to take us there and I regretted the waste of that day!

Venice was full of tourists too but we were able to get lost (literally) in our own world there and it's so unique that I couldn't help falling in love with it. We didn't have any plans while there and we kind of just wandered around, further and further from St Marks square, found some places to eat where nobody spoke English and loved the experience. Our time there went by too fast.

Florence has so much art. We spent an entire day at the Uffizi Gallery and wish we could have spent another there. There were so many other places that were so easy to access. We were able to find lovely squares to sit and enjoy long lunches and beautiful streets to walk and just enjoy the architecture (as opposed to Rome where there were so many people and so much traffic that you had to pay attention to your surroundings at all times). There are some lovely churches with small admittance fees that were quiet and fairly empty. Even St Croce, where Michelangelo is buried, was not as busy as I had expected. The only busy area we encountered was the Ponte Vecchio and even that was a relaxing stroll.

Hopefully this helps to explain my opinions. It was a dream to go to Italy and the great experiences far outweighed the mediocre ones.

We had an AMAZING time on our Central Italy AbD. We really enjoyed our time and all the activities/sightseeing in Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii, Montereggiano, Lucca, Siena, Pisa and Florence. Then we visited Rome for 4 days on-our-own at the end of the AbD. We took the Metro to get around and we found it very easy and quick. We did not see any pickpockets and we never experienced any rudeness from the locals. Yes, there were a lot of tourists around, but then, aren't we all tourists??

I'm pretty sure your experiences would have been different (in a good way) if you had taken an AbD...

 

[Pakey]

We had an AMAZING time on our Central Italy AbD. We really enjoyed our time and all the activities/sightseeing in Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Pompeii, Montereggiano, Lucca, Siena, Pisa and Florence. Then we visited Rome for 4 days on-our-own at the end of the AbD. We took the Metro to get around and we found it very easy and quick. We did not see any pickpockets and we never experienced any rudeness from the locals. Yes, there were a lot of tourists around, but then, aren't we all tourists??

I'm pretty sure your experiences would have been different (in a good way) if you had taken an AbD...

I have taken an AbD. I am well aware of the difference in traveling on our own and with AbD and the pros/cons of each. sayhello asked me for my experience, which I provided.

 

[crashbb]

Now I'm a bit confused as to the two itineraries you mentioned, on the "Italy" itinerary you list Tuscany (the city of Florence is located in the Tuscany region of Italy so I don't know why they would skip it). The second itinerary, "Central Italy," lists Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, and Florence. As I said earlier, Florence is in Tuscany which is north of Sorrento and Rome. Why would this itinerary circumvent Rome?

The "Italy" tour does go to Florence - it just doesn't stay there. They stay in Artimino and take a day trip to Florence (not nearly enough time there, in my opinion).

The "Central Italy" tour takes the train directly from Naples to Florence. It seems to skip much of the center of Italy!

 

[notyrock]

Hi,
still every place of italy is beautiful... You could go to the one of the 3 capital of the fashion: Milan
You could visit museum in Rome, Florence...everywhere
You could go in Venice...a very romantic city on the sea
You could enjoy in italian beach...in Rimini or in Sardinia...
You could do wath you want...

 

[CocosMeme]

We did Viva Italia in September of "08, and really loved it. We arrived in Rome a day early and wish we had come 2 days early instead. We were so tired the first day that we could have used the extra day to get the most out of our stay. We took the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour (complimentary tickets were provided by ABD for those of us arriving early), and also visited the Borghese Gardens and Art Gallery (fabulous!). Some of our fellow travelers went to some ruins outside of the city. The villa in Tuscany was amazing. We also stayed one extra day in Venice, which was awesome. I highly recommend this trip, but I agree that you need to look and compare both trips offered and see what appeals to you the most. I have been to Pompei and the Almalfi Coast and they are wondeful too.