Thread: vatican tour??

We are back had a great time thanks to the crews from Lufthansa Both ways jfk-fra-vce-fco-jfk,, very nice!!! No issues!! the trip was to VCE at the Hilton Molino Stucky (very nice) VERY EXPENSIVE. We did get a special rate, but did not eat there. Internet is outragous $35 an hour we went to the internet cafe down the street. then train to florence (stayed at the new hilton garden inn very nice free internet in the room and bus across the street, 8 min the the train staion and a few min walk to the sights from there, and train to rome. In Rome We satyed at Caesers rooms 2 blocks from the Vatican great place. Check it out BBplanet.it very happy we did the Apt thing. As for the Vatican,, we got in late sat night so sunday we walked over to see what the options were. We did not book a tour prior to going. We did look into a few but with only a few days notice the best we got was $145 a person, this would have included entrance and snack and tour. My wife and I are not the guided tour types. we like to have the flexability to do things on our own,also we had two of our kids with us 14,15. We are not interested in all the details of the sights just the basics. I did not want to be tied to a group for 4-5 hours. that being said, we knew that the best plan was to get up early and get in line and just suck it up. we got up monday and planed to be in line at 7:45- 8:00. but we were having a money issue becuse our cards did not work at the ATM. more about that later. The four of us went to get in line and I asked the guy at the door to the museum what time they opened and he said 10:00. I wanted to know if they took credit cards or cash only. He said both. We decided that since we had time I would stay on line which was down the street around the corner and my wife would go to the bank to handle the money issue. It was sunny and hot but the time passed as there were plenty of folks to talk to. The line started to move and we were in the door at 10:50. so approx 2 hours in line. Buy the way I asked the folks a family of 6 at the front of the line what time they got there and they said they were there at 6:45!!! so they waited 4 hours and we only waited 2 and change. not bad. Inside the credit card would not work because they could not get a connection out on the Vatican phone line. good thing the wife went and got cash!! It was 13 euro to get in (each)and 6 euro for the audio guide. the guide was GREAT you can pick and choose what and how much you want to listen to!!highly reccomend it. we spent 7 hours at the Vatican and had a great time, there is so much to see. We did the trip to the top of the dome (4 eurs) and lots of stairs. BUT be advised!!!!!!!!! The second set of stairs to the very top can be a bit scarry if you are clostrafobic. There are 300 or so steps and the stairway gets VERY tight and you cant turn around and go back down because there are people behind ya. there are only 2 or 3 places to stop but they don't offer much relief. the only way out is to get to the top and get to some air. lots of people we were walking up with were on the verge of a panic attack.. the view is worth it if you can handle the very narrow stairway with very few windows to look out. going down was not as bad. also we went under to the tombs that was quick and worth it. if ya'll have comments questions let me know I will try to ans them. some pointers on next page (Sorry for the spelling errors)

ok here are some things that happened. First we did alot of reading on this forum and aol travel advisor and a few others. we told both our bank and credit card companys that we would be in Italy and had them do what ever they needed to do. As for the atm link to checking we changed our pins because they can not start with a 0 (zero) also they have to be 4 digits and ours were 6. we planed to use our credit card for hotels and sight seeing, trains, and dinner. cash for everyday stuff. snacks drink etc. We had 500 in travelers checks just incase, and I had 300 in us dollers that I changed at the airport in VCE when we got there just to have some euros. (I know that is not the best way but it worked for me) The second day we stated to have issuse acessing money. we found out that the hotel put in the wrong date for the incidentals and it flagged the card. We had to call the bank each time we wanted to use the card what a pain in the butt!!! Especially since we did not know when were were going to use the card or at what store. I finally got them to agree to $250 a day before I would have to call. I was not a happy camper. As for the bank stuff good luck calling the US with an 800 number we could not get it to work. so Make sure you have a local number with ya (we did not try it with a phone card) also since we tried the cards twice in one machine it locked us out. had to call the bank again to unlock the card which still did not work. they changed the pin a second time but it did not work and then you have to wait 24 hours after a pin reset to put it back we tried to get a cash advance at the atm machine with the credit card but there is no option for this and we were out of luck with that idea. SOOOO, we finally went into the bank and had them do it manually. no charge and the best rate 1.38 so that was good, except that you have to go into the bank one at a time and take a number it took 45 min to help 4 people as there were only 2 tellers working. guess im spoiled anyway. to sum up\\

check with your bank as to pin numbers
chack with your CC company as to daily limits.
check with the vender when you buy something or the hotel that they put in the right dates
always have cash in your pocket as most tourist sites only take cash!!!(the coliseum in rome is cash only)
have phone numbers and bank access numbers with you as well as a copy of your drivers lic and passport as you need these to change money from a bank or cash exchange booth. also if you use the internet/phone shop you will need your pssport to use the internet and phone they keep a log!! and the 2nd day we were there to police were there checking the log its a security thing. count your change as sometimes they tried to not give the right change and then they play dumb. all in all we had a great time and this was only a minor inconvenience.

Thanks for writing about your adventures. Quite helpful since I am hoping to go to Rome in October.

I always have a fear when I leave the country that my cc and atm cards will not work.