Thread: Tell me about travel to Italy

Originally Posted by mrs767er

Number one recommendation--change your destination. That's the height of cruise season out of Rome.

Number two:
HUGE FYI
Treviso airport is CLOSED for several month for runway work. (that's the LCC airport for Venice) so the redistribution will be handled at FCO, PISA, MXP, VCE. Be aware that all DL nonrevs have been warned to have Plan B, C D etc.
Be ready with train options and don't expect too much. Last June, Alitalia typically canceled US flts to the tune of one/wk. There was also a stevedore strike late June and no luggage service at FCO.

Number 3:
are you NUTS!!??

Congrats on your upcoming marriage and GOOD LUCK!!

I just let out a big EEEEEEEEEEEEEK in my head at my desk reading this post!! I wish I had posted this before I had invested some money in this trip *cue groans now* I just checked our flights and now that we're 3 weeks out, still 50-odd seats left on each flight....So I will just pray a LOT to the airplane gods that we make it there...and upgrade my priority....

Due to the flight redistribution, are there any terminal changes for major airlines that I should be aware of? Thinking about buying Zed fares as backup, but not much point getting Zeds on flights in a different terminal... is there? I'm not so worried about getting home as I am about getting there...

And no luggage service?? What did pax do?

No. 4 Make copies of your passports, tkts, credit cards.
No.5 watch out for and be very aware of "gypsies". Don't carry anything, use neck pouches etc.

I've visited Italy twice, the first time I flew into and out of MXP, the second time out of VCE. I visited Rome, Milano, Firenze and Venezia, Venice is a beautiful city with great shopping and overall a very unique atmosphere. Keep i nmind once the sun sets the city goes to sleep, at least when I was there (Feb and early April). The outlying islands of Murano, Burano etc, etc are extrmely cute and charming, very romantic. The first time I stayed along the grand canal- high priced eventhough it was Feb (low season), the second time I stayed in front of the Mestre train station (considered to be mainland Venice). Much cheaper and just a train ride away from Santa Lucia station.
Florence is nice if you enjoy the museums and the Tuscan atmosphere. If you go to Firenze you have to hit the Ponte Vecchio.
Rome is a must see, I absolutely loved it. All the museums and all the sights including the Vatican city- which even in low season took forever to get in. I can't imagine how long it would take to get in during the high season (summer).
Milano is basically the fashion capital in italy but other than that it's a big industrial city - I would skip it. Overall Italy is a beautiful country, remmeber Italians eat dinner late (for American standards) and avoid restaurants with large tourist crowds- these are usually bad tourist traps. I traveled through Italy with Tren Italia which is quite reliable. On my airline FCO is a pain in the rear end to get into, especially in the summer flights are usually heavy, VCE is a bit easier to fly into. Unortunately we canceled MXP.

Enjoy Italia!

Regards,

Chepos

Originally Posted by mrs767er

VCE will not be easy this summer with Treviso being closed. One of the warnings for VCE is that the LCC will now be "sharing" counters and other facilities, and all flight check-ins will cease one hour prior to departure. They say there will be no exceptions. Nonrevs are asked to ck in 3 hours min and will not be allowed to clear security until they have a seat assigned. Talk about anxiety. I just checked some flights for Italy since Boss is flying there this month and I'm not hopeful about a seat.

Rome is stunning and I agree w/Chepos about crowds even in Feb. I can't imagine what June is like other than my brother said everywhere in Rome was jammed with people.

o
Yeah, we didn't have VCE on our travel plans (nor does AC fly there), so I am not *as* worried about that... We're currently planning on Rome-Firenze-Sorrento/Amalfi-Rome, with the bulk of our Roma time on the end of the trip (in case we have to leave early/or are delayed by a day). What a rotten time of year to have the airport gummed up like that though eh?

As for Rome crowds... I do kind of cringe at the thought of those. But I wasn't moving the wedding to Feb to compensate I've read online that you can pre-book the Vatican so I think we are going to do that once in Italy to avoid at least some of the lineup.

Re: The flight checkins/ going through security: Is that standard at FCO too do you know? Or will we be able to clear security with a SBY pass?