Venere.com
Florence? Stay at the Ambassadore.
Venice? Stay at the Residenza Laguna, an excellent B&B. A few yards from the vaporito stop on the Grand Canal. See the website.
The Ambassadore is right across from the train station. Very safe. Great for day trips to Pisa, Sienna, etc.
Wonderful place to stay but reserve a double room never a single.
BTW, forget tours, buy Rick Steves tour book, and read it, he’s right on the money. You’ll get to see much more than using a tour bus. In Bologna, Rome, and Florence buy the double decker bus tour the red and blue line. Hop on and off 24 hours for 20 euros. Buy it on the bus. See every site first from the bus then go back to selected sites by taxi. Or subway in Rome. Be wary of people selling advance bus tickets. For Florence, buy Uffizzi museum tix online as well as Academie tix to see David. Or you may not get inside. In Milan, you need to buy tix for the Last Supper 6 months in advance. Buy them online. The Vatican sell tix only through authorized agents but your hotel concierge will get them. Go early, even with tix there’s a line at the Vatican. Mail all your postcards from the Vatican post office, Italy’s postal service usually steals the postage from your cards. Buona viaggia. BTW, almost everyone speaks English except taxis and some store clerks. You’ll have no problem getting around. Just keep the hotel’s card in your pocket. Show a taxi driver the card and he will take you home.
January 15th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Venere.com
Florence? Stay at the Ambassadore.
Venice? Stay at the Residenza Laguna, an excellent B&B. A few yards from the vaporito stop on the Grand Canal. See the website.
The Ambassadore is right across from the train station. Very safe. Great for day trips to Pisa, Sienna, etc.
Wonderful place to stay but reserve a double room never a single.
BTW, forget tours, buy Rick Steves tour book, and read it, he’s right on the money. You’ll get to see much more than using a tour bus. In Bologna, Rome, and Florence buy the double decker bus tour the red and blue line. Hop on and off 24 hours for 20 euros. Buy it on the bus. See every site first from the bus then go back to selected sites by taxi. Or subway in Rome. Be wary of people selling advance bus tickets. For Florence, buy Uffizzi museum tix online as well as Academie tix to see David. Or you may not get inside. In Milan, you need to buy tix for the Last Supper 6 months in advance. Buy them online. The Vatican sell tix only through authorized agents but your hotel concierge will get them. Go early, even with tix there’s a line at the Vatican. Mail all your postcards from the Vatican post office, Italy’s postal service usually steals the postage from your cards. Buona viaggia. BTW, almost everyone speaks English except taxis and some store clerks. You’ll have no problem getting around. Just keep the hotel’s card in your pocket. Show a taxi driver the card and he will take you home.
January 17th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
try villas.com