Heading to Rome in May!!!

[Mad-Dog88]

After being in a holding pattern for two years I'm finally heading to Rome in May!! I was wondering if anyone can give me some tips on hotels and learning Italian?

Geoff

 

[ashaw]

Congrats on your upcoming vacation! Please stay safe though! My husband and I spent 3 weeks in Europe back in 2006 with a majority of that time being in Italy, we were in Rome 3-4 days. A friend gave us a Rick Steeves book on travel to Italy and we went back to that book time and time again. We never needed to learn any Italian to communicate. The Roman Colosseum and Forum are must visits IMO. We walked everywhere we went and used the train (very efficient) when we went to the other cities on our trip which were Florence, Venice and Lake Como. One thing we learned from being in Europe is we preferred to stay in American branded hotels. At the beginning of our trip, we were in Paris for 3 days and the first night at a local Parisian hotel, the air conditioning in the room quit working in the middle of the night. My husband was furious and called the front desk and someone came up and pulled out a large tray of water from the standing unit and poured it into the bathtub. We checked out that morning and stayed at a hotel, I can't remember the brand, while it was more expensive, at least we didn't have to empty the a/c water tray during the night. We also learned that the exchange rate for USD to Euros at the ATM is outrageous. At least it was back then.

 

[Mad-Dog88]

Congrats on your upcoming vacation! Please stay safe though! My husband and I spent 3 weeks in Europe back in 2006 with a majority of that time being in Italy, we were in Rome 3-4 days. A friend gave us a Rick Steeves book on travel to Italy and we went back to that book time and time again. We never needed to learn any Italian to communicate. The Roman Colosseum and Forum are must visits IMO. We walked everywhere we went and used the train (very efficient) when we went to the other cities on our trip which were Florence, Venice and Lake Como. One thing we learned from being in Europe is we preferred to stay in American branded hotels. At the beginning of our trip, we were in Paris for 3 days and the first night at a local Parisian hotel, the air conditioning in the room quit working in the middle of the night. My husband was furious and called the front desk and someone came up and pulled out a large tray of water from the standing unit and poured it into the bathtub. We checked out that morning and stayed at a hotel, I can't remember the brand, while it was more expensive, at least we didn't have to empty the a/c water tray during the night. We also learned that the exchange rate for USD to Euros at the ATM is outrageous. At least it was back then.

I have my tours booked and the hotel I booked has good reviews. Would you recommend carrying cash or paying for everything with plastic?

 

[ashaw]

it’s been so long ago but what I think my husband did before we left was exchange usd for euros at a bank here in the states, but he didn’t get nearly enough money. I know the withdrawal fees at the atms over there were outrageous in order for him to get euros. I can’t remember if there was a conversion fee using a credit card. And I’m sure nobody uses travelers checks anymore either. Have a wonderful trip!!