hey desiree

if u know anyone in america who can book a flight for u, check out price and hotwire.

keep in mind that mon-thur u get cheaper flights.

u might want to consider flying into europe and take one of the no- frill airlines there. i think london is the place to get around europe on no-frill flights.

our traveling during the summer? u’ll be one 1,000s of tourist and it will be very hot.

i was there in feb for 4days and it was great.

whens the best time to go to italy?does anybody know?what should i look out for?good and bad?are those backpacking lists really accurate or are they nonsence and just take what you think?what about the money(currency)?are there backpack friendly places?do they welcome canadians with open arms like some places i hear of?are italian citizens hospitable?(ive lived on a nato airforce base and i found the itaf really friendly!)
oh my…..so much information.

Well, Desiree, since you’ve settled on Italy, that’s a good first step. Next, look at a good airfare by looking yourself at which airlines fly from your part of Canada to Europe (sometimes I’ve found fantastic fares within 10 minutes of looking on airline companies’ websites. At least it’ll give you an idea of prices availabe. Next, post on the forum for airtravel, and you’ll get help from Don and other real experts. Finally, don’t stress too much if the fare that you finally pay is $50 more than the "ideal" fare. In a year, you won’t remember, but you’ll always remember the experiences on your trip.
Anyway, get the flight done, and then decide where you’ll go in Italy, and how to get there. Get a good travel book, do some reading, and then read this board for very personal opinions about towns, places to stay, etc.
All of us have been beginners, and believe me, if I can do it, anyone can!
One last word of advice from a grizzled veteran: Schedule time in smaller towns, or at least schedule enough time in big cities that you’ll get a feel for the cities/neighborhoods. I think that, for most of us, that meal in a trattoria is more memorable than that train ride from Milan to Barcelona.

hi desiree,
well first off we could use a bit more information from you before being able to give you too much assistance. you mentioned that you are just out of high school…have you graduated already or are you graduating this year and planning to travel after school lets out? or are you planning on travelling in the fall?
Keep in mind that July and August will be the warmest and most crowded months for travelling.
Knowing where you are departing from and approximate departure/return dates would be useful info. Can’t help you much until we know that.
You may want your first stop to be Rome, but depending on where you eventually decide to fly into it may end up in the middle or end of your trip instead.
Those backpacking lists are accurate. Ignore them at your own risk.
Italy is nice to visit any time of the year.

quote:
are there backpack friendly places?

ummm…yes.

Go to your local bookstore or library and read through some guidebooks. You don’t need to read them cover to cover. Just the first part for each country will tell you the basic info you need to get around and answer lots of other basic questions you may have in an easy to understand and concise way.

Andrew

no

hi its me
in case everyone is wondering.ive graduated highschool and want to travel before i settle down in university for a while.ive already went on to my cities airport website and saw what planes fliight out and emailed all of those.most have emailed me back and have been curtious and have given me some useful info but not much.im starting to get a clear idea of what the travel TO there.leave st.johns(canada) on air canada or something the like to london take london (on god knows what i dont know) to italy.see …vague…
please keep giving your help
desiree

simebody that replied said i should look up don on the airtravel forum….i cant even find it…
sigh

Click on "all Forums" on this board, then look up "Cheap Flights". Read previous posts and then, if you still have questions post there. Don and others are real experts!

ok ok i realize nobody likes the newbies with all kinds of questions so i found don !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!finally and posted a thingy in cheap flights with basically all the info i have right now on what im doing.i dont know if theres a way to bring it over here i dont know but if you want to see its over there
thanks
desiree

ive completely forgotten!do i have to get a tourist visa or something the like to g to italy?
desiree

I don’t know how big the airport in St Johns is, but I suspect that you’ll need to get to a big city, perhaps Montreal or Quebec to get a flight across the Atlantic to Europe.
To begin, you might check to see which major airport is closest to you, and then begin planning from that point.
You can have a look at websites run by major airlines, and see which serve the major airport that you’ll use as your gateway to Europe. Then, you can look up airfares for your travel dates on several airlines’ websites (I guessing that perhaps you’d check Air Canada, perhaps British Air— and maybe even Aer Lingus. Get some idea of the fares that are offered at the time that you intend to fly. Try various combinations, such as British Air to London and then Rome, or Air Canada to Paris or Aer Lingus to Dublin. From Paris or Dublin, you might be able to make connections to Italy at low prices.
I’ve had some surprisingly low airfares by looking up flights from my home to Paris, for example, and then just by being flexible with dates, I’ve been able to get steep price reductions.
Once you’re in Europe, you can often get very cheap tickets from Easy Jet or Ryan Air—- so often the hard part is just getting across the Atlantic.
At any rate, once you have a general idea about departure city, and have checked the fares that the airlines are showing for your dates of travel, Don and the others might be able to guide you towards sources of cheaper tickets for your itinerary.
Often, those of us who don’t live in a city that has international flights end up paying higher prices because we must first travel to a big city that does have flights to Europe.

I recommend buying Lonley Planets Europe on a Shoestring and sitting down with that and reading it at every opportunity you have. It really helped me out and it will answer many of your questions.

Try the lonely planet website as well,www.lonelyplanet.com and read as many posts as you can here, that will give you a lot of necessary information.

the airport in St Johns’ is an international one and you can get direct flights to Heathrow Airport in London. It may be worth your while to go to see a travel agent and see if there are charter flights. This would be an option to look at for travel during the summer and tix on these flights could be a lot cheaper as well. From London you can always hop on one of the low-cost airlines like Ryan Air or EasyJet. Keep in mind that these airlines fly out of a different airport so if you go that route plan enough layover time to get from one airport to the other.

You will not need a visa to visit Italy or any of the other countries in the European Union as a Canadian.
If you want to check where you can and can not go without getting a visa you should check out the Canada Foreign Affairs website
http://www.voyage.gc…

You can also find travel alerts and other related info.
Do you have your passport yet?

quote:do they welcome canadians with open arms like some places i hear of?

Please Please Please! Can we start the "Im canadian, I shit flowers and blueberries so everybody will love me because of my mery maple leaf" or we could try the oldy but goody "Im a yank but should I wear a canadian flag on my pack to avoid anti-american backlash and terrorism?" I guess that one would have to go to packing though.

I never pegged you as the sensitive type Nad..

there there.. there there…

Besides, Im not even sure if this is a real thread, sometimes it just seems like someone taking the piss…

If I can help you, since you seem a bit lost on internet, maybe you should call a travel agency and ask for cheapest prices for a specific place. It really depends when you’re planning to go. I suggest you in may or June. In fact, I went to Roma and Florence in august 2 years ago and it was very hot (They recorded 46 degrees Celsius when I was there), it drained a lot of my energy, so you should go in may or june, but then hurry up to reserve your flight because prices are raising. I’m from Canada too, and from Toronto or Montreal, Air Transat have veruy good fares. I just bought a my tickets for Montreal to Bruxelles for 675$ CAN
taxes included, but prices already went up. Hope I helped you there.

taking a piss?what thats supposed to mean? im trying to legitimate USEFUL help when i cant seem t find any MOST of you seem to be very helplful to strangers and are willing to help.
desiree
p.s i dont shit flowers what do you shit? nor do i piss on things

I said taking the piss.

desiree –

Relax! They are a bit of a tough crowd. Especially sickboy, he loves to take the piss out of everyone.

So let me see if I have the facts straight.
You want to start your adventure in Rome and you have an unlimited amount of time. Now what about your budget? Are you going to be keeping things as cheap as possible?
Do you only want to go to Italy or are you going to venture into other countries as well?
Is this your first time traveling alone?

Sit down, think about what you really want to do, buy Lonely Planet’s Europe on a Shoestring and then post again, with all of your thoughts.

I’m helping my little sister out with the same thing right now for this summer. She has only ever traveled out of her state once and knows nothing about Europe.
So if you want some help fromt the forum, do the above stuff. But be ready for some BS from the board. If you can’t handle that email me at cubestorm@hotmail.com

Good luck!

Desiree’s an alter

I’ve actually behaved myself considerably. While I lean towards the alter thing, I don’t want to say that "either she is an alter or…."

Consider myself polite.

Buy a guidebook, endy story.

Buy a guidebook? Just go to the library for starters!

you think she’s an alter?
she has some legit looking posts in solo women… i was posting responses here b/c it looked like she was checking. hmmm…..

quote:
Desiree’s an alter

Young Dumb Canadian = Alter????

Some theory there, Hopee!!!!!

heres what i know and what i dont.
im thinkinh $6000 can.(not including airfare) is plenty for when i get there i saw a post from someone that said they had 3000 and i from what i understand it wasnt enough.im planning on staying two months.id like to spend all my time in italy thats what im focused on.ive been talking to some of mt friends that have travelled and said that its a good idea to focus on on eplace if its your first time travelling…what do you think.my birthday is coming up and one of my presents is going to be gasp a guidebook! most likely lp book,that shoestring thing.and another gasp ive been researching on the internet(ive been getting better) and now im thing…maybe this isnt good…tell me. instead of starting at rome id start at milan and work my way south until i reach rome stay for a few days there keep heading south hop over to sicily see mt,etns hop back over and head back up to rome and fly back out…does this sound good. as for housing should i just look for hostels or board as im going or look tings up now?do little cheap hotels or hostels even have websites or are there lists? maybe sleeping under the stars is a better way or is that WAAAYYYY to dangerous.
i will be travelling by myslef, this is my first time travelling outside my province and im completely IGNORANT!yes yes some of you will say something about this.who cares.
air canada will be starting nonstop flights to rome and one of them from st.johns(my city) its $989…too expensive?.
i will be going at the end of this year or early next year…lots of time to plan right?!is this a good travel time? not to hot or not to jampacked?
as for my packing i tink im going to start collecting things now this and there.sound good?.
ive applied for my passport and everything is in order.ive contacted the office of the government…who ever is in charge of travel and theyve given me numbers and address for italian embassyes or offices etc..is it worthwhile to look into?
anyway.
get back to me.much appreciated
desiree

If you’re only going to Italy, it would be much better to get a guidebook that only covers Italy rather than a shoestring guide.

I agree with the previous reply. If you are visiting only Italy you should buy a guidebook specific to that region. Perhaps Rick Steves Italy. You could always check out a copy of Lonely Planet’s GB and read through the Italian section making copies and notes on a seperate paper.

Also, Desiree you mentioned maybe starting in Milan and working your way south to Rome. Consider the weather, as the tiime passes it will get warmer. You should, instead, start from the south and work your way North.

Two months only in Italy, then Seraphim is definitey right. Get yourself a really good guide book focused on Italy. Get some good maps. Check out what the weather usually is that time of year. Pack accordingly, but pack light (check out the packing forum). and be VERY flexible. You have two months in one country, don’t plan a rigid schedule.

Hi again, Desiree,
If you’ll be going at the end of the year/beginning of next year, then you’ll be in Italy during winter, of course, and I don’t think it’ll matter whether you arrive in Rome and depart from Milan or vice versa. The Italian winters must be much milder than those that you’re used to.
Sleeping under the stars: Bad idea. Look into hostels or cheap hotels.
One thing that concerns me is that you’re pretty young, and have never been outside your province, but will be spending two months in Italy. It’s hard to adapt to a different culture, and a palce with a different language (doyou speak Italian?). On my first trip abroad, I spent 3 or 4 months studying in Ireland, and the langauge wasn’t a problem (although accents were), but it was a different culture, and I felt homesick sometimes. You’re young, and will be in a place where the language and culture will be VERY different from St. Johns.
Normally, I encourage people to spend more time in one country, and not rush around from major city to major city—- but keep in mind that your fantasy of Italy may not match the reality, especially during a rainy winter season.

hey everyone thanks for all the great tips and feedback on whats both good and bad ideas.
you guys are helping alot
desiree

The ideas here are pretty good…

Budget things out, figure how much you’ll have to spend and divide it by the number of days, and then see if that’s realistic. 40 euro a day is pretty good (you can always save one day to spend more another).

To be honest, Europe is different from Canada (where a day trip to another country means the US, and that’s it). Trains will take you almost anywhere, and it is easy to stop in two or three countries in the same day. I would plan on a side trip or two to neighboring countries (France and Switzerland are the easiest) for an morning/afternoon, or even overnight. Hostels can be pretty cheap, and as long as you find a greocery store, you can eat very cheaply. Many people only go on one big trip, so don’t have any regrets, and enjoy!

For some weather info and tips on countries, www.worldtraveltips…. is more consise than Lonely Planet, and you can ask around there for help too.

Good luck!
N…

if i pop over to other countries wont i need a visa or something unlike italy?i know there are CHEAP flights but will it considerably dwindle my money? also you all will be happy to know ive taken up going through ALL of the past pages and stuff really helps.everyone really helps
thanks
desiree l

Canadian citizens are permitted up to a ninety day stay within a six month period in the Schengen Region ( The 15 Schengen countries are: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. All these countries except Norway and Iceland are European Union members.) as well as certain non-signatories to the Schengen Treaty such as Switzerland for example, without an extended stay visa of some type. I believe the UK is six months annually, however a "working holiday" visa is available to Canadians for up to a two year stay.

quote:
if i pop over to other countries wont i need a visa or something unlike italy?i know there are CHEAP flights but will it considerably dwindle my money? also you all will be happy to know ive taken up going through ALL of the past pages and stuff really helps.everyone really helps
thanks
desiree l

My brother and his girlfriend will fly to Milan from Holland this summer. all costs, 2 persons: 46 euro. You do the math.

go to www.travelcuts.com you’re just out of school you you can get an ISIC card wich will get you a very good deal on tickets. This site has a link for travel cuts. I think that you’ll prolly get a round trip ticket for around 800-900 dollars canadian.

hello,
long time no type.anyway i bought the lonely planet guidebook to italy and found it was no good, exchanged it with lets go and i find its REALLY good.anyway i read a lot of it (its HUGE)i was wondering:
-is it possible not to have a set itinerary.like make for the largest cities as i come along to them…just seeing little towns along with the big and eventually find myself at my end point
-should i stay away from the south as its sounds a bit dangerous? or is it just hype
-is there any part of the book that i should razor out or veto besides the obvious(like the town i wont visit, whatever they might be)
– and two months is that a nice leisurely time to see the most i can?
– rather than bring a first aid kit with medicinesa nd pills(as there might be troulbles or delays or something at airports) ahould i just wait until i get ther?
thats it for now…
d

or not

If this is an alter you are doing a very good job of asking all of the obnoxious questions.

If this isn’t an alter, read the things that people have told you, use the search function and then ask some more questions. All of your questions have been answered quite a few times.

oh fuck off and get over yourselves everybody.the minute somebody comes on to this site, asks for ernest help, legitimately trying t make sense of a trip that can albsolutely make no sense at all in the beginning, you all go off on an: GOD YOUR STUPID,LOOK IT UP,YOUR HOT LETS FUCK,ITS CALLED A SEARCH ENGINE.well duh! we found this site looking for help not over egotistical pricks who are supposed to be "experts" hoping to get some help and all we get is flak.and to many of us its a breath of fresh air into something thats actually helpful rather than outdated , repeatitive, and for the "upperclass traveller" sorry if we dont know anything.BECAUSE THATS BECAUSE WE DONT! apperently you dont either, why did you sign up for this site about helping people, giving them info, helping new ignorants(much like myself) if all your going to do is bitch and make fun.
sorry if im asking alot of questions on this site because i dont know many paople that have been in my situation, i want to make sure im thorough, dont get anything wrong, and its a scary friggin experience.
i hope when you start something new and exciting in your life you dont get shot down for trying.

not sayin much now?

Slow down there, no reason to jump all over redkat like that. The search button gets plugged alot around here, because people constantly ask questions they can easily find for themselves.

Many of these questions are nearly impossible to answer since they’re so general or specifically personal.

quote: -is it possible not to have a set itinerary.like make for the largest cities as i come along to them…just seeing little towns along with the big and eventually find myself at my end point

Of course it is, but thats all going to revolve around your personality. With the amount of time you have (2months) your itinerary is almost certainly going to get pushed aside at some point. If you’re in love with some little town are you going to leave after a day just because your itinerary says to? You can be as structured as you want to be, but all you really need is a map. You only have one chance at seeing a place for the first time, so make sure you get your fill. When you’re satisfied or get that itch to move along, grab your map and decide where to go next. Also you’ll meet people there who will be raving about somewhere they just came from that’s completely unfamiliar or wasn’t considered but you will add it to your list just the same.

quote: -is there any part of the book that i should razor out or veto besides the obvious(like the town i wont visit, whatever they might be)

If it’s italy specific than bring it all. You won’t know every place you’ll visit till you’re actually there. Though you might want to cut the book into sections in order to distribute the weight and size, but reinforce the binding with tape as the two outer pages like to fall off.

quote: – rather than bring a first aid kit with medicinesa nd pills(as there might be troulbles or delays or something at airports) ahould i just wait until i get ther?

Do you have any particular condition or medications that you need to have with you? Otherwise anything and everything you may need can be bought there when and if you need it. You’ll appreciate later not having to carry around unnecessary things that we are all guilty of doing. Besides a bottle of Tylenol or Aleve for headaches (leave it sealed if you’re worried about having your bag searched) there’s nothing you realistically need to have on you.

des, if you are legitamately looking for help you will realize people have offered advice for what you have asked within the last week within other topics. In fact if you read your cross post in solo-women travelers you will see that you have been offered even more info there.

All people want to see from you is that you are using the information that you are given and that you are looking at the site and noticing similar questions with answers already given. I told my sister she wasn’t allowed to post here until she had done her homework and had specific questions. It turns out that she hasn’t had to post b/c they have all been answered in other threads.

And about the book biding, do a search under "all topics" and "binding". There was a lengthy Q & A about binding not too long ago.

Anyway, good luck and cauky.

thanks for all the help guys.im gone.

quote:
do they welcome canadians with open arms like some places i hear of?

lol. Don’t expect people to run up to you and hug you. You’ll be treated courteously, but people won’t treat you any different than they treat their own compatriots, or the millions of other tourists that visit their country from around the world.

quote:
are italian citizens hospitable?(ive lived on a nato airforce base and i found the itaf really friendly!)

Hospitable as in, you ask for help and people help you? Yes. (definitely. At least for MOST Italians).
Hospitable as in, people will welcome you into their homes? No. They’re not that different from Canadians. People are people.

Also remember not to cling to stereotypes. People are not going to embrace you and force-feed you pasta with Kraft parmesan cheese, or consider you family as they do in the Olive Garden. These Hollywood-induced stereotypes are untrue. They’re based on family relationships, but the twist that the North American media gives these cultural aspects ("when you’re here, you’re family&quot are ridiculous. On the contrary, southern Europeans (Italians, Greeks, French, Spaniards, Portuguese) are very private. They are also very outgoing at the same time. It’s a paradox. For example, in a conversation with an acquaintance, coworker, or neighbor no southern European will mention his/her family’s problems, whereas North Americans have the tendency to do this. There are so many other examples, but just remember that Italians despite their flair and fun are a very private people, contrary to the way that the North American media portrays them. To smash another stereotype, southern Europeans again, despite Hollywood stereotypes tend to be very reserved. There are some occasions when people let loose, but there are several instances (such as recreation, for example) when they are much more reserved than North Americans and northern Europeans. This again ties into the privacy characteristic.

Have fun on your travels, and never hesitate to ask questions. No one hates newbies it’s just that the more epxerienced posters are just trying to encourage newbies to use the search function for frequently asked questions.