Lodging Information From Our Fall 2022 Trip

 All Lodging Was Booked Through Booking.com

As of today, all of our lodging has been finalized for our upcoming Italian adventure. We chose, and are not compensated by, Booking.com to reserve all of our self-catering apartments in Italy. Because we have used Booking.com for several years including for our last trip to Italy in 2016, we receive a 10-15% discount on our bookings. Their "Free Cancelation" feature is very attractive and easy to use. There is almost no risk of losing money by reserving lodging through Booking.com. Almost all rentals on Booking.com do not require a deposit or payment when you reserve. And, you can cancel easily if you've found more suitable accommodation for your needs (actually for any reason). You do have to be careful to check for "Free Cancelation" before you book because not all options for rooms, apartments, or villas include that feature. We have done that several times in preparation for our trip during the past year. When the COVID surge early in the year influenced us to change our trip from spring to fall, we had to either cancel all of our reservations or change the dates. The process was pretty simple on Booking.com. However, during that process, we did completely change a couple of apartments. Luckily, we had started planning early. We also added 3 days to our itinerary which became a slight challenge that resulted in a few longer train trips between cities/towns. All has worked out well, in spite of our changes.

Our total lodging expenditure for 26 nights in Italy will be $2856.00 not including local taxes that are paid separately in cash at the apartments. Those taxes range between $1 and $5 per night per person which for us will probably add about $150 to our total. Each apartment's rate will be charged to our credit card before we arrive in Italy unless we haven't reached the "Free Cancelation" by date. Some of our later reservations will be paid while we are already there. The average cost for our 2 BR apartments with kitchens and washers, patios, balconies, and free wifi is less than $110 per night. The most expensive is $137 a night in Florence. The least expensive is $92 in Feltre. Also, there were lower-priced apartments in Florence, as well.

I hope that this information gives you an idea of what is possible when planning your own trip to Italy. I mentioned that there are washers in the apartments which is important to us because we each bring just one carry-on bag; that means only about 3-4 days worth of clothing, so, being able to clean our clothes is very convenient. The first time we visited Italy in 2011, we carried 2 huge suitcases that we had to lug around on the trains which at best was a pain. We learned a huge lesson. Next up: ideas for day trips from the cities where we are staying. So many choices...

Here are the places we've reserved for fall 2022:

Venice - Ca' Venere Apartment (1st and last night):

Ca' Venere Apt. ExteriorVenice

Desenzano del Garda - Red & Blu Apartment:

Red & Blu BR, Desenzano del Garda

Verona - Boutique Apartment Ca' Monastero

Boutique Apartment Exterior, Verona

Feltre - La Maisonette Apartment

La Maisonette entrance hallway, Feltre

Bologna - Tilia Apartment

Tilia Apt. BR, Bologna

Cortona - Donnaberarda Apartment

Donnaberarda Terrace with view, Cortona

Florence - Greenhouse Apartment 

Greenhouse BR and Hallway,  Florence

Reading the news today about the rising death toll from the Coronavirus in Bergamo, one of our favorite cities in Italy is so overwhelming. Debbie and I traveled there from Bologna in 2016 and enjoyed taking the Funicolare di Bergamo Alta to the upper city where we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Ristorante Lalimentari. It is a beautiful place. The people of Bergamo have suffered the most deaths in this crisis in Italy. Please read the story on the attached link below:

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-italy-army-transport-coffins-bergamo-morgue-crisis-video-2020-3

Another Reason To Visit Italy - As If We Needed One! ;-)

In Elvo River, Italy Looking for Gold - Click Here

Fantastic Lodging For Our November Trip To Italy

   Now that we have finalized our major train trip plans, I would like to share our lodging choices. Since our flight to Italy takes us to Milan's Linate Airport, we'll be staying in Milan (Milano) for the first night of our 15 days in Italy; next, we'll take the Trenitalia Frecciarossa (fast train) to Florence (Firenze) for a 3 day visit; then, we'll board the Italotreno, another fast train, bound for Naples (Napoli). on our way to Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast where we'll be for 5 days; and, finally, before returning to Milan for our final night, we'll take the Italotreno train north to Bologna for a 5 day visit. It might seem like a lot of moving around, but really, we'll have lots of time to relax and take day trips from each location without being too stressed or trying to do too much. However, we will be traveling more with our luggage than we did last year so we're going to try to pack lighter than ever. We will have a washing machine in each of the apartments we've rented which should reduce the need for extra clothes. Hopefully, packing for 7 days instead of 15 will lighten our load considerably.

  Choosing our lodging mainly involved viewing properties and reading reviews on Booking.com and Tripadvisor. The average per night price for our hotel and apartments is about $101(with a high of $140 and a low of $82) which we think is pretty reasonable. Last year we stayed in Milan at the Hotel Mythos for a total of 4 nights and found that it was economical, clean, quiet and close to the Milano Centrale train station, which was ideal for us. So, it was a logical choice for us this time at €83, or about $93 at today's exchange rate. The main reason we'll be in Milan is that our Aer Lingus airfare was much cheaper than flying into Florence. We do favor Swiss Air when flying into Florence, though. There are still things you can do in Milan even if you're there for only a 1/2 day and night. If you plan a couple months ahead, you should be able to get tickets to see DaVinci's Last Supper (we did this last year on our last day with tickets from Selectitaly). And, if you walk to the Last Supper which is about 2 1/2 miles from the hotel, you can see Milan's impressive Cathedral ( Duomo di Milano), the La Scala Opera House and The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II mall on the way!

Hotel Mythos in Milano.

Our room at Hotel Mythos.

After our one hour and thirty-nine minute train ride to Florence, we have about a 15 minute walk to our Design Apartments on Via Venezia that we booked through Booking.com. We were disappointed that the apartments we stayed in on our previous 3 trips to Florence were not available, leaving us to find someplace new to stay. The prices seemed a bit more expensive for a decent apartment in Florence, but choosing this apartment was not difficult at all after reading the great reviews, seeing the perfect location and viewing the photos. Our price for this one bedroom apartment for 3 nights was €375 or about $420. The apartment is close, within 15 minutes walking, to the Piazza San Marco (5 minutes), the Accademia Gallery (8 minutes), the Uffizi Gallery (15 minutes) the Ponte Vecchio (15 minutes), Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station 15-20 minutes) and the city center with all its sights.

Via Venezia, Florence.

Design Apartment's bedroom.

Design Apartment's kitchen.

After 3 wonderful days in Florence, we once again head to the SMN train station to catch our 11:33 AM train to Naples. 2:55 later we should be in the Napoli Centrale train station looking for our Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento. The apartment we have reserved through Booking.com is the Appartamento Corso Italia 269 which is situated on the main street through Sorrento. Our rental rate for this one bedroom unit was €365 or about $410 for 5 nights. We have never been to Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast so this will be an exciting new adventure for us. From here we hope to visit the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Positano, Amalfi and the isle of Capri. That will be a lot to do in 5 days but we'll still have time to see Sorrento and to relax.

Bedroom in Appartamento Corso Italia 269 in Sorrento.

Dining area...

Kitchen...

   After spending five days and nights in Sorrento, it's back to Napoli Centrale train station for our 12:55 Italotreno ride to Bologna. After arriving at Bologna Centrale train station about 3 1/2 hours later, the apartment owner will pick us up and take us to his Palazzo Pannolini apartment in the center of town. Last year, when we visited this beautiful porticoed city, we rented a very nice apartment further from the center, so this time we decided to be much closer to restaurants, stores and historical sites. We were immediately attracted to this apartment on Tripadvisor because of the photos showing a cozy, well-appointed and beautiful one bedroom apartment that was built into the portico of the 16th century building. Our rental rate for 5 nights was €446 or about $495. From our apartment we can easily walk to everything! We are also planning day trips to Ravenna and Modena. Our last train trip will be back to Milan for our final stay at Hotel Mythos. So far, we have no plans for our last day in Milan...

Living room at Palazzo Pannolini apartment.

Entrance at Palazzo Pannolini apartment.

Bedroom at Palazzo Pannolini apartment.

Palazzo Pannolini.

   Well, that's the nuts and bolts of our lodging for 15 days traveling in our favorite country - Italy. Finding a great place to stay that suits your budget is not difficult. The easiest to use site for me has been Booking.com. There you can, more often than not, reserve an apartment or a hotel room without a deposit, pay when you get there and cancel for free within a week or two of your reserved date. You can also communicate directly with the hotel or apartment owner to tweak your plans with them if you need an early check-in or late check-out time or for any other special requests. Tripadvisor's site also worked well, but you might have to pay a big deposit upfront. We had to pay a 60% deposit for the Bologna apartment. Still, on Tripadvisor, you'll be able to get a complete refund if you meet the "date by" requirements.

   I hope this information will be helpful to you as you plan your big Italian adventure. Remember, Italy is waiting for you!

Our Bus Ticket Fiasco in Florence

   On our second trip to Tuscany in September/October 2014, four of us stayed in the same wonderful apartment Casa Iris that Debbie and I rented in 2011. On our last full day there, we decided to take the city buses to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the most spectacular view of the city of Florence. Since the bus ticket was good for 90 minutes, we thought we could make the whole trip from Piazza della Liberta near our apartment to the city center by the Santa Maria Novella train station and then up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo and back to SMN on one ticket each. All went well until one stop before SMN station on the way back, when the bus was boarded by three "bus police" officers. They came directly to us and demanded to see our tickets. Unfortunately, our time had run out five minutes earlier. They asked for our passports. I had a copy of mine; Debbie had neither her passport of a copy. The other couple had theirs.
   One officer said "these tickets are finished!" This resulted in a 50 euro fine for each of us! Another officer said "they are only five minutes over." That got our hopes up, but the first one was relentless, repeating, "the tickets are finished." We protested to no avail. Debbie and I paid them cash after we received our fines. They decided not to charge Debbie another 50 euros for not having her passport. Phew! Our travelling companions didn't have the cash and were escorted to the bank at the train station to withdraw the money!
   We were foolish to try to cut the timing so close on our tickets and, considering that we had extra tickets with us (the "police" didn't care), we should have just validated those when we noticed we were over the time. Also, we were aware of the possibility of a big fine if we hadn't validated the tickets when we boarded the bus. We weren't without fault in this fiasco. Bus tickets cost only 1,20 euro each at most tabacchi shops (look for the sign with the big "T") and are a good deal, so don't try to save money by stretching their time limit like we did. It's just not worth it. While the fines could be appealed within thirty days, it must be in Italian and you may have to be present. We decided not to worry about that.
    Lesson learned: always validate your bus ticket ON the bus (see two bottom photos) and pay attention to the time limit! Click ATAT Bus Tickets. Also, train tickets (top three photos) must be validated BEFORE boarding the train (unless you have reserved tickets that you printed at home) or you will face a similar fine. Look for the blue or yellow validation machines on the platform.
   We chose not to let that experience ruin our day and found a nice trattoria near San Lorenzo for lunch. The food was good and the wine relaxed us enough to talk, complain and laugh about the incident.

Serendipity in Siena at Cane e Gatto

Serendipity! I took this photo of my wife Debbie in Siena on our Italy trip at Trattoria Osteria Cane e Gatto. After I snapped the shot, we both noticed the framed picture on the wall across from our table!

We had lunch at Cane e Gatto, Via Pagliaresi, 6, 53100 Siena, Italy in November 2015, the day before they closed closed (?) for the season or just for the next day (Thursday) as the owner explained the limited lunch menu. Even with restricted offerings, it was just wonderful. We had stopped in for an early lunch by Italian standards at about 11:30 and we were the only customers for the whole time. Very little English was spoken by the owner and molto poco italiano spoken by us, but all was well after Debbie said, "We'll get there." The owner agreed and we did 'get there.' A bit of pointing to the menu, an Italian word here, an English word there, and we had one of the most delicious and enjoyable meals on our two week adventure in Italy. We both had Pappa e Pomodoro as an antipasta, pasta entrees and shared a mezzo (1/2) liter of house wine (vino della casa). We highly recommend Cane e Gatto for excellent food and wine, service and atmosphere. Don't miss it!

Debbie enjoying lunch at Pane e Gatto, Siena

"Serendipity" photo at Cane e Gatto, Siena

Italy Is Waiting For You

Welcome to Italy Is Waiting For You - Get Going! On this blog, I hope to give folks some inspiration and hints for traveling to Italy especially if that is a lifelong dream. You can do it! This blog is for helping you to get started. My wife, Debbie, and I planned our first trip without the help of travel agents or tour guides in 2011. Since then, we have been back six more times. We have spent a total of 16 weeks in Italy on 7 trips and visited many towns and cities. Our shortest stay was 13 days and our longest was 27 days. Most recently, we have visited Italy in 2022, 2023 and 2024.We are in our 70s now and still going strong. We have had no trouble reserving flights, buying train tickets, booking a tour or two and finding perfect lodging on our own. We use only public transportation and walk everywhere else. We have no mobility issues, so far. We don't have anything planned for 2025 yet, but stay tuned. Anything can happen. 

One of the cities we visited on our third and fourth adventure to Italy since 2011 was Bologna. Its endless porticos, like the one in my photo above, help make it a great place to be even if it rains. You can walk for miles and stay out of the rain, or shield yourself from the searing sun. We went back for five more days in 2022. I hope to cover our experiences with plane tickets, train/bus tickets, museum reservations, self-catering apartment rentals, language, eating out and tipping, among other topics.

Please check back often. I want to be able to answer your questions, once I get going. I'm just getting started. I hope to help beginning travelers find their way and their courage. We are still beginners but wish to share our travels with you. Most of our time has been spent in Florence (Firenze) and its vicinity, but we have been to Rome, Venice, Milan, Bologna and Cinque Terre, Desenzano del Garda, Verona, Feltre, Pedavena, Cortona, Montepulciano, Modena, Parma and Amalfi, as well as quite a few other beautiful towns and cities. On our next trip in November 2016, we spent 2 days in Milan, 3 days in Florence, 5 days in Sorrento and 5 days in Bologna. In Sept-Oct 2022, we spent 27 days in Italy, our longest stay, so far. I'm still trying to catch up on writing about that adventure. On our last trip in November 2024, we spent 15 days in Sicily; 8 in Taormina, 5 in Ortigia (Siracusa) and 2 in Catania (arrival & departure days). We loved Sicily, especially Ortigia!

Barry DeCarli
Easthampton, MA

USA