| Family Travels Europe Trip 2007 |
| Things to Do -- Places to See |
| Lessons Learned ***Pack light when traveling by train....stations have a lot of stairs ***Have hotels in Florence book your museum reservations and it will save you hours of standing in line ***Be careful driving in Tuscany....park outside of town and walk in. Road are narrow beyond compare, one way, and turn into staircases ***Hire a private driver for the Almalfi coast to get the most out of the experience...if you are worried about driving off a cliff or hitting a bus, you won't enjoy the drive ***Flying is sometimes cheaper that trains. We flew from Rome to Venice and saved about 10 hours in train travel and it cost less ***Pisa is worth about 3 hours...and we didn't even bother with the tower. ***Book a tour group at the Vatican to avoid long lines....or TRUST US....arrive after 3:00 pm |
| July 27 July 28 July 29 July 30 July 31 Aug 1 Aug 2 Aug 3 Aug 4 Aug 5 Aug 6 Aug 7 Aug 8 Aug 9 Aug 10 Aug 11 Aug 12 |
| How We Traveled **By Train -- Almost the whole way. **Arrive Nice, Train to Cinque Terre, used local trains there **Train from CT to Pisa to Florence **Rented car in Florence to drive to Tuscany **Drove to Orvieto to turn rental in.... and took train into Rome to avoid that driving headache **Train from Rome to Naples to Sorrento **Private Driver for Almalfi Coast Tour **Private Driver to get from Sorrento, to stop at Pompeii and arrive at Naples **Plane flights from Naples to Venice-saved money & time **Flew home from Venice |
| For our 5th trip to Europe we decided to focus on Italy. We had visited the Cinque Terre on a day trip, Spent 3 nights in Venice, and Mom and Dad had been to Rome but the kids had not. We spent our whole vacation in Italy, completely traveling by train. We rented a car for our few days in Tuscany so we could get into the small villages. Rome was so much better than Mom and Dad remembered...we had almost crossed it off our list - we are glad we took the kids. Venice - which we love- was so much fun again....still want to go back for more. |
| Highlights The whole trip was highlights. The only thing you could leave out was Pisa *****Cinque Terre--a must do. *****Florence is a joy. We needed more time here. *****Venice ****Tuscany ***Coleseum, Forum... ***Don't miss Rick Steves' Campo dei Fiori Walk Tour *****Almalfi Coast **Pompeii Don't Do. Don't wasted much time in Pisa. Spend less than three hours... the photo ops are fun...the street shopping is better than the tower. We took the train in, stored our luggage at the station, took a taxi to see the tower, and left again by train to the much better destination of Florence |
| Try New Foods ***Cour Seleya At Queen Theresa stall....Fresh Socca (chick pea flat bread) and her Pan Bagnat (nicoise) sandwiches. ***Real Pizza...Brent's favorite--Pesto Pizza in Cinque Terre ***Pesto anything in the Cinque Terre ***Melon and Procuitto in Florence ***Gelato -- anywhere and anytime |
| New Adventures to Try ***Hike the cliffs of the Cinque Terre ****Stop for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea ***Shop the Rialto Bridge for Venetian Glass jewelry |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Italy |
| Arrive Nice, Enjoy Dinner at Cour Seleya market Spend day in Old Nice at the Cour Seleya market, exploring the old town A couple hours at the beach and a nice dinner at Cour Seleya Leave Nice by train and Arrive Vernazza Cinque Terre Early local train to Riomaggiore, picnic breakfast as we hiked the cliffs to Manarola Tour vineyards, Swim the med. Dad and Brent go Scuba Diving Amanda and Mom go to Monterrosso for lunch and shopping. Dinner in Vernazza Leave Cinque Terre by train. Arrive in Pisa. Pick up Erica at airport. Train to Florence, Stay at Hotel Pendini Early start with reservations for Accademia to see "David", visited Mosaic museum Toured Duomo, Walked the streets. Shopped. Ate gelato and people watched Early start with reservations for Uffizzi, Visited Perfumerie of Santa Maria Novella Shopped, dinner, more gelato Rent Car and Leave for Tuscany...Home base of Montepulciano at Mueble Il Riccio Visited Pienza, Montalcino and the Abbey, and the Baths Visited Cortona, Volterra, San Gimignano, and dinner in Siena Day trip to Assisi, St. Fransis Basilica Leave Tuscany, Drive to Orvieto to turn in rental car, Train to Rome Coleseum, Roman Forum Nighttime walk from Campo dei Fiori to Piazza Navonne so see Parthenon and Trevi Fountain Day 2 in Rome Arrive at Vatican and visited the museums and the Sistine Chapel, great lunch buffet, shopping Nighttime Dolce Vita walk from Flaminio to Spanish Steps Train to Naples/Sorrento Took a break at the cliffside pool Explore Sorrento and lemon groves late afternoon and dinner Almalfi Coast tour by Monetti family --visiting Positano, Almalfi, Ravello, Pasteum Early start, Visit Pompeii, Fly from Naples to Venice Venice All day...no museums or sights...just shopping, relaxing, eating Fly Home from Venice |
| Nice, France to Cinque Terre, Italy Pisa, Florence Tuscany, Rome Sorrento and Almalfi Venice |
