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Back from Italy! Reviews and info
We booked through Europeandestinations.com and I would definitely recommend them. The cost through them was about $1000 less than if we booked the same flights and hotels on our own. You do have to choose hotels from their list, but each city had nearly 100 options, so we easily found something. That said, I wouldn't necessarily recommend all the hotels we choose. They were all very nice and good - clean, modern, centrally located, etc. But only the hotel in Venice (Duodo Palace) had any "charm." I read (but ignored) the fact that the only difference between a 3 star and a 4 star is that the 4 star has a full service restaurant. We never ate in the hotel's restaurants, so in retrospect, I should have downgraded to a 3 star and upgraded the room class (or used that money on all the amazing food!)
Speaking of food, we spent waaaay more than we thought, but it was all fabulous!! Dinner each night was about 100 euros, which included a bottle (or 2) of wine, two courses, and maybe an appetizer or dessert. In case you don't know, Italians eat multiple courses with dinner. You don't have to order *all* the courses, but you definitely want to count on at least two. There is antipasta (appetizer), first course (which is usually pasta), second course (usually meat), side dishes and dessert. No one course is going to be enough for a meal. So for example, you might do antipasta and a second, or first and second, or second and a side, or antipasta, first and a side, etc.
Venice: We stayed at the Duodo Palace, which was very charming and close to San Marco's square. We toured the basilica and just sort of wondered around and hung out. If you plan on buying any Murano glass, beware that some of the cheaper, "tourist" shops actually import cheap fakes from China. If it's inexpensive, it's probably fake. We bought two wine stoppers for my mom and there were about 20 euro each, whereas the fake stuff was going for about 8 euros each.
Florence: We stayed at the Atheneum, and like I said earlier, it was very nice and good, but nothing special. It was close to the Duomo and the main tourist areas, and they were very helpful in getting us reservations to the Uffizi, a wine tour, and dinner one night. Don't be afraid to ask your concierge for recommendations and assistance! We toured the Duomo and climbed to the top of the dome for amazing views of Florence. We had to stand in line for the Galleria Academia (where Michaelangelo's David is), but only about 20 minutes. We could have made a reservation, but we just didn't. David ended up being ann unexpected highlight of the trip. There is a copy in one of the piazzas and my MIL said she thought it was just as good, but she clearly has no taste! The real thing is just breathtaking! We also toured the Uffizi, which kind of burnt us out on art museums after that. There's just so much! **Restaurant rec** the BEST restaurant on our trip was Titos in Florence. Our conceirge recommended it, and it was highly recommended in tripadvisor as well. Definitely get reservations.
Rome: We stayed at the Hotel Adriano, which was very close to the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Again, it was very nice and good, but nothing special. The internet lead me to believe that Pompeii was a day trip from Rome, but that's only technically true. It's a three hour, 50 euro each train ride from Rome - very time consuming and expensive! Ostia Antica was a great alternative! It's the only other preserved Roman town and is only a 20 minute metro ride from Rome. It's not as well known, so there were hardly any people there. It was actually more important historically speaking than Pompeii, with 50,000 residents at it's height. Lots of homes, shops, squares, preserved mosaics and even wall paintings. It was amazing and you can just wander all over the entire thing. The Vatican Museums were another surprising highlight. We know nothing about Catholicism and expected lots of religious artifacts, but that's not the case. It's a very extensive cultural collection, with some peices so massive the buildings were built around them. The Sistine Chapel was absolutely breathtaking! We downloaded an audioguide for our iPhones for the Vatican and the Collesuem and that was definitely a great call, particularly for the Sistine Chapel. I wish we had known about that for Ostia Antica - if you go there, check to see if there is one because I'll bet it's great.
Other random things: We used tripadvisor for restaurant recs and were never disappointed. Although all were amazing, only Tito's in Florence was awesome enough that I remembered the name (lol!) Italians eat late - around 9 or so, and a busy restaurant usually means its great. The few times were were disappointed was when we went into one that wasn't busy. Ditto with gelato shops. One shop in Rome had a line of locals down the block. We didn't wait that night, but hit it the next day and it was by far the best gelato we had (sorry I don't remember the name.) You don't tip unless the service was exceptional (only Tito got a tip), and they waiters will leave you alone until you call for them. We were totally confused for our first cappicino in Venice until we googled why the waiter was ignoring us - lol! We got by in English just fine, although we did make an effort to learn a few phrases in Italian. All of our hotel rooms had a hair dryer, but none had an iron, so definitely pack a travel iron. DH found a bunch of tips on how to avoid getting ripped off and pick-pocketed, and from the posts, you'd think Italy was absolutely crime-ridden. We didn't have any problems at all. Many of the Italian women looked liked "targets" with their designer bags hanging off their arms just begging to be snatched, but if they aren't worried, I wasn't either. Just use your regular common sense and avoid looking like a dazed tourist and you'll be fine!
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Re: Back from Italy! Reviews and info
Sounds like a great trip!
Was your favorite gelato place, Blue Ice? That's my vote
(multiple shops in Central Rome-- right off Piazza Navona, another close to Trevi, etc).
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Hmmm good pick! Giolitti is almost a "historical" place, my first nocciola experience happened there when I was little. Glad your trip was a success!
i agree with your MIL-the David in piazza della signoria (or up on piazzelle michaelangelo too) are far better than the one in the academy. it's got far more to do iwth surrounding scenery than the actual statue-as they're the same. Actually of all the Davids floating around Florence I prefer Donatello's David in the Bargello Museum (and the bargello is FAR FAR FAR better than the academia as well).
i'm glad you enjoyed your trip and you gave some great advice for others about pickpocketing etc...
i disagree wtih you about the meals though. i could easily just have a primi and be fine with nothing else (except a lot of wine of course)
maybe that's just me though.
anyway sounds like you had a great time.
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Thanks for sharing! We booked through E-D too for our trip this June and it sounds very similiar to mine! We're flying into Munich and then doing Venice, Florence, and Rome in that order! How many days did you stay in each-- did you feel like you had enough time? Did you end up doing travel insurance for your trip?
You're making me really excited for my trip now!! Thanks!!!
Have fun!! Italy was awesome!
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, especially after all the hassle leading up to it.
I agree that a primi is all I need. But, I also don't really eat meat, so there's little reason for me to order secondi.
Your MIL is so wrong. I was expecting to be disappointed by the David, but I was in awe. I think I saw it on my second day, so I'd already seen the one in the piazza which was kind of underwhelming.
After the Uffizi you'll never need to see another Madonna col bambino I bet!
At the Vatican, did you see the sculpture of the hands with a big raised middle finger? It's in the modern section.
Glad your trip was great!! Sounds absolutely fantastic. I also love Rome and found Venice to be boring after a few days
David was so amazing, I can't even express! - and I'm not an art person really. The copies just aren't as good and they're dirty and weather-worn. The real one is perfect and lit up beautifully. It so hard to believe that carved marble could have such expression.
We didn't see that, but we kind of breezed through the modern art section. We spent the most time in the Egypitan areas (there is a mummy that sill has hair!!!) and the Sistine Chapel. So amazing!
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Glad you enjoyed your trip, MrsAxilla! I agree with the others, usually one course is more than enough - but when you're on vacation, it is fun to try as much of the local food as you can too, so I usually end up with multiple courses on vacation too
MrsA1210 - for Venice, I'd recommend getting off the main piazzas for your food. Take a few wrong turns off one of the back channels and your'e more likely to find something authentic and "local." Though, to be honest, all of Venice has to cater to tourists to some extent because that's how they stay in business. Definitely try out a bacarando while you're there 
I'm not an art person by any means, but having been to Florence twice and seeing all the David's twice ..... no, just no.
And while they all may look the same they are not the same - only one was crafted by Michaelangelo.
tomAto and tomatO. of course only one was crafted by him.
You must eat at different sorts of places or eat more than I do. I have always been full after whatever I order, and it's pretty much never multiple courses (for dessert I prefer to get gelato on the street). But, that's in just random restaurants, ordering pizza or pasta.
I'm going in July. Thanks for the info!
I wasn't the one claiming that they are all the same.