I am taking a tour of Rome, Florence and Venice. I am planning on taking a Macbook laptop along. Is it ok to leave in the hotel room while touring during the day? Do people take it with them during the day? Or do they leave it with the front desk? I would prefer to not carry
it, but don't want to lose it either.

Is it worth taking? Or is it easy to get access to a computer in the hotels or cafes?

Any problems with internet access at the hotels?
Haven't travel to Europe since 1990. Not sure what to expect.

Hi Mike,

I haven't taken a laptop on a tour myself but I do know that you should not leave valuable items in the hotel room during the day. Domestic staff often open the doors of a block of rooms whilst they are working there and anyone passing could quickly go into a room and take any valuable items.

I would suggest that you ask the coach driver each day to put your computer in the small compartment under the coach (separate from the luggage compartment) where people often leave items too large for inside the coach. This compartment is locked throughout the day and is quite safe. Leaving the laptop inside the coach is not safe: the doors of the coach can be forced open and valuable items stolen.

Internet access at hotels is highly variable in terms of cost. Access to hotel computers is frequently difficult and expensive and the keyboard layouts in some countries can be confusing. Internet cafes are available in most large towns and cities but it seems a pity to waste your time seeking them out.

phil

My daughter and I did London, Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona & Malaga-Spain, Frankfurt, Innsbruck, Venice and Lucerne last year and took her Macbook with us. When we were away from the hotel we left it in her locked suitcase in the room with no problem. Internet was quite expensive at times and you weren't allowed much time in some hotels also. After the first couple of hotels we found out we could get "free" access by sitting close to the window or on the balcony so after that we would see if we had access before we paid for it. Most of the time it worked.

Hello Mike:
-We have taken a "full size" laptop on our last three Insight Tours (Egypt, CR of Switzerland and Country Roads of France) and would never want to travel without it!
-We use the lap top to:
1) Download pictures from our digital camera.
2) Send out a daily "Tour Report" to friends and family back home (these daily journals are then easily turned into a "Tour Tale" for our posting on the Insight BB at the trip's end).
3) Read and answer some business and personal e-mails.
4) Get on the internet and check things like the weather forecast, sports scores back home, and other important stuff.
-I find that I enjoy doing some of this while the motor coach is in route between sites. It keeps me active and awake while many of our tour mates are napping!
-I have a backpack with a spot for the laptop, and I usually leave both on the motor coach when we stop at a site or for lunch. Likewise, I will leave it in a hotel room when we are out, also with out too much concern about theft.
-On our last tour, the hotel for the first two nights (Marriott in Paris and the hotel in Dijon) charged for the wireless internet, and it was not cheap at 20 Euros a day! After that, we did not have to pay for the wireless internet at any of the hotels, even at the Concorde St. Lazarre in Paris.
-Hope this helps in your decision.
Best, Jim

We returned from a 12 day tour of Italy (Italian Escapage) in September. We took a small laptop (9" screen) thinking it would be great for reviewing digital pictures, and communicating with family while on tour.

We had a fantastic time, took all the optionals, took almost 3,000 pictures and only used the laptop once. We had free internet access at the Radisson SAS in Rome the first two nights and it was very expensive in every other hotel (when available) and just wasn't worth the price.

Internet cafe's were generally very convenient and available. We had an 8 gig memory stick for the camera, and two 4 gig. We filled the 8 gig and started on the smaller one, so had lots of room. We were just too busy touring and having a great time to even look at our pictures while on the trip.

We loaded one telephone card we received with our travel documents from Insight with $20.00. We still haven't used up all the time and it was easy to use.

The computer seemed like a great idea, but ended up just being weight in our suitcase (which we left locked in our room during the day).

We spend a lot of time on our laptops almost every day while at home, but really didn't have the time or inclination while on tour. While on the bus we spent our time watching Italy go by. It was amazing. But to each his own.

Hi Patricia 5

I am with you. I took a small Eepc with me and used it twice. I really only took it because it was seemingly light and inexpensive, so would be no great loss if it were somehow to become separated from me for whatever reason.

It turned out expensive to use hotel internet when it was available. I had intended using it more to download my photos but didn't do that either as I had an 8 gig stick and two 4 gig sticks (two camera's). I texted messages home so as with you, mine was left either locked in the suitcase at the hotel or locked in the suitcase under the coach. I too am tied to a either a desktop or a laptop day in and day out at home, and I too was kind of pleased not to be in that situation for five weeks.

I do know though, from my last couple of trips, that some people just can't bear to be without them, and so if you are such a person, then don't leave it behind!! But if you decide that you want to, you can always find an internet cafe somewhere. Some hotels even let you use their office computer free!!!

I too had a fantastic time, and because of this did not really have the time nor the inclination to need to log-on. My new found friends were far more interesting!!

When I did download my photos when I got home, they were wonderful.