Italy

[Haley53]

Anyone ever been? Anyone live there?

Thinking of taking a 3-4 day getaway with my partner when I go to visit over the summer, probably looking at early- to mid-September. Travelling with an airline like Ryanair would allow for cheap travel from Dublin to Pisa, where we could spend a day/night, then go spend some time in Rome, and then back to Pisa to catch our flight to Dublin, so it'll be something more like 4 days, where we spend our half days lounging around in Pisa before/after our flights (I hear a lot of tourists do Pisa as a day-trip) and spend our two full days hustling and bustling about in Rome. Looking at the flights via Ryanair and thinking about hostels or even looking at some of the hotels, it's doable on my salary and it would be a combination getaway for him and everything he's been through and a celebration of our one-year anniversary - and a break and exploration of a new country for me, of course. But I was curious as to whether or not anyone's been and what they would recommend doing, yanno, as a "must-do"? Anything I should know before arriving? It's still up in the air and I've only recently proposed it to me lad, told him to keep an open mind and we can discuss it before my trip, seeing as I'm not expecting him to make a commitment to it tomorrow, but I think it'd be lovely and even if he can't/decides not to go with me, it's something I'm going to consider taking advantage of. I've always wanted to go to Italy and have yet to have the chance, so I may snag said chance next summer.

[snow_girl]

Don't waste your time in Pisa, other then the tower it is dreadfully boring there! The only reason it is a day trip is because you spend most of the time traveling to and from. Once you are there you can only snap so many pics of a crooked tower before wanting to leave.
If you have only 4 days spend it in either rome, which you could easily spend an entire week there is sooooooo much to see and do there. You could also take a day trip and see Mt Vesuvius and the town that had been covered by the volcano. The city is huge and is all incredibly preserved. Venice is also another place to see. Those are my top two in Italy, but seriously don't waste any time in Pisa when you could be in so many better places!

[lucybelle]

I've never been, but I really want to go! And if I were the one going, I'd spend all my time drinking wine and eating tomatoes. Forget the Leaning Tower. Enjoy the culinary marvels of Italy!! And I agree, go for a week!

[books]

I lived and worked there for a few years (Milan and Rome), actually went to grad school there. My parents are both from there as well (Sicily) and I have family spread out all over Sicily, Puglia, and some in Northern Italy (Verona). There is really a lot to see in Italy, so 4 days won't cover much...Rome is pretty amazing though and you could easily spend your 4 days in Rome (I agree Pisa can be boring). I have a preference for the south, there is really so much to do and see there (and the culture is really unique), however so many people skip over it in favor of visting the northern/central parts of the country (ie. more touristy parts).

Mid September is a good time to visit, as you prob. already learned the entire country shuts down in August and things can just start to reopen in early September.

Any specific questions, please feel free to ask.

[Joyce:)]

Rome is nice, but keep in mind that it is crowded, and in the summer it gets so so so so SO hot and humid, and things can get expensive. If you then went to pompei (the town covered by the volcano) that would be a lovely trip.
Since I come from the north of italy, i'm going to be impartial, and remind you that ryanair has flights that go also to the north, and the north is just as beautiful, trains and coaches are relatively cheap so you could go to verona (romeo and juliet), venice (although it will always have a decent amount of turists so it could get crowded), Trieste (my home town), you should google it, it's not a major tourist destination, but it's lovely, on the sea, the buildings are austrian, things are less expensive than in rome and venice and so on. oh, another lovely place i love going to is florence, the wine, the art, the shopping, the food, are all fabulous.
feel free to ask more, for once i'm finding it useful to be italian

[Haley53]

Thank you everyone! And I'll likely message you Joyce.

Right now I'm sort of refraining from looking too much into everything because the boy has not said yes or no yet. Whether he's interested or not is going to significantly change what I'm looking to do so I'll know more once I'm able to talk to him about it, but my main reason for flying into Pisa is more or less due to the fact I looked at flights to Rome for the same dates, even through Ryanair, and it was about 200e more. Which would make sense, but seeing as I'm the one paying for the holiday, I can't really afford that + hotel etc. without dipping into savings. >_> But maybe I'll fiddle around with the Ryanair website, look at what it costs to go to x, x, and y. Another option, though not completely ideal, would be to cheaply fly into Pisa and then travel from there. The train is cheap if you book in advance and choose a non-refundable, non-change ticket. But thank you all!

I'm really torn to be honest! And I know 4 days won't be enough, and I will likely plan a trip back. >_> Maybe we can afford a week, we'll see. But it's hard determining which parts you want to visit, because as much as I love the touristy things, I also really love immersing myself in the culture. Like when we went to Mexico. The touristy things were great, and I had fun doing 'em, but I wanted to go somewhere where we could go to a restaurant, speak only in broken Spanish (since I don't speak it), and order something other than a cheeseburger off the kid's menu! And I was young, maybe around 8 or 9? I've never grown out of wanting to explore not only the fun things tourists like to do but what it truly means to live in the country, so when you divide it into parts like that, I feel torn. D:

[lucybelle]

If you're really only going to be there for 4 days, only go to one city. It's not worth it to spend 75% of your vacation on a bus/plane/train/whatever.

[Sierra]

I go to Italy almost every year. For a 3 - 4 day trip I would recommend one city only. Reserve ALL museum tickets in advance.

[Haley53]

You do have a point there, lucybelle. :/ It's almost a 4 hour plane ride, and even if it got in at 1pm... Hm, I would rather not immediately hop on a three hour train ride. I forget that sometimes convenience > cost as opposed to the other way around. I'll do some more searching and see what I can find.

And thank you Sierra! I'll remember that.

[Sierra]

Trust me, it makes no sense to go to Italy for 3 - 4 days and go to multiple towns. You spend your whole time travelling and don't get to enjoy anything. On my last 10 day trip I went to Rome, Venice (just for a day) and Verona. You also need to budget carefully, meals can be expensive and plan where you want to go. I really do strongly recommend one city, and in season you're talking about going I would recommend staying AWAY from Florence and Venice, they are horrible in the tourist season. I mean HORRIBLE.

While yes, Rome is large and crowded, for 3 - 4 days you'll see some amazing things. If you want a smaller town, I REALLY recommend Verona for just a few days. It's nice and relaxed, the people sit around and drink all day, it has the most complete colosseum and the most Roman ruins outside of Rome, HOWEVER, it is a very small town (but my favorite). If you don't know any Italian though you could struggle a bit in Verona, but the people are very nice.

Please don't forget, Italy is expensive. If you need any tips on where to stay for cheaper, or what is reasonable or what to expect, I'd be happy to help. I can't tell you how many trips I've planned there.

[Haley53]

That's true. I think it's mostly because I'd be paying for the hotel/flight, and since I'm aware of what expenses will be spent elsewhere, I wanted to keep those things as cheap as possible, hence the convenience of flying into somewhere cheap and then travelling up somewhere less so. :P I'll probably send you off a message too when I compile more of a list of questions and such.

The reason I'm planning for September is because I'm going to be in Ireland from July to September, so I imagine I have a choice either between July or September of when would be better to go, and I'm thinking September, however crowded, would probably be less crowded than July? I can't imagine July would be any better?

Also, Verona sounds nice. I don't speak Italian, but I'd probably be the tourist with a pocket book of translations... I really do not mind the adventure of being in a place where there's a language barrier. I think what I'm looking for if I go alone is probably something more touristy and I don't want to say Americanised, but somewhere where English is more common. I love how I'm saying this right after I talk about the adventure, but it's an adventure I really don't like to take alone. :P It becomes less fun, more scary, when I feel like the only one who can't communicate, however nice the people! If he's going with, then I think it would be lovely to do something that's a combination of fun, romantic, and relaxing.

[Sierra]

It really isn't less expensive to travel somewhere less cheap and then take a train, train tickets can be quite pricey. I understand keeping things as cheap as possible, but you also have to consider the value of the trip (meaning, if you go there and are sitting on a train for hours is it worth your money in the first place) and your safety. There are many hostels you can stay at that are cheap, but you would be staying in a very unsafe neighborhood.

I think Verona is VERY romantic (there's fake Romeo and Juliet stuff there) and it's just beautiful. DO NOT GO IN JULY. You'd be better off in September. In Rome almost everyone speaks english, but they really appreciate it if you try Italian.

I'd be happy to help you plan, you know how to reach me.

[Haley53]

That's true! I grew up with the most frugal person for a grandfather, someone who always chose cost over convenience and not always logically so! So it's a habit I'm trying to break and am trying to think more logically about things, though when it comes to places to stay, that's where safety > cost for me.

I'll look into Verona and I would certainly try to use a little bit of Italian. xD I always try when I visit places to use or learn the language a little bit. It's simply more of a safeguard feeling for me if I'm somewhere where English is known if I'm going alone, but I'll look into Verona and like I said, I'll send you off a PM when I can, possibly later today, depending on whether or not he and I get a chance to talk about it...

[lucybelle]

It really isn't less expensive to travel somewhere less cheap and then take a train, train tickets can be quite pricey. I understand keeping things as cheap as possible, but you also have to consider the value of the trip (meaning, if you go there and are sitting on a train for hours is it worth your money in the first place) and your safety. There are many hostels you can stay at that are cheap, but you would be staying in a very unsafe neighborhood.

I just want to plug for hostels. Sure there are some in bad neighborhoods and some that are dirty, but if you research properly, you won't end up in one. And this isn't exclusive to hostels, here in San Jose, there are plenty of high end hotels in real REAL bad areas. I think hostels are way better than hotels because they are much more personable, you meet more people, and of course they are cheaper. Plus, lots of hostels have guided tours or pub crawls for free. What better way to get to know the city than through beer goggles??

Though I do completely agree that spending all your time on a bus/train/plane is really not worth the $75 you'll save.

[Joyce:)]

Although i'm in uni in england i may be around in italy at the time, so if you do end up in the north i'd be more than willing to show you around

---------- Post added at 09:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:10 PM ----------

oh and they speak english in verona, everytime my british relatives come over to italy, they wonder off alone in verona and have a lovely time. also, if you go have lunch in a pizzeria, lunch for two won't cost more than 18 euro