italy trip - help appreciated

[night86mare]

nice thread

will be planning for a trip next for 2 weeks
Starting from Rome to Florence/Pisa to Venice to Vienna and back to Rome
any advice on the time planning?
thanks mates

why back to rome? 0.o

you can always fly home from somewhere else

 

[n0eln0el]

why back to rome? 0.o

you can always fly home from somewhere else

2 way ticket cheaper it seems

 

[Lady Ice]

Participate in the Florence marathon (25th Nov) - if you're there on that date......a great way to see the city and get your photo shots!

 

[bovine]

ok here's the plan, will be spending my dec holidays travelling with some people

day 1 --> london to rome
day 2 --> spent in rome

here we have a problem, we can travel direct to pisa or to florence. it is best if we can see pisa.. though we hear there is nothing much there other than a leaning tower. still. right now based on the train website the only ride available from rome to pisa is a midnight ride.. not sure if it's going to be an issue. on the other hand train to florence is morning train, which is good, but we would have to spend time travelling to pisa and back, since we plan to be based in florence; advice appreciated here from travellers to europe

day 3 --> florence/pisa
day 4 --> florence/pisa
day 5 --> florence to verona, spend day in verona
day 6 --> verona, afternoon travel to venice
day 7 --> venice
day 8 --> venice, afternoon travel to milan
day 9, day 10 --> milan return to london on day 10

all advice would be appreciated.. constructive comments only please

if you have any particular hostel to recommend, etc.. or any extra advice about the parts i'm going to, please help.. as this will be the first time doing such things for me. cheers

1) Beware of the children!!! They are the professional pickpockets!!

2) Beware of the people who try to show you a trick by placing a string on your pinky. With swift and deft moves, the string will become a rather nice friendship band on your wrist. They will hence ask you for around 20 euros for it. Only they know how to undo the band.

3) Hotels in Venice are expensive so i suggest you stay at a camping lodge about 20 mins away from the city centre. They have free shuttle coaches every hour.

4) Venice's long kangs are damn smelly so cover your nose when you ride on the river taxi.

5) The glass ornaments in Venice are much cheaper if you purchase them from outside the city centre.

6) The gelatos are delicious!! Do try ALL the flavours if you can. (I counted more than 50 flavours avaliable)

7) No sleeveless tees if you want to enter the sacred grounds of Vatican city (well, dec is winter so ignore this)

8) Prepare more memory cards if u r into art cos u will be damn trigger happy. I almost broke my neck when i took photos of the churches' and museums' ceilings. :sweat:

9) If u have yet to purchase ur air tics, i suggest u fly by ryan air. Damn cheap, i bought my air tic for 1p before tax n ard 28 quids after tax!

That's all i can remember off hand. Last but not least, dont worry about the trains. Unlike the UK, their trains are punctual, clean (read:no urine odor) and there is a nice dining area for meals.

 

[night86mare]

thanks so much bovine

didn't know about #2, will definitely watch out for that

lady ice - i don't have track pants leh. damn sad. running in the cold is not my idea of a fun holiday when you don't have appropriate gear

 

[night86mare]

btw bovine

do you recommend that we buy our tickets in advance for italy, or can we buy on the spot

is it very packed, etc, or are there always seats? never been there, so really not sure about the situation

 

[Lady Ice]

lady ice - i don't have track pants leh. damn sad. running in the cold is not my idea of a fun holiday when you don't have appropriate gear

Running in the cold is way better than running in the heat. Get yourself a pair of stylo milo track pants.

P.S. If you like people watching - the folk out there tend to be dressed very chic

 

[night86mare]

Running in the cold is way better than running in the heat. Get yourself a pair of stylo milo track pants.

P.S. If you like people watching - the folk out there tend to be dressed very chic

hahahaha
too poor leh, unless you know where to get cheap track pants in london

in italy?

i thought london was bad enough, hehe

 

[Lady Ice]

Where abouts in London are you?

1. KMart - is pretty reasonable....Tesco also ok - but you need the big superstore
2. Charity stores like Oxfam, etc
3. Market (you near Camden?)

 

[Lady Ice]

p.s. go hang out in covent gardens

 

[night86mare]

Where abouts in London are you?

1. KMart - is pretty reasonable....Tesco also ok - but you need the big superstore
2. Charity stores like Oxfam, etc
3. Market (you near Camden?)

p.s. go hang out in covent gardens

camden, relatively, but usually too lazy to head over there

i think the tesco superstore is relatively inaccessible, so i've heard; and we have a kmart?!

located in the vicinity of russell square, to be exact

yeah, i've heard things about covent gardens, like relatively cheap leather goods (even when compared to singapore) but there isn't really anything much else to do there other than shop, at least for me. and i'm not really a shopping sort

 

[Lady Ice]

Dude - go during the day - covent gardens has all sorts of free entertainment during the day - not only shopping.

Okay other suggestions:
1. British Museum - just near Russell Square
2. British Library - has books dating back to very early times - located near Kings Cross
3. Buckingham Palace, The Eye
4. Tate Gallery - Vauxhall (quite a long walk)
5. There is a sex museum - near the river/near Tower Bridge
6. River cruise or ferry from Waterloo to Canary Wharf
7. Go into Westminster Abbey (next door to Parliment) on Sunday during evensong......the choir is so beautiful and amazing. When I close my eyes, I could cry!

 

[night86mare]

ahahaha yes i have been to some of these places

studying here, see, been a month already

 

[Lady Ice]

For 1/2 price tickets - try the booth at Leicester Square - it'll be what ever shows they are trying to sell off

Also forgot around Kensington:
- Science Museum
- Natural Museum (think the dinosaur is there)
- Fashion thingy place

Up the road from you is Regent's park - go to the inner circle

 

[Lady Ice]

ahahaha yes i have been to some of these places

studying here, see, been a month already

:embrass: opps sorry - then don't need to tell you any more places....except if you want advice out of London - let me know

 

[ace2001]

Studying and travelling in Europe?? How i miss those days:cry:

Rome: Do read up more abt the history if you have not done so, else rocks are jus rocks !! haha:sweat:

Venice: The most beautiful and rare european cities which I revisited and revisited. Simply charming in any of the seasons. On the north side of the city (come out of station walk left all the way, dun cross the bridge), you can find quite a no. of low cost hotel.

Pisa: Still worth half a day visit in my opinion, the square is sill beautiful whether crowded or not. watching tourist walking by taking photo in "pushing" the tower, queueing etc is a sight by itself. why not sit down, drink some coffee and enjoy the sights.

Milan: Unless you are a shopping freak or AC milan fan etc, i dun see anything interesting...

For budget airline, i dun have any prob with them in terms of safely. Ryanair usually flies to weild airport like you mentioned, esp in big cities(paris, marseiles, etc). You jus land in the middle of no where. no people, no cows,no birds etc and expected to pay 10 euros or something to go to the city center (of course depends on destination some places are not that bad..), so all these extra cost and time have to be factored in. I prefer easyjet for budget airlines.

 

[bovine]

btw bovine

do you recommend that we buy our tickets in advance for italy, or can we buy on the spot

is it very packed, etc, or are there always seats? never been there, so really not sure about the situation

Pls buy ur air tics in advance cos it will be cheaper :think: When we went (summertime), the plane was not packed but the airport was.

For ur easter or summer hols,i suggest Spain, Portugal or Greece. :thumbsup:

 

[foxwagon]

Watch out for those pickpockets.
They can smell you from a mile away.

 

[night86mare]

Pls buy ur air tics in advance cos it will be cheaper :think: When we went (summertime), the plane was not packed but the airport was.

For ur easter or summer hols,i suggest Spain, Portugal or Greece. :thumbsup:

no no no, i meant TRAIN tickets thanks

 

[Lady Ice]

Watch out for those pickpockets.
They can smell you from a mile away.

yes watch out for the Italian underground...... a traveller I had met had a plastic bag put over his head twice in Rome underground and everything taken. He only travels with one credit card for safety.