Venice, Rome, Florence?

Question

I'm traveling with my girlfriend christmas day to Venice we get there and we're staying from the 25th(leave) - 8th(leave) first in venice because thats where the plane stps first but we're staying these 3 cities for about 3-4 days each was wondering if anyone had good websites to look out about hotels and b&b's we're planning on taking trains to the cities. anyways any information tips, websites or personal recommmendations would be great. P.S. trying to find things within a moderate price range not trying to make it 5 star spending vast amounts of cash daily. thank you

Answer 1

Here's an important tip if you're taking trains. After you buy your ticket, got to the platform and look for a stamping machine and stamp your ticket. If you do not, the conductor will fine you (5 Euro last year).

Also, I suggest you don't stay in Venice more than 2 days. You can see all you want in that time frame, and unless you spend a great deal of $$$, the food is terrible. Better food and much more to see in Rome and Venice.

Answer 2

you can have a look here for cheap B&Bs in these 3 cities: http://en.reserver.it

Answer 3

The site I use for hotels here in Italy and some other places in Europe is: http://en.venere.com/italy/. You can narrow down your search to a specific district within a city using the map feature and then sort by price, hotel rating or other criteria. The reviews by past guests are useful. It includes a pretty big selection of hotels covering a full range of prices. Actually, there are several other sites that seem to be good too, but this one has always been reliable.

Answer 4

Trip Advisor has tourist hotel reviews so it's a great place to check out hotels.

Look at TrenItalia for train prices and timetables.  Just remember that you can't book trains so far in advance, so just use it as a guide.

Answer 5

I'll actually be in Rome, Florence and Venice from Jan. 2-10. We're renting an apartment in Rome, where we're staying for five days, and then staying in hotels in Florence and Venice. Renting an apartment seems to be cheaper than staying at most hotels and it allows you to cook some meals on your own. We found our place at vrbo.com -- Vacation Rentals By Owner. There are plenty of other places to book apartments online, but this seems to cut out the middle man and also allows you to deal directly with people in the states. You'll be there during one of the most popular times of the year, so the prices will be higher than usual. Regardless, I'd say you should be able to find a studio or 1BR in Rome for less than $180 a night. Maybe cheaper. We're paying $1,000 (USD) for a 2BR, 1BA for five nights (Jan. 3-8).

Also, look into getting the 3-day (or more) Italy train pass. We found one at raileurope.com for $192 per person. This gives you three days of unlimited rail travel anytime during a one month period. You can add days to that for an extra cost. On a similar note, I'm pretty sure there's a 1-week pass for the public transportation in Rome. Last I checked, it was around 16 euros and included all buses, trams, metros, etc. within Rome.

Hope this helps. Have fun.