pennylane

Hey everyone! I'm Kate, 18, from Minneapolis.

I am soooo happy I found this site, you guys are great.
so yesterday, I decided I am going to take myself on a trip to Italy

I have about three weeks, from may 17 to early June, to have the best time of my life.

My only problem is I have NO idea where to start in planning this excursion.
I have the flight figured out....but what is the best way to travel once I am in Italy? Do I get a Eurail pass? I am going to fly into Rome, and I want to see Venice, Florence, Naples and Pompeii...is that too much? And do I book the hostels now? What if once I'm there I change my mind, is there flexibility?
Also, I have done lots of traveling but never alone! I am scared. What is your advice for meeting people? I am not the most outgoing person so I am worried I will have a hard time. What if I get lost?! I have no sense of direction.

As you can see, I am completely clueless! but sooooooooo excited about this. Any advice for this newbie would be appreciated. And if any of you are going to be in the area during that time let me know! you all seem like the kind of people I would want to hang out with---I'll be the blonde girl wandering aimlessly through the streets without any idea of where I am- but still having the greatest time of her life!

all the best!

Kate

Canadian Dude

Sweet, Sweet pennylane, to the boards...always great to have you, and your right, it is pretty amazing here

So a trip to Italy huh? Good for you, you will have the time of your life thats for sure, and this solo adventure will lead to many more I am sure!!!

Where to start???
A Eurail Single Country Pass should do you just fine while your are there.

Or you can takes buses and trains on your own, the Eurail pass will save you some money though and its a little bity of security knowing you already have your ticket.

No, this is not to much, I pulled off Amsterdam, Nijmegen, Anterwerp, Brussels, Edinbough, Glasgow, and Belfast in 10 days. Just pick the things you wanna see and go with it...you will be fine for time while you are there...the only really importent thing is that you are at the airport on the day you leave.

You can book the hostels through these links

Venice[color=blue]
Rome
Florence
Naples

The pros to booking ahead is that your rooms are waiting for you, there is no wondering if you will have a place to sleep that night, and if you book through this service, thenyou have someone to complain to when you get home if something went wrong.

The con about booking ahead is that it takes away part of the spontinaety while you are out an about. I would for sure book it for the day you get there and the night before you leave but in between is going to have to be up to you.
If you book and then cancel, you will be charged for one nights stay and the rest will should not be charged to you.

Its not always a bad thing to get lost, in my experience getting lost has helped me find something, someone or somewhere I wasn't even looking for :D
If you do find yourself lost and you are nervious or scared for some reason, then find a hotel, bite the bullet and spend the $$$ on a room for the night, calm down while you enjoy your dinner and get your barrings in the morning, the staff will help you I am sure. My only advise on being a happy lost wonderer is be at the airport when you plane is due to leave!

As a new T-Punker, we would expect nothing less!!!

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TUI

Well CD laid out all the info you'll need, I think you'll be fine. Just dont let yourself worry, traveling is a time of freedom, go with it and have the time of your life. Oh, and WELCOME TO THE BOARDS

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"Live, Learn, and Love"

pennylane

Wow, Canadian Dude, thank you for the advice. I really appreciate the help and support. I feel ready to go now! woo hooooo...I'll probably be back with more questions later haha. Good luck with your own travels!
xxxx Kate xxxxx

ladaz

Pennylane,
So funny to open this topic tonight. I have just recently decided to go solo to Italy next summer as well. I will be going in July or August though. I've never really gone completely solo before; always had plans to meet friends along the way. I know exactly what you're feeling right now. A little scared, but so EXCITED!

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Trey976

pennylane (Kate)

I too am traveling alone to Italy leaving 5/19/04 and returning on 6/17/04. I found the best airfare was to fly in London via British Airways ($422 US) and I am going to spend a couple of days in London and then use Ryan Air (www.ryanair.com) to get to Milan (only cost $25 US - one way) for cheaper and a lot faster than the eurostar train. This is something you may want to consider if you would like to fly "open-jaw" into and out of italy to avoid a lot of backtracking. You can fly into Milan and out of Palermo for about 50US R/T. From what I have been told by people who have used Ryan Air is that they are much like Southwest Airlines. Just a thought I figured I might share with you. I decided to extend my stay a week since it saved me about 500 bucks going this route instead of Houston to Rome. Good luck on your travels and feel free to contact me since I have a ton of info for solo travelers in Italy. Always willing to share info with fellow wanderers.

Best Regards to all,

Trey

"Everyone dies, very few truly live!"