Italy for 2 weeks - can anyone help with pricing?

[Sashi]

:confused: :confused:

Hi Girls,

My FH and I are trying to save for our honeymoon which we know will be Italy for 2 weeks. We have no date set but we know that's where we are going. I have some questions that I was hoping people could help answer:

1. When is the best time of year?

2. Best places to go for 2 weeks? I definitely want to visit Rome, Venice and Florence but I also have a desire to do Tuscany, Capri, Naples.....the list goes on. And I'm not sure how to cover 'as much as possible' in just 2 weeks.

3. Just a general price of staying at nice/clean hotels (no hostels, etc.) but nothing too over the top (except maybe in 1 city - afterall it is our honeymoon)???? We were thinking of saving at least $10k but some people at my work said that's way too much. Am I crazy? :rolleyes:

TIA!!!!

[LeslieandPaul]

:confused: :confused:

Hi Girls,

My FH and I are trying to save for our honeymoon which we know will be Italy for 2 weeks. We have no date set but we know that's where we are going. I have some questions that I was hoping people could help answer:

1. When is the best time of year?

2. Best places to go for 2 weeks? I definitely want to visit Rome, Venice and Florence but I also have a desire to do Tuscany, Capri, Naples.....the list goes on. And I'm not sure how to cover 'as much as possible' in just 2 weeks.

3. Just a general price of staying at nice/clean hotels (no hostels, etc.) but nothing too over the top (except maybe in 1 city - afterall it is our honeymoon)???? We were thinking of saving at least $10k but some people at my work said that's way too much. Am I crazy? :rolleyes:

TIA!!!!

You won't need $10000. We did 4 countries in 3 weeks and spent about $6500 CDN. Food is really expensive in Italy.
We went in April and it was really nice-and not super busy

Venice-stay 2 nights and you'll get all your sightseeing done (it's a very small place and you can walk everywhere). We stayed at the Hotel da C'oro. I't was pretty nice, and we were able to get a really good deal through expedia (we paid $300 for 2 nights and it's usually $300 per night)

Rome-we only stayed 2 nights and wished we'd stayed 3 just to be a little more relaxed. Everything is within walking distance-we stayed out near San Pietro station and walked everywhere. I think it was called Hotel Alessandrino or something like that. We paid $270 for 2 nights

Florence-there are lots of cheap hotels around the Duomo-stay there and you will never have to take a bus (you can even walk to the train station!). Here you'll want to stay 2 nights as well. On our first day we went to the Accademia and waited in line for 2 and a half hours. On the second day we went to the Uffizi and Duomo, and wandered around town. I won't recommend our hotel since it was 2 kms out of the main part of town, but we paid $130 per night.

So that's 7 nights. Then you've got another 7 to spend elsewhere! (sorry, no recommendations, as we only went to the three i listed). Hope that helped!

[tlew12778]

You don't need $10k! If you're ok with 3-4 star you can do it for a lot less... unless maybe you want to fly business class over here then that will eat up about $5k of that budget.

How into museums are you? BC that will determine how much time you should spend in Venice and Florence. If you just want an overview of those 2 cities you can spend 2 days in each. You need 4-5 days to do Rome. BTW, Florence is IN Tuscany. Tuscany is the name of the entire region (sort of like a state in the US).

If I had 2 weeks and had never been to Italy this is what I would do (including all the cities you want to see):

Fly into Naples (Rome is cheaper but Naples is more direct... so your call)
Spend 1 day in Naples
Spend 2 days on the Amalfi Coast (that includes Capri), maybe stay in Positano or Sorrento
Spend 4 days in Rome
Spend 2 days in Florence, then an additional 3 touring the Tuscan countryside
Spend 2 days in Venice
Fly out of Venice or Milan.

That's 11 days... you have one extra day to add somewhere, then leave 1 day on each end for travel. I would add the extra day to the Tuscan countryside, unless you want to add in Cinque Terre.

ETA: If you look up the old Italy threads, you will find a lot of recommendations for hotels and their prices. In Venice, you can save a lot if you stay in Mestre which is right outside of Venice but on the vaporetto that goes to the Grand Canal.

[emmjay]

$10k would be WAY too much money for DH and me for two weeks - we could travel for several months on that - but for my parents or some friends of ours, that would be around what they would spend. So, if you feel like you will spend $10k, you might as well save it. It's not like you HAVE to spend all of it in Italy, and it's better to have more money than not enough!

I have only been to Venice in Italy, but we stayed at this place: La Calcina (http://www.lacalcina.com/), which is very reasonable (less than 200 euros a night) and a great little place. It is walking distance to everything, but is also slightly outside the more heavily touristed areas so you get more of a "neighborhood" feel there. It's also convenient to the water ferry to the airport. We were there in February so it was a little chilly but not crowded at all! :) IME, spring or fall is the best time for Europe because you still get good weather without the summer crowds.

[Sashi]

Wow! Thank you so much. I knew that $10k was a little overboard but this will be the first vacation to Europe for us and I don't want to 'miss' anything or feel like I can't spend the money on things. I was also including airfare in there as well, off to research airfare.

[Sashi]

tlew12778 - You have the PERFECT itinerary for me! :D I think that's the way to go because it covers everything! I really appreciate your input. YOUR WEDDING LOOKS BEAUTIFUL BY THE WAY! :)

I'm thinking saving $10k but not necessarily using it (if it's not needed) is the way to go. If we do as tlew suggested and fly to Naples it's a bit more than going out of Venice but roundtrip I think all in all $2500-$3000 is where it will be. I think it's too much for me to plan, I will probably go through a travel agent although I despise the idea. :cool:

[Hello Kitty]

I have to recommend going early in May and then getting the heck out of there! DH and I went to Rome early May and then went on to Greece for awhile. We had to return out of Rome, and when we were back at the end of May, it was AMAZING how much more crowded it was.

Definitely look through the other italy threads tons more information. We put my parents up in the following cities/hotels last summer and they really enjoyed them. These prices are in Euro and were for a stay in late May (so I think some prices were ramped up for the high season already):

Rome
Hotel Giglio Dell' Opera 135

Sorento/Pompei/Capri
Il Nido 90

Florence
Home in Florence B&B 95

Venice
Hotel Royal San Marco 175

Rome
Hotel Giglio Dell' Opera 135

Like others, I don't think you need $10k to have a comfortable honeymoon, but everyone is different WRT the kinds of accomodations, attractions, food, etc... Once you figure out where you're going, you can start looking at hotels - usually cities are more expensive than others, and you may want to upgrade at certain cities and downgrade in other ones. :)

ETA - oh, you really shouldn't have to go through a travel agent if you're good with the internet! It takes a little time, but once you have your itinerary mapped out, look at hotels in the cities, most importantly where they're located. Getting between the places is very easy once you get there. IMO, it's rewarding and easy to do it DIY.

[Sami]

We stayed here (http://www.relaiscampanile.it/ in Florence and loved it! Perfect location...on the same street as the museum with 'David' and a block away from the Duomo (cathedral). It's not 4 stars, but it is a really cute, clean, affordable, semi-romantic place...and they deliver breakfast right to your room. Usually croissants, juice, coffee, Nutella, cheese, etc. :D

I would highly recommend it when in Florence. And, also, you can take a tour bus from Florence around parts of Tuscany. I would also recommend a night in Siena, though I can't remember where we stayed. It's small though, so one night would be enough on your way north to Cinque Terre (the beaches) or Venice.

[zhannushka]

We went to Venice on our honeymoon and stayed here (http://palacebonvecchiati.it/en/). It was THE BEST hotel I've ever stayed at in my life. The service was impeccable. The free breakfast every morning was delicious. The rooms and lobby were gorgeous. They have a gym, a bar and a private pier on the premises.

It is 3 minutes away from St. Mark's Square if walking one way and about 7 minutes away from the Rialto bridge if walking the opposite way. Their regular rate is around $360/night, but we got a package including the hotel and the flight, which brought the room rates down a little. We paid $3,700 total (including tax) for hotel and flight. We stayed at the hotel for 7 nights. This was 8 months ago.

Here's a picture of their standard room:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/zhannushka/PB2.jpg

[Sashi]

Oh gosh....now I'm worried. I am a CPA and can't go anywhere or definitely have a wedding from January through April. And it would be sort of hard to plan a wedding in May because it's too close to my tax season. So as I started looking I noticed when I was planning on going b/w July and September (we haven't set a date yet) is the most crowded. I'm upset but NOTHING will make me not go to Italy for my honeymoon. I never dreamed of the big princess wedding, just 2 weeks in Italy with my new husband was my childhood dream.

That hotel zhannushka is gorgeous! How did you like being in Venice for a week?

[zhannushka]

Sashi, we got married at the end of September and went to Venice the first week in October. It wasn't as crowded anymore, but the weather was still gorgeous (except for 1 day when it rained and we LOVED it anyway! :))

I think that going to Venice for a week was the smartest idea we made. Everyone was telling us to split the week between Venice and some other place in Italy, but - we just wanted to relax and not worry about moving our stuff and hotels all throughout our honeymoon. We had enough things to do to keep us occupied all week and we even ventured out to Verona for a day trip (we took a train there).

I also never dreamed of a big princess wedding, but always said that I'll spend my honeymoon in Venice! :D

[Daisy]

I LOVE Italy, it is such a fabulous place. DH and I are headed to the Amalfi Coast tomorrow and I cannot wait! I agree that May is a great time to go to Italy as the weather is getting warm and the summer crowds are not in full effect yet.

I would recommend flying into a major city like Rome or Milan or Venice (there are many directs). We are flying into Naples tomorrow and it was a bit of a PITA to get a good flight that wasn't $3k p/p and that didn't have long layovers. Last year when we flew into Venice, it was much easier to get a direct (for less than $1k p/p too).

Have fun!

[Hello Kitty]

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you'd have a horrible time if you went in the summer. It's not horrible, it's just more crowded than it was other times of the year. I would not go in August, but Zhanna's suggestion of going in Sept/Oct is probably a good one.

[MLA]

Regarding Venice -- I lived there for three months, and the best way to save some money is by NOT staying near Piazza San Marco or the Rialto Bridge. Try to find a nice hotel farther away from those spots, and you'll save some major money. The thing about Venice is that it's totally walkable, and part of its charm is in the areas that aren't so touristy. Don't get me wrong, San Marco is amazing, and I loved the Rialto bridge, but time in Venice is best spent just wandering around the city. It's all beautiful in its own way. You might consider staying in the Canareggio district. I've heard that the Abbazia in Canareggio is great (it's an abbey that's been turned into a hotel), and I've heard really good things about Hotel Antico Doge (also in Canareggio). You could also consider staying in the Dorsoduro district.

[tlew12778]

I would not go in August bc most places in Italy close down for August. That is when most Italians go on vacation. Also, Venice tends to smell more in the hotter months. Keep in mind that many places in Italy do not have AC so if the heat and humidity bother you, I would avoid June-August in northern Italy.

[Amuse Bouche]

Although Florence is lovely, I'd budget a couple of days at least in the countryside nearby (Tuscany) and either spend 1 night in the city or just go in for a day trip. But that's just me. Florence has great museums and architecture, but very few trees or green spaces and a lot of traffic. It's a very different experience than the surrounding countryside, and a lot of people I know say that spending time in the countryside was their favorite part about visiting Italy. Venice, OTOH, is magical -- a lovely honeymoon destination. In Venice, I have to recommend this hotel:

http://www.pensioneaccademia.it/

It's very romantic (an old Palazzo, nicely decorated, with gardens, which is rare in Venice), in a great location (in a quiet part of the city, but very close to a bridge across the Grand Canal that leads directly to the San Marco area), and pretty reasonably priced for Venice, which is expensive, because it's very touristy and they import everything.

In Rome, although it is a walkable city, I'd stay closer to the historic district (near the Pantheon) than the train station, which is farther from everything. The cobblestones are hard, and you'll have sore feet by the end of the day.

I've done Venice, Florence and Rome in about 10 days -- spending 3 nights in each, and it was great -- we got to see a lot -- but exhausting. I'd still cover those but maybe not try to cover a lot else.


And go in spring or fall. Summer can get nasty hot. I love Italy in the winter, and it's less crowded, but it can get cold.

[Sashi]

I would not go in August bc most places in Italy close down for August. That is when most Italians go on vacation. Also, Venice tends to smell more in the hotter months. Keep in mind that many places in Italy do not have AC so if the heat and humidity bother you, I would avoid June-August in northern Italy.


I'm happy you brought that up because honestly, I hate the heat/humidity enough to change the dates around just for that!

[Sashi]

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you'd have a horrible time if you went in the summer. It's not horrible, it's just more crowded than it was other times of the year. I would not go in August, but Zhanna's suggestion of going in Sept/Oct is probably a good one.

I wasn't upset AT ALL! I am just taking in all this info. I'm really getting nervous about making all these big decisions and possibly making the wrong ones. It kind of makes me glad that we haven't started planning the wedding! :eek: 3 years being engaged/5 years dating/4 living together and I think the honeymoon/wedding might be the end of my rope! LOL just kidding of course

[meatpie]

We were in Italy in late October and it was wonderful. No crowds, weather was decent, and we got off-season rates and saved a ton of money.

I agree with tlew's itinerary that you only need 2 nights in Venice. I LOVED Rome and wished we had more than three nights when we were there. We also had four nights in Florence and spent a day in the countryside and another day going to Milan to see a futbol match at the San Siro. For me, that was not enough time in Florence. Also an idea is to hire a private driver and tour wineries in Tuscany. We did this one morning-afternoon and it was the best experience. We paid about $150 and our hotel concierge arranged it and booked us tours of the wineries.

Also, late September would be a beautiful time in Italy.

By the way...we spent about $6-7k on our honeymoon but we were gone three weeks. We did a few relaxing days in Portugal, 10-day Mediterannean cruise, and 9 days in Italy. You can certainly do Italy right for the money you are going to save.

[Noa]

You received a lot of great recommendations here, but I have to chime in and suggest for you to check out www.slowtalk.com they have great info!!! You will spend hours browsing this message board, I promise you! Also, I suggest doing this over the internet rather than with a travel agent (you will save money this way). Like the other posters said, 10K is a LOT of money to spend in 2 weeks....

[thedoorchick]

A couple of years ago I planned a 10 day trip for us to Italy and budgeted $2500. Keep in mind that is without airfare because I had airmiles. We ended up canceling, but nevertheless, I will share what I learned (I had been to Italy twice before).

This was our itinerary:

1. Fly to Venice (overnight flight)
2. Venice
3. Venice
4. Travel to Rome (Possibly take an overnight train on day 3?)
5. Rome
6. Rome
7. Travel to Sorrento
8. Capri
9. Pompeii
10. Back to Rome, fly home from there

I think that was it but something looks a little off because I don't think I would have planned to take a train to Rome from somewhere else and then fly home the same day. Hmmmmm. Maybe we were going to go from Pompeii to Rome and stay there the 9th night. I may figure it out shortly.

I agree with those who said 2 days in Venice is plenty. I honestly could have left Venice out this trip, but Jason really wanted to go there. Since there's no way I would have left out Rome and I wanted to see the Amalfi Coast, I had to leave out Florence as there just wasn't enough time.

If you can fly open-jaw (into one city, out of another), that will save you some time and money traveling within Italy.

[tlew12778]

thedoorchick's comment about saving time while travelling in Italy made me think about the low-cost airlines we have here. You may want to check them out to see if you will save time by flying (but my guess is no...). They are:

Volareweb
MyAir
Meridiana

And sometimes Alitalia has some cheap domestic flights. However, like I said, I don't think you will save any time by flying unless you need to fly from Milan to Naples. I won't even fly Milan to Rome bc it is only a 5 hour train ride and btwn getting to the airport, waiting an hour for boarding, getting to Rome, then travelling into the city center by train, 5 hours have gone by... so you may as well take the train.

There is a really good website called skyscanner.net that will do a contemporaneous search for you of all the low-cost airlines that fly the route you want to fly.

[alootikki]

We just returned from our Italy trip, and I think we spent half of your $10K number! We went to Venice, Florence, and the Cinque Terre. Most of the hotels we stayed in were very nice (3-4 star), the trade-off in price being that they were typically further from the main attractions. Which was fine for us - as we love to walk.

In Venice we stayed at the Sofitel - which wasn't as nice as U.S. Sofitels, but still comfortable and convenient to the train station. We had a room with a little balcony overlooking a side canal.

In Florence - the San Gallo Palace. Great new sparkling room, but it took about 20 minutes to get to the main historical area.

Tripadvisor was very helpful for hotel rooms.

Oh - and to whoever suggested the restaurants Acqua al Due and Il Latini in Florence - big thank you, we loved them! :)

[alegria]

Exactly a year ago my DH and I flew to Venice from Hawaii (I only mention that because it increased the price of the airfare) and we spent $6000. We were there 9 nights: 2 nights each in Venice, Florence and the Cinque Terre and 3 nights in Rome. Late May was a good time for us to go because the crowds were just starting to increase and the weather was beautiful.

In Venice, we stayed at Casa de Arte, near the Accademia Bridge. We travelled with friends and shared a two-room suite. The hotel was small but it suited our needs. All the other ladies are right - everything is pretty much within walking distance so you don't need to stay right next to San Marco or Rialto to enjoy them.

In Florence, we stayed at Hotel Alessandra, which was right next to the Uffizi. The breakfast here was very nice and the rooms were large, but it was a 75-stair climb just to get to the reception! There was an elevator, but it was only big enough for one person w/ one suitcase. Unless you are an art buff, I woudn't recommend the Uffizi Museum. We waited there for 5 hours and I wouldn't do it again. Don't get me wrong, the paintings and art inside is amazing, but I just don't know that much about Renaissance art so it didn't "mean" much to me. Someone with an art background would appreciate it more. We walked right into the Accademia without waiting. Not sure how we managed that, but it was great! I do recommend Nella's for a dinner restaurant. It isn't well marked or advertised, but there we enjoyed the best dinner of our entire trip. It is about 2 blocks from the Uffizi.

We stayed at the Duca d'Alba in Rome, which was near the Colosseum. It was the smallest room of the whole trip (and most expenisve), but it was nice and the breakfast was very good. A very long walk from here to the Vatican.

Good luck in planning your trip. I know you'll have a great time! :)

[JoyousAutumn]

A few years ago I went to Italy and Switzerland for 11 days with a group, and it cost me $2400 total with airfare, lodging, food, etc.
I'd probably budget about $5000, so you have plenty of money for shopping ;) and can get nicer hotel rooms- ours were okay but nothing spectacular.
Rome, Venice, and Florence were the three cities I visited- make sure you bring a digital camera or you'll run out of film!
Have fun and plan on having amazing legs when you get back- there are so many stairs!!!!

[J&T2005]

Prior to getting married, my husband and I flew to Italy and spent 15 days there. I can't remember the exact breakdown but we spent 5 days in Rome, one day in Florence, 4 days in Venice, one day traveling to Sicily, 3 days in Eastern Sicily, then the rest of the trip back in Rome.

I hated Florence. Hated it. The men would not stop staring. The food was great, but the men. Blah. Even with T there they tried to pick me up. I've vowed to give it another shot when we go back though, because really, I shouldn't let 2 bad experiences ruin such an historic city (the above trip was my second time to Italy).

We loved Venice. Loved it. We stayed on Lido, which is just a 20 minute vaparetto ride away from Venice proper, and we loved seeing Venice just like the Italians did - yay public transportation! We spent $200 less than the prices previously mentioned. And we enjoyed seeing Murano and Burano. However, we *were* trying to save money.

The Venetians were also exceptionally friendly and helpful.

Sicily was amazing. Very rural, very laid back. If you're the kinda people that need to do something every second of every day, Sicily is not for you.

Rome was wonderful. We stayed on the Collesseo side as well as the Vatican side, and I loved staying so close to the Coliseum. Food was more expensive, if you ate at the trendy tourist spots. T and I wanted an Italian experience, so we tried to find places that were frequented by locals. We traveled at the end of May and on the celebration of Italian independance, all museums and public attractions were free. We were so excited that we got to see everything for free that we spent more money of wine and food.

We spent less than $2200 for 15 days.

[tlew12778]

There is one more thing to consider -- since the introduction of the euro in January 2002, prices here have literally doubled. So... basically anyone who travelled here before that was very lucky and you saved yourself a good bundle. Just something to keep in mind when comparing how much people spent.

[amew]

If summer is the best time for you to schedule a wedding and honeymoon, I think you could go to Italy then and have a great time. I have traveled to Italy in June/July and was not bothered by the heat/crowds everyone kept telling me I'd encounter. We did take care to get air-conditioned rooms, but we would go to Italy in the summer again with no hesitation.

[Sashi]

You have all been so helpful.......I know we are definitely going and I'm hoping now to make it in September or October! Maybe if I dream a little harder I could actually get married in 2007! I really could care less about the wedding, I'm more excited to go to Italy!