Planning a trip to Italy, or anywhere for that matter takes research.
There are those of course who just “wing it,” but Princess believes that a
well-planned trip can help avoid the trouble and anguish that can arise
when traveling. This is not to say that problems or unscheduled incidents
won’t occur, but being well informed about the area and the options
available helps one deal with whatever may lie ahead.
The number one resource for travelers, at home and abroad, is the
Internet. There are numerous websites for helping you make your choices.
When the Frog and I decided to go to Italy, I first went to
Fodors.com and did preliminary research about where to go and places
to stay.
Getting There
Once we decided on our itinerary, the first step was getting airline
tickets. I tried all the traditional discount websites but ended up
getting tickets on the phone with Continental. It turned out that flying
into Milan was substantially cheaper than flying into Rome, so if your
itinerary includes Northern Italy or Tuscany, this is a good option.
Please note that it is an hour bus ride from the Milan Malpensa Airport to
the Milan train station; if you’re catching a train, add that time to your
travel. The bus ride costs between 9 and 11 Euro, depending which bus
line you take.
Getting Around
By train. Italy has a great rail system with room for baggage. Since
legroom is limited, long distances can be tough. I obtained the train
schedules for our destinations from
trenitalia.com. Since we didn’t know our exact schedules, I didn’t
purchase the tickets from the states, though it is possible to do so from
raileurope.com. There is a surcharge for tickets purchased from the
U.S. that you won’t have in Italy.
If you do decide to purchase your train tickets in Italy, here are a
few tips. You must purchase tickets before you get on the train. If you
choose the Eurostar, you’ll need assigned seats for a specific train and
time. Tickets can be bought at travel agencies in the big cities, just
ask your hotel. Tickets at the Milan train station can be purchased from
the travel agency adjacent to the train station. The train we wanted was
sold out but there was one the following hour. If you’re on a tight
schedule, you may want to purchase tickets a day or two in advance.
By air. Italy has local airlines that connect major cities. If you
don’t want to sit on a train for 9 hours from Milan to Naples, you may
want to consider air travel. I would definitely recommend buying airline
tickets ahead of time to avoid getting shut out of your desired flights.
Europebyair.com is a good website to get schedules and buy tickets.
We took a flight from Naples to Milan on a local carrier, Volare Airlines,
a growing commuter airline, which was very comfortable with great
service. It was comparable in price to a train and took only an hour.
By car. Driving the Italian countryside is beautiful. The roads are
well maintained and well marked. Most local rental companies can be found
in the major cities. I used
Autoeurope.com to book a car and was very happy with them. I shopped
around and they lived up to their motto of having the best price. They
are contracted with different local car rental companies in different
cities and countries. In Italy it was EuropeCar. You may not get the
exact car you reserve but you do get a relatively comparable car (we
ordered an intermediate Alfa Romeo and got a intermediate Fiat, which
worked fine). When signing up for a car, be sure to check their special
promotions page. They have special deals for different types of upgrades
and international mobile phones. To get the promotions you often have to
pay in full by a certain date, but one of the advantages about
Autoeurope.com is that you can cancel your reservation without penalty
(this was true as of this date but always verify cancellation policies
when you make reservations).
AN IMPORTANT TIP ABOUT DRIVING IN ROME: DON’T!!!! It is just
impossible to negotiate the streets so don’t even bother. The Frog and I
spent 2 hours going around the same block trying to get to our hotel. If
you have to drive to Rome from somewhere else, follow the signs for Centro
Rome. As soon as you enter Via Veneto through the Porto Pinciana, go
directly to the EuropeCar office and dump the car. There is a EuropeCar
located right across from the American Embassy. All you have to do is
make a right off Via Veneto. Highly recommended, trust me.
Ferry. There is ferry service throughout the Amalfi Coast and it is a
great way to get around. On a hot day or on any day for that matter, this
is a lovely way to travel. There are ferries from Sorrento to Salerno,
via Positano and Amalfi. You can get on and off anywhere and they run
often. There are ferries to Capri from various towns on the Amalfi coast
including Naples. For schedules, check out
http://www.capri.net/home/en/transport.php. This can help you figure
out your schedule, especially if you are flying out of Naples. Note that
ferries from the smaller towns run less often than from Naples, Sorrento
and Salerno.
Lodging
Planning where to stay took up most of my research time. Again, the
Internet was a great way to get information and to make the reservations,
but I did consult a few books just to get different opinions. The first
place I started was at
Fodors.com. What I found most useful was the
mini-guides of the different cities and areas. The “Rants and Raves”
section had actual travelers’ opinions, which were sometimes different
from the book’s review. Most hotels have websites and I urge you to check
them out to get more information (to find these do a search for the hotel
name). Just remember that hotels’ websites are their promotional tools
and therefore they will only tell you what’s best about a hotel. Another
useful tip when deciding on a hotel, remember location, location,
location. Not all 4 star hotels are in the best areas. If location is
important to you (it definitely is to me) then I would get the address of
the hotel you are considering and map it out on
mapquest.com. Note that the areas around rail stations, while often
convenient, are usually seedy, especially in larger cities. I found this
to be especially true in Rome. It lead us to change hotels and
neighborhoods (trust me, the Via Veneto is much nicer).
My favorite websites for booking hotels is
www.utell.com. This is a hotel booking website that I have found very
useful on different trips. It lists available hotels, rates (including
promotional deals), availability and star rating. I have found rates that
are better than discounted web rates, which are usually non-refundable for
cancellations. In most cases
Utell’s cancellation policy is 24 hours prior to arrival (please
verify this when making your reservation). I also have had good
experiences with their customer service. When we were unhappy with the
location of our hotel in Rome, I called their 800 number in the states
(there are local numbers for most European countries) and they proceeded
to book us into another hotel. The booking agent was very helpful and
since I didn’t know what hotel I wanted, she recommended different hotels
and neighborhoods. We ended up in a very nice hotel in a very nice
neighborhood. The cancellation policy and ease in switching hotels can be
important. We met some women in Rome, who to their dismay, had to remain
at the hotel in the seedy neighborhood since their reservations were
pre-paid and non-refundable. This is something to think about when
booking pre-packaged discount tours.
Another thing to note about
Utell: sometimes they will only have suites available. If you don’t
want a suite and want to stay at that hotel, it is worth contacting the
hotel directly through their website and asking if they have standard
rooms available. I was able to do this with our hotel in Capri, which
lowered our rate by $75 a night.
Capri.net is a good source for listings of hotels in Capri.
Tuscany Lodging. When visiting Tuscany, I would recommend staying in a
converted farmhouse or villa rather than a hotel (which are few). I would
also recommend reserving early. Most of the properties are small and have
only a few rooms, which book up quickly. It is best to do some research
on where you want to stay in the region since it is spread out with
different areas for different interests. Also, some properties are only
available for 7-day rentals and some do not have breakfast or daily
housekeeping. Many properties have their own website so it’s worth doing
a search if you have the name of the property. I found the book, Tuscany
& Umbria (Charming Small Hotel Guides: Tuscany & Umbria, 3rd Ed) by Nicola
Swallow, Richard Dixon, Fiona Duncan, to be quite useful especially when
crossed referenced with
Fodors and other websites.
A great website for information and to book farmhouses and villas is
Tuscany.net. You can get comprehensive information about properties,
rates, locations and many other details. On this website, you can put in
an availability request for different properties. Your request is
forwarded to the property and they will contact you via e-mail with rates
and availability for the dates requested. The only problem is the
cancellation policy: most properties will charge a steep cancellation fee,
sometimes as much as 100%! Be sure that you are certain about your travel
dates and destination. Another thing to look out for when booking through
this website, when you receive your confirmation voucher (which you must
take with you), verify that the rate quoted in the availability e-mail
matches the rate quoted in the voucher. I had a huge discrepancy in one
of my requests. If this happens, contact
Tuscany.net’s customer service and the property directly (by replying
to the voucher e-mail). In my case, they offered to honor their original
quoted price.
We decided to stay in the Chianti region. A good website for
information on this region is
chianti.net.
OTHER RESOURCES - BOOKS
When in Italy, I referred to various books for information. Since I
didn’t have a computer available at all times, books were a good resource
for local information, maps and descriptions of historic places. My
favorites were Fodors 2002 Italy and Eyewitness Travel Guide to Florence
and Tuscany and Eyewitness Travel Guide to Rome. I had a book for the
Amalfi Coast, but I found the Fodors guide to be more useful. Although I
cannot attest to it firsthand, Rick Steves' Italy 2002 guide was very
popular and its readers seemed to find it useful. I found these
guidebooks good for sightseeing information but when it came to food, I
think it’s best to rely on recommendations and word of mouth. We had many
great meals at wonderful restaurants that were recommended by the staff of
our hotels as well as other people we met on our travels.
Travelers' Insurance
Though you hopefully won’t need it, travelers’ insurance is always a
good thing to have. If you are traveling during the peak season, many
hotels require a week or more for cancellations so I would recommend
insurance for your peace of mind. We used
Accessamerica.com. To keep your premium low, figure out the minimum
amount you would have to pay for cancellations, and take out that
insurance amount. Remember, some hotels will charge you only one night
for cancellations, so you don’t need to total the entire stay.
For specific hotels and restaurants that we recommend, check out the
other articles on Italy by Princess and the Frog. They are organized by
city and region and have websites, phone numbers and addresses.
Useful Websites
