Venice, Florence, Rome
foggyj
14 years ago
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Comments (6)
recordstraight
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Things to do in Italy
Comments (3)Venice - I agree with walking around. It is wonderful to get "lost" there. We skipped the gondola ride. We don't regret it. We did take the vaporetto, both at night and in the day and that was good for us. You can also go to Murano and see the glass sculptures or to Burano where you can see lace. we enjoyed the lace museum there and watching the women make it in the museum - my daughter would have enjoyed that when she was 8, my sons not so much. Florence - if your child is interested in science you might want to look at that. There may be some parts of it that are not interesting to an 8 year old, but other parts will be. I picked this up from Rick Steves - try gelato when you can. It really isn't very much and it was fun to see who had the best pistachio gelato in Italy. My husband on the other hand tried all different flavors. I recommend Rick Steves audio tours. he has some humor in them though an 8 year may not get it all, and it is probably good that he/she wouldn't get it ALL though I wouldn't have any problems with my former 8 year olds listening to the tours. The great thing about them when it was just DH and I was being able to stop a "tour" at any kind and get something to eat or go to the bathroom and then return to the tour when we were ready. I also downloaded other tours, but they were usually more stuffy than Rick is. Get some really good art books from the library if you don't know much about art (another tip from Rick). Teach your 8 yea old about it in small doses. That makes the art even more interesting. One thing you could teach him is perspective. Then as you study the art when you go you can ask his opinion about how well the artist did with perspective. don't forget to learn about mosaics as well. If you go to the Vatican and st peters and you have an active 8 year old climb up to the top of the cupola. That was one of the first things we did in Italy and it was amazing to see all the things inside and then to look over Rome from the top. You can hike all the way or take the elevator part way and hike the rest depending on your fitness and fatigue. If you get there late enough in the day you will have to use the elevator for the first part as they won't let you walk up all the way. It costs more, but for us it ended up being perfect....See MoreRome, Vatican breakfast, colleseum at night?
Comments (16)Thanks! I do keep reading that in the summer the experience of Sistine Chapel in particular is compromised by the crowds, perhaps especially by the guards loudly shushing and reminding people not to take pictures. It's more money, but it doesn't seem like an outrageous amount more considering it includes an "American" breakfast, apparently even pancakes are served. We could bypass the lines (sometimes as much as four hours long reportedly!) at the Vatican by buying timed entry tickets directly from the official website, but that would not help with the crowds inside at all. I think the Colloseum at night would be pretty cool and it would likely fit into our plans nicely as we will probably only have three and a half days in Rome and we could do a night tour on that half day after arriving in Rome from Venice. Both the breakfast at the Vatican and the night Colloseum tour are available through the official sites as well as via tour companies. I'm not finding much of a comparison between official tours and tours run by outside companies. The official tours are cheaper. So that's a bit of a puzzle....See MoreTime for my annual travel ask - Italy version
Comments (27)We hired a driver in Florence and went to Lucca (which is also accessible by train) and then on to Tellaro for lunch. We particularly liked Tellaro. It was beautiful and had virtually no tourists. We spent about three or four hours there total and that was enough, imo. If you are interested, I will see if I can find the name of the restaurant. It was very good—some of the best food we had in Italy. https://www.miomyitaly.com/tellaro.html...See MoreVenice, Florence and Rome — recommendations please.
Comments (31)You’re so sweet, sabbath. We spent a total of 9 days in Italy, split kind of evenly between Venice, Florence and Rome. Stayed in the center of the city in the first two. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Venice, next 3 days in Florence and thelast 3 in Rome. Venice was magical. I could live there happily as a chimney sweep or a store clerk. From Florence, we took a day trip to Siena And went up the tower. Museums one day, and a half a day at piazzale michaelangelo before we left for Rome. things got a little tricky in Rome. As I has mentioned before, DS doesn’t handle museums too well. The Vatican, even with the no-wait tickets, got to be a little too much. So, after we got to the Sistine chapel, and almost close to seeing the ceiling, DH and I decided to leave , because DS was getting very uncomfortable with the crowd and the wait. And we left without picking up DH’s backpack that was left at the entrance. So it was a trek to the entrance before it closed for the weekend. And we spent a day Hamburg on the way back. Anyway, it was great for the three of us to spend time together. I’m sure we’ll go back again next time we’re in Europe. Here are some pics....See MoreWhitelacey
10 years agogr8daygw
9 years agofoggyj
9 years agoYayagal
8 years ago
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