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

Check Out This Fall Airfare - Hartford, CT (BDL) to Dublin, Ireland (DUB) to Milan, Italy (LIN)

If you're planning a trip to Italy this Fall, you might want to look at Aer Lingus which will begin flights from Bradley International Airport (BDL) to Dublin, Ireland and beyond. I just checked a flight from BDL to Dublin Airport (DUB) for early October. Economy round trip is $566. Add to that, DUB to Milan's Linate Airport (LIN) for $80 and you get a great price of $646 RT. So, if there are two of traveling, your air fare would be about $1292 total. Be sure to check baggage restrictions and costs. We flew Aer Lingus to Milan last November and were allowed one checked bag each at no charge. You can even work in a couple days in Dublin on the way or on the way back. Might be worth checking this out. I know, we are!

On our return from Italy last November.

Planning Your Tuscany Itinerary

   So, you're beginning to plan your trip to Italy and you have chosen to see Tuscany first. This is so exciting! From this point until your departure date, you will probably immerse yourself in everything Italian. That's a good thing. All of the fun research you do will help you to find your way once you arrive at your destination.
   Debbie and I chose Florence to be our home base for our first 16 day stay. Immediately, I began searching the Forums on TripAdvisor for advice, suggestions, warnings and tips on travelling to and staying in that wonderful Renaissance city. So many questions in those helpful forums were from people just like us. People were seeking information and advice on planning their itineraries. A typical question would be, "With Florence as a home base for our four day stay, would it be doable to see Siena, San Gimignano, Cinque Terre, Lucca, Pisa and Venice?" The answers could be very encouraging of such an ambitious itinerary or reasonably advising not to try to see everything in so short a time. We found the answers very helpful in planning our first trip.
   Even a seven day stay in Tuscany will somewhat limit how much you'll get to see. We were fortunate to have 16 days which opened up a lot of opportunities for us. Florence alone could take a week just to touch on some of the high points. Realizing that for many a trip to Italy may be a once-in-a-lifetime chance, it would be tempting to say you can do it all, but attempting to do too much could cause a lot of stress. Much depends on whether you're going to rent a car (more on this in another post), or solely use public transportation like we did. Since we had decided not to rent a car, Florence was the perfect place for us, especially because we would travel to several towns by train. As we began to plan what places we would like to see, the Trenitalia web site became a frequent stop for us. Using Italian spellings for city names, it is pretty easy to get the cost and duration of your day-trip train transportation. This also helped us choose an itinerary that would be doable and enjoyable for us.
   We knew that there was a lot to see in Florence (Firenze), so we decided to take day-trips every other day and spend the alternate days discovering what Florence had to offer. This also gave us time to relax, enjoy our apartment, savor staying in a truly Italian neighborhood, shop for groceries and wine and do our laundry. With that in mind, we chose the following towns/places to visit: San Gimignano, Siena, Lucca, Fiesole (take bus #7 in Florence), Greve in Chianti (on a 1/2 day wine tour), Cinque Terre (on a one day tour) and finally, Venice for a day (which was not recommended by many). We were also lucky enough to have our apartment hosts (ora, i nostri amici), Gabriele and Stefania, take us on an adventure one evening to see Monteriggioni and Pienza, both of which were just beautiful.
   We did cover our whole itinerary without feeling too exhausted, though a few of the days, especially going to Cinque Terre and Venice, were very full. We did relax whenever a nice trattoria or caffe beckoned and we weren't averse to having another glass of great wine, lingering while people watching or taking in a spectacular view.  Each day day, we got up early and headed out on another venture.
   Now, that we have been to Florence three times for a total of five weeks, we realize how much more we have to see there. More soon on the sights of that city and on our itineraries from two more trips to Italy.
   If we could do all of this on our own, we're sure that you could, too. Remember, Italy is waiting for you!

Tuscan View

                             Piazza della Signoria, Florence

Cinque Terre View

                                                                                                         

Barry & Debbie in Corniglia, Cinque Terre

Piazza Dell'Anfiteatro, Lucca

Lucca Cafe

Venice

Plan Your Own Trip To Italy

   So you’re beginning to plan your first trip to Italy, finally hoping to see Tuscany and many other wonders of this fantastic country. There is no reason to feel daunted by perceived difficulties of choosing an itinerary, currency exchange, when to buy plane or train tickets or where to stay. The Internet age has made it so much easier to research everything for your adventure. If you feel more at ease using a travel agent, go ahead. Just get going!

   When Debbie and I planned our first trip to Italy in 2011, we were far from being international travelers. I had spent a month in Europe in 1974 when I was 26 traveling everywhere by train with my Eurail pass and my copy of Europe on Five & Ten Dollars a Day. We had also visited Ireland twice in 2006 and 2007, once spending a week in Kenmare in a wonderful self-catering cottage and another week in Doolin, also in a nice beautiful ocean view cottage. Both of those trips we planned on our own, from choosing a cottage, purchasing plane tickets on Aer Lingus, renting a car and choosing an itinerary. All went well. Those trips did give us more confidence to fulfill our mutual dream of going to Italy.

   There are a multitude of web sites to help you plan your trip. Our favorite from the beginning has been TripAdvisor for advice about restaurants, sights to see, lodging and transportation. For finding a great apartment, cottage or villa rental there are many web sites. We have been successful with FlipKey and Booking.com. The key to using these sites for us has been reading as many traveler reviews as possible before making a choice. Rick Steves' web site is also particularly helpful on a lot of different levels from what to see and what to avoid.

   In 2011, our 16 day stay in Florence was just wonderful. We did not rent a car, but instead used city buses, regional buses and trains to get everywhere. We are in good physical shape, so we actually walked a lot more than taking the bus, averaging about 8 miles a day. Our day trips, mostly by train, took us to Lucca, Greve in Chianti, San Gimignano, Siena (take the “rapida” bus), Fiesole (take bus #7), Pienza & Monteriggioni with friends by car, Cinque Terre on a bus/walking/ train/boat tour and we even took the fast train to Venice for a day!
   You can do it, too!
I hope you’ll enjoy some of the photos from our first trip.

 Barry & Debbie at the Duomo, Florence

                                       

Piazza del Campo, Siena

The Duomo, Florence

The Grand Canal, Venice

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