u/Mystical_Moose89

Just your friendly reminder to keep checking your sailings prices before your final payment date and call when they lower! I have called 5 times over the last year so far to rebook for a lower price, even when there's only a $20 price difference I call because it definitely adds up! So far, I have saved $480! I have sailed with Royal 4 other times before and never really paid any attention to the price changes until now. I think it's something even the most seasoned cruises don't take advantage of :)

We just got back from a two week trip in Europe. While we also did Portugal and Switzerland, I will only touch on Italy since this is the Italy subreddit. Also included some things I learned at the end that might be useful for others.

Itinerary:

4th-7th Rome (after travel, 2.5 full days spent)

7th-9th Bologna (after travel, 2 full days spent)

9th-12th Venice (after travel, 2.25 full days spent)

The Food

Food was amazing in Rome and Bologna. We are really big foodies and we did our best to find the best food in each city! We did a food tour in Rome (The Roman Food Tour Group, worth every penny, highly recommend). We were in Bologna for my husband's birthday, didn't have a single bad meal while we were there. Everyone has to try Lasagne alla Bolognese at a good restaurant and Ragù on either tagliatelle or tortellini, can't go wrong with either. Unless you're a big seafood lover and willing to spend twice as much as you would in the other cities, I wouldn't recommend Venice just for the food. Don't go there expecting to have amazing traditional pasta dishes from other regions of Italy. Each region does its own thing the best. So if you don't like seafood and have a small budget and are going to Venice just for the food, look elsewhere. Just do your research, set your expectations ahead of time and you'll be good! We personally aren't big seafood people, we knew ahead of time what to expect and we pivoted based on that. All good.

The Itinerary Review

We are Americans and this is our first time in Europe. While I would hope it wouldn't be our last, we were treating it like it might be. That meant cramming as many cities as possible into one trip. A lot of people would look at our itinerary and think it wouldn't be relaxing or was too much. So here's how we felt about the itinerary we did.

Positives: While we never spent more than three nights in any of the cities we went to, and outside of Italy, we had 9 hours of flying to get to Europe, had another 3 hours of travel to get from Portugal to Rome and all together had about 3 full days of train travel, never once did we feel overwhelmed with the amount we had planned. I thought for sure the packing up every few nights and running to catch 7 am trains would get to us. We even had a few cancelled trains along the way and it put a dent in some of our schedule. But with the sheer amount of activities planned each day, we were doing so much that it felt like we actually spent 3 weeks in Europe instead of two. Days of the week were merging together in a good way and we never had that feeling of "ugh, we are packing up already? We just got here though." We made sure to have a full rest day planned for every single city we went to where we didn't have any tours reserved, we slept in and we played the day by ear based on how we felt. Did we see everything we wanted to see? By no means. Did we feel like we made the most of our time though? Absolutely!

Negatives: Here's what I would do differently given the chance. If I had more PTO and money, I would have added more time in Rome. Not only to see more but also to give ourselves a break in between each activity. We did a Colleseum, Roman Forum and Palentine Hill tour in the morning. And then at 2:30pm we did the Vatican. Don't get me wrong, I felt that we had plenty of time to spend in the Vatican. It was just how bad our feet hurt by the time we got there. Made us feel like we were spending more time thinking about how we wanted it to be done with than actually enjoying each room.

Venice was the most beautiful city we went to out of all the cities in my opinion. However, we did not think we needed a full 2.5 days to explore it. The major museums like the basillica we were done with before lunch time. While we didn't do Murano and burano simply because it didn't appeal to us, we could have easily fit it into our schedule. We spent the second day just wandering around aimlessly and don't get me wrong, it was nice to have a rest day. But I do think that it could have been done in two nights or less.

Tips for others going there first time/other notes:

Be assertive when walking in traffic. It's one of the first things our Airbnb host told us in Rome. He said "Don't panic!" Half the time, you aren't going to be crossing the street with a light to guide you. Traffic is also not gonna just see you waiting on the sidewalk and waive you through all the time. Sometimes you'll find yourself on a very busy street that would remind you of a highway. Pick an opportunity and go. They will stop, I promise! Might seem like you're gonna get hit by a car. Just don't walk out in front of a bus and be sensible and you'll be ok.

Ladies, bring toilet paper/hand sanitizer with you in your bags! Half the toilets I went to did not have toilet paper stocked or working hand soap/water. If you're American like me, you might be surprised that a lot of toilets don't have seats so you have to get your squatting game up! I also probably had to clean 90% of the toilets I used because of how many had urine all over them. It might push you out of your comfort zone. Just remember you're not in the comfort of your own home and you got a full day of stuff planned where you're not back at the hotel/Airbnb. Come prepared or hold it!

I was happily surprised with our safety. Yes, pickpockets are a huge issue, especially in bigger cities like Rome. We took the metro every day we were there. I bought an anti theft bag for this trip, right before getting on the metro, we double checked how many stops we were there for and then safely stored our phones in the bag and never took it out while we were riding. Just be vigilant and aware and you won't be an easy target. We were never looked at sideways once.

We learned basic Italian words and phrases before we came here. Half the time though, we were in such a high paced environment and they were busy taking other orders that we would get tripped up and just speak in english. We got by just fine with it it so if anyone is worried about how much Italian they should learn, the answer is, you really don't need to know any. I would learn some just because I think it's polite and a sign of respect to the culture of the country you're visiting as well.

My last note here is we were so glad we packed light! We had a small carryon sized suitcase and bought a suitcase that acted as a full sized carryon. We saw others lugging their giant checked bags through the streets. They were NOT having fun! Bring a few outfits, rewear and wash!

Edit: Just wanted to clarify as it sounds like a lot of people are misunderstanding me about Venice. I am by no means saying "there's not enough to do in Venice to justify spending more time there." I'm saying that for the activities we chose to do, they didn't end up needing the amount of time we spent there. So in hindsight, I wouldn't have designated that long to just do those things. In retrospect with the rest of the trip, I probably would have rathered adding that extra day to say Rome. I'm sure Venice has a lot more to offer and I wasn't trying to deter people from going there. If I lived in Europe, I probably would have spent more time there. But for someone that was hard pressed on time and every second counted, I think it would have been used elsewhere if we hadn't planned more activities. Hope this helps 🙂

Hello all,

Me and my husband will be visiting Italy for two weeks and will be in Bologna during his bday. I need help finding a good birthday restaurant for dinner. It doesn't have to be expensive and upscale (although price is not a concern). We just want the best of the best authentic Bologna food (Tagliatelle ak Ragù, Lasagna alla Bolognese, etc) that you can find in a sit down restaurant. If you don't mind listing with you choice your favorite dish they have that would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance!