Sunday, July 27, 2014

Italy - Planning & Tips for Travel

My trip to Italy was the result of a family member telling me about their "new" 900+ year old apartment in Minturno, Italy. After talking with them I found out they would let me stay at their place for the price of utilities. You can check out their blog here. They're actually moving to Italy, so they're in the process of renovating this apartment in the town of Minturno, along the ancient Appian Way, the original super-highway of ancient Rome. Without their help and advice and some friends I met along the way, I would not have had nearly as much fun.
The view from Pat and Mindy's apartment
Aside from getting great advice from people who have gone before, there are also a number of things you can do to prepare. We have some tips, app reviews, and lessons learned that we wanted to share.

Apps/Travel Guides

I used a number of apps, websites, and travel guide information sources in preparation for and during the trip. Here are some of them.

Google Maps - A must-have app. Google Maps was great for getting around, especially in Rome, as you can find route info for public transport and it just makes it so much easier to find places. Another trick was that I found out Google Maps lets you download maps ahead of time to use offline. This was a huge Internet data saver, and I'd recommend saving anyplace you might want to go ahead of time for offline use. This guy explains better than I can how to do that. I also used it to save places I knew I wanted to see later by making them "favorites" on my account so I could easily navigate to them when we arrived, which was a huge time-saver. Definitely my favorite travel app whether I'm going to a friend's house or around the world. Be sure to download the apps on your phone before you go.

Google Translate - This is another useful app for travel from the folks at Google. It helped us multiple times when we couldn't figure out how to say what we were trying to communicate or ask a question correctly. Only downside is that it requires Internet, but doesn't use much. There is an Android and an iPhone app for it if you want to download them ahead of time.

Duolingo - This is a great (free!) language app for learning some of the more common international languages, although I wouldn't recommend it for phrases while you're there. The game-like style of learning is addictive, which is a good thing.

 Rick Steves - Almost goes without saying, but Rick Steves and his videos are must-watch homework for your trip. I had fun seeing many of the places in person and it helps you decide what you want to see and what you may want to skip. Lonely Planet is great too. Would also recommend getting an actual guidebook from your local library (or buying one if you have to have your own). He also has audio tours of many Italian sites that you can download to listen to when you visit, including the following ones for Rome:
Be sure to check out his site to download other locations you may visit, including Florence, Venice, Assisi, and Pompeii. I wish we had done this ahead of time, but unfortunately I forgot. I still had a great time, but this would have made discovering so many things much easier.

viRail.it - This is a good app for finding train times when you're in Italy. It's in Italian, but pretty intuitive.

Kayak.com - Good site for booking flights and hotels.

Triposo - This is a great app I found and really liked. You can use the vast majority of it completely offline, and there are apps for Italy and for Rome, specifically. The great thing about it is that it's divided up by city, so you can read about and save locations you want to visit within a city and then create city walks to get around. We found many places we wouldn't have otherwise gone. It also has a helpful phrasebook with some phrases you'll need to learn if you go outside of Rome (where many people speak English). I'd highly recommend downloading it before you go.

Journal - Ok, while not really an app, this is something you should do. I try to make myself do this at the end of each day. Great excuse for a cup of coffee or a drink at a local cafe to experience one more new place for the day, plus you'll forget everything eventually if you're like me, so writing helps you remember. It's also easier to stuff things in, like the day's ticket stubs or business cards from restaurants and places you visited that you want to remember to write down later.
Writing in my journal outside my favorite local cafe in Mintorno, Italy while enjoying a cappucino.

Lessons Learned 

In Italy there are tons of people hanging out around train stations who want to "help" you. They also want tips. Just be sure you know they'll be asking you for way more money than their service was worth. Some even wear the train company's shirts, so you think they're employees. Also, when boarding trains, don't forget to validate your ticket if you didn't buy it in already validated by one of the automatic teller booths. Some tickets are good for a long time, but I lucked out when I didn't validate mine the first time due to my lack of Italian-speaking skills and only suffered through an annoyed train worker's eye-rolling.

One more thing - many sites have different rates for students. Sometimes the savings are significant (such as the Great Synagogue of Rome, where adults pay 11 euros and students pay only 4). If you have a student pass, bring it. I used my grad student ID quite a bit. I just took a picture of it and put it in an "ID Stuff" folder on my iPhone so I didn't have to carry it around.

These are just a few of the tips/lessons learned. Next, on to the places I visited... First up - Minturno!

Links to the other posts from this trip - 

Italy - Minturno

Italy - Rome

Italy - Vatican City

Italy - Florence
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