Rome and the coast - advice sought.

jhiker

Thanks to all - some great advice there!

Rambosmum

4 days in Rome is a good length of time, in 3 days we did the vatican/ Sistine chapel, Coliseum, pantheon, forum, spanish steps, piazza navarone, trevi fountain and tomb of unknown solider, which was down the road from our hotel. As well as some lovely restaurants, churches and wine bars and at a comfortable pace.

We had a fantastic time. Depending on your health/ level of fitness the whole of Rome is accessible by foot, we didn't get the tube/ taxi anywhere except from the station to our hotel. I certainly wouldn't hire a car in Rome - I'm a confident driver in the UK and abroad and it looked like hell on earth to me, no one pays any attention to the road signs and we saw several low grade collisions whilst there. Crossing the road is bad enough!

We stayed at the hotel St Moritz. Good value B&B style hotel. Breakfast was nice and the place was clean and comfortable and a great location for getting around. It's spread over several floors though and doesn't have a lift - this wasn't and issue for us as we only had hand luggage.

We didn't find it particularly expensive, but went on boxing day so low season and only ate at restaurants with Italian only menu's- they were cheaper. I don't speak Italian but could ask for a table for 2 and make out most foods so worked out well!

Not been to the rest of Italy, hope to sometime soon.

silverwhistle

More years ago than I care to mention I lived in Rome as an ex-pat kid. I'd second the advice not to go in July or August. Due to the heat I occasionally tried sleeping on the marble floor!

I wouldn't recommend driving in Rome. Dad managed 7 years without an accident but that was a long time ago and how he managed it... Public transport is cheap though, and although I can manage a slight Roman accent at a push wouldn't take a taxi there! The Treni d'Italia website might be useful for planning.

I haven't been back to Rome itself for over 25 years, even when I recently lived in Italy as an adult, and your post has got me pondering, drat you. :-)

Kynthia

Did a similar trip myself a few years ago and it was perfectly easy to book everything ourselves. We flew to Venice for a few nights, got the train to Rome and stayed there for a few nights. Then got tge train to Naples and changed to the local train to stay in Sorrento. Sorrento is a great base for sightseeing as the local train can get you to Pompeii and Vesuvius, there's a ferry to Capri and you're near the Amalfi Coast where we booked a chauffeur to take us around for the day. Then we caught a cab to Naples airport and flew home.

We found nice hotels online and checked them out on TripAdvisor, then booked direct with them months in advice. The trains were first class tickets which were comfortable and seating was allocated. These were booked about 3 months in advance on Rail Europe (SNCF now). I wouldn't recommend driving and it was extremely hot in early September that year so I'd hate to be there in July. A local recommended going around easter time for the weather and all the festivals.

We did Sicily the year after and I loved it. Again I organised it myself although after a flight delay I wished I'd arranged a transfer from the airport to Taormina instead of getting the train. We stayed by the sea opposite Isola Bella and got the cable car into the be trance to Taormina high street everyday which meant we got lovely sea views and a hotel with a pool without having a long walk into town.

missbiggles1

If you must go in July, make sure you book accommodation with air conditioning.