wrote in message
news:1177520227.498265.320390@s33g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
> Hi! My husband and I (we live in the US) are going to travel to Italy
> for about two weeks in Aug - Sept. Neither of us speaks Italian or has
> prior travel experience traveling to Italy, so we need your advice
> regarding the following:
>
> 1. Time to travel: we plan our trip for late Aug - early Sept. I
> wonder if we chose a good time of the year. We're relatively flexible
> as to when to travel and would prefer still warm, but not too hot
> weather. Did we choose the right time?
Depends what you mean by warm/hot, which may vary with where you live in the
USA. It can still be hot at that time of year (think 80s Fahrenheit) and in
some areas you may encounter thunderstorms.
>
> 2. Car rental: we were planning to fly to Milan and then rent a car
> and drive to Rome and fly back to the States from there.
Not a good idea, with respect, since you go on to write:
> 3. Places to visit: we would like to visit the major cities and sights
> (Milan, Sienna, Florence, Venice, etc.), however we both have really
> limited knowledge of Italy (hopefully more by the time we go on
> vacation, thanks to your replies :-). We would also like to visit
> smaller towns, that are maybe not on a "must see" list of a regular
> tourist guide, but are worth visiting. What are such places?
You are visiting for a fortnight. I would suggest one of two options:
A. Visit a small number of "big" tourist destinations. Places like Rome and
Florence have many interesting churches, museums and the like for you to
see. Visiting Rome for a couple of days is pointless. If you go for this
option, DO NOT hire a car. It will be useless to you in the cities, and
travel between cities is probably quicker and cheaper by train. (Look at the
Italian railway website www.trenitalia.com and avoid like the plague any
American company which tries to sell you a rail pass. For good advice on
rail travel in Italy and Europe generally see the Man in Seat 61 -
http://www.seat61.com/ )
B Stay in one area and enjoy the local life including smaller towns. In this
case a car MAY be useful, but public transport in Italy is inexpensive and
reliable.
Sorry that shortage of time doesn't allow me to reply at present to your
other questions.
Alan Harrison
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