Recently, hubby and I have been to Italy for a short getaway
after our ROM. We've spent so much time and effort preparing for our
solemnization for the past few months, i guess it's a great idea to go
for a break. Italy has been a country with great food, great sight and
many history, we both think that it will be a great destination to
explore.
We have gathered some information and itinerary from different travel agencies on their Italy tours, and finally decided that we will go on our own. Hubby and i don't like the idea of waking up early and following itinerary, and we both think that it will be very tiring because tour groups are always rushing here and there, just touch and go with no time to sit down to relax and admire what we like with a cuppa coffee and such.
Well, going on our own sounds very fun, but in order to ensure that it will be fun, we have to do loads of home work before hand. First, air ticket. Fortunately, our air ticket is provided, all we need to do is to find out which city we would like to start our journey with, and which city to end the journey. After checking our leave with flight schedule, we decided to start from Milan, and then to Venice, and move south to Florence, and last stop will be Rome, and we will head home from there.
Then, comes to crossing the different cities. The best way to travel through different cities in Italy is by rail, cheap and fast. Trenitalia is the major train company in Italy, their train services cover all major cities and airports with high frequency, almost every hour there's a train departing to your destination. You can go on their website to purchase your train ticket if you are afraid that you can't get on a train, but from my experience, i don't think it's necessary, there's always another train coming in 20 - 30 minutes time if you miss one.
Follow by the toughest of all - accommodation. Since we have choose to travel by railway, we have to find hotels that are near to the main train station so we won't need to spend money on taxis, which can be quite expensive in Italy. Besides that, every city's main train station will have a metro station and a bus terminal next to them, which makes going around the city easier. I've to give a big thanks to booking.com which provides us with useful information on hotels in Italy, and the rates given are the best so far after comparing with other websites.
Italy is very famous for the petty crime - pickpocket; to ensure that your trip will not be spoil by loosing of valuables and such, keep all expensive jeweleries and watches at home, bring only what you need, not so much cash since credit or debit cards can help you pay almost everything in Italy, buying a money pouch that can be attached on yourself or hide underneath your clothes will be good. Keep your belongings close to you, don't put your wallet in your back pocket, my hubby's butt has been molested a few times at various train stations, and be vigilant when in crowded areas.
Here's the itinerary for our 10 days Italy trip covering Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Vatican City and Rome. I hope it's helpful.
Day 1
Reached Milan in the morning. Take malpensa express train to Milano Centrale at terminal 1. €10/pax Touring the famous Duomo di Milano and the famous shopping Vittorio Emmanuel.
Day 2
Day trip to Lake Como. Train to Como S. Giovanni. €13/pax. 11.12 depart, arrive 11.45.
Walk around the lake. Take water taxi to different towns of the lake. Lunch at restaurant along the lake side.
Take funiculare to mountain top to get the bird's eye view of Lake Como. Visit Duomo di Como and walk along the shopping street. Train 17.12 back to Milano Centrale.
Day 3
Train to Venice Santa Lucia. € 51.50/pax business class. 09.35 departs, arrive 12.10.
See Campo Santa Maria Formosa, the home of Marco Polo and the Rialto Bridge.
Visit Doges' palace ( Palazzo Ducale) Bridge of sigh.
-Tour the beautiful public rooms and see Renaissance artwork by Tintoretto and Veronese
-Learn about the doges of Venice, who ruled the city for a thousand years
-access to the Piombi attic prison, where Casanova was once held
-Walk across the Bridge of Sighs to explore the New Prisons
-Visit San mark's basilica
Day 4
Train to Florence, Firenze Santa Maria Novella. €63/pax 1st class. Depart 10.25 arrive 12.30. Checked in, have lunch.
Take train to Pisa. €11.90 / pax 1st class. Walked around Pisa town and visit Pisa.
Day 5
Outlet shopping the space, Prada outlet. Train to Montevarchi, €5.80/ pax. Back to Florence at noon and have lunch. Tour around Florence town. Duomo di Firenze, door of paradise, St Lorenzo Cathedral, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and the ancient old bridge Ponte Vecchio.
Day 6
Took a bus from SITA bus station, next to Firenze S.M.N train station to The Mall. €5 one way. Back to Florence for lunch and then train to Rome. €63/pax 1st class. Depart14.38 arrive 16.10. Checked into hotel and have dinner.
Day 7
Visit Rome, Castel Sant Angelo, piazza di tribunali, Ponte Umberto, Piazza Nouva, Campo di Fiore, Pantheon, Fontana Trevi, Monumento di Vittorio Emanuale, Colosseo.
We have gathered some information and itinerary from different travel agencies on their Italy tours, and finally decided that we will go on our own. Hubby and i don't like the idea of waking up early and following itinerary, and we both think that it will be very tiring because tour groups are always rushing here and there, just touch and go with no time to sit down to relax and admire what we like with a cuppa coffee and such.
Well, going on our own sounds very fun, but in order to ensure that it will be fun, we have to do loads of home work before hand. First, air ticket. Fortunately, our air ticket is provided, all we need to do is to find out which city we would like to start our journey with, and which city to end the journey. After checking our leave with flight schedule, we decided to start from Milan, and then to Venice, and move south to Florence, and last stop will be Rome, and we will head home from there.
Then, comes to crossing the different cities. The best way to travel through different cities in Italy is by rail, cheap and fast. Trenitalia is the major train company in Italy, their train services cover all major cities and airports with high frequency, almost every hour there's a train departing to your destination. You can go on their website to purchase your train ticket if you are afraid that you can't get on a train, but from my experience, i don't think it's necessary, there's always another train coming in 20 - 30 minutes time if you miss one.
Follow by the toughest of all - accommodation. Since we have choose to travel by railway, we have to find hotels that are near to the main train station so we won't need to spend money on taxis, which can be quite expensive in Italy. Besides that, every city's main train station will have a metro station and a bus terminal next to them, which makes going around the city easier. I've to give a big thanks to booking.com which provides us with useful information on hotels in Italy, and the rates given are the best so far after comparing with other websites.
Italy is very famous for the petty crime - pickpocket; to ensure that your trip will not be spoil by loosing of valuables and such, keep all expensive jeweleries and watches at home, bring only what you need, not so much cash since credit or debit cards can help you pay almost everything in Italy, buying a money pouch that can be attached on yourself or hide underneath your clothes will be good. Keep your belongings close to you, don't put your wallet in your back pocket, my hubby's butt has been molested a few times at various train stations, and be vigilant when in crowded areas.
Here's the itinerary for our 10 days Italy trip covering Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Vatican City and Rome. I hope it's helpful.
Day 1
Reached Milan in the morning. Take malpensa express train to Milano Centrale at terminal 1. €10/pax Touring the famous Duomo di Milano and the famous shopping Vittorio Emmanuel.
Day 2
Day trip to Lake Como. Train to Como S. Giovanni. €13/pax. 11.12 depart, arrive 11.45.
Walk around the lake. Take water taxi to different towns of the lake. Lunch at restaurant along the lake side.
Take funiculare to mountain top to get the bird's eye view of Lake Como. Visit Duomo di Como and walk along the shopping street. Train 17.12 back to Milano Centrale.
Day 3
Train to Venice Santa Lucia. € 51.50/pax business class. 09.35 departs, arrive 12.10.
See Campo Santa Maria Formosa, the home of Marco Polo and the Rialto Bridge.
Visit Doges' palace ( Palazzo Ducale) Bridge of sigh.
-Tour the beautiful public rooms and see Renaissance artwork by Tintoretto and Veronese
-Learn about the doges of Venice, who ruled the city for a thousand years
-access to the Piombi attic prison, where Casanova was once held
-Walk across the Bridge of Sighs to explore the New Prisons
-Visit San mark's basilica
Day 4
Train to Florence, Firenze Santa Maria Novella. €63/pax 1st class. Depart 10.25 arrive 12.30. Checked in, have lunch.
Take train to Pisa. €11.90 / pax 1st class. Walked around Pisa town and visit Pisa.
Day 5
Outlet shopping the space, Prada outlet. Train to Montevarchi, €5.80/ pax. Back to Florence at noon and have lunch. Tour around Florence town. Duomo di Firenze, door of paradise, St Lorenzo Cathedral, Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, and the ancient old bridge Ponte Vecchio.
Day 6
Took a bus from SITA bus station, next to Firenze S.M.N train station to The Mall. €5 one way. Back to Florence for lunch and then train to Rome. €63/pax 1st class. Depart14.38 arrive 16.10. Checked into hotel and have dinner.
Day 7
Visit Rome, Castel Sant Angelo, piazza di tribunali, Ponte Umberto, Piazza Nouva, Campo di Fiore, Pantheon, Fontana Trevi, Monumento di Vittorio Emanuale, Colosseo.
Day 8
Visit the Vatican City, San Pietro Basilica, go up to the dome to get
the bird's eye view of Rome and the Vatican, €7/pax by lift or €5/pax by
stairs.
Pls take lift, as the lift don't go all the way up to the
highest point, you still need to climb a lot of stairs to reach the
dome.
Then visit the Sistine chapel .
Visit Spanish steps and shopping. All major brands such as Chanel, LV, Hermes, Dior are all there.
Day 9
Take airport express train from Roma termini to Fiumicio airport. €14/pax.
Hotel in Milan 2 nights - club hotel sgd295
Hotel in venice 1 night - hotel il Moro di Venezia sgd134
Hotel in Florence 2 nights - hotel bellavista sgd196
Hotel in Rome 3 nights - hotel Serena sgd339
Total : sgd964 (rooms all w bf)
Outlet shopping is a must if you are looking for cheap and good designers' items from Prada, Gucci, Miu Miu etc. Previously, I've read review on The Space ( Le'Spaccio) Montevachi, and most people will suggest that it's a not to miss for its vast selection of Prada and Miu Miu. But after I've been to both, The Space and The Mall in Florence, i personally think that there isn't a need to go to The Space because The Mall has a huge Prada and Miu Miu outlet that sells the same stuffs as The Space. Other than Prada and Miu Miu, The Mall has a huge Gucci outlet and some other brands such as Balenciaga, YSL, McQUeen, Bottega, Dior, Burberry's etc. You can find out the information at The Mall . Information to travel to The Mall is on our itinerary Day 6.
We took plenty of pictures and here are some which I've picked out to post here from all cities that we have visited.
Lake Como
That's all for my wonderful trip with my hubby for almost 10 days. We simply love everything in Italy, besides the fact that Rome is not very tourist friendly with complicated roads, maps and street names, nonetheless, we enjoy ourselves very much and we are looking forward to our next big trip!
Til then, take care.
Xoxo,
Missy_Celine
Then visit the Sistine chapel .
Visit Spanish steps and shopping. All major brands such as Chanel, LV, Hermes, Dior are all there.
Day 9
Take airport express train from Roma termini to Fiumicio airport. €14/pax.
Hotel in Milan 2 nights - club hotel sgd295
Hotel in venice 1 night - hotel il Moro di Venezia sgd134
Hotel in Florence 2 nights - hotel bellavista sgd196
Hotel in Rome 3 nights - hotel Serena sgd339
Total : sgd964 (rooms all w bf)
Outlet shopping is a must if you are looking for cheap and good designers' items from Prada, Gucci, Miu Miu etc. Previously, I've read review on The Space ( Le'Spaccio) Montevachi, and most people will suggest that it's a not to miss for its vast selection of Prada and Miu Miu. But after I've been to both, The Space and The Mall in Florence, i personally think that there isn't a need to go to The Space because The Mall has a huge Prada and Miu Miu outlet that sells the same stuffs as The Space. Other than Prada and Miu Miu, The Mall has a huge Gucci outlet and some other brands such as Balenciaga, YSL, McQUeen, Bottega, Dior, Burberry's etc. You can find out the information at The Mall . Information to travel to The Mall is on our itinerary Day 6.
We took plenty of pictures and here are some which I've picked out to post here from all cities that we have visited.
Milan
Lake Como
Venice
Pisa
Florence
Rome
The Vatican
That's all for my wonderful trip with my hubby for almost 10 days. We simply love everything in Italy, besides the fact that Rome is not very tourist friendly with complicated roads, maps and street names, nonetheless, we enjoy ourselves very much and we are looking forward to our next big trip!
Til then, take care.
Xoxo,
Missy_Celine
