Oso planning to go pro
Italy in October gang. Any special thoughts. Never there so all ears
While there are lots of travel guides, my go to place for vacation info is a forum called Flyer Talk. They have boards for everything and one dedicated to Italy. Ask a question or search previous posts for a wealth of info. People that live there or are frequent visitors often will answer questions in minutes for you.Link to Italy forum: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/italy-634/My 2 cents as a multi time visitor. There are no wrong places to go (well maybe Pisa for more than 15 minutes). Pay to skip lines, especially in Rome. Pay to get a guide. Makes everything so much more interesting. Usually a guide and skipping lines go hand in hand. And since this is a Marquette board, if you are in Rome, there is a great beer bar in Trastevere (just across the Tiber river (literally that is what Tastevere means). called Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fà. Means "what am I doing here" but more commonly known as the Football Pub. As a Marquette person, you will feel at home in this place. https://www.football-pub.com/A general tip. You're going to too many cities. Almost everyone (myself included the first time) try to cram too many stops in one trip. Pick a place or two and relax and enjoy just being there.
pbi,chick and I are heading to a Med Cruise in 9/2021 embarking from Rome. We'll fly in at least a couple days before. We'll talk (outside scoop) as we get to the planning stage later this year.
Generally, I disagree. You may have been more than a few times, but most people take trips like these once in a lifetime. Three to Four days in most of these cities is more than enough.
Fair enough. I was really thinking of those folks that try and do 4 cities in a week. They spend way too much time traveling between cities checking in and out of hotels. 2 places per week is a nice pace, I agree.
There are no wrong places to go (well maybe Pisa for more than 15 minutes).
I guess I was making assumptions as well. I don't know how long he is going to be there.FWIW, I'd skip Milan because overall, it is kind of a boring city. Cathedral is cool, couple of nice pieces of art... but then what? Spend all day at the Sforzesco Castle? Check out the massive Cimitero Monumentale? We sort of ran out of things to do. One thing I did like was that it was a large diverse modern city... but that isn't why I would go visit... that is more a QoL thing for me. Great metro and aperitivo culture were great too. Personally, I liked Naples the best of the places we went in Dec/Jan. With Naples, you get the city (not a ton to do in fairness, and it is very dirty... but great pizza!), Capri, Herculaneum and Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, PLUS Sorrento and the Amalfi coast are a short car/boat ride away.
Cant emphasize this enough. Went to Italy a number of years ago for the eldest of my younger sisters' college graduations. Were in Florence but for some reason, flights to London (our hub for getting back to the US) were insane, so we found good fares out of Pisa which was a quick 50 min train ride away. Thought we could check off another "famous" Italian spot as we did so we planned a full day there. Talk about disappointment. City was basically a dump, the Tower was tremendously underhwelming, and the Duomo was under heavy restoration so it was covered in scaffolding. Was pleasantly surprised by the cuisine and we had a nice lunch and a fantastic early dinner, but otherwise, my feelings on Pisa are not kind.Oh, don't get me started on Galileo Galilei Airport. The airport design and operations may have been designed by Galileo himself, lack of knowledge about the invention of flight 250 years after his death included.Milan is a cool cosmipolitan city, but for sight seeing/history, I agree. It feels more like NYC compared to the other great Italian cities that have modern and historical seamlessly blended.Did you like Naples or Naples as a central point for those other places? Cause its so dirty it makes Rome look clean and everyone I spoke to, locals in Amalfi or otherwise, didn't downplay its reputation for pickpocketing and other petty crime. I saw a purse snatched at the train station at 2 in the afternoon on a Saturday that was so blatant I thought it was a movie being filmed.
More as a central point, but I did enjoy the city. If they can figure out their litter problem it could be a much better place to visit on its own. FWIW, I saw zero crime, but we stayed down by the Caste dell'Ovo right along the water. Having said that, we comfortably walked around the entire central city, even at night through some questionable neighborhoods, and we were never bothered. Walking with purpose and confidence is usually the key... not stopping and checking your phone every half block, and not looking all over the place like a lost child will keep you safe almost anywhere. If you have to stop, duck into a store and have a look around and then check your phone before you leave.
New Orleans for a Bachelor Party. Suggestions?
Anyone have any input on Sandals resorts in the Caribbean? We are currently shopping for our honeymoon in September and am curious to see some firsthand reviews.
Wow, I'm very concerned for Benny. Being able to mimic Myron Medcalf's writing so closely implies an oncoming case of dementia.
Thanks for the info. We’re looking at Caribbean for honeymoon in September. We’ve never traveled there. Budget about $5k for 5 nights. A lower range sandals room is right there but doesn’t leave much room for other activities so I’ve been looking elsewhere. Curious what other places people have been there for all-inclusive.
Checkout Iberostar Grand properties, they are top tier, adults only, generally a bit smaller with better food and drinks, butler service in your room...many include golf too. We stayed at the Grand Bavaro in Punta Cana, and it was fantastic.PM for details.
For five days, keep it easy. Direct flight into Cancun, stay at one of the newer all-inclusive a north of the city.
Or you can stay anywhere else in the world and not have your drink diluted with methanol.