Going to Italy

Buy Rick Steve's guid to Italy.

Consider a visit to Cinque Terre.

www.venere.com has good links to hotels and revies. We stayed at Hotel Angel near the Vatican.

If you've never driven in Europe before or Italy, skip the rental. It's expensive, gas is expensive, tolls are expensive and you'll get lost! Trains are clean, fast and cheap (go 2nd class, there's AC and it's clean). I took the train to Modena, then Taxi to the hotel next to the Factory. If you decide to rent you really only need it between the major cities. Don't use a rental in Rome. There is nowhere to park and trains/busses are cheaper easier. Same for Venice.

Have fun. Get the book. Hit tips at the Colleseum and bypassing the long ticket line are worth the price.

 

Agree on using the train as much as you can. Parking is a PITA almost everywhere. You don't need a car in Rome, Florence or Venice. Take the train from Rome to Florence. Plan on spending a couple of days in Florence. It is a beautiful city, lots to do and see, and a lot of outstanding restaurants. Also consider the train from Florence to Pisa for a day trip, and the train from Florence to Venice. If you want to rent a car for a couple of days to drive through Tuscany, do it, but return to the same place (Florence). It will save you a bunch of money. One way rentals are expensive, and gas in Europe is very expensive (about $8/gal.). The trains are reasonable, and you can book a seat in first class, reserved seating. The trains are great.

I stayed at a great hotel in Rome, the Ludavisi Palace, above the Spanish Steps. I got a very reasonable price through hotels.com, but check venere.com also. It's a great location, nice hotel, big rooms and great continental breakfast. I've stayed at the Excelsior in Florence, which is magnificent, and at the Europa and Regina in Venice, also spectacular. Last time I stayed at the Westin Excelsior on the Lido, but it's only open during the summer months. Pick up a couple of guide books for each city. It's well worth it. Zagat now has European guide books that are actually pretty good for the larger cities.

Have fun.

 

In 1984 my wife and I went to Europe landed in Frankfort Germany rented our car there (guide books reccomened this as Germany had the lowest rental rates).
The plan was to drive to Rome, stoping in Florence along the way to Rome and seeing the FF on the way back.
I live in Kansas and if driving in Kansas is grade school, we lived in Los Angeles California for 5 years and if driving in LA is highschool, then driving in Florence Italy is COLLEGE!
As mentioned parking is hard to find, but driving is crazy. Cars are parked on the sidewalks, three lanes of cars where we have two plus motocycles, motoscooters, bicycles.
My wife got to see David, El Dommo (huge church) we did not go any further into Italy an missed the FF went to Innsbruck Austria and listened to Jim Mckay in our heads.
The exchage rate was 3 marks to a $ then. Gas was 1 mark per liter.
Bought marks for 2 years went back and bought a Porsche and crisscrossed Germany on the Autobahn great trip. In 1986 1 1/2 marks to the $ gas still 1 mark per liter.

The trains are great in Europe, not like Amtrack in the states. We used the train to get from Frankfort to Stuttgart and back to Frankfort.

I want to inform you so you are prepared.

stephen

 

Hi Jeff,

As an Italian who travels to Italy a couple of times a year, I think I can be of some assistance. Firstly, depending on your driving skills I would not be afraid of driving a car in Italy despite the stories that people relate to the experience. I can tell you that my preference has always been to drive with the Italians even though it looks harrowing, it's basically organized kaos and it just happens to work wonderfully. Everyone drives like they are on a race track and as a fellow Ferrari owner, I would think you can handle the experience. Just remember to always look ahead and don't worry about whats happening behind or beside you...it takes care of itself and I will add that the Italian drivers consider themselves F1 drivers anyway. In fact, I think our N. American cities can all learn from the Italian system. For example, no one drives in the passing lane unless they are PASSING. I know its hard to believe but its true and what a fabulous feeling to know when you are driving down the passing lane that everyone knows to get out of the way!

Now I would say that if you plan on just visiting the big cities and not stop at any of the wonderfull hill top towns like Sienna, Cortona, Orvieto, San Giamango, Cinque Terre, Verona, Vicenza or the other 100 towns then take the train. It works wonderfully too. Parking can be an issue in the bigger cities not to say the complications of the streets and the one-way systems can really add to frustrations. A car just lets you drive to the little towns and experience life outside the toursity areas.

Lastly, my experience for places to visit including hotels and accomodations, restaurants and insights into places of interest along with tips like how to visit the vatican and avoiding the line ups and crowds (by starting at the end of the tour and working backwards) go to www.slowtrav.com and double click the Italy forum section. This section is a good start too...http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm

In my estimation, it's the best there is on the internet to plan your trip and avoid the common pitfalls that most tourists make. For example, I would avoid Vernazza in the Cinque Terre because its been recommended as the place to stay ..unfortunately, everyone in the tiny place has Rick Steves book and they are all American! -not that there's anything wrong with that!

Remember if you don't gain ten pounds in Italy you did not have a good time.
Best of luck

 

I agree. I more or less learned to drive in Italy. Just expect the unexpected and you should be fine. That may sound silly but..... I've driven in other places in Europe where everything is a bit too organized and by the book. You become complacent. Then when someone eventually does something unexpected you're caught off guard.

As far as the food goes I'm of the opinion that if you don't gain 4.54545454 kilograms then you did not have a good time.

 

I don't think you can just turn up at the factory for a tour - probably best to enquire with FNA how you can get onto one that's already organised. You can visit the Galleria & you might have more luck down the road at Lambo as well.

I.

 

come to Rome Iill take you on a fast Tour no problems

 

Their is nothing at Maranello if you don't get in the factory! You must book a tour with your local concessionarie upfront!
If you get to maranello and didn't book you will not get in.

Their is the Ferrari Galleria 5 minutes walking distance but it can be visited within an hour,then their are 5 ferrari merchandise shops and a few workshops and mechanics which have Ferraris being repaired.If you get to go while the F1 is on the Fiorano track thats fantastic.You might see a few Ferrari street testing ,I saw the scuderia several times street testing and it was fantastic!

Whoever is not into Ferrari ,Maranello is quiet a boring place and I do not recommend it!
I sincerly would not waste your trip time unless you book factory tour!

But if your into a boring sport like golf then Maranello is great

 

If you are going to rent a car, it will be much easier if you rent it at an airport and drop it off at an airport. Easy in, easy out, great signage, etc. Then take the train into/out of the city. Worked much better than when I tried to rent a car and drive out of Milan. All the streets changed their names every block making a map useless.

George

 

I visited Maranello 4 weeks ago for the first time, and although I did not have a factory tour booked I found it quite entertaining for 1 short day. I agree that the town itself is nothing worth speaking of, but the following I found worthwhile:

1. Taking shots of my 550 in front of the factory gate. Has to be done!
2. Lunch at the Cavallino restaurant. Not spectacular but nice nonetheless
3. Visit to the Galleria Ferrari. It's not big, granted, but still nice.
4. Trawl the various shops for some merchandise
5. Visit the Fiorano circuit. I found it difficult to find, BTW, and my SatNav couldn't find it either.

but best of all:

6. Drive past the factory gate and take the first left. 300m down the road is the entry/exit for Ferrari test mules. Make sure you're there at 8:00am or so, and you'll see a lot of activity. I saw the Scuderia there as well!

I did not have a factory tour booked, but I will be back to do that at a later stage.

So, all in all, enough to keep you entertained for a day, even without a factory tour. But I agree that you have to be into Ferrari, there is nothing else to do!

BTW, golf is only boring if you can't play it.



Onno

 

Excellent advice from the other posters. I'll add my two cents:

If you want to drive, rent a car in Florence and drive south on the 222, it is a wonderful road called the Chiantigiana. You can see a lot in two days.

Skip Pisa, other than the leaning tower, not too much to see there.

I recommend the Frommer's Italy book over Rick Steve's book.

 

.. i'd rent a car anytime, train is nice but i like freedom only a car can give you... spend some time in tuscany, get to San Gimignano (check out the torture museum!) , eat wild boar tuscan way, i remember Trattoria Chiribiri as a highlight, their patio has a splendid view and the wine is always great.. vino della casa is usually great in italy, dont spend on the high end wines for dinner! dont remeber exactly the road names ( but SS 222 is great), drive into chianti district, visit volterra, take a dip into the sea in cecina, dont pay for the tourist beach but stay at the pir north of the "hotel beaches", the drinks are cheap and the locals friendly ( book a room a block or two from the beach.. the campari's dont mix well with driving ) ... drive through massa carrera over the mountains and towards the north east.. there's soo much to do.. i prefer travelling by motorcycle, so my route is somewhat colored by the need for scenic and twisty roads.

http://www.cercaturismo.it/public/absolutenm/templates/Articolo.aspx?articleid=220&zoneid=40
http://www.italia.it/wps/portal/it?country=it
http://www.motocicliste.net/viaggi/chianti.asp
http://www.viamichelin.it/viamichelin/ita/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm
http://www.amicidellatoscana.it/

The food, the roads, ancient architecture, just take your time and avoid the tourist traps... if you are off to Venezia I recommend Trattoria San Trovaso on dorsoduro, the portions are large and the food is tasteful, the vino della casa is perfect for a hot day! (cool and fresh)

In Bologna you get G R E A T food... i've had a couple splendid dinners at http://www.alpappagallo.it/ not cheap but tasty!

.. Italy to me is a combination of wine, motorcycles, food, scenic roads etc etc.. i try to get there twice a year... recommended!

 

HOWEVER: You really owe it to yourself to go to these places. I found the small towns in Toscane and Umbria much more interesting than Pisa or Florence. The latter two tend to be very crowded. Kind of like why Bryce Canyon is nicer than the Grand Canyon. It may not be as large, but much less of a tourist trap.

The nice thing about Toscane and Umbria is that where just about everywhere else in the world, towns are built at the lowest point of a valley, and roads follow these same valleys, here towns are built on top of hills, and the roads tend to follow ridges and generally the higher parts of the hills. And thus you get magnificent views around each corner.

Don't forget Assisi or Gubbio...

Traffic is indeed somewhat less civilized than in the US. People don't stop at stop signs, there are a few somewhat different traffic rules to remember, the road signs are completely different from the US (and are in fact signs, not texts written on a board), and you need to drive a bit more assertive than in the US. But really, there is nothing to it. Avoid the inner city of Rome by car. In Venice, you can cross the bridge by car and park in a large parking garage, or take the ferry to Lido Island and park the car in front of your hotel there - or in the garden of the hotel, as I was invited to do (you driveh the beauuuutiful Ferrari?? Youwe not parkeh the car onnah the streeteh. We open gateh, you parkeh in the back, innah the garden!). Venice itself is completely car-free. If you haul some luggage with you, I'd opt for the car. Take the smaller roads and enjoy the scenery!

Enjoy!!!

Hans

(In The Netherlands, where you're very welcome, although it is some 1000 miles from Italy)

see you next week, Jeff!!!

 

I think Pisa is worth a visit for a few hours if it's somewhat on the way to your next destination. The tower is without question one of the most famous/recognized landmarks in the world. I think it would be a pity to be in the area and not see it even if it's just to say "been there done that." I remember being struck at how far the tower actually leans when I saw it in person for the first time. I lived near Pisa for a couple of years and never got tired of seeing the tower, Piazza Miracoli, downtown area etc. Okay, all the tourists and tour buses could get annyoing sometimes