Costco Travel Best of Italy: Experience? Opinions? Comments?

[HFWR]

That's a 9 night trip for two, just for land costs?

Actually twelve nights, as we appended a three night stay in Paris on the way home. Plus RT air, airport transfers, and intercity first-class rail, and “free” breakfast! [emoji12]

 

[explanade]

Hmm, I followed the link and the standard 9 night package is just under $3600 without air.

That is why I was surprised at your price.

 

[audreyh1]

Hmm, I followed the link and the standard 9 night package is just under $3600 without air.

That is why I was surprised at your price.

So add RT airfare for two people, three additional nights in Paris, and perhaps picking some nicer hotels.

I know for us RT economy airfare is usually going to be $2600 to $3000 for two since we don’t live in NY or Boston or one of the cities that usually has fantastic prices on flights to Europe.

 

[explanade]

Their price is actually better if it includes air.

$400 a day is pretty high.

Must be 5 star hotels.

 

[HFWR]

Apologies to anyone who is troubled by the cost of my trip...

Luckily, I’ll get the Costco Executive member rebate, plus cash back from the Costco Visa! [emoji41]

 

[Nemo2]

$400 a day is pretty high.

To paraphrase Robin Goodfellow/Puck, "I'll put a girdle round about the earth for 400 bucks".

 

[Meadbh]

Their price is actually better if it includes air.

$400 a day is pretty high.

Must be 5 star hotels.

Italy is expensive, because everybody wants to go there. If you want to go somewhere that resembles Tuscany but is priced like Tuscany was 50 years ago, try the Istria peninsula in Croatia.

 

[HFWR]

Not sure how Costco handles the currency conversion, but it takes about $1.23+ to buy a euro...

 

[explanade]

Italy is a relative bargain compared to other European countries.

Unless you want to always stay in 5-star hotels, like the ones overlooking the Grand Lagoon in Venice.

There are a lot of boutique 3 and 4 star hotels which are great. They won't have a big pool or be on the busiest piazzas but great location nevertheless.

 

[Bamaman]

Hmm, I followed the link and the standard 9 night package is just under $3600 without air.

That is why I was surprised at your price.

We leave 4/15 for a 12 night repositioning cruise NYC to Southampton with stops in the Azores, Cork, LeHavre and 1 stop in England--$750 each including all taxes. Then we spend 2 nights in London @ $159 before flying to Dublin and spending one night @ $89. Renting car and driving southwest to County Kerry for 3 nights @ $100. We spend 2 nights more in Dublin @ $133 before flying to the U.S. for $182 each. Total is just over $2000 for both of us.

We keep our eyes open for travel deals online, fly budget airlines and spend about half what the average traveler spends. And we fortunately take trips twice as often as most people.

 

[audreyh1]

Apologies to anyone who is troubled by the cost of my trip...

Luckily, I’ll get the Costco Executive member rebate, plus cash back from the Costco Visa! [emoji41]

Yeah, I know folks here are often bothered if they think we are overspending on travel. But I think they are trying to save us money. So it’s OK.

 

[explanade]

Not troubled, just seems high for something Costco offers.

Now if it was Tauck or Zicasso ...

 

[HFWR]

Where we’re staying...

http://www.hotel-dellenazioni-rome.com/

https://www.hotelbaglioni.it/en

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1313-hotel-papadopoli-venezia-mgallery-by-sofitel/index.shtml

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/france/paris/melia-vendome/index.html

 

[HFWR]

Yeah, I know folks here are often bothered if they think we are overspending on travel. But I think they are trying to save us money. So it’s OK.

I don’t need any assistance being cheap! [emoji41]

Maybe I should’ve posted this in the blow your dough thread...

 

[audreyh1]

I don’t need any assistance being cheap! [emoji41]

Maybe I should’ve posted this in the blow your dough thread...

I was thinking maybe the part about the total should have gone there! LOL!

 

[Moemg]

Where we’re staying...

4-star hotel Rome | Hotel delle Nazioni Official Site | Hotel Restaurant Rome center

https://www.hotelbaglioni.it/en

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1313-hotel-papadopoli-venezia-mgallery-by-sofitel/index.shtml

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/france/paris/melia-vendome/index.html

Looks like a great trip ! Enjoy !

 

[Meadbh]

Where we’re staying...

4-star hotel Rome | Hotel delle Nazioni Official Site | Hotel Restaurant Rome center

https://www.hotelbaglioni.it/en

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1313-hotel-papadopoli-venezia-mgallery-by-sofitel/index.shtml

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/france/paris/melia-vendome/index.html

I stayed around the corner from your hotel in Florence. My hotel was right on Piazza Santa Maria Novella. It’s a great location!

 

[audreyh1]

Where we’re staying...

4-star hotel Rome | Hotel delle Nazioni Official Site | Hotel Restaurant Rome center

https://www.hotelbaglioni.it/en

https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-1313-hotel-papadopoli-venezia-mgallery-by-sofitel/index.shtml

https://www.melia.com/en/hotels/france/paris/melia-vendome/index.html

The other cities it’s been too long to remember, but your Paris location is excellent. We were one block different right across from Tuileries, but we walked everywhere and enjoyed it immensely.

I think I enjoyed the Monet museum the most - the Orangerie museum which is not far from your hotel. I think I got the combo ticket between it and the Orsay museum and that worked well. The Orsay museum was open late the day we arrived, Thursday, so we went there first (after a brief afternoon nap - overnight flight in) and the Orangerie the next morning. We blew off the Louvre because we didn’t want to spend the time, and spent a lot of time walking the bridges around Ile de la Cite, around Notre Dame, and over to the Cluny museum in the Latin Quarter (The girl with the unicorn tapestries, Medieval and Roman era Museum).

Returning from a week long Loire Valley Chateaux small group tour we stayed in the same Paris area so we could catch a mini van day trip to the Monet gardens in Normandy, and some Van Gogh sites in Auvers-sur-Oise. So impressionist and post impressionist art was kind of a theme.

We had also convinced the Loire Chateaux tour guide to let the group go see Sainte-Chapelle in the Ile de la Cite upon our return to Paris at the end of our trip, and boy was that something!

 

[Chuckanut]

Yeah, I know folks here are often bothered if they think we are overspending on travel. But I think they are trying to save us money. So it’s OK.

For some reason other people love to 2nd guess one's travel expenses. It seems I paid to much for hotels and airfare, I should eat more picnics, why didn't I hitch-hike from Brussels to Paris, etc. etc. etc. You would think I fly 1stclass, only stay in 5-star hotels and eat at the fanciest restaurants every day.

I live in a cheap home, drive my car until the wheels fall off, cook my own meals, change phone plans to save $3.72 a month, no cable, get DVDs from the public library, bundle car trips together to save gas, drive a hybrid, etc. etc. etc.

They don't understand that travel is a splurge for me compared to my normal penny pinching ways.

Why can't they let me travel nicely and have fun without second guessing everything I do? I am sure I could run a fine comb through their life and find plenty of things I think they waste money on.

OK, rant over.

 

[HFWR]

Trip report: Randumb thoughts...

It was hotter in Italy than I had hoped or expected. Trying to not look too touristy, I packed no shorts. Apparently few others thought that way...

We walked, walked, then walked some more, but our hotels were close to the touristy stuff. We also had a two-day hop on, hop off in Rome, which we used to visit the Colosseum area, then the Vatican, though we walked back to the hotel from the Vatican.

We “hired” a local guide to skip the line for the Colosseum and Forum. Don’t remember what we paid... Giovanni was an older guy; we weren’t sure he would survive the tour, but with a couple of smoke breaks, he made it. Kept referring to his wife as “bigga mama”... [emoji12]

In all, we saw the Vatican museum, the Galileo museum, the Louvre, and the Orsay. Glad to have seen them, once, but will likely never bother again. Favorite was the Orsay, but we were churched, monumented, and museumed out by the time we were through...

The bus tour through Tuscany was our favorite activity. Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, with a winery stop for lunch.

Can highly recommend Hotel Baglioni in Florence. The other hotels were good, just not great.

The tour to Murano et al (from Venice) was nothing to write home about. Enjoyed wandering around, and used the vaporettos but skipped the gondolas...

Food was good to almost great, though we only ventured off the beaten tourist path a couple of times. Wine was plentiful, though not necessarily inexpensive...

Train travel in Italy, at least on the “fast” line, was easy and quick, and a good way to see the countryside.

Though they weren’t cheap, the transfers to/from the airports were worth it, especially for first time lost travelers. We taxied to the train terminal in Rome, but the Baglioni was a short walk from the station in Florence. In Venice, I had inquired with the same transfer company on getting to/from the hotel, but the cost was €250. Google maps indicated a short walk across a couple of bridges, for which I was not paying €250. Luckily, we hired a porter at the station, who carted our luggage to the hotel for €20 plus tip.

One last splurge included upgrading to “Comfort +” on the flight home. More legroom, and a seat that reclined slightly more, was worth $250!

All in, we spent probably $9000-9500. The itinerary was a bit ambitious, but we saw and/or visited the highlights, and still found time to wander around aimlessly, i.e. “lost”...

 

[brett]

Keep in mind that there are several train stations in both Rome and Paris.

 

[Chuckanut]

In all, we saw the Vatican museum, the Galileo museum, the Louvre, and the Orsay. Glad to have seen them, once, but will likely never bother again. Favorite was the Orsay, but we were churched, monumented, and museumed out by the time we were through...

Food was good to almost great, though we only ventured off the beaten tourist path a couple of times. Wine was plentiful, though not necessarily inexpensive...
.

You had quite an initial experience, and I am glad you enjoyed the trip. Now you can go back as an experience traveler!

It is quite possible, IMHO, to overdo the monuments, museums and churches in the large European cities to the point that one never actually experiences the city itself. I can understand your feelings.
I try to take time to just wander about the city. It is amazing what is hidden around a corner or on a small street. And you can always stop, frequently in my case, for a refreshing beverage and then continue on.

Thumbs up on the d'Orsay museum. It was my favorite in Paris also.

My experience is that one has to actively seek out a bad meal in Italy, Certainly there will be dishes that one simply does not care for, but actual bad food is rare. My few experiences dining with real Italians has taught me that they don't put up with bad food.

 

[HFWR]

Keep in mind that there are several train stations in both Rome and Paris.

Termini in Rome. Did not use rail of any sort in Paris, only CDG.

 

[Sunset]

Termini in Rome. Did not use rail of any sort in Paris, only CDG.

We had a it's funny now experience with the Termini station in Rome.

We went from Civitavecchia to Rome, at the terminal in Rome, there are 4 tracks, and frankly it all looks pretty beat up. We took the escalator down and walked out past the grocery store on the lower level and headed for the Coliseum.

We got lost, eventually found the Coliseum, by asking in a hotel which way to walk.
We had a tour.
We found a map of Rome, so our walk back was fast and efficient.

We got to the Station (on the map) and it looked totally different, like a modern mall, very nice and sleek looking.

Now I'm in a bit of an alarmed state, as somehow the old beat up station is missing..
We go inside this new looking station, and walk along the mall of stores and shops as a fellow outside had said the train station was inside this mall.
Nothing looks familiar.
Finally I see a fellow checking tickets, so I ask him where do I get the train for Civitavecchia, which I pronounce wrong, so I show him my return ticket.

He points down the escalator and go right. So we take it and walk really far including 2 moving sidewalks and finally see a sign ending outside at our beat up Termini station.

Turns out there is the modern sleek end of Termini, and the beat up old end, and it's pretty long.

 

[audreyh1]

Cool! Too bad you were brain/eye full before the Orsay. It’s a lovely museum - and best started at the top floor.

I haven’t visited the Louvre yet.

Still recovering from the fantastic art museums in Madrid........

We look forward to returning to Italy. It’s been 20 years! I do remember going cross-eyed in the Uffizi. I’ll remember the hotel recommendation.