Hi all,

My teen daughter and I will be visiting Italy for the first time at the end of September, on the Italian Escapade tour. I am full of questions, and in no particular order:

1. Have been reading about the Rome airport being difficult to navigate. Any tips or comments? Our flight arrives at approx. 1100 hours with the Insight shuttle departing at 1230 hours - is it likely we would miss that shuttle, what with the time spent collecting luggage, going through customs and finding the tour rep?

2. I am a little nervous about walking around Rome as a woman (obvious tourist) alone with a young girl. Are there official taxi stands at the main touristy areas (other than the airport) if we want to cab it back to our hotel, or does one have to call for a cab?

3. We have a brief visit to Lugano, and my dd would like to purchase a Swiss army knife for her grandpa for Christmas. Are there going to be shops readily accessible to us in Lugano that would stock the knives?

4. DD has her heart set on buying a Venetian mask for herself. Am interested in hearing how others transported these home in one piece.

5. Any suggestions for activities during our Lake Maggiore down time?

6. The Last Supper in Milan - appears to be completely out of the question, yes? I don't see that we could arrange for tickets given the tight tour schedule going through here, even if we skipped out on the Insight stops. I hadn't given this a thought initially but now am quite sad we won't have a chance to experience this.

That's probably enough for now - TIA!

Lots of good questions!
1. Rome airport...follow the crowds through passport control to the baggage area. Trafalgar agents will be looking for YOU! You don't go through customs until you return home. The timing will be tight but doable.
2 I took my 14 year old granddaughter and felt perfectly safe. (She, on the other hand, was thrown by the traffic...crossing streets was not her favorite part of the trip.) Lots of taxi stands...carry the name and address of your hotel to give to the driver. Be prepared to pay more at night. And remember, you will be with the group most of the time. Just keep your valuables protected and keep aware of the surroundings.
3. In Lugano, you will be directed to Bucherers for your "souvenier" spoon...good place to shop.
4. Venetian masks will be well wrapped so they will travel well. Just make sure you keep them in your carry-on...think SMALL masks.
5. Lake Maggiore downtime...we bypassed the optional that day and slept in! Lindsey did quite well with the tour pace but appreciated the day off!
6. Milan...won't be there long enough to do anything but grab lunch and take a quick look around the shopping gallery and cathedral.
Hope I was helpful!
Sue

quote:

You don't go through customs until you return home.

You will have to clear Customs after you collect your luggage, although if you follow the Green Channel it is unlikely that you will be stopped.

Thank you so much for your informative reply! My daughter will be 13 1/2, so practically the same age that your granddaughter was on this tour. We had been considering just staying a few days each in Florence and Venice, but when our travel agent suggested this tour and dd saw all of the wonderful stops on the itinerary, we knew it made the most sense for us.

I agree with you that resting up in Lake Maggiore would be a good thing! We'll have a very busy 2 weeks. The Hotel Simplon looks wonderful.

I'm curious to know what your granddaughter's favourite sights or excursions were?

Cheers,
Shelley

travelbug61, Sue Gillen has given you wonderful detailed information. I will just add that I am a single traveller in my early 40's and I found Rome completely safe and I walked everywhere, even at night. However, I agree about crossing the street, it is a unique and rather terrifying experience

You do clear customs very quickly on your entry into Rome and when I arrived, just as Sue said, the tour representative was VERY easy to find.

Your suggested walk around Rome from the Spanish steps sounds great, but I can guarantee you will see all the places you listed on your tour as they are unmissable places and Insight will make sure you see them.

I know you and your daughter will have a great time.

I too found Rome to be a doddle. I had a very trouble free landing at Rome airport, found the Insight rep and was led to my transport to the hotel. The ride was a bit hairy scarey - but hey, it is Rome. I walked out to a restaurant later at night on my own, as I too am a single traveller. I was not worried in the least. Had a lovely meal, then walked back to my hotel. It was only about three blocks and a few side streets away, but I felt completely safe. Try not to look like a tourist, that way you just blend in.

You certainly will be able to find a Swiss Army knife very easily in Lugano.

I know what you mean about the Last Supper. I have been to Milan twice and not seen it.

Hi Travelbug61,
I went on this tour with my husband and two daughters - slightly older - 18 and 22. I will answer a couple of your questions with my thoughts although close to what has been said already!
1. We didnt use transfer as came in day early and took a train which was easy as well. So no help there! But dont remember it taking awhile to get through. It sometimes depends what other aircraft are landing around the same time.
2. No worries about walking around. This is definitely part of the fun and a good way to explore and soak up the atmosphere. We seemed to walk for miles and then back. We caught a taxi a couple of times when really tired and it was not difficult.
3.We bought a couple of the Swiss Army knives in Lugano! ONe for my father and also the husband got one for himself. I know you can get them back home but much more exciting to get one actually in Switzerland. At the same shop where my daughter also chose a Swatch watch. As Sue Gillian said re name I believe. We had time to choose watches and knives as well as time for a Hot Chocolate - really recommend that!
4.Daughter (18) had one of her sole aims to buy a mask and there are SO many to choose from in all shapes and colours it will be hard to finally pick one. There are many sizes but she finally settled on a cream one with crytsals which was a half mask so smallish and the shop packed it in bubble wrap. Make sure they do this - dont always unless request. Then she carried in her hand luggage. It is now on the wall in her bedroom. Lovely memories.
5. Lake Maggiore is magical. We walked into the town of Stresa and there are lots of great shops to explore as well as the walk along the foreshore delightful. You could have a gelati or afternoon tea here as well. My girls bought themselves some jewellery.
6. Yes, unfortunately the Last Supper is a distance from Milan central. As a family we climbed up to the top of the Cathedral which I would recommend. Fabulous architecture and views.
7. I just asked daughter her favourites and they were food related - Mozarella Farm, Tuscany dinner but also Venice and the coloured houses of Burano.
You will both have a fabulous time. We did! Also I posted a tour tale but ther are also lots of others on the BB. Here is the link to it if you are interested.
Italian Escapade July 07
Eve

Eve, I am so pleased to hear your daughter loved the coloured houses of Burano as I agree they are really beautiful.

I debated for a long time whether to forgo an afternoon in Venice or visit Burano, well I will forever be thankful I went. The peace and the unique charm of this tiny quiet fishing village is something I will always remember.

Our TD advised us not to buy masks in Venice as they are very expensive but if you go to Burano they have a good selection there at a cheaper price.

You will LOVE Italy, especially the island of Capri, it is gorgeous, with the magestic blue ocean surrounding it,just stunning and I cannot wait to return

Great questions! I can't wait to go, only 11 more days!

We will be arriving in the Rome airport at 11:30am and am really hoping to catch the Insight transfer, otherwise we might find our own transport. I'm a little nervous about if the Insight rep will be able to find us. I read you are supposed to wear a sticker to show you are with insight but the only sticker we received with our travel documents was something that says "USA & Canada" which shows pictures of Mexico?? I found this rather strange. Maybe I'll just put our Insight luggage tag on our backpack as we walk around.

As to your question at Lake Maggiore, I've been doing LOTS of research on this. I'm not a down time type of person, who knows when I will be back! I'm considering going out on our own this day. A must for me is to go up the Mattarone, from Stresa you take a cable car, this is also a an optional but don't know if I will take theirs or do it myself, seems easy to do on your own. I'm really into photography and beautiful views and am hoping to get some great pictures here, plus I love cable cars . Here is a web site I found about it:
http://www.stresatravel.com/To...tarone_cable_car.htm

I've heard its very easy to take the ferries to all the islands yourself for fairly cheap. After the cable car I'm hoping we'll have time to stop at Isola Pescatori for lunch maybe and then go to Isola Bella on our own. We probably won't have time for it all but maybe even Isola Madre, it would be neat to visit all 3 islands and as far as I can tell the included optional only takes you to one but it could just be a vague description. But we'll sort of go with the flow on this day and wander on our own, if we run out of time, that is ok too. But who knows, maybe I will give in and take the optionals if they offer both of those. I just think it would be nice to spend some time with my husband on our own for a little bit.

Now if I could add a question to you list. How much time is there in Lugano? I've heard there is another cable car opportunity here but I suspect there won't be enough time to do it.

I had the same thought as you about The Last Supper. I'm sad to miss it. But I've read so many tour tales where the tour director changed which day they go to Milan based on traffic and there is just no way of knowing when you will be there.

We booked our tour over 6 months ago and it seems like the list of optionals is constantly changing. I printed off the list when I booked and they don't match up to what is offered now on the web site or even what is printed in our travel documents, so between the 3 sources, I have quite the potential possibilities! Also listed in the travel docs is the Excursion to Lake Como which isn't listed on the web site either. This would come around the same time while we are in the Lakes Region I would guess. If it came between going up the mountain and doing Lake Como, I have no idea what I would choose, what do others think???

Also I thought originally that we would go to Tivoli but now I see that was an option listed on the 6 month old optionals and no longer see it listed anywhere. Another one missing off the web site and travel documents that used to be listed was the Blue Grotto, I've heard this is unpredictable so I don't mind missing out. My goal for Capri is to go up the ski-lift to the very top, again, must enjoy the best views of all the places we visit . Whether I choose the optional at Capri will depend on if there will be time to ascend to the top as that is a must for me.

The options I'm most looking forward to and desperately hope they get included in our tour directors list are: San Gimignano, Burano, Amalfi Coast & Positano, and Delights of the Bay of Naples which I believe is the mozzerella farm everyone raves about in their tour tales. Though I plan to take a good majority of the optional excursions beyond this list.

The only excursions I'm questioning are the Lakes Region excursions if I can do them myself and also the Venice of the Doges. I've heard so many mixed reviews of this option, that its too long and often has unenthusiastic tour guides. My other concern was that we would have no time to wander and get lost in Venice. So this would free up some time to explore.

Shelley,
My granddaughter was the only "young person" on the trip but she handled everything extremely well, even the early wake ups. At times, I wasn't sure she was really "getting" everything that she was exposed to but now, 2 years later, she still speaks of things she saw that I didn't think she'd remember.
Pompeii was one of the "must see" places. She had ready about it and was a bit disappointed that many of the artifacts weren't there anymore. All the "goodies" have been moved to the museum in Naples. But it was still a good experience.
She loved the Pantheon, hated all the grafitti on the buildings, and wasn't too adventurous in the food department. I'd order something traditional so she could try it and she'd get a pizza
I was very selective in the optional department...didn't want to spend that much for a dinner I knew she wouldn't eat. So we took off on our own with a small group of like-minded people (our group soon grew to 8, to the dismay of our tour director, as we ended up doing only 3 of the optionals...he didn't make much money on us ) We did the Tuscan dinner, gondola ride, and the night out in Venice.
I must add that the tour we were on was a G****s tour. I knew the itinerary I wanted and picked that tour because of the location of the hotels as I had stayed at most of them on previous Trafalgar and Insight tours. I knew we'd be doing lots on our own and felt comfortable knowing about the areas in which we'd be staying. Trafalgar and Insight have me spoiled. Wasn't impressed with G****s' tour director at all!
We did a lot of our shopping in Stresa on our "day of relaxation". Lindsey bought lots of Venetian glass pendants (probably cheap imports)as gifts for her friends...I did too!
I could go on and on...can you tell I love Italy???
Ciao
Sue