The Traveller

Hi friends,

We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from Denmark
during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
April 12.

We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best trip.

We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I
would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities that
might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel schedule to
accomodate it.

1. What would be the best time distribution for these cities

2. Which would be the best mode to travel between these cities - by
cheap flights, or bus or rail ? If rail, will point-to-point tickets
be a better thing to go in for rather than a rail-pass ?

3. If we are to start & end our journey at Milan, what would the best
routing ?
(say: Milan -> Venice -> Rome -> Pisa -> Milan; or something better ?
)

4. We are on a slightly tight budget, so what would be the cheapest
accomodation available ? Hostels seem to be a good idea, but we did
some search on the internet, and could not find any hostels available
in Rome in this duration :( . Would someone be kind enough to provide
pointers to other places where we can try our luck ?

Else, how good are the Bread&Breakfast homes ?

5. Where can I get more information on "Ul elenco di affittacamere" or
or "Private Homes offering accomodations" , esp. in Rome ? Will these
be a better option ?

6. As I found out on some sight, there is a concept of "Albergi
Diurni" (Day Hotels) in Italy. Where can we know more about the
prices/locations of these in the cities we are covering ?


Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Ron

Ken Blake

In news:,
The Traveller <> typed:

    > We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from
Denmark
    > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the
night on
    > April 12.
    > We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best
trip.
    > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this
trip.


In five days?

You won't begin to cover them in five days. You will hardly touch
upon them.


    > I
    > would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities
that
    > might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel
schedule to
    > accomodate it.


Although there many other cities well worth visiting, you already
have much too much on your plate. You'll spend almost as much
time travelling as you will seeing the places you're visiting.



    > 1. What would be the best time distribution for these cities


With so little time, my *strong* recommendation is to go to *one*
major city, preferably Rome (but depending on your interests).
Even with all five days in Rome, you'll only be able to touch on
the major sites there.


    > 2. Which would be the best mode to travel between these
cities - by
    > cheap flights, or bus or rail ?


If you must do this, the train is best.


    > If rail, will point-to-point tickets
    > be a better thing to go in for rather than a rail-pass ?


Yes. A pass won't make any sense for that amount of travel.



    > 3. If we are to start & end our journey at Milan, what would
the best
    > routing ?
    > (say: Milan -> Venice -> Rome -> Pisa -> Milan; or something
better ?


That makes sense, but consider flying to Milan and back from
Rome. So in that case make it Milan, Venice, Pisa, Rome.


    > 4. We are on a slightly tight budget, so what would be the
cheapest
    > accomodation available ? Hostels seem to be a good idea, but we
did
    > some search on the internet, and could not find any hostels
available
    > in Rome in this duration :( . Would someone be kind enough to
provide
    > pointers to other places where we can try our luck ?
    > Else, how good are the Bread&Breakfast homes ?
    > 5. Where can I get more information on "Ul elenco di
affittacamere" or
    > or "Private Homes offering accomodations" , esp. in Rome ? Will
these
    > be a better option ?
    > 6. As I found out on some sight, there is a concept of "Albergi
    > Diurni" (Day Hotels) in Italy. Where can we know more about the
    > prices/locations of these in the cities we are covering ?


Sorry, I have no experience with any of the choices you mention
in 4, 5, or 6, and can't help there. But I urge you to rethink
how much you're trying to do in a short time. Less is more.

Ptravel

"The Traveller" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Hi friends,
    > We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from Denmark
    > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
    > April 12.
    > We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best trip.
    > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I
    > would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities that
    > might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel schedule to
    > accomodate it.

Four cities in 5 days isn't a visit -- it's a marathon race. Fly into Rome
and stay there for the 5 days. If you can't change your flight, stay in
Milan, with a day trip (or maybe and overnight) up to Lake Como. Pisa
offers little but the Leaning Tower -- give it a miss this trip. Remember,
your first and last days are travel days; you only have 3 full days in
Italy. Don't squander them on trains stations.


    > 1. What would be the best time distribution for these cities
    > 2. Which would be the best mode to travel between these cities - by
    > cheap flights, or bus or rail ? If rail, will point-to-point tickets
    > be a better thing to go in for rather than a rail-pass ?
    > 3. If we are to start & end our journey at Milan, what would the best
    > routing ?
    > (say: Milan -> Venice -> Rome -> Pisa -> Milan; or something better ?
    > )
    > 4. We are on a slightly tight budget, so what would be the cheapest
    > accomodation available ? Hostels seem to be a good idea, but we did
    > some search on the internet, and could not find any hostels available
    > in Rome in this duration :( . Would someone be kind enough to provide
    > pointers to other places where we can try our luck ?
    > Else, how good are the Bread&Breakfast homes ?
    > 5. Where can I get more information on "Ul elenco di affittacamere" or
    > or "Private Homes offering accomodations" , esp. in Rome ? Will these
    > be a better option ?
    > 6. As I found out on some sight, there is a concept of "Albergi
    > Diurni" (Day Hotels) in Italy. Where can we know more about the
    > prices/locations of these in the cities we are covering ?
    > Thanks in advance.
    > Cheers,
    > Ron

Iceman

    > We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from Denmark
    > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
    > April 12.
    >
    > We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best trip.
    >
    > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I
    > would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities that
    > might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel schedule to
    > accomodate it.

In five days, forget it. You wouldn't have time for anything except a
snapshot of yourself in front of their respective monuments.

I'd recommend spending the entire five days in Rome. There's so much
in the way of history and culture there, and you won't have any
trouble filling five days. Between St. Peter's, the Vatican Museums
(including the Sistine Chapel and Raphael apartments), the Colosseum
and other ancient sites, baroque majesties like the Trevi Fountain and
Piazza Navona, other fascinating churches like San Clemente and Santa
Maria Della Capucin, great food, wine, and gelato, and the rich
streetlife of many Roman neighborhoods, it lives up to every
expectation.

If you feel you must visit more than one city in that time, use the
trains. Trains are cheap in Italy, and north of Rome at least they're
reliable. Spend one full day in Venice and four days in Rome, and
don't bother with Pisa or Milan on this short a trip.

Florence, Siena, and the Cinque Terre are all wonderful, but you'll
have to save them for a future trip.

Aryzhov

(The Traveller) wrote in message news:<>...

    > 2. Which would be the best mode to travel between these cities - by
    > cheap flights, or bus or rail ? If rail, will point-to-point tickets
    > be a better thing to go in for rather than a rail-pass ?

My choice would be car rental. Even for a tight budget,
it may compare in price with a train or bus tickets for 3 people,
plus you certainly win on flexibility and comfort,
which may turn out extremely important for a schedule you consider.
With a car, you can book cheap countryside b&b 5-room hotels
between the main destinations, though quite intensive Internet search
is required for this. Detailed road atlas is absolutely necessary, too.
Make sure not to drive into the big cities between 7 and 9 a.m,
and out of them between 4 and 7 p.m.

Regards,
Andrei

Edoardo Vancini

The Traveller <> wrote in message
...
    > Hi friends,
    > We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from Denmark
    > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
    > April 12.
    > We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best trip.
    > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I
    > would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities that
    > might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel schedule to
    > accomodate it.

As you have already been told, in those 5 days you can hardly visit Rome ...

If you plan to stay another couple of days, you can plan Rome + Venice (both
very quckly, they'd deserve one week each!).
In any case, I think Milan and Pisa are not among the nost interesting town
in Italy.

If you have two weeks (or, better, three weeks...), my advice is to start
with Rome, then move to Tuscany. In Tuscany visit Siena and some of those
wonderful medieval little town around it (e.g. San Gimignano). Then Florence
and Venice. Stop.

If you can't change your plan and you can't enjoy some additional days,
visit Rome. Only Rome.

Edoardo

Edoardo Vancini

Iceman <> wrote in message
...

    > Spend one full day in Venice and four days in Rome, and
    > don't bother with Pisa or Milan on this short a trip.

I couldn't agree more .... *if* they had 5 "full" days. In that case, your
suggestion should be perfect. But they have only 3 "full" days ...

    > Florence, Siena, and the Cinque Terre are all wonderful, but you'll
    > have to save them for a future trip.

I completely agree.

Edoardo

Giovanni Drogo

On 18 Mar 2004, The Traveller wrote:

    > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
    > April 12.

i.e. you have 8 9 10 11 and half of 12. 11th is Easter and 12th is
Easter Monday, which means some places may be closed (conversely some
places may be "extraordinarily" open ... I believe that most museums
which normally close on Monday are open when Monday is a national
holiday.

It's also a school holiday season, so places might be crowded.

    > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I

    > 1. What would be the best time distribution for these cities

Although I leave in Milan, and know its history and like it more than
the usual person (look for my earlier postings on the matter here), I
shall rank Milan and Pisa lower than Venice and Rome. As other told you,
maybe you should drop one location. You should definitely STAY in Venice
and/or Rome. You can have a quick visit to Pisa main sights in half a
day (I did it on my way back from Rome once).

    > 2. Which would be the best mode to travel between these cities - by
    > cheap flights, or bus or rail ? If rail, will point-to-point tickets
    > be a better thing to go in for rather than a rail-pass ?

I would say rail. There are no long distance bus services in Italy, and
for the places you consider the trip is too short to be convenient by
plane (on some stretches there would not even be many flights, or none
at all ... it just takes less to go by train than to go to the airport,
do the checkin etc. etc.).

I would say a rail pass is not necessary. Rail fares are considered
relatively cheap by non-Italians. Note that ES trains cost more than IC,
and IC cost more than other sort of trains (IR, E). Cost goes with speed
and comfort. You can get fares from the www.trenitalia.it site. I do not
regard this site as very useful or efficient for itineraries (nothing
like your Rejseplanen), I recommend using this german site for any
country http://home.arcor.de/e.lauterbach/au...fplanx-en.html,


    > 3. If we are to start & end our journey at Milan, what would the best
    > routing ?

First of all, WHICH Milan airport ? Linate, Malpensa or Bergamo ? See my
institute link http://www.mi.iasf.cnr.it/Ifctr/by_air.html for direction
about reaching the Centrale train station.

Consider the following.

Going from Milan to Rome takes a bit more than 4 hours by ES train.
There are also overnight sleeper trains which depart around 23:00 and
arrive around 8:00.

Going from Milan to Venice takes about 3 hours by IC train.

You can figure out yourself from the above site the time for the other
stretches (Venice to Rome by ES would be a bit longer than from Milan,
and I believe there are also sleeper trains. Rome to Pisa and Pisa to
Milan will involve, I guess, passing through Florence (there used to be
a direct train Pisa-Milan but on a slow line). Rome-Florence is 1.5
hours by ES and I guess another hour or less to Pisa. There should also
be opportunities Rome-Pisa via the coastal line.

One possibility would be, if you do not arrive too late, to get
immediately a train to Venice and sleep there. Otherwise you can go to
Verona (midway between Milan and Venice), sleep there, pay a half-day
visit and then proceed to Venice.

Once you've done with Venice, take a night train to Rome, saving time
and perhaps money, then do Rome.

If you insist in doing Pisa, use half a day on the way back from Rome
(leave early in the morning, do Pisa, overnight in Milan).

Spend the day before departure in Milan.


Otherwise you could revamp your plans completely.

Fly into Venice, do Venice, Rome and Pisa.

Fly into Rome and do only Rome, Latium (area around Rome) and Florence
and Pisa or other places in Tuscany.

Fly into Milan and do Venice and other places in Veneto and Lombardy
only.


    > 4. We are on a slightly tight budget, so what would be the cheapest
    > accomodation available ?

Can't really answer. I never used hostels and am now too old for that.
Consider that Italy is an expensive place for what concerns
accomodation. In particular cities are expensive (but I go there mainly
for business trips), smaller resorts may not be (I've recently spent
more than 100 euro to just overnight in Bologna alone, and 35 euro per
person FULL BOARD in a small Ligury resort in a double).

One thing I would consider are sleeper trains. If you travel 3 in a T3
compartment (which requires a 2nd class ticket) the fare will not be
high. And you save the time for travel. I would not personally use
couchettes (in sleepers you have a real bed with linen and running water
in the compartment ; I feel unsafe and uncomfortable in couchettes), but
they are even cheaper.

    > Else, how good are the Bread&Breakfast homes ?

I suppose you want Bed not only Bread :-)

B&B is a rather new thing in Italy, and I've not used it in my own
country, but my impression is that it's a rather more luxury and
expensive thing than it uses to be in other countries (e.g. UK)

    > 6. As I found out on some sight, there is a concept of "Albergi
    > Diurni" (Day Hotels) in Italy.

AlbergHi (hard g). Seems to me a rather obsolete concept, reminds me of
"Belle Epoque". There used to be such places, where one could get a
closet to have a wash or a shower, or may be a little rest, but almost
all those I remember to have seen in Milan when I was a child have now
disappeared.

I presume there is still one in the subterraneans of the Central
station, in a not nice looking area, and I do not know if its customers
are normal travellers, or clochards. Probably there are similar places
in the main stations of the other cities concerned. Never used one.

Do not confuse "albergo diurno" (or just "diurno") with an "albergo a
ore" (hour hotel). These are little 1-star hotels in not recommended
(i.e. red light) areas, whose use should be obvious. Unlike you feel
like the great US physicist Richard Feynman, which seemed to exploit the
places just to find an accomodation without previous reservation (see
his book "What do you care about what other people think, mr. Feynman").

I've once stayed in Venice in a cheap but nice place run by friars or
priests (I believe it was called "Padri Cavanis" and was in Rio Terra'
Foscarini, just close to the Accademia ... do not know if it exists any
more, and if the kind of customers have changed).


One more thing about urban transport. If you plan to use metro, trams,
buses you might take advantage of day passes, but even single tickets
(validity is usually 75 min) are not expensive for nordic standards (in
Milan 1 euro). Boat transport in Venice is instead definitely much more
expensive for non-venetians, and a pass is definitely worth. Check on
ACTV web site.

The Traveller

"Edoardo Vancini" <> wrote in message news:<b9B6c.80886$>...
    > The Traveller <> wrote in message
    > ...
    > > Hi friends,
    > >
    > > We are a group of three planning to travel to Italy from Denmark
    > > during the second week of April. We would land in Milan from
    > > Copehnagen on the evening of April 7 & would fly back on the night on
    > > April 12.
    > >
    > > We would like to seek your suggestions on how to plan the best trip.
    > >
    > > We are planning to cover Milan, Venice, Rome & Pisa in this trip. I
    > > would be gald to listen to your suggestions on any other cities that
    > > might not be worth a miss. Maybe we can alter our travel schedule to
    > > accomodate it.
    >
    > As you have already been told, in those 5 days you can hardly visit Rome ...
    >
    > If you plan to stay another couple of days, you can plan Rome + Venice (both
    > very quckly, they'd deserve one week each!).
    > In any case, I think Milan and Pisa are not among the nost interesting town
    > in Italy.
    >
    > If you have two weeks (or, better, three weeks...), my advice is to start
    > with Rome, then move to Tuscany. In Tuscany visit Siena and some of those
    > wonderful medieval little town around it (e.g. San Gimignano). Then Florence
    > and Venice. Stop.
    >
    > If you can't change your plan and you can't enjoy some additional days,
    > visit Rome. Only Rome.
    >
    > Edoardo

Hi friends!

Cheap accomodation in Rome is hard to find during the Ester, but we
came across a few hostels that are called "camping sites".

I dont have much idea about what these "camping sites" really are.
There is one in particular which looks good (at least on the web), but
we are not sure how good is that connectivity of that place to the
main Railway station would be.

The are is called AURELIA, and is near to the Cornelia Station. If we
have to catch an early morning (~ 5 AM) train to - say Milan or Pisa,
then will it be easy to reach the station from this place ??


Thanks in advance.


Cheers,
Ron

Edoardo Vancini

The Traveller <> wrote in message
...

    > The are is called AURELIA, and is near to the Cornelia Station. If we
    > have to catch an early morning (~ 5 AM) train to - say Milan or Pisa,
    > then will it be easy to reach the station from this place ??

Unfortunately I'm not from Rome, so I can't answer your question.
Surely it's quite easy reaching the main station (Termini) from Cornelia
during the day:
http://www.anatomia.med.uniroma1.it/...amo/metro.html

Altough, as metro is not working at night, you need a night bus.
All I can do is give you a link to the site of Atac, the Roma bus company:

http://www.atac.roma.it/

Edoardo