hey everyone,
My boyfriend and I are planning on doing the simply Italy trip on Oct 11.
Does anyone have any adivce for this trip/time of the year. wat the weather will be like? things to take/not take? etc and i guess id love to know who else is coming on this trip!

Hi. I am planning on booking this tour, as long as I can get the time off work. I would be going alone, so it would be nice to know someone before I got there. I heard that the weather is not too hot or too cold that time of year.

Hello Everyone, Hubby and I will be planning a trip during Oct 11th -22nd. What I heard is the climate is the bests time to travel.

I have officially booked this trip. I am really looking forward to it! Sadly I am going alone, but that won't stop me from having fun!

I'm booked! Going solo as well, my first time in Italy. Can't wait!!

Veronica

As of this morning, I am booked on this trip as well, travelling alone. I was on the October 4 trip, but it was cancelled.

Is anyone interested in any of the things that need to be pre-booked
* Accademia (for the David) or Uffizi in Florence - missed both last time
* The Last Supper in Milan
* Secret Itinerarys tour of the Doge's Palace in Venice

I will book alone if necessary, but would certainly prefer company!

Christine

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blue79,

Oh I'm glad I am not the only one that is going solo. It is my first time in Italy as well! I am really looking forward to it!

Christine, what's the Last Supper in Milan??

Veronica

The last supper is a famous painting by Da Vinci. If it helps, it's the one mentioned in the Da Vinci Code where the person next to Jes.us is supposedly Mary Magdelene.

You can see a picture of it at this link.

Tickets to this one go VERY fast - I'll probably be booking this week or next.

Christine

PS Spelling is intentional, without the dot, Jes.us becomes ***** - the filter is set unrealistically high!

OH I thought it was a re-creation of the last supper or something I'd love to see it!

Hi Christine,

Thanks for bringing up these interesting tours. Do you know how much free time we'll have in those cities? It'd be bad to find out there isn't enough time after paying for the tickets!

-Vince

Vince

Contiki gives some advice on the Last Supper in Milan and Accademia and Uffizi in Florence.

I did a Contiki last year, so I'm probably going to skip some of the 'free activities' (aka buy this shops' stuff sessions) and go off on my own instead. The basic rule is you only have to make it to the bus out of town, otherwise you can take or leave whats on the itinerary.

As for Venice, the glass-blowing might be worth seeing, but there was no actual 'demonstration' in the lace making to make it worthwhile - unless of course you want to buy some...

Time is going to be limited, so it's important you have some idea what you want to see in each place. For some people this is shopping or hanging with the whole group, for me - I want to see the things I missed last time!

Christine

EDITED: Tickets for the Last Supper are already sold out!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blue79,

OK, after missing out on tickets to the last supper, I've booked the Doge's Palace secret itineries tour (info here) at 11:35 on the 19th for anyone that wants to tag along. From memory that should be late enough to be finished the "freebies" in Venice.

The Accademia and Uffizi aren't open for booking yet...

If anyone is interested, I'm on facebook here.

Christine

Thanks Christine. That's very helpful. I didn't notice those reserve-on-our-own sessions before. I will definitely look into booking them. Do you think it is possible to do both Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Museum all in one afternoon (say the first one at 1pm and the other at 3:30 pm?) Hopefully the bus will be on time!

-Vince

Vince

I'd imagine that's going to be fine, but don't expect to see everything! Otherwise, book one for the morning - Florentine leathercrafts wasn't that exciting ("here's one we prepared earlier...") and the Ponte Vecchio is very expensive.

I'm might skip the Uffizi and see the Duomo instead - only got to see the outside last time (see picture below).

I definitely want to see the original David in the Accademia though - last time I was in Florence in was Monday and the museums were closed.

Christine

Duomo in Florence (yes you can climb it, but it's stairs):