Best way to plan trip to Italy?

Question

I want to plan a trip to Italy next year and I know the places I want to go, things I want to do, but I don't know how to book it. I've never flown in a plane or even been overseas and this is my dream trip. Do I go through a travel agent or does that cost more money? If so, is it worth id? Would an escorted trip with a group of strangers be cheaper? What would be the best way to plan this and get most for my money? Any tips welcome! Thanks!

Answer 1

Loads of pros and cons here. Absolutely loads. The attraction of a tour is that it is all organised for you. But you need a pick wisely. They can be rushed when you may want to linger, they may be overly planned when you may want some flexibility or change of pace, you may be incessantly following a guide when you  just want to sit down a while and enjoy flirting with a local. Guided tours aren't cheap either, after all you are paying for the holiday equivalent of intensive care. As for 'dream trip', Ryan Air is no dream flying experience. Yes its cheaper (but only if booked in advance) but its not very salubrious. Compare with other airlines and you may find that the prices are closer than you think. Booking flights on line is easy but it is always easier when u know how. If you are confident about this, fine. Booking accommodation abroad is similar but knowing some Italian may be useful too. Three stars will in most cases be quite acceptable. Rating systems are quirky. The difference between a 2 and 3 star can vary wildly. Using a travel agent may well be a good idea and should not add to costs. Conley39 states that they charge but it is not as simple as that. In the main they receive their income through commission which is a different thing to what you are concerned about. The issue is whether a travel agent brings to your attention all the travel possibilities, not only those which will earn him or her commission from the particular companies concerned. Indeed, online flight booking services which are agencies of a sort rarely offer the cheapest flights, you will hardly ever see a budget airline flight offered. Quality varies enormously. Look for someone who is old enough to have actual travelling experience, not a youngster who can operate a computer and recite timetables.

Look, I'm going on and yet I could go on and on. My advice is that you should do what everybody should do when they are about to do something for the first time and need some help:get a buddy!   That is do the planning and/or booking and/or entire trip with SOMEBODY. If they are Italian or part Italian or speak Italian or been anywhere in Italy

then even better. Share the burden and learn together!

Answer 2

I highly recommend Frommer's and Rick Steve's travel books. They both go into great detail about how to book the best deals on air, room /board and give SUPER advice on dining, things to see and do, going off the beaten track, etc. I planned a month of backpacking in Italy that way and it was the best trip of my life. Have a blast!!!

Answer 3

first of all i suggest you go to a good travel agency to recomend ypou a tour, if you dont want to see something particular..There are peoiple who prefere doing a tour and see some of Italy, i mean small things from each city, others dedicate a whole week visiting a city with details, it depends on what you want..

There are convenient flights, according your origine country.Through a travel agency you can get better prices and certainly included the flight.

On your own, bear in mind that the hotel is going to cost more, and i strongly recomend a 4 star in Italy, because 3 stars are not so good..Choose one near the hystoric centre fo the city you visit..

I suggest you Rome first, Tuscany(Florence, Pisa, Siena)Milan

Answer 4

You can get touring holidays around italy like a coach to take you to the city places. You can book an flight (ryan air cheap) to any  city in italy and hire a car from the airport and travel yourself.

Answer 5

It depends where you're located.  For us, we're in Toronto, Canada and we arranged our trip through a local travel agent that specializes in trips to Italy.  They only arrange travel to Spain and Italy.  We also knew where we wanted to go and we first went to some other travel agencies but they mainly book trips to tropical getaways like Cuba, Mexico, Caribbean etc. and they had a lot of trouble putting together an itinerary for Italy.

We found booking through the agency wasn't more expensive and they had good knowledge about the location and condition of hotels.  

We looked at escorted trips but for what we wanted they would have cost us each about $2,200/person not including airfare (depends on what type of trip you want to put together though).

We bought a few travel books.  We liked Frommers, Fodors and Rick Steves.  There was a lot of good information.  We got these a couple months in advance and put together our own itinerary and list of places we wanted to visit in each city.  We had no problem finding our way around without a tour guide.  It all depends on you though.  If you want an escorted tour, then shop around and find a good deal as we found they were quite costly.

In all the major cities we visited, Venice, Florence and Rome we were amazed that everyone spoke English that we encountered.  My husband is Italian (although born in Canada) so his Italian isn't great but could have gotten us through if we needed it.  It wasn't until we visited some of his relatives in a small town in Calabria that he needed to use his Italian.  In most of the larger places, most people speak English, but if you're going to some of the smaller or more remote areas, bring an English/Italian book and a phrase book if you don't speak Italian.

Have a great time.  Shop around at a few travel agents.  You don't have to book through them, but find out if they're knowledgeable about Italy and the places you want to visit.  If possible find someone that specializes in Italy and it will be much easier.  Just in case you happen to be in the Toronto area, I've put a link at the bottom to the agent we used..

Answer 6

A travel agent does charge for their services. If you use a good one, it can be worth the cost though. If you find someone who has experience in the places you're going to, they can recommend good hotels, and travel options and find the cheapest fares for you.

However, you can also do all this yourself - especially if you already know exactly where you want to go. Airfares can be found through sites like Yahoo's farechase http://farechase.yahoo.com/, skyscanner http://www.skyscanner.net/eur/?redirectu... or many others.

Generally, the best way to get around within Italy is using the train system. You can check specific schedules and prices at: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html. Generally, you don't need to prebook tickets long in advance except during the period around Easter. You can get the discount Amica fare on the trains when and where it is available. Night trains can save you the cost of a hotel for a night if you're traveling a long enough distance (e.g., Venice to rome or Naples). You can sleep in a berth through the night and arrive early the next day.

There are a lot of budget airlines operating in Europe that sometimes are cheaper than the trains. A good source for identifying flights between a given pair of cities is:

http://www.whichbudget.com/en/. There are links to the airline websites that will allow you to check specific schedules and prices and book tickets. This can be worth considering for longer trips within Italy.

I use the venere.com site for booking hotels here in Italy. They have a large database. You can use a map to sort for a particular district in the city you're interested in and then sort by price, guest rating,... http://en.venere.com/italy/. The site has a lot of reviews by previous guests to get an idea of what to expect from the area, the hotel, and the staff. I've found a hotel within two minutes of Piazza San Marco during Carnevale on two days notice using the site.

Whether an organized tour is right for you or not depends a lot on your personality. I prefer to travel independently and take half-day or day tours from a particular city because it's much more flexible. I can stop and spend time doing things that are interesting rather than having limited time at a number of places. The trade-off is that you do't have to do much organizing yourself on a tour.