STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

Paging Ico and anyone else who's been to Italy!

cc · Marc Jacobs

What a great trip! I did a similar trip last May - central France to northwest Italy by way of Nice, only we drove - and it was so awesome.

I'll try to answer your questions
1. Not sure of your budget but I think most people prefer to stay near Piazza Navona or the Pantheon since those are both beautiful, central areas. I stayed in the Hotel Navona once - it was decent for a budget hotel and the location was great. I've also stayed in the Hotel Smeraldo which is nearby but closer to Campo dei Fiori and I liked that hotel better and also really liked the area. There were a lot of cute boutiques and a terrific bakery. Lots of people also recommend Trastevere which has gotten really hip but it's not as central.
My first time in Rome I stayed in the semi-ritzy Hotel Victoria which is at the top of Via Veneto, across from the Villa Borghese and I really liked that area as well. I guess it's like the equivalent of staying near upper Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. If you do a search in the travel forum there was a post about Rome recently and I recommended my top favorite sites and some other people commented as well.

2. There is so much to do in Italy and people have such strong reactions to places so it's hard for me to critique your itinerary. I know people who loathe Venice but I could stay there for weeks and never feel ready to leave. And while I love the art and architecture in Florence overall I wasn't that into the city. But I think your plan looks good. I only spent a few hours in Milan and felt pretty satisfied - I loved some other nearby cities but if you just want to hit the big 4 I think the way you've divided your time looks good. Cinque Terre is beautiful but it gets really packed with tourists in the warm months and I don't know that you'd have enough time to go unless you took a night away from Rome.

3. I guess my overall reaction is just that there is a lot of moving around after you leave Venice - lots of time will be spent in transit and you might get worn out. So I'd maybe consider cutting out one city in Italy (maybe Milan?), cutting one night in Rome and/or picking one city in the south of France and just staying there. I was only in Nice for like 24 hours and just drove through Monaco so I'm probably not the best person to advise on this. Nice was lovely and I wish I had spent more time there. I can't remember the name of the hotel we stayed at but it was cheap and clean and had great views. Monaco was wall-to-wall traffic so I don't really have any desire to go back there but maybe it's different if you're actually spending the night.

Found the hotel info for Nice - I was a bit nervous about this place but it was a pleasant surprise. This was the view from our room. It was also really close to the water.

Nouvel Hotel 2 Stars

800-664-6835
19 Bis Boulevard Victor Hugo
Nice, FR

4. As much as I love to shop and to eat I am the worst at doing them on European vacations! I get so caught up in sightseeing.

-- Edited by cc at 15:04, 2007-03-19

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

OMG, cc--that view looks amazing. thank you so much for the tips! as for nice, cannes and monaco, they're (allegedly) about half an hour away from each other by train so i'm hoping it's not as exhausting as it seems on paper!

ico · Dooney & Bourke

CC said pretty much everything...
I like the areas she picked for the hotels: I'd reccommend Campo de' fiori.
Also, I'd try the Trastevere area too: it's not so central, but you can take the tram (kind of an electric bus on tracks) and there are couple of cute spot around it too.
I think the number of days you spend in the various cities in Italy is pretty good: I wouldn't try going to Cinque Terre, it would be cramming too much into too few days. But if you are still interested I can ask my mom where they stayed there

My only concern is 2 days only to Paris... Could you add some days or cut something out...may be from Milan? I really think Paris is worth walking though the different areas

And, don't know how tied you are to your schedule, but I'd be more that happy to meet you in Rome

, may be we can have coffee one day or drinks after dinner! Let me know, I can give you my contact info (when I have them)

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

Ico, I would love to meet you for drinks/coffee/whatever! I'll pm you my cell phone and email and we will FOR SURE have to meet up!

And yes, I totally agree w/ you about Paris but we were just there for 5 weeks last Oct/Nov. so really our two days there are more because we just couldn't not stop by since we'd be so close.

I'm researching hotels right now. Here's a question though--is May considered high season or low season?

ico · Dooney & Bourke

esquiress wrote:

I'm researching hotels right now. Here's a question though--is May considered high season or low season?

I looked around and looks like high season is from June, so you should be fine