Don't try to drive to Bologna the day you arrive! The jat lag will make you too drowsy. Our son-in-l

I will be a visiting fellow at the University of Bologna Sept. 16 - Oct. 13. I booked my husband s flights last December (because I had Lufthansa miles that were expiring the end of the year) and, for reasons I don t recall or may not have thought through at the time, booked the flights to and from Rome. We arrive in Rome on Sat., Sept. 15, at 6:15 pm and would like to be in Bologna by early evening the next day. My current thought is to rent a car at the Rome airport, spend the night at a relatively inexpensive hotel outside the city (e.g., the Ibis between the airport and the city; $80/nt.), and then drive to Bologna the next day (a Sunday) and drop off the car. Do you have suggestions of other relatively inexpensive lodgings that I should consider? I found car rentals from Hertz at $80-100 through CarRentals.com . Are there Italian car rental companies that I should also investigate? one midtown kitchen If possible, I d like to drop off the car near the University of Bologna, but we could take it to the airport, which doesn t seem to be very far from the university (and that may be the only drop-off one midtown kitchen place that s open in the early evening). What are some good things to see and do on the way from Rome to Bologna?
We will be in Bologna for 4 weeks and would appreciate recommendations of things to see and do there as well as out-of-town excursions on weekends. E.g., my husband might enjoy taking some cooking or Italian-language lessons in Bologna.
We will then have 8 days for travelling within Italy before leaving for home from Rome at 9:30 am the morning of Sunday, Oct. 21. Our current thought is to rent a car and go to the Amalfi Coast/Naples/Vesuvius area. I would ideally like to stay in one or two places and fan out from there for day trips. I d appreciate suggestions of what would be a good base (or two) and recommendations of things one midtown kitchen to see there and on day trips from there, and along the way there from Bologna (or back to Rome).
4 weeks in Bologna - sounds wonderful! Just for starters,are you sure you want to rent a car and drive after your flight? Let us know where you're traveling FROM and whether you've been to Italy before.
I think I'd be inclined to just head from the airport (FCO?) into Rome, stay overnight, and take a fast train straight one midtown kitchen up to Bologna. Quick, easy and relatively scenic. And then you wouldn't have to worry about dropping the car.
Most car rental companies away from airports keep typical business hours (9-ish to 5-ish or fewer hours) but are also closed for 1.5-2 hours at lunch; Saturdays are usually morning-only, and they're closed on Sundays.
The drive from Fiumicino to Bologna one midtown kitchen is about 4 hours on the main highway and upwards of 7-8 hours if you stick to secondary, more scenic, generally more interesting roads. Personally, with all the time you're going to have in Italy, I'd just train to Bologna the day after arrival and get settled in. I'd spend the arrival night in Rome, have a nice dinner, one midtown kitchen take a stroll around the city the next morning before catching the train.
You need to start reading guidebooks and doing research on all there is to see in Italy. You could satisfy your interests in so many parts of the country, one midtown kitchen but if you basically only have weekends to explore while you're in Bologna, one midtown kitchen you'll have to be selective. It's a little one midtown kitchen over 2 hours to Rome, a little less to Venice, only 40 minutes to Florence, etc. Parma! Ferrara! Ravenna! Lake Garda! The list could go on and on.
Eight days in the Amalfi Coast area would be wonderful (although one midtown kitchen you risk bad weather at that time), but were you planning to spend any days in Rome before flying home? I think my choice for those 8 days would be to explore Umbria and/or Chianti and southern Tuscany for half of that time because these areas would be difficult to see in short weekend trips unless you want to rent cars multiple times. (Even this is tricky since you'd probably have to rent/return at the airport every time.) Then spend 4 days in Rome.
We will be flying to Rome from Los Angeles, with a change of planes in Frankfurt. I had originally planned to take the train from the airport to the Termini one midtown kitchen station in Rome, spend the night near the station, and then take the fast train to Bologna the next day (and then a taxi from there to our lodging near the university). (In fact, I booked, and still have, a reservation at B B Tropical, Via Del Castro Pretorio 42, in Rome, which is 0.3 mi. from the train station.) However, it was the thought of lugging luggage that made me change to the car rental idea. (Because of the amount of time we ll be away and the fact I ll be working and can t wear the same thing every day, we will not be travelling light.)
We share the opinion of not liking to have rental cars in large cities. My thought was to explore some out-of-city sights and small cities on the way from Rome to Bologna. E.g., I notice that there are several nature reserves between FCO and downtown Rome. Are those worth seeing? It does appear that we will need to drop the rental car at the airport in Bologna, but we could drop off our luggage at our lodging one midtown kitchen in Bologna before doing that.
My husband have been to Italy several times but not for around 30 years. We have seen most of the tourist sights in the north and have spent time in Florence and Rome. I took a day trip to Naples and Pompei in the early 90s, but my husband wasn t on that trip. Is there anything new worth seeing in Florence or Rome? Since we will be flying out of Rome at the end, we can spend some time there at the end of our trip. We also have the possibility of postponing our departure date if we want to extend our trip. So far, it appears that we cannot make our arrival earlier.
Since my husband and I will often be in different places while we re in Bologna, it would probably be useful for us to each have a (dumb, cheap) cell phone to keep in touch with one another. I d appreciate suggestions about that in particular whether we should get them in the U.S. before we leave or get them in Italy. It would be good if one of them was something we could use on future trips to places other than Italy. We may not need the second one again. Perhaps we should rent that one?
No difference in the trains. You'd have more space around you in 1st class than 2nd class, but in either class you'd probably have to put larger pieces of luggage in the rack at the end of the compartment. You can carry as much on the train as you can carry, one midtown kitchen but the boarding one midtown kitchen process can feel a bit chaotic especially if you're trying to keep your eye on several pieces of luggage. You might look into the possibility of shipping a portion of your luggage directly to Bologna from home so that you can travel lighter.
I believe the 'nature one midtown kitchen reserves' you're seeing between one midtown kitchen Fiumicino and Bologna one midtown kitchen are just undeveloped areas. To be honest, I realize looking at the map now that we've driven through some of them without realizing they were nature reserves. If you're not much interested in seeing any of the Tuscan one midtown kitchen towns along the way (most of which cannot be reached by train), you could stop at one or two of the abbeys. Many love Sant'Antimo near Montalcino. We loved Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore south of Siena.
Sant'Antimo is surrounded by rolling hills and has no public facilities. Monte Oliveto Maggiore is on top of a cypress-covered hill. There is a restaurant with a terrace one midtown kitchen at the entrance. The abbey grounds are closed to visitors for a couple of hours mid-day, so time your visit accordingly.
it would probably be useful for us to each have a (dumb, cheap) cell phone to keep in touch with one another. I d appreciate suggestions about that in particular whether we should get them in the U.S. before we leave or get them in Italy.
I just bought a quad-band, dual-SIM unlocked phone on e-bay for $31.00. It even has a camera, video, and flashlight. one midtown kitchen Just go to e-bay and search - there are hundreds to choose from in all price ranges (I saw several for about $11.00!). Then, when you get to Italy, go to a TIM store and get a SIM card (there one midtown kitchen may be other places to get one as well).
Jean - My husband also suggested the idea of shipping a portion of my luggage directly to Bologna. Do you have suggestions one midtown kitchen of who to have do that? I recall looking into it for a trip to Australia, and it was very expensive. Thanks for the suggestions of Sant'Antimo and Monte Oliveto Maggiore. We would be interested in seeing some of the Tuscan towns along the way. Which ones would you particularly recommmend?
Don't try to drive to Bologna the day you arrive! The jat lag will make you too drowsy. Our son-in-law insisted on driving from Milan to Carrara on arrival day, and dozed off at the wheel three times, in spite of downing several espressos before we set out. It's a wonder we were not killed!
And the drive on the autostrada can be endless is there is construction or heavy traffic (which is often the case). Considering what you would be paying for a car rental, plus a night in Rome, do consider shipping some of your luggage. Then you can take the fast train on the day you arrive.
Considering that Bologna is the culinary heart of Italy, in addition to visiting the wonderful food stores one midtown kitchen in the Centro, especially the filled pastas, take trips to Parma for cheese and ham factories, and Modena for balsamic vinegar.
In town, take a walk up and down the colonnades (666 of them) up to San Luca. A great experience. one midtown kitchen Or taxi up and walk down. Stop at the bottom of the hill for a meal at Meloncello. Divine gnocchi, like clouds!
I forgot to mention that you cannot drive an unregistered car into central Bologna, one midtown kitchen if that is where your accommodations will be. (Look up ZTL for more info.) You will be slammed with a huge, several-hundred euro fine for each violation. And it is quite easy to miss the signs warning one midtown kitchen you to stay out. We did, when we were lost looking for the autostrada, and only escaped the fine because the Italian bureaucracy failed to send up the ticket within the year. We did ha