Aw sorry to hear that you didn’t get accepted, that always sucks.

Personally I think 2 grand should be enough if you’re as budget conscious as I am (I don’t even think about it anymore, but then I see people over there blowing all kinds of money on crap..hehe). Obviously your two main expenses will be lodging and transit; everything other than that is entirely up to you

Your itinerary looks fine to me; also I think you heard right about Naples. I haven’t been there yet myself, but from people I know who have been there (including my dad in the early 80s with the Navy) it’s an okay place in the day, but after night is terrifying. Funny enough, I was thinking about heading down this way about the time you will be going. I am huge into ancient history and archaeology but haven’t really had a compelling reason to make it all the way down Italy in the summertime yet But anyway having looked into it, I was thinking of staying in a town like Sorrento, which is supposed to be nice and is really pretty close to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples, as well as being not super far from Paestum, home of two of the best preserved Greek temples in Italy that are like standard study if you’re into that kinda thing. And yeah the archaeology museum in Naples is supposed to be like one of the best ones in the whole world, PLUS it’s where a lot of the stuff they found in Pompeii gets kept.

Kayling, sorry to hear about the job. that sucks.

Your intuitions about Naples are correct. I would definitely stay elsewhere. I felt fine during the day time, but left before it got dark- it’s a pretty dirty, crowded city. That said, the archeological museum is really awesome. You can easily spend 2-3 hours exploring it; there’s lots of really cool things to see there. I highly recommend it. Also, if you’re a pizza lover then Naples is a must-visit for lunch. The pizza there is unbelievable. For my trip this summer we’re using Sorrento as our base for Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. There’s several nice-looking hostels there, is supposedly a really nice city, and it’s easy to access Pompeii, Naples, and the coast. I’d look there to stay over.

If you have any questions about Italy feel free to ask, it’s the only country I actually can offer advice on

I am sorry about your disappointment, Kayling, but you can have a great trip.
Not sure how non-driving people get to Stonehenge these days (in the 70’s it involved train, bus and thumb for me, and since then I’ve been by car.) Maybe a bus goes all the way there these days? No doubt there are excursions from London as well.

I would definitely consider one of those backpacker excursions, but I never got that excited about Loch Ness. A friend did the MacBackpackers tour that went to Oban, and she loved it. I’ve been to Ft William (touristy but fun) and the distillery at Pitlochry and it was very cool (of course that is the Whisky Trail, not the Highlands.)

Others have been to Naples more recently than I have, but I’ve been to Sorrento in much more recent years and agree that it would be a good lodging place, and I agree with Feicht’s suggestions. You would take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii.

I am a teeny bit concerned about your budget; I hope you have enough to keep fed and reasonably lodged.

1. I like your choices.
2. Stonehenge is an easy day trip from London. There are numerous tours available from London, but it’s relatively easy to do on your own. Train (from Waterloo station, I think) to Salisbury where you catch a bus or a tour (basically the bus ride plus the admission ticket) to Stonehenge. The buses and tours leave from the train station and are timed to mesh with the trains from London. We returned to Salisbury, caught a train to Bath and got there in time to tour the Roman baths before they closed. We spent some time wandering around Victorian Bath and caught an early evening train back to London — arriving at Paddington.
3. I’d VERY concerned about your budget since it includes your city to city transportation and your backpackers tour. I think you need $2,000 for daily living in addition to city to city transportation. I’d hope to accomplish city to city for a total of $500, but that may be tough.

I’d love to see Stonehenge one day, but I’ve heard the companies running tours to it are kind of disappointing. I mean I’m into archaeology and that so just being near it would feel cool, but from what I hear you can’t even really get near it at all. The archaeologist in me understands that, because it would be irrevocably harmed if tourists who didn’t appreciate what it really is were trampling it all day and every day…. but the tourist in me wants to get right up close to it! Or maybe those two things reversed

So I priced out everything: sights, decent hostels, local and inter-city transportation, food, etc. (and added a bit of a cushion) and I came in right at what I had estimated before! ($2000 for everything but flight) Glad I can at least theoretically stay on budget lol.

Oldlady, I checked for train fares on the National Rail website (UK) and trenitalia, and if you buy in advance, they both seem to have reasonable fares. Italy’s are cheap anyway, I’ve found, as long as you aren’t taking Eurostar Italia trains. IC and regional seem to be the way to go there (slightly longer train times, 30min-1hr most of the time, but the much cheaper price negates that IMO). Also, I was worried about the fares on National Rail being like those super cheap fares on Deutsch Bahn which sell out quickly so I checked dates in May (less than a month from now) and the advanced purchase tix were still available. I imagine Sept is similarly busy to May, so that what I’m going by. The prices I found, btw, were 47.50 pounds London-Edinburgh one-way, and 34 pounds r/t to Salisbury (for stonehenge). I also found a Ryanair flight between Edinburgh and Pisa for $99. I could also do easyJet to Milan for like $50 and then train to Florence, but that ended up being around the same price and taking longer since Pisa is much closer to Florence than Milan by train. I’m sure this fare could go up but I mean, the flight is not for 5 months so I’m sure it won’t sell out quite that early (also, seems like an unusual route, so hopefully not that popular?). All told, city-to-city stuff came out to about $350.

Looks like you’ve done a great job with your homework!

Yes, avoiding reservations can save significant money in Italy. Italy will still be crammed with tourists in Italy, so some of the trains that don’t require reservations will be very crowded. Also be sure to check the “fine print” when you buy a ticket on trenitalia. Sometimes it says “reservation must be purchased in Italy” which means you’ll still have to deal with the hassle and expense of a reservation.

Kayling, it’s difficult, to put it mildly, to buy tickets on the Trenitalia website using a non-European credit card. Recently I’ve tried five different cards, three different Trenitalia logins, different computers and wifi connections, and had no luck. I’ve read a few instances where people have been able to do it in the last couple of years, but for the most part it doesn’t work anymore. Some posters on the Fodor’s forum have called Trenitalia and were told they were “working on it.” It’s apparently a really difficult issue to resolve since it’s been two or three years

Opps, double post. Anyway, the short version is don’t count on being able to take advantage of those advance purchase specials.

Oh yeah, it’s cool, but alot of the trains on trenitalia are regional or IC trains that are apparently super easy to buy in-country because they’re cheap and run all the time (multiple times an hour). The only ones I would want to buy in advance are Eurostar Italia trains because of the required reservation and those are, like I said, kinda out of my budget range lol. Anywhere other than Italy and I’d be a little worried, but I’m not traveling during any peak times so it doesn’t really stress me out. Italy is know for cheap train travel. I’m probably gonna buy tickets for all of Italy as soon as I land there, so I’ll have some of them at least a week in advance.

So have you decided yet where you’ll be staying for the Pompeii/Naples leg? I vote Sorrento so you can tell me if it is a good idea

Yea, you should have no problem buying train tickets for regional trains. They do run really frequently, and since all of your distances are closer together, it does make sense to just travel via these trains. It’s really easy to buy the tix at the help-yourself kiosks.

Just don’t forget to validate your ticket in the orangey-yellow machine at the platform.
I once watched a furious Italian couple pay a fine to a conductor between Milan and Venice.

Just don’t forget to validate your ticket in the orangey-yellow machine at the platform.
I once watched a furious Italian couple pay a fine to a conductor between Milan and Venice.

Yeah, I’ve traveled by train in Europe before (in France) and remember we had to validate the tickets. They are yellow boxes in France, so its good to know they are the same/similar color.

And no I haven’t figured out where I will stay for the Pompeii part because I haven’t really found many hostels in Sorrento with good ratings, but there are several in Naples that are well positioned for traveling outside the city.

Consider looking for a pension or B&B in Sorrento… sometimes these can be as cheap as hostels, and more comfy.

A great idea, but here are two options for Sorrento: Seven Hostel and Ulisse Deluxe. Perhaps a little more pricey than other hostels, but Ulisse is running at 24 euro per night in a dorm and Seven is 28-31 euro for 6 and 8 bed dorms (there might be bigger dorms). I haven’t stayed at either but they are my number 1 and 2 choices for my trip this summer- we are staying at Seven, I’m pretty sure (because it included breakfast and Ulisse breaks dorms into males and females and I’m traveling with a guy & girl and we all want to be together). Anyway, they both offer lots of amenities and both had fantastic reviews. I’d look into them.

DreamingofItaly, when is your trip this summer? Definitely let me know how that hostel in Sorrento works out, I’d love to hear a first hand experience from someone reliable. I’m trying to stay in places which offer breakfast (to cut down on the food budget!) so that’s good to know.

ETA: I just checked out the website for Seven Hostel and it looks KILLER so I think I will definitely look into it some more.

My trip is June 29-August 14. We’ll be staying in Sorrento (again as a base for Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast, maybe a day trip to Capri) from July 18-21 (if our plans stay the same). I’m have a skype date with my 2 friends on Tuesday to book Italy hostels so hopefully they will be as excited staying at Seven as I am! I will definitely let you know how it turns out…

I know you studied in Paris, did you by any chance visit Lyon? Looking for a budget hotel recommendation if you have…

-Taylor

No unfortunately didn’t make it down to Lyon! I’ve only been around northern/eastern France, Paris, and Amsterdam. Let me know how that goes, I hear nothing but good things about the city. Your trip looks pretty awesome btw, hope you have lots of fun!

Thanks! I’m so excited about it. Your trip is going to be awesome too!