Italy!! Give me your advice

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

We had such a great time last year in scotland I thought maybe we should start our next european vacation... and Italy seems to be making the short list!!
Anyone have any advice on which timeshares are worth it??? Are any available for 3-4 nights??? Which cities were on your must see list?? Travel by train seems to be a great way to see the countryside without the hassle of driving does this work in Italy too???

I would love to see Rome, Venice and Tuscany.... am I dreaming??

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Assisi and Positano where great with time shars keep out of Rome with a TS not nice.

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

I still have Italy on my mind- Can you tell me what kind of "things" you did while at those resorts?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

If it is your first trip to Italy, I would not do timeshares. I would spend a few days in several places, and travel between them by train. My first choices would be Rome, Florence, and Venice.

For accomodations, I would use Booking.com: 71000+ hotels worldwide. Book your hotel now! or consider monasterystays.com

Italy is a great country. I will be back there again for a few days in a month or so.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

I still have Italy on my mind- Can you tell me what kind of "things" you did while at those resorts?

Possitano is just amazing, You can stay there or take a boat over to Capri and Sorrento which we loved, We did both and feel it was the best part of our trip. Assisi was great to but we also drove out from here to Trevi to see the Olive oil plantains there we bought our oil to bring back, In Trevi we got our best and cheapest meal of all of Italy. It was a nice restaurant where most of the workers go eat. We paid 40 Euros for the 3 of us which included 2 bottles of wine. Any place else we would have paid 200 Euros for the meal we had, Real Authentic cuisine with out the tourist prices,

[mike2200 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mike2200]

Places to see

If you're in Florence it is just a short drive out to Lucca ( a walled city) very quaint and also Pisa (really for the tower) both are great to visit...

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

Thanks mike for the suggestion

[sheilaanthony Member Find all posts View Profile Close sheilaanthony]

We're currently in a TS in Soriano nel Cimino, Italty, and it's fantastic., It has only 18 suites, a terrific chef, and is in a 17th century Palazzo. This is not our 1st time to Italy, however, and we came to this area (Tuschia) for it's rich history, scenery, and small towns. This is a trip for us to avoid all the touristy areas, the crazy driving in Rome, and the expense of the cities. There is good transportation between towns here with buses and trains. We are on an electric train route directly to Rome here, and have taken the train once. But mostly we use the rented car, as there are so many lovely places like natural reserves that are too far from public transportation. Also, easier on the older bones, here!

[damamabearx3 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close damamabearx3]

We're currently in a TS in Soriano nel Cimino, Italty, and it's fantastic., ...

I agree with the above comment on the Palazzo Catalani in Soriano nel Cimino. My husband and I stayed there in July and the Palazzo, the people, and the town were all fantastic. We drove there but parked the car once we arrived and retrieved it when it was time to head to our next destination so I can't speak for the public transportation. We liked it so much we skipped our prepaid, nonrefundable walking tours in Rome (skipped Rome completely!) without regret. We had already been to Venice (and loved it) and Florence (didn't love it) and decided that we didn't want to see another big city.

Tip for Venice, stay in one of the more residential districts like Dorsoduro or Cannaregio. The closer you get to Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square) the louder and more crowded it gets. You can find rentals on VRBO.com if timeshare exchange isn't an option. We stayed in a hotel booked through Hotels.com and I took advantage of their lowest price guarantee twice! Saved me over $500!

[Dancingfish Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Dancingfish]

I am loving all the Italy details!! keep them coming!! I just saw pictures of Capri and have added it to my list!! I think I just need to retire and win the lottery!! There is no way I can afford all I want to see and do!

[TBCSoup Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TBCSoup]

We did northern Italy last fall -- Milan, Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Lucca, and Cinque Terre. The cities are places to see for history, architecture, art, etc. and all the reasons to be a tourist. But Lake Como and Cinque Terre regions are places to relax, enjoy, and go back to. Of course, it was our first visit to Italy and relax was not on the itinerary.
We used points from the Starwood system to stay in fancy hotels in the big cities, places I never would have paid cash for. $600, $800 per night is not in my budget. The points seemed less costly and, we thought, presented a good value. Smaller locales we like to try small hotels or b&b's, and we were not disappointed.
Remember, planning is part of the fun. You're lucky to have this trip to look forward to.

[wombat Member Find all posts View Profile Close wombat]

If you're heading to Northern Italy, do try to fit Turin in. Its a very lovely, less touristy town with lots of nice architecture, history, food and yummy chocolates (esp Gianduja). It is the home of Italian kings and chocolates, and is very under-appreciated when compared with the big 3 cities.

[Larry Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Larry]

Italy is gorgeous and has everything you could want on a vacation!!!!!

We combined a timeshare week with two 3 night stays in hotels. Carpedium Roma Golf was our base for a week around Rome. This a a really nice timeshare on a golf course outside of Rome. Needed a car here to drive to train station about 15 minutes away and then another 20 minutes into Rome. Also used car to get to Pompeii, Naples and drive up the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Didn't get to go to Capri, wished we had the time as we spent most of our time going to sights in Rome and the Vatican. Truly outstanding experience of History, art, culture and food in Rome. Then drove car for 3 nights in Florence for more museums, art and history and spent 1 full day in Tuscany including Sienna and San Giarmani. Absolutely beautiful Tuscan villages and views.

Only thing was I couldn't wait to turn car in once we got to Florence as drivers were insane!!!! Took nice relaxing train ride to beautiful Venice. A one of a kind city with wonderful canals and architecture. Went to San Marco square every evening for fantastic string orchestras that played in square for hours.

Loved Italy and need to go back again and again!!!!!!!

[x3skier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close x3skier]

If I were you, I would take a guided tour of Italy or do it on your own first to see where you might want to spend more time in a particular area. We have been three times now and prefer the northern area and always stop in Venice for a few days each trip. A tour of Venice, Florence, Rome and if time permits Cinque Terra gives you the "best" of tourist Italy. Another good place is the Lake Como area.

I DO NOT Recommend driving as Italian Drivers fell it is their birthright to drive as if they are in a F1 race. If you drive in the cities, you will experience a feeling never to be forgotten and it will not be good.

Cheers

[PigsDad Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PigsDad]

We were in Italy for two weeks in September (our first time there) and toured Northern Italy, basing ourselves in Rome, Florence, Bologna and Venice (in that order).

Personally, I thought Rome was overrated. We had no interest in the Vatican, and the usual ruins / tourist hotspots were so crowded and "touristy". Combine that with getting pick-pocketed (out of my buttoned front-pocket by a group of women with a baby!), Rome is someplace we will not return. The only good part was that public transportation was fine there, so no need to even think about driving.

Next was Florence. We rented a car, and despite the stories we had heard about Italian drivers, I never had a problem. Yes, they can drive fast, but they are very consistent and very good drivers. If you pick up on their style of driving, it really isn't bad at all (such as when they pass you on the "freeways", they rarely move completely over into the passing lane -- you are expected to move to the right a bit). However, a GPS is mandatory, IMO -- that saved us a lot of grief every day.

The wine country south of Florence was fantastic, and we visited several small towns (usually on the top of hills) that, without a car, would have been impossible to experience. The restaurants and scenery in Tuscany were fantastic.

We also did a day trip to Cinque Terre. It wasn't a bad drive from Florence, and we parked in Levanto (easy to get to, ample parking) and took the train between the five coastal towns. This day was the highlight of our trip! If we had to do it again, I would have planned to stay a night in one of the towns so we would have had more time to explore all the towns. It was absolutely gorgeous, people were friendly, great food and lots to do and see.

Bologna was just on our way to Venice, and we only spent one night there. It did have an interesting center city with lots of history. The drive from Florence took us through a small mountain range and was very scenic. We turned in our rental car in Bologna and took the train to Venice.

Venice was quite an experience with lots to see and do. We took the water bus to Murano and Burano (sp?) and I would highly recommend that day trip. The rest of the time we spent exploring the city, never knowing where you would run into a cute little chocolate shop, or a great museum. It was the perfect ending to a very enjoyable trip (minus the pick-pocketing incident).

Kurt