This website is recommended for English-speaking travelers, primarily American, by HotelsAbroad.com
This site is not a paid blog; we do not accept funds, trips, meals or anything else (except for one borrowed umbrella during a rainstorm in Positano, which we returned) from any of the hotels or restaurants listed here. Thanks to friends, we were double upgraded at San Clemente Palace one time in Venice, but our review is not all that positive.
This site was established initially for those who have saved up to splurge or who have decided to
make their next trip a treat. The hotels recommended cover a variety of
costs, with links to help you find rates. Most of the recommended
restaurants are expensive.
THE
EURO
When this site began in 2000, the euro traded at $.87; this week
(05/10/09) it is trading at $1.35, compared to $1.60 last August; so Italy is
less expensive. The result for you means that the prices quoted in dollars
on the following pages may be a little high. Making your reservations well
in advance will yield great savings as the world scrambles to stay afloat.
In order to keep our recommendations accurate, we check all prices and their
equivalent in dollars every three months.
BULLETIN!
AIRFARES HAVE FALLEN $200 TO $550 BELOW LAST YEAR'S PRICES! RESERVING A
TICKET NOW FOR MID-JUNE FROM CLEVELAND TO MILAN WILL COST YOU $888! AND
MOST ALL AIRLINES HAVE FARES FROM MOST CITIES TO MILAN OR ROME FOR $1,150!
WITH THE DOLLAR UP STRONGLY (FOR THE TIME BEING!) IF YOU CAN GO, GO. [FOR
MORE SAMPLE FARES, CLICK ON THE BUDGET TRAVEL LINK ABOVE AND GO TO STEP 5.]
DON'T DESPAIR
IF YOU'RE ON A LIMITED BUDGET
WE'VE HELPED LOTS OF PEOPLE MAKE THEIR DOLLAR STRETCH.
There is now a special page, Budget Travel, with
links to the
Italian railroad system and sites that give you hotel options from
under 100 euros a night to 3,000 euros! (in case you're actually a
celebrity whose people stumbled on this site by mistake)
The guidebooks and links we recommend (Books and Links)
will also lead you to less expensive lodging and dining in the
cities
and areas we cover.
In addition, Itinerary #1
features a number of wonderful sea and lakeside
hotels and inns with prices below 200 Euros a night.
And you can always contact us with specific questions/pleas/entreaties.
(See Contact Us! below - but keep in mind, we aren't travel agents; we
support the website - and our trips to Italy - ourselves, because
we want everyone to go at least once in his or her life.)
Everything you need to know -
almost - from Italian phrases to where to eat, sleep, and shop.
Whether it's the Amalfi Coast, Venice, Rome, or the countryside, we think
you'll find this site useful in planning your first - or tenth - trip.
There are no ads on this non-commercial site---it's just the
recommendations of two Americans who love Italy and encourage you to travel
there.
CITIES
AND REGIONS COVERED:
Amalfi Coast, Camogli, Capri, Domodossola, Fiumicino,
Florence, Lake Lugano, Piemonte, Pompeii, Porto San Stefano, Ravello, Rome, Tuscany, and Venice
LINKS TO USEFUL WEBSITES OF HIGHWAY MILEAGES, EXCHANGE RATES, FREE TRANSLATIONS, UP-TO-DATE WEATHER, TRAVEL BOOKS, AND MORE
These
recommendations are based on our
experiences in fall, spring, and summer in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2005 with
prices quoted adjusted for October, 2008, plus the experiences of friends and family, and the recommendations of our Italian
friends. We think these pages will save you time and trouble during your
next trip to Italy.
--Kaye and Russell
Cooper-Mead
If you are using a dial-up Internet connection, several of the pages will take a while to load. Thanks for being patient. We didn't want to have a site that was all print.
If you have comments or anecdotes you'd like to add, or questions, click on the Contact Us! link below.
