Going to Italy - any suggestions?

[Jen]

I'm so excited!! DH and I will be going to Europe (Italy, Germany and Luxembourg) for 3.5 weeks next July/August. DH sings with a well-known choir here in Vancouver, and they're doing a tour of Germany and Luxembourg in August for 17 days. We are going to go a bit early and spend just over a week in Italy. This is the only chance we're going to have to do this for many years - after this trip will come the house, kids, etc. - and we've never been to Europe before. Of course everyone and their dog has been telling me travel stories...mostly horrible stories about getting robbed by gypsies in Rome...but I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has any "must see's" for when we are in Italy (the Germany portion will be with the choir, so our itinerary is out of our hands).

Here are the basics: we plan to fly into Rome July 28th (arrive July 29th, I think), spend ~2 nights (too expensive to stay longer!!), then move on to Florence, and end up in Venice. From Venice we need to meet the choir in Frankfurt on August 7th (not positive about the date) - we are going to meet up with another choir couple in Venice and drive up with them. We have decided already NOT to rent a car - too expensive, not very safe, and just one more hassle. Instead we will do our travelling between cities by train, and rely a lot on buses, cabs, and our feet! (We will need to work off all the fabulous food we plan to eat!!:D ). What I'm looking for is (1) suggestions of hotels or other accommodation that you've found to be safe and relatively inexpensive, and (2) recommendations for places or restaurants within those cities we don't want to miss - especially ones that we might not hear about otherwise.

At this point we're basically canvassing all our friends/relatives etc. who have been to Italy to get suggestions! Any ideas you have would be really appreciated. (Other than "eat lots of gelato", which we definitely plan to do anyway!! ;) )

Thanks,
Jen

[Little Bit]

I was pretty small when we went to Rome, so I don't really remember how much we accomplished within any particular time frame, but if you have the chance make sure to see the church called St. Peter's in Chains. As I remember it (it's been a long time) St. Peter's in Chains was just a treasure trove of gorgeous, incredibly famous art/statuary/ paintings, etc. I've read since that it's one of the sorts of places that might be a bit off the beaten track, but well worth seeing, even on a short trip. The Sistine Chapel should be on your itenerary too.

Outside of Rome, don't forget that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is open to the public again for the first time in ages, so if you can swing by, don't miss it.
Understand of course, that my knowledge of Italian geography is pretty bad, so that might not be possible given your plans. (If I were planning a trip to Italy this year, which unfortunately I'm not, I'd be sure to go.)

One other thing that I remember about Rome, is that there are any number of restaurants making a living pretending to be "the" restaurant that invented Fettucini Alfredo. If you want some, by all means, have some, but don't bother trying to track down 'the one and only' just so you can have your photo taken with a well groomed man in a white suit pretending to be Alfredo. Don't get me wrong, I've never had Fettucini Alfredo better than we had that night, wherever we were, but I don't know that I'd change my itenerary to have some more.

From a kid's perspective, I still remember the candy I ate on the trip, Haribo gummi bears (though I probably had those in Athens, Hmmm... ) and candied almonds (in Spain). I think Nougat is famously Italian and that they have zillions of types (hard, soft, flavored, fairly plain) and none of them are bad.
Gee, this is enormously long, hope you don't mind, hope you have a wonderful time.
:o

[JHolcomb]

OH, have fun. I was there (Rome, Florence, Venice) about 4 yrs ago and it was a blast. Eat lots of gelato. And olives, and cheese, and bread and wine. See the Sistine Chapel. Go to the Boboli Gardens in Florence (Soooooo amazing). Have fun and be careful! Wish I were going with you. Oh, and watch out for the cats in Rome...you'll understand what I mean when you get there-they're EVERYWHERE! Oh, and take lots and lots of sunscreen-I got a blistering sunburn in Rome in March.

[kwormann]

YES!!!!!!! TAKE ME WITH YOU!!!!:D

[Beth H]

My husband and I were just in Europe last summer, including Venice. We stayed at a place called the Locanda San Barnaba -- it is reasonably priced, well-located in a neighborhood called Dorsdoro, which is close to St. Mark's but not too close (St. Mark's is super crowded during the day). We found a fantastic pizza place in a square a short walking distance from the hotel -- we each had 2 slices of pizza (big slices) for $5!

In Venice, definitely spend time at the Doge's Palace -- there is a "behind the scenes" tour that is really neat and only an extra $8 - 12 or so.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it as far south as Rome.

One overall suggestion -- buy a money belt! You won't worry about pickpockets then. I then used a bag from Eagle Creek called the "Wanderer" (which fits across the front of your body) that was reasonably priced to carry maps, water bottles, asprin, etc.