# Travelhacking Italy -- any tips? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 29, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914 "2014-09-29T23:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/41 "2014-10-13T16:39:00Z")
It’s been a week since the OP’s last post. I hope he/she hasn’t been crushed by a falling _Statue of David_. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/42 "2014-10-13T18:19:31Z")
Nor [crushed a statue of David](http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/15/world/michelangelo-s-david-is-damaged.html). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/43 "2014-10-14T01:47:09Z")
I’m going to Florence next month and my wife is a big fan of Rick Steves. I also would like to know why people think he’s unreliable. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/44 "2014-10-14T03:39:00Z")
I’ve found most of his recommendations helpful. However, none of the restaurants he recommended near our hotel in Rome existed anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/45 "2014-10-14T10:29:20Z")
Just Florence, **Ascenray**? Anyways, as long as you get off the beaten path, you should be fine finding great food in Italy. Florence, being a tourist town, is going to make you walk further from the city center/Duomo to get off the beaten path. Here’s a hint: Italians eat late. Their restaurants open about 7pm for dinner/supper. Ones that open at 5pm or earlier for dinner are often aimed at tourists. Second and final hint: Should the restaurant offer a “tourist menu,” go somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/46 "2014-10-14T11:00:21Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Venice is horrible. Pisa is lame and boring and far away from everything. Rome is amazing! Stick with Rome. Take a trip down to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Stay the fuck out of Naples!! I was just in Naples, had a great time. Don’t be such a hater. Pompeii was much, much larger than I expected. Sorrento smelled marvelous, light citrus and floral, all day, every day. Rome was fantastic, can’t say enough good things. I think we paid for the first bus, that was it. Glad I didn’t know about the fines. There are local trains, and express. A local from Naples to Rome is about 12 euros, stops maybe five stations, two hours? Express is an hour, no stops, 85 euros. (All this is from memory, so approximate) Local is on website, but have to dig around a little to find info. Saw the Pope, he sends his love. Forgot you were Italy, Bear, otherwise would have tried for a mini dopefest. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/47 "2014-10-19T05:11:25Z")
**fisha** , it would have been a long trip for Bear for a mini dopefest in Italy. He’s moved to the other side of the world, coincidentally near a place I’d worked not too many years ago. ---
**Author:** ![fisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@fisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fisha)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/48 "2014-10-19T20:34:16Z")
> [@Caractacus\_Pott](#): > > **fisha** , it would have been a long trip for Bear for a mini dopefest in Italy. He’s moved to the other side of the world, coincidentally near a place I’d worked not too many years ago. Pretty sure it’s somewhere colder than mn. Forgot about that, but I don’t know where I am half the time myself, let alone anyone else. The years fly by. ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914/49 "2014-10-19T21:53:51Z")
Yup, quite a bit colder than Minneapolis. I only remember where he went because he solicited suggestions on the drive to his new location and remembered I’d worked nearby. Small world. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/travelhacking-italy-any-tips/699914.md?page=2)