Rome and Florence on our own

[bongd1983]

Has anyone here ever explored Rome and Florence on their own even if it was their first time in these two places? Is it hard to do? When we travel, we normally like to explore the places we go to, however, given the distance from the dock, and limited time, I am afraid that we'd waste a lot of precious time. Any advice?

 

I have originally booked tours with TTII but when the driver/operator sent me an email with a comment regarding Bangladesh drivers in Italy (not sure why) when I asked for a price break since he's driving us around in two cities, I felt funny (plus not agreeable with the cancellation and cc policy) and cancelled my reservations. It got worse from the point on. At this point, I don't even want to try to find another tour guide/driver.

 

Thank you for your advice.

[Hlitner]

We have explored both cities many times while on both cruises and simple driving trips in Italy. Yes, you can easily do both places on your own but it is very helpful to get a decent guide book (the Rick Steves books are great for DIY). In Civitavecchia you can simply take the free port shuttle bus to the port entrance and walk about 5 blocks to the train station. Buy a "BIRG" ticket which costs 9 Euros and you can use that validated ticket for round trip train to Rome (faster then the cruise line bus transfers) plus all day use of Rome's Metro and buses (not the HoHo bus). As to Livorno there are also good train connections (at least 1 train per hour) but you will need to use a taxi to get you between the port and the Livorno train station.

 

Hank

[pete_coach]

My first time in Rome and Florence were both done on our own. We had a Frommers City book and there was ample information to allow us to make decisions on what to see.

We have since used RomeInLimo to tour both cities and areas and it was very worthwhile as we were able to choose what we wanted to see and what we wanted to miss.

The distance to the cities from the ports do make it an expensive adventure unless you take a train or other public transport but, you will lose some of your sightseeing time in transport and stations (as opposed to driving down the autostrada at highway speeds).

Anyway, if dropped off at or near city centers, you can very much do it on your own.

[Crusin6]

Try contacting romeinlimo and specify an italian english driver who has lived in italy for most of his life and explain the reason for this request is because you want an insiders type of guide. We used ril 3x in 2008 and all drivers were italian born and bred....are you sure that the company you contacted was offerring a tour and not just taxi service? That would explain the foreign driver issue...but if you are paying 550 euro for a 9 hour tour....you should be getting a well versed well spoken fairly knowledgable driver.

[Susan-M]

We did Rome on our own the first time there (on a cruise) and had a successful day. Here's a link to an excellent description of DIY Rome: DIY Rome

[Girr]

Yes, I've explored both on my own - and even on my first trips there years ago. Both cities are very doable, but you really need to plan ahead and decide what you're going to do/see. A day just isn't enought time to see everything, so you need to get your books out and figure what your must dos are. Then once you make your choices look into booking your tickets ahead. While some get lucky and find a venue with no lines, for the most part this doesn't happen very often (especially if you're visiting during summer, bank holidays, etc). The price of prebooking your tickets is well spent in my opinion - you're not going to have hours to stand in line.

 

A large part of this though will depend upon you, and how comfortable you are with using public transportation. It sounds like you're use to traveling though and shouldn't have any problems. If you don't speak Italian (or if your accent is as bad as mine) I have two little tricks which I find helpful 1) have i-translate downloaded on your iPhone, and 2) always have written out on a card where I'm going. While for the most part you'll be able to find someone who speaks English there's always that occassion.

 

A downside in traveling without a guide though is often you're passing something and don't even know it. A guide fills up the entire trip with tidbits you won't find in your tour books. More than once after a day walking around when I've read the guidebook in more detail later that night I release I missed something. Last year (for a Rome trip) I downloaded Rick Steve's walking tours on my iPhone, and found them very informative. Actually it was much better than the guide (we booked a tour to avoid the long lines), but the crowds were so large it was impossible to stay with the group and hear anything. :eek:

 

Good luck!

[bongd1983]

Must we hire a tour guide to show us Vatican / Sistine Chapel? I have read that the visit to Vatican can be a bit overwhelming due to huge crowd? Kindly share your experience on your visit to this place. Thanks.

[AttilaTheFun]

Must we hire a tour guide to show us Vatican / Sistine Chapel? I have read that the visit to Vatican can be a bit overwhelming due to huge crowd? Kindly share your experience on your visit to this place. Thanks.

 

It's not required, but if you want to spend the time to learn about what you're seeing, it could be a good option. Unfortunately, we had so many things we wanted to see in Rome that we didn't want to spend too long in the Vatican Museums, but it could be interesting to join a tour for future trips. We were mainly interested in the Sistine Chapel and Rick Steves has a good and free podcast available on iTunes that was plenty.

[Hlitner]

Must we hire a tour guide to show us Vatican / Sistine Chapel? I have read that the visit to Vatican can be a bit overwhelming due to huge crowd? Kindly share your experience on your visit to this place. Thanks.

 

We have visited the Vatican several times with both guided tours and on our own. Both methods have their pros and cons but there is much to say for using a guided tour on a first visit. Having been there multiple times we now prefer going on our own since it allows us to set our own pace rather then be herded like cattle by a tour guide. Keep in mind that if you go on your own you will have to wait in the queue to get inside (to the ticket office). During the busy tourist season the queues to get into the Vatican can be quite long and its not uncommon to wait for an hour (or more) just to get to the ticket office. When we are staying in Rome we will often go over to the Vatican about a half hour before opening (there are already queues at that time) but this does not always work for port days. One possible strategy is to among the first off the ship, grab the shuttle bus to the port entrance and rush to the train station to catch the earliest possible train. You can then get off at the S. Pietro station and walk directly to the Vatican (you need to have no mobility issues since its a bit of a hike). With luck you might actually get to the Vatican by around 9 (assuming your ship is docked by 7).

 

Hank

[bongd1983]

Seems like it's best to hire a tour guide in Vatican.

 

I did not sign up for tours in Monte Carlo, Mykonos and Venice (since we will be staying an extra day). From what I read, these are doable on our own too without a guide. How do we make the best of out time in Monte Carlo and Mykonos?

[KirkNC]

Has anyone here ever explored Rome and Florence on their own even if it was their first time in these two places? Is it hard to do? When we travel, we normally like to explore the places we go to, however, given the distance from the dock, and limited time, I am afraid that we'd waste a lot of precious time. Any advice?

 

I have originally booked tours with TTII but when the driver/operator sent me an email with a comment regarding Bangladesh drivers in Italy (not sure why) when I asked for a price break since he's driving us around in two cities, I felt funny (plus not agreeable with the cancellation and cc policy) and cancelled my reservations. It got worse from the point on. At this point, I don't even want to try to find another tour guide/driver.

 

Thank you for your advice.

 

We did both our first time on our own. We did meet up with a guide after lunch to tour the Vatican, money well spent IMHO. The logistics of getting to and from Rome and Florence is not that hard with a little pre planning.

[pete_coach]

Must we hire a tour guide to show us Vatican / Sistine Chapel? I have read that the visit to Vatican can be a bit overwhelming due to huge crowd? Kindly share your experience on your visit to this place. Thanks.

Not just the crowds but the place itself is huge. There really is no shortcut...you just follow the crowd throught he various rooms and chambers and grounds.

 

Seems like it's best to hire a tour guide in Vatican.

I did not sign up for tours in Monte Carlo, Mykonos and Venice (since we will be staying an extra day). From what I read, these are doable on our own too without a guide. How do we make the best of out time in Monte Carlo and Mykonos?

Sorry for the length of this :o

 

The Vatican is a huge overwhelming place. You are right, it s very crowded, all the time.

If you choose to do it on your own, you should still buy tickets online for a specific time or else you will spend a lot of time in line waiting for a ticket and then in line waiting to get in. Last Fall, there was a 2 hour line up just to get into St Peters (and no ticket was required).

If you choose a tour, it will still take you several hours (probably 3) at best to see the Vatican. On your own, you can make it shorter but, you may not get an appreciation of what is there, and there is a tremendous amount of stuff.

 

As for Monte Carlo, Mykonos and Venice....

 

Monte Carlo is not big and after a few minutes of walk about in the main square, you can pretty well leave and say been there, done that. It costs to get into the Casino and have a look. Nice views. You can see the rubber tracks on the road from the Formula 1 race and there it is. Oh,.... nice boats in the harbour. I may be exagerating a bit but, it really is one of the most underwhelming places I have been. Looks nicer on TV and in the movies LOL.

 

Mykonos is my idea of a Greek Island. No tour needed. Walking about the main town is all you need. Up the hill, through the beautiful white houses, georgeous colorful plants to the windmill on top for a spectacular view. Back to town for a bite to eat right on the water, just great. Buy some postcards, go to the little wharf and write your postcard while dangling your feet in the water..oh yea..just like it was yesterday LOL.

 

Venice is, again, a walkabout place. Do buy a vaporetto pass (water bus) to get a rest in between strolls down the side streets. The vaporetto is a good, inexpensive way to see the Grand Canal and it takes you all the way to Murano and Burano if you want (do not take the "free" rides out to Murano, you will be under high presure to buy something from one of the glass blowers there).

Also, you will be docking in Venice in the afternoon and leaving again early next afternoon. If you want to shop, do it the first day. The shops stay open till 7 PM. They do not open again till 10 or 11 the next day and you may miss your opportunity.

Leave the ship, walk out the Port entrance to the People Mover (5 minute walk and it costs 1 Euro), take the People mover to Piazzale Roma (end of the line) and walk across the Piazza (another 5 minutes). You can buy tickets to the water taxi. You can use the water taxi for a 24 hour period.

http://goitaly.about.com/od/transportation/qt/vaporetto.htm :)

[chaz2010]

We have visited the Vatican several times with both guided tours and on our own. Both methods have their pros and cons but there is much to say for using a guided tour on a first visit. Having been there multiple times we now prefer going on our own since it allows us to set our own pace rather then be herded like cattle by a tour guide. Keep in mind that if you go on your own you will have to wait in the queue to get inside (to the ticket office). During the busy tourist season the queues to get into the Vatican can be quite long and its not uncommon to wait for an hour (or more) just to get to the ticket office. When we are staying in Rome we will often go over to the Vatican about a half hour before opening (there are already queues at that time) but this does not always work for port days. One possible strategy is to among the first off the ship, grab the shuttle bus to the port entrance and rush to the train station to catch the earliest possible train. You can then get off at the S. Pietro station and walk directly to the Vatican (you need to have no mobility issues since its a bit of a hike). With luck you might actually get to the Vatican by around 9 (assuming your ship is docked by 7).

 

Hank

 

The ticketing procedure at the Vatican Museum has changed. You can now buy advance tickets and skip the line (Similar to Uffizi Gallery in Florence). It is an extra 4 euro for this convenience (If it was 50 euro I would still pay it!). The website for reservations is mv.vatican. va

 

Since the OP also mentioned Florence, i would recommend doing the same advance ticketing for the Uffizi Gallery. Their website is uffizi.com.

 

One or two hours saved standing in line gives you a chance to see many more wonderful things in these two great cities!

[bongd1983]

We did Rome on our own the first time there (on a cruise) and had a successful day. Here's a link to an excellent description of DIY Rome: DIY Rome

 

Checked out the link and it's awesome. Really helpful! Thank you very much. I bookmarked it too.

[Hlitner]

We certainly agree with Chaz's post that any method to skip the lines at the Vatican is a good thing. On our last visit they did not sell advance tickets (although it was possible to pre-book tours) so the new change to advance tickets is a welcome change.

 

Hank

[DavidA23]

I just have a couple of things to add. First, I have read hundreds of Hank's posts over the past few years and I have found them very helpful and enlightening. Thanks in large part to him, we have become do-it-yourselfers when traveling. For us, tours (private or ship sponsored) insulate you from real life experiences that can be so memorable. If you are comfortabletaking a small rsik, then DIY is the way to go.

 

We did both cities on our own and had so much fun in both. Do a lot of research, starting right here on these boards and you will find all you need. Ciao!