tips wanted for venice and rome, 2adults&2 children

floydy

:j hi, first post for me!
I would be very grateful for any advice for getting around in venice and rome. husband and i, 14yr old son and 9yr old daughter,we would like to do as much as possible, (only a couple of days ineach place)and :beer: eat some great local dishes. have booked flights and accom,n.Many thanx. :T

Neil_Taylor

Venice:

mainly walk, but take the no1 vaporretti the full length of the Grand Canal. If the weathers OK you can eventually get a seat in the open air at the Bows.
A wonderful trip at local bus fare level.
Gondolas are expensive, but to get the experience there are several "traghetti" - two man operated gondola ferries at strategic points across the Grand Canal, probably less tha a euro per person (may have gone up now)
Venice is very walkable otherwise.

Rome:

Walk again, but everything is much further.
You can spend a full day including the colloseum, Forum, Victor Emmanuel monument, Capodoglio (Town Hall)

St Peters and Vatican museum needs a further day to do it justice. (the Rafael rooms are more interesting than the sistene chapel IMHO.

Eating out try the Trastavere district on the west side of the river.

Neil_Taylor

Eating out in Venice it's harder to find good places.
Try away from the main Piazzas.

Venice is super atmospheric in the evening, when the daytrippers have left.

elDeeJay

Im off to Rome in a fortnight, so reading with interest :-)

Dont mean to scare you but I've been endlessly warned about pick-pockets and 'handbaggers' in Rome, so be VERY VERY paranoid about your valuables

floydy

thanks for tips so far guys, really appreciate them, and welcome others in anticipation.

davidlizard

Venice - one can get a 72 hour pass on the Vaporetti (river boats) for 22 Euros, which are within easy access of just about everywhere you will need to go, and also go out to places such as Murano (for the glassware places - recommend watch some glass blowing!) and the Lido. They also do 24 hour passes. Have a look here: http://www.actv.it/ for more info on the boats. Fully recommend what the earlier poster said about the #1 (or #82 which stops more) boat which does the length of the Grand Canal.

But I strongly recommend leaving the boats at some time and just wandering through all the alleyways (its perfectly safe), to get a good feel of the place.

Eating - can be expensive, but many places offer "tourist menus" which are set 3 or 4 course meals in the region of 15-20 euros, which includes starters, antipasti, main course and pudding. There is a variation in quality - but if a place looks busy its usually a good sign. Places tend to get cheaper the further one gets away from St Marks square. (If the worse comes to the worse, there is a McDonalds between Rialto and St Marks but you shouldn't need it).

Neil_Taylor

Yes, pickpockets are a problem in Rome, especially on the Metro at crowded rush hour.
Also there's one bus route which is notorious. Can't remember which one, but your hotel will know.
Keep yer 'and on yer ha'penny.

Main problem in Venice is young albanian (?) women begging with babies.
No direct experience of the reported gangs of gypsey (?) children.

Keep streetwise!

Despite all these warnings, neither Rome nor Venice is the least safe place in Europe.
You can get mugged in London, Manchester or anywhere.

Wizwoo

Neil_Taylor wrote:

Venice:

mainly walk, but take the no1 vaporretti the full length of the Grand Canal. If the weathers OK you can eventually get a seat in the open air at the Bows.
A wonderful trip at local bus fare level.
Gondolas are expensive, but to get the experience there are several "traghetti" - two man operated gondola ferries at strategic points across the Grand Canal, probably less tha a euro per person (may have gone up now)
Venice is very walkable otherwise.

Rome:

Walk again, but everything is much further.
You can spend a full day including the colloseum, Forum, Victor Emmanuel monument, Capodoglio (Town Hall)

St Peters and Vatican museum needs a further day to do it justice. (the Rafael rooms are more interesting than the sistene chapel IMHO.

Eating out try the Trastavere district on the west side of the river.

Couldn't agree more about the Trastavere district. The people are lovely and you get much more for your money!

The Piazza Santa Maria in the Trastavere is a beautiful square to while away the hours people watching and the numerous side streets are filled with trattorias, bars and ice cream parlours.
Our favourite place to eat was La Fraschetta which is a Pizzeria on Via San Francesco (about 5 - 10 minutes walk away)(web site https://www.lafraschetta.com) cheap and does great pizzas.

They are both so beautiful. Have a lovely time.

floydy

:T brill, thanx to all, will endeavour to enjoy sites and be safe. :T

nelly_2

Rome only.

There are people outside the coloseum who seem like touts but there not.

They offer a guided tour of the coloseum and a freeby of the forum, you HAVE to have a guide at the forum cos it looks like a pile of all ruins otherwise, but the guide brings it to life.

The problem with the sistene chapel is you go through a million other similar rooms 1st so its not that great when you get there. The main pickpockets on the metro are gangs of gypsy girls very easy to spot as any normal gang of girls are all talking at once these are not they are quiet and allways on the look out.

Be prepared to walk miles in Rome its knackering but brilliant

annie-c

Given that time is short, it will be a good idea to plan your trip carefully in advance.

I usually use Rough Guides on holiday, but for Rome, I found the TimeOut guide a real help for a few days visit - just enough on history and culture and also helpful tips about eating and entertainment.

One great tip was that if you're planning to visit both the Colliseum and the Forum then go to the Forum first -the same ticket is valid for entry to both but, while the queues for the Colliseum can be an hour long, you will rarely have more than a few in front of you at the Forum - in fact if visiting at a busy time, it might be worth going over to get your ticket at the Forum, even if you don't plan to stay there (although I thoroughly recommend the Forum in its own right - we spent hours there, but it would have been worth a quick pop around, if only for the magnificent views of the Colisseum).

I agree completely with the earlier poster about Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere. A lovely place to sit and watch the world go by. Very child friendly and popular with locals, who sometimes bring their kiddies to play on tricycles, etc whilst sitting having a drink. As with most European cities, it is cheaper to have a carafe of house wine than to buy branded drinks, and always ask for carafes of free tap water with meals. You can spend an evening very cheaply this way and save your money for delicious ice-creams...

My biggest tip for Venice would be, whatever you do, DONT use a guided tour. In high season there are always huge parties of people following behind an umbrella-wielding tour guide, and being herdeed quickly round the sites and then into cheap shops where the guides are on commision.

Allow yourself a little time to get lost, wandering the backstreets and taking in how beautiful the surroundings are (it's a relatively small place; you won't really be lost!). You'll also come across cheaper restaurants that way, with better quality set menus than those on the main tourist trail. And you'll get to see lots of people taking gondola rides and being sung to by the older gondoliers (the younger gondoliers are often too busy eyeing up the young female passers-by to sing to their passengers!!)

For both cities, remember to dress modestly on days that you will be visiting churches. Women should cover their shoulders and knees in churches - otherwise be prepared to pay a few euros for the privilege of being wrapped in a shawl/skirt of paper toweling at the entrance! Yes, really - I though that my top was OK to visit St Peters, but it was cap-sleeved and so I was sent to the queue for a paper-towelling cover-up - the photos are great!!

I love Italy and am really interested that you are visiting Rome and Venice in one trip - given the distance apart. Can I ask how you have made the arrangements - have you booked internal flights while you are there?

Anyway, hope you have a lovely time in both cities.

Annie