10 Days In Italy - How would you spend it? (best, cities, buy)

[ElleTea]

I have enjoyed reading this thread! I have never been to Europe but we had discussed a trip to Italy at one time. I wondered what the heck I would do there as I am not a museum person and Italian food is my least favorite type of cuisine! It sounds like if we did go, I’d find plenty to do (just not sure about eating, maybe I’d just survive on wine!).

[Miker2069]

Well we are back from our Trip! I will say that it was AMAZING! We spent 12 full days in Italy. 4.5 Days in Rome, 4.5 Days in Florence/Tuscany, and 3 days in Venice. All regions were unique and amazing in their own right. I would have to say my overall favorite was Florence (my hear and mind are still there lol), but, each region was amazing in it's own right. There's plenty of great information in this thread on sites to see and what to do. I'll share some of my thoughts on what made it a successful trip and what I would like to have been aware of next time.

1. Smell the Roses. The biggest factor in our enjoyment is that we took it slow and easy. We did not *try* to do to much (although we felt very satisfied on what we did). As mentioned earlier in this thread - the stress of trying to pack a lot into site seeing and things do will dampen the experience. We had some major things to do (Colosseum, Statue of David, the Vatican, A gondola ride, etc.) but we took our time to experience those sites and when we had our fill we added additional things to see and do). We recognized there's WAY to much to do and see and places to go, and that it was okay if we only experienced a fraction of it - as long as we enjoyed what we experienced (which we did). I think approximately a full 4.5 days in Rome and 4.5 days in Florence was just the right mixture for our first trip. Originally we planned to spend more time in Florence but felt comfortable enough to make the trip from Florence to Venice and we were so glad we did. We enjoyed the train rides and found them pleasant (although the way the door the boards at the train station is a bit nerve racking lol). We spent 3 days in Venice which IMO was plenty.

2. Peddlers. One thing I didn't factor in as much were the street peddlers. They are selling their "made in china" wares all over Italy - there's no escape. They're pretty aggressive if you show the slightest bit of courtesy or politeness. Almost use car salesman like, "no" is not an answer, it's just a prelude to yes. The best way I found to handle this is to not even make eye contact, don't get caught in a friendly conversation (like are you enjoying the sites? if you answer in any way they will follow you). They will walk up to you while you're eating in an outdoor restaurant/cafe or walking. Keep walking as if they're invisible (I know it sounds harsh) and they will move on to the next person quickly. If you do get suckered in to buying something, low ball (yes I know it's harsh but trust me, they're not losing anything) they'll either take it or get offended and leave. I bought a woodcraft that I thought was hand carved only to find 10 other guys the next day selling the same thing. If you're polite with one, then all the others in the vicinity will pounce on you. Having said that, while there were a lot of pan handlers it didn't diminish from my trip at all, they really faded into the background once you know how to get them to move on quickly.

3. The most expensive part of the trip were the taxis. We could have probably handled this a bit differently (public transportation mostly) but to be honest this was the biggest expense. I found the food prices reasonable (i.e. $10-12 euros for a pizza that we could split was perfect for us). One annoyance with the taxis is that not all of them take credit cards, or, they didn't want to take credit cards. I wanted to use my credit card as much as possible to avoid having to take the hit from converting dollars to Euros (more on that later). If you're requesting a taxi from a restaurant or hotel make sure to tell them to request one that takes credit cards (if that's what you want). I was annoyed to find out I had to use my cash because the cabby didn't have his POS (point of sale machine) or just only did cash. On a lighter note the cabbys were very friendly for the most part (other than maybe 2 out of 20+ we met) and will stop and let you take a picture of some site you're driving by - they'll wait for you. Keep in mind you could EASILY spend $40-$50 Euros or more on cabs each day. You might want to factor this in as to where you stay so you can walk to a lot of places. Oh and the water taxis in Venice - don't do it unless you have to - it's a minimum of $60 euros for a 5-10 min ride.

4. Food. The food and wine! OMG, was amazing! I was a Pizza, Gelatto, and Tirmasu eating fool LOL. At the end of each day I got a refreshing Aperol Spritz and later in the evening a lovely Chiante. I loved it and my wife loved it. As I mentioned the food and wine were reasonably price - we tried a a couple 5 star places for the experience and view (which was amazing), however I would have been totally happy eating in all outdoor cafes and restaurants. Not all eatery's are the same - Some eatery's we passed because we didn't like the way it looked, and then we doubled back turned out to be awesome. We rarely ate inside and always chose to eat out in air, and chit chat with people at the other tables (which was sooo much fun and enjoyable - meeting people from all over the world that way). I would price shop a bit though as there are clearly some tourist traps (a Pizza or glass of wine that's $20 Euros or more or a glass of wine is way to much). The portions are big also so you can share plates and still feel satisfied.

5. Cash. if you're coming from basically anywhere other than the UK you're going to take a hit on the currency conversion - just accept it lol. You can pull out $100 euros and it will cost you $125+ or more in USD. One thing I would do differently is just get all the money you think you're need at once from a bank ahead of time. Hitting the ATM or a money broker is going to be expensive and you'll be fee'd to death.

6. Helping Hands. This was probably the most annoying thing (and again relative to the whole trip it didn't ruin it or anything, just annoying). One thing we noticed in the airport/train stations or at the taxi water docks in Venice is that "porters" will start carrying your bags. They'll act like a passenger or another tourist "helping" you carry your luggage and get you settled - then they will ask for $10 Euros for 2 min of work. They will not leave until they get something. We used them once on a train because we had a ton of bags and honestly it was nice to have a hand, but I gave him $2 Euros and told him to split - he haggled and eventually shook my hand and went on to the next 'customers'. In Venice though this wasn't the case, the "porter" carried our luggage to the water taxi - we had no clue whether he was with the train station (like in the US the porters work for the airlines) or what, their tactic is to move quickly and start handling your bags and before you know it they've moved it to where you want to go then they reveal the price (which is usually $10 Euros). My wife did NOT like that at all. They porters will "insist" on their fee with you and like I said earlier, if you seem sympathetic they will NOT leave until they get something. Ideally the moment someone starts touching your bags, offering to help with anything, just sternly say "No Grazie" and get their hands off your stuff and walk away. They are VERY slick though and they count of people thinking they are their out of the kindness of their heart. If you're stern upfront they'll quickly move on to the next soft hearted person.

7. Tipping. I'll keep this short. You don't need to tip anyone in Italy at all. I repeat, don't tip. However they will love you and probably name their first born after you if you do. They of course will not deny it. I only tipped a cabby if I had him wait a bit while we took pictures (i.e. we drove by the Trevi fountain at night and wanted a night shot and spent a while there - I gave him an extra for that. My exception for this is that I tipped the street musicians - they were FANTASTIC. My wife and I started impromptu dancing to "that's Amore" played byone of the musicians near a restaurant we were eating at. I loved these guys and the music that filled the streets each night made it all the more magical.

8. Dress in layers. This obviously depends on time of year but I found the evenings very cool (in May). You can get sick easily by sweating during the hot days and then finding the temperature drops and the wind start blowing in the evenings - I nearly caught a chill but fortunately the heat in the room and hot tea fought back anything that might have started. The next day I had a hoodie/jacket always and was ready for the cool nights . During the day, bring a hat - it's HOT. If you end up waiting in lines outside you're head will bake without one. Also worth noting, my allergies kicked in while out there, mostly sinus drainage and not such much itchy eyes, but I found myself blowing my nose a lot lol.

9. I found the Italian people very friendly and they seemed very appreciative with my poor Italian grammar and attempt to conversion in some Italian. Personally I found it annoying when a tourist didn't even try to at least say hello/good bye, Good Morning/Evening or thank you in Italian. Learn a few phrases and you'll get a lot of service with an extra smile.

10. Mobile internet. Well I over paid on this one. At the airport, I got the "myweb" unlimited sim card for a week. The service was great but it was over kill. We used 6Gb in a week. I had my hotspot on my and my wife shared my data. She could facetime, stream, browser, maps, etc. etc. In all that we used only 6GB in 7 days while out and about. For the rest of the trip I learned my lesson and got a 5GB sim from vodaphone for $30 euro. I also believe you can get that down cheaper if you spend a bit of time upfront researching.


These are a few items off the top of my head. As I said in the beginning THIS TRIP WAS AWESOME. Italy is breathtakingly beautiful, diverse in landscape and art - and we would go back in a heart beat (especially Florence and Tuscany). I'm grateful to all those that contributed some wisdom and thoughts to this thread - it was very helpful. Grazie Mille friends!

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I have enjoyed reading this thread! I have never been to Europe but we had discussed a trip to Italy at one time. I wondered what the heck I would do there as I am not a museum person and Italian food is my least favorite type of cuisine! It sounds like if we did go, I’d find plenty to do (just not sure about eating, maybe I’d just survive on wine!).

If you are ever near Spello, visit this place...


Italian Wines and more - Enoteca Properzio

[hikernut]

Originally Posted by Miker2069

2. Peddlers. One thing I didn't factor in as much were the street peddlers. They are selling their "made in china" wares all over Italy - there's no escape. They're pretty aggressive if you show the slightest bit of courtesy or politeness. Almost use car salesman like, "no" is not an answer, it's just a prelude to yes.

The day we arrived in Rome we could not get our cards to work in the nearby ATM, and so we did not have any paper money that day. A young fellow at the Spanish Steps insisted I buy a rose from him to give to my wife. I made the mistake of replying and explaining I had no euros, which was true. Of course he would not relent, and after some discussion he simply gave me the rose which I in turn gave to my wife. However, once he determined that he really was not going to receive any payment he took the rose from my wife and moved on!

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by hikernut

The day we arrived in Rome we could not get our cards to work in the nearby ATM, and so we did not have any paper money that day. A young fellow at the Spanish Steps insisted I buy a rose from him to give to my wife. I made the mistake of replying and explaining I had no euros, which was true. Of course he would not relent, and after some discussion he simply gave me the rose which I in turn gave to my wife. However, once he determined that he really was not going to receive any payment he took the rose from my wife and moved on!

I had the exact same experience a couple times. They will leave you with one of their trinkets (like a rose) or a leather bracelet like a parting gift, and pretend to walk away then 10 seconds later walk up to whoever seems like they have the money (usually the man) and ask for something. I found not evening excepting "the free gift" in the first place squashed it.

[Katnan]

Souns like a wonderful trip! You definitely hit all the highlights and each city is magical in its own way.

Just as a side note, we spent five days in Rome and not a dime on transportation, other than to get to the airport at the end. We walked everywhere, and my feet weren't happy at night but it was worth it. There is a subway system in Rome too, but i couldnt bear to be underground and miss something. We also walked everywhere in Venice but wanted to go up the Grand Canal so took the water bus. Maybe 7 Euros per person?

[Miker2069]

Originally Posted by Liberty2011

Souns like a wonderful trip! You definitely hit all the highlights and each city is magical in its own way.

Just as a side note, we spent five days in Rome and not a dime on transportation, other than to get to the airport at the end. We walked everywhere, and my feet weren't happy at night but it was worth it. There is a subway system in Rome too, but i couldnt bear to be underground and miss something. We also walked everywhere in Venice but wanted to go up the Grand Canal so took the water bus. Maybe 7 Euros per person?

I should have added to bring extremely comfortable shoes and drink plenty of water
I enjoyed the walking and treated it as a way to burn the calories necessary for another Pizza lol. Seriously though if you're up to it, you can walk almost all of Rome and definitely walk all of Florence (it's not very big). Venice the same thing. Where we stayed in Florence, we stayed on a hill overlooking Florence (an unreal view) that walking back up at the end of day - we were to pooped to try. You're right about the water bus - it's $10 Euros now but should put you near most places you want to go.

[hikernut]

The hawkers are everywhere at the main attractions, and relentless. A guy at the Colosseum all dressed up in a gladiator getup insisted on taking our picture with my wife's camera... Ummm, ya no thanks! It did get a little old and we found ourselves having to ignore them and quickly walk by. I never felt unsafe, but it does get old.

When out in public I always had one credit card and a bit of cash in a front pocket, with my hand on it whenever we were around other people. Everything else was in a pouch inside my shirt. Perhaps excessive, but we know someone who had things stolen including her passport before she got to her hotel room in Rome. Probably happened at the airport??

[Aredhel]

Originally Posted by ElleTea

I wondered what the heck I would do there as I am not a museum person and Italian food is my least favorite type of cuisine!

You're not permitted to say that until you have actually tried Italian food in Italy. It bears little resemblance to what's labeled as "Italian food" in the US (being lass pasta-centric and far more varied), and is much more delicious (largely owing to the freshness of the ingredients). And there are big regional differences in the food in different parts of Italy, which makes it even more fun!

Don't pass up a chance to go if you get one! Italy is great even if you never set foot in a single museum.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Aredhel

You're not permitted to say that until you have actually tried Italian food in Italy. It bears little resemblance to what's labeled as "Italian food" in the US (being lass pasta-centric and far more varied), and is much more delicious (largely owing to the freshness of the ingredients). And there are big regional differences in the food in different parts of Italy, which makes it even more fun!

Don't pass up a chance to go if you get one! Italy is great even if you never set foot in a single museum.

I watched the Sopranos, I know what Italians eat! j/k

I could live off of the plates of cheeses and olives and fruits and nuts that are often served with wine. Other than that, I don't care for pasta and I don't eat meat, including seafood. Not a bread eater, either.