GOLD STAR FORUMS | Forum profile

If you had to pick the best month to travel to Italy. Not too cold and least amount of tourist. What month would that be? Thanks in advance!

Watch Venetian Women making Waves! For the first time ever, women will be rowing the lead craft the prestigious Regata Storica (and I'm fortunate enough to be among them!). Please, if you are here for the festival on Sunday, feel free to shout and wave yourself with abandon. For more details, please check my blog post. (and Happy Labor Day Weekend in the meantime... ) Italy: ...

My fiance and I are planning on spending 6 days in the Tuscany/Umbria area. We'll have a car, and would have already done Florence. Can anyone recommend a good base to explore the region. We're considering staying in 2 different spots, and I initially thought Montalcino would be a good base for Tuscany. We're also not sure whether to stay in a town or in the country - perhaps 3 nights in a town...

Hi everyone! Only 16 days away from my first trip to Italy!!! Everyone here has been so helpful. I already booked a tour for the Vatican museums and Sistine Chapel as suggested by past discussions by emailing the address on their website. It was quick and went very smoothly. The next day I got confirmation for a 1200 tour. Based on the confirmation letter, I can enter the museums 30 ...

Is anyone familiar with the suburb of Turino called Lombardore? I'm looking for suggestions on getting to Lombardore from Milan. I'm considering taking a train to Turin and then a taxi or bus up to Lombardore. Ideas? I'm looking for specifics, like bus routes/numbers in Turin. Thank you!

We're just back from our annual Ostuni road trip (normally we fly to Puglia, but take the car once a year), and tried two different (and new to us) routes across the Alps which I thought I'd report on. I'm linking this topic to Rest of Europe too, since our route down involved Switzerland, and our route back Austria. Normally we do the road trip around Easter, when the passes are closed: since ...

I've arrived and have picked up lots of practical information. I guess this was all said in different posts about FCO airport, but I didn't piece it all together: Terminal B and C arrivals use the same baggage claim and exit at a different place than before, in the B direction one pillar away from, I think, Cafè Express. Except that there's another exit right next to that Café, marked EU ...

The best way to find new places is to get lost and this is how I found this little village near Orvieto. Porano counts about less than 500 people and the peace and quite of this village its incredible. If you go there its 10 min drive from Orvieto. If you there during lunch time try the only restaurant you will be able to find called "Il boccone del prete" and order the menù tasting! The food is ...

To celebrate a family occasion we are looking at spending a few days in Conero at the end of October. Any recommendations for something not completely poured from a concrete mould near the beach? Never been over there myself surprisingly.

BREAKING NEWS: Alitalia is being placed in liquidation. A "new" company will take its place, and assume many of its routes. This "new" company will not assume the "bad" assets of Alitalia, which instead will be relegated to the company being liquidated. The name of the "new" company is "Compagnia Aerea Italiana" (although apparently the trademark "Alitalia" will be retained). This name may ...

BREAKING NEWS: Alitalia is being placed in liquidation. A "new" company will take its place, and assume many of its routes. This "new" company will not assume the "bad" assets of Alitalia, which instead will be relegated to the company being liquidated. The name of the "new" company is "Compagnia Aerea Italiana" (although apparently the trademark "Alitalia" will be retained). This name may ...

I am planning to spend 4 nights in Rome in January. I will be spending my time there taking tours (I already have reservations for them) which depart from the Vastours Terminal. I would like to find an inexpensive but comfortable and safe hotel from which I can get to and from the Vastours Terminal easily and inexpensively. And I would like to stay in a neighborhood where there are some ...

Does anyone know of any special events on Nov. 9? It's the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran. We'll be in Rome, and the basilica is on our list of places to visit. If there is a special Mass or service the general public can attend, we could schedule our visit for that day. I've searched to see if there was a website for the basilica, and couldn't find anything. Thanks, ...

The best way to find new places is to get lost and this is how I found this little village near Orvieto. Porano counts about less than 500 people and the peace and quite of this village its incredible. If you go there its 10 min drive from Orvieto. If you there during lunch time try the only restaurant you will be able to find called "Il boccone del prete" and order the menù tasting! The food is ...

I've arrived and have picked up lots of practical information. I guess this was all said in different posts about FCO airport, but I didn't piece it all together: Terminal B and C arrivals use the same baggage claim and exit at a different place than before, in the B direction one pillar away from, I think, Cafè Express. Except that there's another exit right next to that Café, marked EU ...

It looks like I will be going to Rome with another faculty member and a group of students over spring break this year. The students will be enrolled in 2 linked courses: in one studying Fellini's films, in the other learning techniques of narrative cinema. The plan is to visit some Fellini sites with the students, who will shoot footage while we're there. They'll be using small DV cameras--we ...

My wife and I will be in Sicily for 14 nights beginning October 18, our second trip to Italy together since our honeymoon last October. After 2 nights in Taormina to relax a bit we planned on splitting the rest of the trip between Siracusa-Ortigia and Palermo. However . . . after reading so much about the Aeolians we are trying to decide on a brief detour there, maybe a night or two. Are we ...

Is anyone familiar with the suburb of Turino called Lombardore? I'm looking for suggestions on getting to Lombardore from Milan. I'm considering taking a train to Turin and then a taxi or bus up to Lombardore. Ideas? I'm looking for specifics, like bus routes/numbers in Turin. Thank you!

I was driving up the coast when I came up on a bus. The girl who had just gotten off the bus was wearing a large expedition pack. Think big enough to go into the wild for a few weeks. Stuffed to over flowing. But wait she had planned! She was dragging a lawn chair behind her. I know the beach is a tough place. The bar/pizza place is a good 100 metre walk but if she packs like this for ...

Does anyone have advice on selecting a private tour guide for Chianti Wine country? Interested in a full day experience for 2 retired adults.