Hello Everyone!
It’s been a while since I last posted. I have been busy doing quite a bit of research and reading for my trip. I decided where I would like to go, and made a list of things that I want to do and see for a few of the places on my list. Please feel free to provide me with positive feedback and suggestions or recommendations.
I also decided to change my date from the end of August to the beginning of August and stay until the end of October/beginning of November. My uncle is using a week of his vacation time to rent a villa near the beach (which was originally planned for July), but will hold off until August so that I can go with him and his wife. I need to let him know when I will be arriving, and what date I want to go to the villa so he can book it.
I haven’t booked my flight yet because I wasn’t sure when I would be departing. Also, I don’t know how to arrange my flight. Here are the flight options that I have been considering:
1. Fly directly to Lamezia airport from Toronto (but I’m guessing that it may not go direct;
2. Fly into Rome and then fly to Lamezia through the same airline or transfer to another; OR
3. Arrange internal flight from Rome to Lamezia with a budget airline like Ryanair?
I also read that I could take the Eurostar train from Rome to Lamezia. It might be a nice ride but I read that it’s 6 hours! After a long flight from Toronto to Rome, I don’t know if I want to travel for another 6 hours. I think the plane ride is 1 hour.
Here is my itinerary:
Scigliano – August 3 or 4 and staying for about a month (until the end of August – probably 26 or 27 and then travel to my other destinations). I know that this may seem like a lot of time but it’s not for me. I am so excited and looking forward to seeing my grandmother, uncle and aunt and their family. I can’t wait. I haven’t felt this excited or happy about something in a very long time. My family is excited for my visit. Also, my aunt told me that during the month of August there are so many events and festivities going on in town. I will also have time to visit with neighbours and friends who I met when I was there 24 years ago!! I had a crush on one of my grandmother’s neighbours. To me, he looked like an Italian model. He was a hottie!! He still lives in the area but is married and has two children. However, it would be nice to see him again and meet his family. : )
Sorrento, Island of Capri, Positano, Amalfi Coast (4 to 5 days)
* I read that the Island of Ischia is a cheaper alternative to Sorrento that I you can visit the above places from this Island. Apparently, it’s not as touristy as Island of Capri and Sorrento. I don’t know because I have never been. What do you think?
Formia (7 days) – family (however, this may change. It depends on my uncle’s health. He%26#39;s not doing well so I might have to change the order of my travels).
(Umbria) (5 to 7 days – this includes Cortona to Orvieto)
Cortona
Assisi
Perugia
Orvieto
(Tuscany) (7 days: this includes from San Gimignano to Montepulciano)
San Gimignano
Siena
Montalcino
Montepulciano
* There is a cooking class offered from a couple’s home and it had a lot of great reviews. I can’t remember what site I read it on but hopefully I saved the link. This is one thing that I want to do in Tuscany.
Florence – 4 days?
Bologna – 3 to 4 days?
Venice – 3 to 4 days (can decide during my trip if I want to go). I won’t be in this area until about the 1st or 2nd week in October.
Lucca –
Fly to France
Paris (4 to 6 days)
- Cooking class – Laura (read in reviews) %26amp; Cook%26#39;n With Class
- Fashion show? I have ALWAYS wanted to go to a fashion show however, I know that the odds of me being there will be 1 in a million. Is anyone related to Tom Ford or Giorgio Armani? lol. PM me!! (I’m kidding).
- Moulin Rouge
- Disney World – I have never been to Disney World. I read that 1 day is sufficient, which is fine with me. Has anyone been and what do you think about it?
- Seine River Cruise – however, from what I have read on TA, it hasn’t received any positive reviews. What do you think?
- Walking tour – Rick Steve’s (I think that I would like to walk around Paris on my own at my own pace). I read the reviews from some of Rick Steve’s tours and overall they got positive reviews but there were some comments with reference to rushing for the bus; not having enough free time; starting the tour later in the day and finishing one day earlier therefore losing one day – a 7 day tour is now a 6 day tour. I thought about the 7 day tour in Paris but I wasn’t interested in visiting Versailles because I have been there before and I don’t care to go again. Plus, the lines are VERY long).
- Fat Tire Bike Tour – this sounds like a lot of fun.
I understand that Paris is divided into arrondissements. Which area do you recommend I stay in and stay away from, if any?
Nice – day trip
Provence: Avignon %26amp; Arles
French Riveria
Italian Riveria – day trip to Genoa.
Cinque Terre – 3 to 4 days? What do you think? Some other places in the area were recommended to me: Santa Margherita Ligure/Portofino, Camogli, Portovenere, and Levanto. I also got a message telling me that Elba is really nice. Has anyone been to these places?
Scigliano – end trip at my grandmother’s. Fly or take Eurostar train to Lamezia from Cinque Terre? I%26#39;m not sure if I can catch a train here? Does anybody know?
Flights – I have been looking at Air France (really nervous after Flight 447 crashed on Sunday), Air Canada and British Airways. I also looked at Air Transat but they stop flying to Europe sometime in October. Also, they don’t have the individual entertainment screens, which is important to me especially on a long flight. I thought about A’Italia but their prices are more expensive than some of the other flights I looked at. I thought that ticket prices might come down but it seems to be going up! Out of curiosity, I looked into flights for winter travel 2009 and Feb. to April 2010 and the tickets weren’t that much cheaper.
I read a member’s comments on TA with regards to booking his tickets 4 months in advance – thinking that they would be cheaper vs. buying them 1 to 2 months in advance. He was upset when he found out that he could have bought his 4 tickets for almost $400 cheaper a month before his trip with his family. He stated that he wouldn’t buy tickets that far in advance anymore.
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A couple comments
Seine River Cruise-I think the negative comments ae about the DINNER cruises,the food being just so-so.A cruise day or night on the Bateaux Mouche(from near Eiffel Tower) or Vedette de Pont Neuf( at base of Pont Neuf Bridge) are good -last about an hour.
Rick Steves-I think those comments were about his package tours from the States. His book Paris2009 has easy to follow self guided tours. I also recco. Paris Walks tours -google them -last 2 hrs. with different focus of areas around Paris.-cost about 10Euro.
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WAY too much for one post,, I suggest you post on the Italy forums for the Italian portion of your trip( which I am sure you have already done).
I will only take a few nibbles. First.. you can only stay three months right? ( do you have a EU passport?) so you could easily take Airtransat from Toronto ,, they offer reasonable open jaw flights( Air Canada does not,, theirs are expensive) (open jaw as in fly into Rome and fly out of Paris) .
As for flying with seat back entertainment, I would not factor that in at all, your flight isn%26#39;t that bad,, but you should be sleeping anyways,, as most flights out of Toronto seem to fly overnight and arrive in morning in Europe.
Daytrip to Nice ,, daytrip from where?
The Fat Tire bike tours are alot fun,, and fairly reasonable I think,.
I have never experienced airfare going down in price for summer travel ,, perhaps that one poster was a one off, remember to be careful when you read stuff online,, just because something is true for one person does not mean it is always true for everyone else always.. try and get many opinions and average out answers..
Most people do in fact enjoy the Seine river cruises, they are only an hour, and fairly cheap,,what you may be reading about is DINNER cruises on which there is a more divided opinion. If you take the Fat Tire Night tour you will get to go on a night cruise and it is beautiful seeing all the bridges and monuments lit up.
Moulin Rouge, yech. Waste of a lot of money, but your call.
Disney, been there twice, two seperate trips , one with my 14 yr old and once with my 12 yr old. Both only rated it as an ok thing to do..
14 yr old LOved Catacombs.. 12 yr old loved ET.
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Sorry for the long post. It’s generally the way I write. I like to describe everything however, I understand where you are coming from. I will cut it down without feeling like I have to include so much.
I will look into the cruises again. I specifically looked up Seine River Cruise on TA and read the negative comments from there however, as you mentioned, it may only be the dinner cruises.
Rick Steve’s walking tour – I meant to say self guided tours that are available in his travel guide. I will Google the Paris Walk Tours. Thanks.
Joan1 – I applied for EU citizenship and once that is approved, I will apply for an Italian passport. Everything should take about 1.5-2 months. I contacted someone from the Italian Consulate in Toronto and they told me that I need to be approved for EU citizenship and then apply for an Italian passport. I’m waiting for my birth certificate (long form).
I meant to say that I would spend a day in Nice rather than spend 3-4 days there.
I originally was going to fly into Rome and out of Paris but since I am returning to my grandmother’s at the end of my trip, I figured that I would book a return trip to and from Rome.
Is the cruise included as part of the Fat Tire bike tours or do you sign up separately?
It’s interesting hearing about Moulin Rouge being a waste of money. I thought that it might very “Parisian” like to do.
I also didn’t seem to get a lot of positive feedback on the Disney World trip. I have never been so thought that it might be fun to go especially in Paris. However, I will reconsider after reading other peoples’ comments.
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A couple of very recent posts address 2 of your questions re Disney and Moulin Rouge:
tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k28448…
tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187147-i14-k28433…
Be sure to follow the link GitteK gives for the Moulin Rouge thread and read her story of her visit there. I suspect the only Parisians in the place are the waiters.
You CAN sometimes get flights cheaper shortly before leaving but there are no guarantees and you could be left with either a very expensive flight or no flight at all.
Right now, AirTransat has flights out of Montreal for Toulouse, Nantes or Lyon next week for $355. I%26#39;d go in a minute but my wifes%26#39; work schedule won%26#39;t allow... ;^(
Last point I%26#39;ll make is the recent Air France tragedy. Don%26#39;t let it put you off flying or off Air France. Sadly, these things will happen but air travel is still about the safest means of transport there is.
Rob
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Isabelle, go on the Fat Tire website. It is very good. Yes, the cruise is included on the bike tour.. as I said, I thought it was a good deal.
Did you know many of the dancers at the Moulin Rouge are not even french.. I saw a documentty on it,, and many of the girls are British! LOL Isabelle, go if you want,, some enjoy the show, but , it is alot of money,, and no, locals do not go to it.. at least no one that I know.
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