There are some photographers who post on this board so once you have figure out your itinerary, put

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Hi everyone, senior travel accomodations my husband and I have never taken a vacation and just found out we are able to travel for our 10th wedding anniversary. We've always senior travel accomodations wanted to visit Europe, and this would be our first time there. We only have about 2 weeks from around April 19 to May 5. We're in our early 30s and thinking to start a family, so sadly, this might be our only opportunity in a long time. We come from a very small town in the US. This would be a BIG dream come true, but we're so overwhelmed right now. I really wish we had more time to research, plan, and save money. Any help you guys might give us would be highly appreciated.
Does this look efficient? Do we need to spend more time in Italy? Is Naples worth the backtrack? Need help finding lodging, yummy food, and other must sees. Would love to hit the popular places but I'm concerned with waiting lines. Also I'm into structural senior travel accomodations photography, he's into woodworking, machines and cars. Are there any places to look at micro cars? He would love this very much.
Thanks for your response, Michael! senior travel accomodations I am doing as much reading as time allows which is not much. Very overwhelmed as to how to prioritize Italy. No, hopefully not drive around senior travel accomodations aimlessly, just heading towards connecting flight to Paris. senior travel accomodations Which are the scenic roads worthwhile? Thanks again for your time.
Given your interest in structural photography and your husband's interest in machinery and cars, a trip to Italy that focused on Rome, the Ferrari factory near Modena, and Venice could really be a thrill for both of you. Most of the time your photography opportunities are going to be more about ancient than modern structure -- Italy just doesn't have all that much modern, although in that sense it is a pity you don't have time for Genova -- but I think you will find it delightful to photograph Rome and what remains of the work of some of the world's senior travel accomodations greatest architects and engineers. Do NOT miss the Pantheon.
senior travel accomodations From Rome I suggest you take the train to Modena. Look up the Ferrari factory tours online. They are just outside of Modena in the town of Maranello. You can get there without a car, but spend 2 nights in Modena. It is a great food capital of Italy with beautiful architecture.
senior travel accomodations In Venice, your husband would probably be extremely senior travel accomodations interested to see the woodwork in the Scuola dei Carmine, the choir stalls in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore and the gondala repair shops (you can find the address in guidebooks). You will also find a lot to photograph inside and out in Venice, and make a special point of going to the neighborhood senior travel accomodations of the Arsenale.
For such a brief time in Italy, it really doesn't make sense to rent a car, although if your husband is a car buff, it might be hard to talk him out of it. If you get committed to renting a car, he must read up on Italy's strict laws that forbid non-residents from driving in many parts of the major cities. These "no-go" senior travel accomodations zones are called a ZTL (zona traffico limitato) and they are monitored by video cameras senior travel accomodations that record the license plates of violators and mail them tickets with VERY large fines. Rental companies cooperate with the police in providing home addresses, so you really can't get away it.
For a first trip, and that amount of time I would not rent a car. Since you come from a small town in the US I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy and efficient it is to travel in Europe by train. You can see more small towns with a car but for the vast majority of things most people, especially for the first time, want to see, trains are the way to go.
The first day will likely be jet lagged, and there is much to see (and photograph) in Rome - and even the two main sites you mention will take half a day each to see - so I suggest you give Rome four or five days. Then you can do one or two day trips if you want to. In fact, Florence is a reasonable senior travel accomodations day trip - so you can 'see' it. There is so much in both those cities that many first timers get frustrated when they have too little time. But if you give yourself five days in Rome and just love it so much you don't have to do a day trip. On the other hand if you don't love it you can take a day and go to Florence - and if you really wanted another day and go to Naples, or Pompeii, or numerous senior travel accomodations other places - all by train.
Then you could stop for a couple of nights in Modena or some other town in that area - Bologna would be a logical stop. This gives you the opportunity to see another senior travel accomodations place, a smaller city, yet does not add to the total travel time. I say Modena because of the car thing - personally not into cars so I don't know about that, but it's a cute town. I love Bologna.
We looked into car rental because it seemed less expensive than the EuroRail, but it sounds like it is more of a hassle. senior travel accomodations Thanks for letting us know! What is the best way to get around in the city, then, besides senior travel accomodations foot? I'm prone to be carrying a lot of gear .
A car is useless in the bigger cities in Italy. Most historic/central senior travel accomodations areas are pedestrian only or require a permit to drive into, and as mentioned above the fines for entering the restricted zones are ugly! Have you checked out the price of gas? I paid the $8.50-9.00/gallon (comverted) near Rome last Oct, and parking can run you 40 Euros/night.
Trains are a fabulous way to travel. You can relax and enjoy the scenery. The 'fast' train between Rome and Florence only takes 90 minutes. The kiosk in the station is simple to use and signs are easy to follow to the correct track.
I would recommend you stay as close to the center of the cities as possible. The actual room might be a bit more expensive but you'll save on daily transport and the convenience of being able to walk to sights and back to your hotel.
Rome is amazing! It's my favorite city anywhere. Get yourself a good map and highlight some of the major sights you'd like to see. I love 'MapEasy's Guide to Rome' (Florence, Paris, etc) I've gotten them at Barnes and Noble and love them. They have all sorts of tips and show where hotels area, restaurants, senior travel accomodations shopping senior travel accomodations areas, etc are. It makes it really easy to see if the hotel you're considering is in a good location for you.
Book a tour of the Roman Forum otherwise it's a jumble of ruins. A tour of the Vatican museum/Sistine Chapel will also get you entrance to St Peter's. You can enter just the church as well but be prepared for lines and security checks if you go on your own.
A lot of sights now require your bag to go thru an xray before entering, some will make you leave your bag at the door. Carry as little with you as possible. Another reason to stay as central as possible, so you can stop back at your hotel in the afternoon to rest, put your feet up, change senior travel accomodations clothes...
Is there a specific reason that you want to include Paris on this trip? With two full weeks, focusing only on Italy, you might find it easier to figure out what you want to do/see and also there is so much to see in all of Italy that even two full weeks doesn't begin to touch it all. We've been to Italy 4 times now and we still haven't senior travel accomodations gotten senior travel accomodations to Bologna or Genoa which I would love to see. With two full weeks, senior travel accomodations you could fly into Rome (please spend more than 1 night - it is an incredible city!) and out of Venice. This would leave you time to "backtrack" down to Pompeii/Amalfi Coast area or spend time exploring even more of the small towns in Tuscany, Umbria, etc.
All so personal, but if you have two full weeks on the ground, I would cut Paris to 5 days and add 2 to Italy, making that 9. If not, I would do 5 nts (4 days) Paris and 8 nts (7 days) Italy. No car for this trip. You also don't need a Eurail pass, just point to point tickets in Italy and fly to Paris.
Depending on flights, I would probably do the opposite: arrive Venice, train to Bologna or Florence, train to Rome, fly to Paris. Reason: Venice is a nice place to spend your first jet-lagged days and beautiful, easy walking.
No, IMHO, with your short time, Naples is not worth backtracking. You obviously want to savor what you see and take photos, senior travel accomodations so don't add anything. If you want to cut Venice and North, you could do Rome, Naples senior travel accomodations and the AC, (fly into Rome and from Naples to Paris), but based on your interests, I would stick with Rome and North.
There are some photographers who post on this board so once you have figure out your itinerary, put up a separate post asking them about how they tote around their gear. However, cities in Italy are not huge when it comes to the antique parts that are of most interest senior travel accomodations to visitors. You can walk around Modena in less than an hour. Rome is bigger, but there is public transportation or taxis if your feet start to give out. Venice has water buses or water taxis through the canals, , or very expensive gondola rides -- or else you walk! But is is small.
There are also overnight trains from Venice to Paris. Not everybody can sleep on an overnight senior travel accomodations train so it might not work for you. (I've know very little about the trip, but there is lots of info on the web.)
I well understand the desire to cram in as much as possible [though to be fair you haven't tried half as hard in that direction as many others who arrive here wanting to see 10 cities in as many days] but you need to factor into your travels the time it takes to get from an airport/station to your hotel, check in, accustom yourselves to the place, find what you want to see, etc. etc. Then at the other end is checking out, return to airport or station, hanging about waiting senior travel accomodations for train or plane, - and that's if they run on time!
I like GA's suggestions, and i agree that for this trip I'd stick to Italy - there is so much variety that you will not find it at all "samey". I also like Atl travel's idea of adding in the Amalfi, but i would put it