Going to Italy for graduation gift?!?

Question

Hi, I am going to Italy as a graduation gift. My father and my best friends will be accompanying me. I need information on the best hotels and the best destination cities to land in. Also, any other information about traveling to Italy would be fantastic! Do I need a visa to travel to Italy? Thanks!

Answer 1

No, you don't need a visa to visit Italy as a tourist from the US. You can stay for up to 90 days. The best flights and arrivals depend to some extent on where you're flying from and what you want to see. I sometimes fly through Amsterdam when traveling to and from the US because it's frequently a bit cheaper, and I like Amsterdam. You can use sites like farechase http://farechase.yahoo.com/ or expedia http://www.expedia.com/default.asp to plan your air travel. http://www.skyscanner.net/ and http://www.whichbudget.com/ are also good resources, but are sometimes better for flights within Europe. The obvious places to visit are Rome, Florence, and Venice and there are several easy day trips that you could take from each. Cinque Terre and the Amalfi coast/Capri are great for scenery. There are also lots of other interesting places. Garda Lake has several towns with castles. Places like Rimini and Gabbice Mare have excellent beaches, but then, so do Sardinia and Sicily. You need to pick up a few guide books and narrow down where you want to go. Then it will be easier to supply more useful information.

When you're here, it's very easy to get around within Italy using the trains. You can use the Italian train website to check prices and schedules. http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

I use the Venere.com site for finding accomodations here in Italy. http://www.venere.com/home/ You can select a particular area in a given city and/or sort by price and rating. I've also found the reviews by previous guests to be useful.

It's hard to recommend anything specific without knowing exactly where you'll be or when you'll be there.

You might also want to do some research on festivals and local celebrations. For example, Venice has the Il Redentore festival in July. It's a celebration of surviving the plague - excellent fireworks over the lagoon.

Whatever you end up doing, you'll have a great time here!

Answer 2

Wonderful!!! You will all need a pass port!

This is a trip you best research and see what area interests you, depends on how much time you have, go to a travel agency or of course this machine.

I went twice in the 1970's It is a beatiful country, many wonders, and works of art everywhere.

Answer 3

actually....i don't know if u need a visa,but i can do help you with some info about my (luvly) country!

u will FIRSTLY need to visit Rome (Roma,as we call it....My city ;) ). It won't take u less than 6 days to visit it (but more days would be better for a complete visit) properly....well...for the hotel it's really up to how much u want to spend!

secondly u cannot miss a visit to Florence (Firenze) which is much smaller (two days r more than enough). it is a really expensive city,so I'd suggest u to find a max 3* hotel but in the down town,you'll spend as if u were in a higher level hotel,but at least will be close to the most important see sights.

Venice (Venezia) is cool too (expensive as well)....two days r enough to visit it all.

Naples is cool,but i wouldn't suggest anyone to go there due to the criminality etc,but it is a very historical and important city,with loadsa cool things to see.

Milan is considered the fashion capital....it's quite grey,but full of cool shops (but without many see sights).

since u'r coming here in summer I'd suggest u to visit Sicily,where you'll find amazing seasides and things to see (it has both ancient Greek and Arabic monuments).

hope u will enjoy visiting my country...and if u need any other advice (even about hotels here in Rome...) just ask :)

Tc