Tips on traveling to Italy.

Transportation

Decide if you are staying in countryside or city. When staying at an Agriturismo you may want a to have a rental car. If you plan on staying in the cities, (ie. Rome, Florence, Venice), you need to decide if public transportation such as trains and buses is acceptable. Consider using taxis when moving luggage. I’ve rented cars twice because we stayed in an Agriturismo in Toscana. Driving from the AG to the train station was easy, but driving into the cities was always exciting. Ie.. Roads in Luca that would be considered small alleys in the US, narrow, winding one lane mountains roads in Sorrento, with crazy mopeds passing on blind turns, disregard for traffic lanes in Rome, and roundouts with signs 30 towns deep. The first car was a cool Mercedes Benz A180.

It was small but I still ended up testing the break-away mirrors worked as designed. The 2^nd car was an Opel Zafira 4 door. It was larger than the MB Mini A180 but still small by US standards. With the Opel, we went looking for an ATM by following our GPS which had gained the nickname Bela. While passing more than one ATM, Bela kept directing us onto smaller and smaller roads heading downhill, apparently towards the water, we gave up on Bela’s GPS guidance to the ATM when the Opel’s tires scraped along something while on the narrowest road with the highest block walls I’ve ever driven on. Having a car was a great convenience. Each trip we drove around 1500 KM, over 1800 miles total, not bad with only one break-away mirror that easily snapped back on to the Mini-MB. But it’s a big relief when you finally return the rental car unscathed.

Travel Assistance

If driving, get a GPS and learn how to use it before you go. Renting one from the rental car company is okay but gets expense. Check for a GPS’s that has the warnings where the trafico velocity enforcement cameras are located.

Consider learning the language.

Get a good guide book like Rick Steve’s, sometimes he has hidden benefits included in place descriptions.. ie. Lemoncello served for free if his guide book is displayed.

Drink plenty of bottle water, stay hydrated, offset the vino.

At least one person in group of 3 should have a voltage converter, to charge batteries and cameras.

Bring an umbrella.

Notify you credit card and banks, use you ATM and credit cards for best exchange rates and lowest fees.

Fly direct if possible, JFK direct to Pisa on first trip was great, not available 2 years later. Rome-JFK is common, we planned our first trip to end up in Rome and depart from there, 2nd trip departed from Naples to Rome to JFK. I would probably not do that again, and opt for a train or car to Rome, Florence or Milan, anywhere you can get a direct flight back to the US. (Based out traveling from NYC area).

Fly From Florence Following Family Fun ;-)

Communication

Regarding a phone, go with your phone but check for a short-term European plan your provider may have available. We rented a phone through AAA on one trip and, on the second trip we followed recommendations to buy a pay-as you go phone while in country. This worked out okay, is probably the least expensive way, but was cumbersome. Plan on getting a phone and then also additional phone card with minutes. Use the phone with built in minutes for calls within the country, use the supplemental phone card for calling back to the US. Both options required country codes, etc, you end up dialing over maybe 30 digits to make a call, the service is spotty and you are never sure if the problems are the service, the phone or the phone card. Using a pay phone is an option but noticed many pay phones had been removed at Autogrills along AutoStrada’s, where remaining pay phones were next to blank paint spots next. I just decided to minimize my calls but this is not practical for everyone.

Computers.

If you don’t mind lugging a small computer around might be an option for communicating, traveling in the US, I usually always bring a computer, but in Europe didn’t want to deal with it. With new smart phones and smaller computers it’s becoming much more practical. Some Agriturismo may offer service.