Rome, Florence, Caen & Paris hotels and tips

[tripleshot]

DH, DS17, and I are going on an almost 3 week trip to Italy and France in July. It’ll be our first non-US/Mexico trip. I got the plane tickets for free with credit card points and now I’m planning the details. We leave 7/4 from Ohio and fly into Rome landing 7/5 around 10am. We fly home from Paris 7/21. I’ve read a bunch of sample itineraries and blogs and joined travel fb groups, but I’m just so overwhelmed.

Here’s a very tentative schedule. The only things set in stone are flights. I’ll take any and all tips and advice, even if you tell me this makes no sense and isn’t doable. I’m lost. We want to stay in city center in Rome, Florence, and Paris for sure. All the hotel reviews are so inconsistent so I feel a bit lost and I don’t want to spend $300+/night for the ones with consistent reviews. We prefer hotels vs Airbnbs. Restaurant or shopping tips?

Has anyone used the Verizon Travel Pass? It’s $100/line for 30 days. Not sure if local data SIM cards are the better option (Orange)?

7/5-7/8 Rome
-Hotels near Piazza Navona or Trevi Fountain you have personally stayed at? We’ll need AC since it’s July.
-Day 1: Arrive, eat, nap for jet lag, wander around?
-Day 2: Colosseum, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill guided tour
-Day 3: Vatican City guided tour? Then Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Venezia
-Day 4: Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Villa Borghese

7/9-7/11 Florence- Maybe a day trip to Pisa?
-Day 5: Take train from Rome early morning? Pointe Vecchio and Piazza Michangelo
-Day 6: Uffizi Gallery and Galleria dell’Accademia
-Day 7: Piazza Della Signovia,David statue, Duomo, find a laundromat?

7/12 Train to Caen

7/13-15 Caen/Normandy stuff for DH-haven’t researched this part yet

7/16-7/17 Amboise - DH spent time here in a teacher exchange 12 years ago and wants to visit and wander. 

7/18-20 Paris
7/18 is DS’s 18th birthday so any ideas to make it special would be helpful
Nothing researched/planned yet-Eiffel Tower one evening, Arc De Triumph, Louve, River cruise?

I do have some mobility issues due to an autoimmune disease that has wrecked my joints, so we’ll walk a lot but also grab taxis when I’m spent. Thank you in advance! 

[dcrunnergirl52]

We did Rome and Florence (and Milan and Venice) last summer with our kids, ages 11, 11, 9, 4. I thought I posted this before but can't find the post but anyway, here is our trip report.

docs.google.com/document/d/16qfZq4N8p6xYbaJgcGovnIZHpQui_0kVTkASctHaCBw/edit

In Rome, we loved Hotel Smeraldo. The a/c was very good, the location was great, the breakfast and bakery across the street were amazing.

I highly recommend a golf cart tour of Rome on your first day. It's nice to see lots of things easily (especially in the heat) with less walking. We all loved it. 
The Colosseum is very hot. We didn't make our whole tour and definitely couldn't have walked around The forum after.

In Florence, we stayed at an AirBnB that was very good and a perfect location. The link is in the trip report. It had a very good washer, so we didn't need a laundromat.


I'd say that the Uffizi and Gallery D'Accademia in one day would be a lot unless you (and your son) are really into art. It's a lot. You could combine Accademia with seeing David since it's in that gallery.

We used both Uber and the FreeNow app to get taxis throughout Italy and they both worked great.

We also went to Paris in the summer in 2019 and stayed at this aparthotel, which had great views of the Eiffel Tower at night.

www.adagio-city.com/gb/hotel-6790-aparthotel-adagio-paris-centre-tour-eiffel/index.shtml

It's been a few years, so I don't know how it is now, but it was very nice then.

[tripleshot]

dcrunnergirl52 Thanks so much for all the helpful info and the trip report! The golf cart tour on the first day is an excellent idea.

[mrsukyankee]

I would just do the days in Florence w/o a day trip to Pisa (which I didn't really love). Florence is one of my fav cities and three days is really the least I'd want to do (it's great for wandering around too).

I like the hop-on-off bus in Paris. A good way to get around and see a lot, while also being able to hop off and explore a bit more. I'd ask your son what sort of food he'd like to eat and find a really great place in Paris (which is so easy!).

[tripleshot]

mrsukyankee Thanks! After posting this, we did decide to skip Pisa. It seems most people say it’s underwhelming and not worth the time to go.

[osumelissa]

We just went to Italy this past late April to early May for three weeks (Milan, Venice, Florence, and Rome).

Florence - Glad to see you will skip Pisa with only three days in Florence. We went to Pisa on a day trip and enjoyed it, but we were in Florence for a week. Definitely get the advance/timed tickets for both Uffizi and Accademia (this is where David is housed ---- soooooo impressive!). Personally, I would do the Uffizi one morning and Accademia the next morning with the Duomo in the afternoon one of those days. Also, since you plan to go to the Uffizi, perhaps get the combo ticket for that, Pitti Palace, and Boboli Gardens. The gardens are gorgeous! For Piazzle Michaelangelo go later in the day - seeing sunset up there is magical and gives you really wonderful views of Florence.

Rome - we did the early morning guided Vatican Museum tour (includes breakfast) and it was amazing. Yes, it is an early start to the day, but to get to see areas with no people that are normally shoulder to shoulder full of people is pretty incredible. After the Vatican Museums, you can walk to St Peter's which, even as a non-Catholic, I thought was a must-see. We did a guided tour of Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palentine Hill - it is a lot of walking. I would go as early as possible to avoid the heat of the July day, or in the evening if that is possible.

Paris - I highly recommend going to the Arc de Triomphe at night. If you all want to/can, go to the top for the views. I like the Musee d'Orsay more than the Louvre. Other things in Paris I have liked: Sacre Coeur, Sainte Chapelle, Rodin Museum, Centre Pompidou (I like modern art, so if that isn't your jam, you can skip it).

In both Rome and Paris, I have used the metro to get around when not walking. I haven't used taxis in any of the cities you will be visiting so I don't have any advice there. Also I stayed in AirBNBs in Florence, Rome, and Paris (me and my partner, no kids), so no hotel recommendations either.

Have a wonderful trip and happy planning!

[tripleshot]

osumelissa Thank you so much for all the recs! It’s definitely helpful!

[tvlmm]

We did France a few years ago, this is from my trip report; only including Paris since that's where you're going.

France, April 2017
Part I - Paris
We took a direct United flight, which was less than 7 hours, with no issues. Sadly, no one slept. But I still went with my fool-proof “beat the jetlag” strategy of no naps on the 1st day, just walking around all day long and then going to bed at bedtime. It worked! The 1st day was a little rough but not too bad.
Upon arrival at the airport, I found a tourist information desk and bought DH and me the Paris Museum Passes, they are €62 each; kids under 18 enter all museums for free. (EU residents under age 26 are also free with ID). We then found a taxi to take us to our hotel.
Wednesday morning Paris rush hour traffic was what you’d expect, DD did take a short nap in the car. Color me surprised when we arrived at our hotel and I found out the taxi does not take credit cards! I had maybe 40 € on me (brought from home) and the fare was €55. Thankfully, he agreed to take $60 and all was well.
It was only 9am but our room was ready. We stayed at www.adagio-city.com/gb/hotel-6790-aparthotel-adagio-paris-eiffel-tower/index.shtml - we had a separate bedroom (for the kids), a kitchen (stove top, microwave, fridge, no oven), and an awesome heated towel rack in the bathroom. We also had a view of the top of the Eiffel Tower. Hotel rooms that need to accommodate 4+ in France are a lot more expensive. I wanted to rent an apartment, DH wanted a hotel, so we compromised with this aparthotel.
The towel rack served not only to warm up towels and PJs for after shower and before bed but it was a great drying rack for the handwashing laundry I was able to do daily.
The main reason I bought the Museum Pass was for its “skip-the-line” value, I figured even if we don’t visit €62+ worth of museums, just being able to skip the long lines will be worth it. As it turned out, not only did we skip many lines (but not all museums do that) but we ended up covering the cost of it with all the museums/attractions we entered! The other great thing about it is that you don’t feel guilty only entering a museum for 45 minutes-an hour. And you can come back as often as you want!
After unpacking a little, we walked over to the metro station. There were 2 close to our hotel, including one with RER C train service. I bought 2 packs of 10 tickets, one for adults and one for kids. We did a ton the first day, walking around for many miles, and climbed to the top of Notre Dame (387 steps each way). The Museum Pass did not allow a “skip-the-line” option here, it was all one line.
When we got to the Louvre, the Museum Pass “skip-the-line” line was really long, the other line was probably over 2 hours long but the Museum Pass line was at least an hour long. I was chit-chatting to one of the security guys and he asked, “do you want to skip the line?” and let us into another entrance that allowed us immediate entry! This was the 1st of many many positive interactions we had on the trip. We did not have a single negative experience when dealing with people! We never did find the underground entrance and every security person I asked pointed us to enter via the Pyramid, which is what we did.
We had a Monoprix just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel, it’s a pretty large grocery store with a bakery. We were able to get food for dinner and breakfast there every day. We shopped in the evenings on the way back to the hotel. The rotisserie chicken was the only miss, it was dry and not yummy. The bakery though – OMG – I basically could’ve eaten every meal and every snack from there day after day.
For most of our meals, we either ate from the grocery store or grabbed something from the café or the street vendors, like the delish crepes! We had very few sit-down-in-restaurant meals and that worked out well for us.
We all slept through the night thanks to staying up and walking all day. DD slept in until 10:30am, which has NEVER EVER happened. I felt too guilty to wake her up, but this definitely meant a much later start to the day. Day 2 began with a visit to Sainte Chappelle, a gorgeous stained-glass-windows church. I definitely recommend a visit here on a sunny day. We had no line with our Museum Passes.
I gave each of the kids their own camera and it really made them invested in the trip. Going through their photos is a little painful but there are also a lot of really good shots and it is totally worth it! We have some funnies videos too! I think DD took a photo of every flower in France, though LOL
We grabbed lunch and ate it at Luxembourg Gardens on our way to the Eiffel Tower. I had booked (3 months in advance) tickets to go up in the Tower for 5pm. I was hoping for twilight but they don’t pre-sell any tickets between 5-9pm and sunset was around 8:30pm. We spent a couple of hours up there and it’s one of those quintessential Parisian activities but the views are better, IMO, when the Eiffel Tower is in them, so for example, the views from Notre Dame and Arc de Triomphe. No regrets though and the kids really loved it!
Day 3 was a Friday and I had planned a day trip to Versailles that day. My reading told me to avoid Tuesdays and Saturdays. DS woke up at 7am throwing up, miraculously making it to the bathroom and into the toilet! He repeated it 50 minutes later. I wanted to take the 8am train to Versailles in order to beat the crowds, but after the 2nd puking incident, DS fell asleep, and once again – I felt too bad waking up a sleeping child and let him sleep. He never puked again but this meant we took the noon train, thus “losing” four hours of our day.
Versailles was amazing, there was no “skip-the-line” line but it was worth it. We did not purchase the extra tickets to the gardens but the palace was great! We then walked 15-20 minutes to the Queen’s Hamlet and our Museum Passes granted us free entry here too (same as the main Versailles Palace). Her actual residence was under renovation but the gardens and the other little buildings were so adorable! The kids loved exploring here too. Highly recommend a day trip to Versailles (take the RER C train).
We started the next day by taking the steps to the top of Arc de Triomphe and then leisurely walked down Champs-Élysées for a few hours. I had to spend €2.50 to use a “fancy” bathroom in a mall with DD. We got lunch at Paul and walked all the way to Place de la Concorde. They have a huge Ferris Wheel there now (ala London Eye) which I wasn’t really planning to take but then decided to do it. I believe it was €12 for adults and €6 for kids. We did two rotations and, as it was a sunny day, got some great photos. (I am not sure if they always let you do two rotations, it was not super busy, maybe a 10-15 minute long line).
After that we went to Museum d’Orsay, skipping all lines with our Museum Pass; this is a cool museum built in a former train station. The rest of my party wasn’t as interested but I still made them walk through it.
Afterwards, the troops were tired, so we took the subway to the Trocadero station, from where we were able to have another view of the Eiffel Tower and we bought the kids huge towers as souvenirs. They also sell 5 keychains for a euro (€) so DD stocked up to give them out to her friends/teachers. Tacky, but the kids were happy and they are allowed to buy a souvenir of their choice on trips.
This was our last night in Paris, we packed up and got ready for the next part of our adventure!

[majesty318]

I stayed at Relais Giulia in Rome, it is central and the room was really large (especially for European standards LOL). Not sure about A/C as I was there in the winter.

Suggestions for Rome:

• Domus Aurea which is the ruins of an underground palace. When I was there, it was only open weekends. parcocolosseo.it/area/domus-aurea/
• Le Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini - also underground ruins but they have multimedia during it, I think it would be great for your teen. www.palazzovalentini.it/domus-romane/
• Via Triumphalis Necropolis - ruins of an ancient cemetery they found while building a parking lot. m.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani-mobile/en/collezioni/aree-archeologiche0/necropoli-della-via-triumphalis/necropoli-della-via-triumphalis.html

The Colosseum does night visits with lights at certain times of year, check that out.



And the Vatican also does Friday evenings at certain times of year so should be less crowded.



I always suggest food tours (I like Devour Tours and they are in Rome)

[Pibs]

We did Rome last May/June. We stayed at Lifestyle Suites Piazza Navona which is literally on Piazza Navona - if you'd fallen off of our teeny balcony you could have almost landed in one of the fountains. It had air conditioning and a rooftop bar which was nice to relax at, but it closes really early so you don't disturb other guests. We got coffee every day from La Casa del Caffe Tazza d'Oro which is within walking distance of Piazza Navona. We stumbled upon a little charcuterie place called I Pizzicaroli that was super yummy. Armando al Pantheon was a great restaurant, but apparently it's a Stanley Tucci featured place which means people book up reservations months in advance and get all smug when you're waiting for a table. Except if you get there a few minutes before it opens you can walk right in with said smug people and get a table. Trastevre was probably our favorite area for food and where we'd likely try to stay at when we go back - soooo many great places to choose from. We had the most amazing limoncello and tiramisu at Bacco in Trastevre.

I highly recommend doing an after hours tour at the Vatican. We went for one of the evening happy hour ones, and the Vatican had one of the best Aprol Sprtizes we had. You get to see the Sistene Chapel in a smallish group of maybe 10-15 people. There are other groups in there at the same time, but it's not packed like it would otherwise be and the guides are allowed to speak (AKA tell you about the chapel). I would also happily go back to the Galleria Borgehse a million times over because they had the most incredible artwork.

Do the normal touristy things like the Pantheon, Forum, Colosseum and fountains but if you're an art person look and see what else might be available to visit. There are random churches that have pieces from Raphael, Bernini, Borromini, and others and might have even been designed/worked on by them. They might have super limited hours, like from 10-12 on Tuesdays only but they're fun to see.

[turkletsmom]

We went to Italy last May- Venice, Florence, Siena and Rome

In Rome we stayed at the Hotel Navona Colors. The room was large and location great.
On Friday and Saturday nights the Vatican has evening hours from 7pm-10pm and you can add on a happy hour that adds to the Catholic experience lol. The crowds were so much lighter than if we went during the day. Highly recommend.

In Florence- we used Rick Steves audio guides app for both the Uffizi and the Accademia since we just wanted to see the most famous highlights in each. It got us in and out of the Uffizi in less than 2 hours and maybe an hour in the Accademia? We did the Uffizi in the morning right when it opened and the Accademia after lunch. Get the timed tickets. Also, the Uffizi has a great little rooftop cafe for a quick stop.
Florence is very walkable, so you'll be able to see a lot in 3 days.

[wildrice]

For Rome and Florence, I think your itinerary is pretty good for both. A couple of tips:

- book things as early as possible in the day. We had the first reservation at the Accadamia and got to see the David with nobody else in the room. July is going to be JAMMED with people so the earlier in the day you get places, the better. This is really my best travel advice for anywhere. I wouldn't say I'm a natural early riser, but we've been known to get places at the crack of dawn and then take a nap late afternoon to make up for it.

- Rick Steves has really good guides to all of the Italian museums and galleries that you mention. This is going to depend on your style, but I will say that I took a guided tour of the Vatican museums and the Colloseum/Roman Forum when I was there in 2013, and when I went back in 2020 I used Rick Steves and had a much better experience using just the guidebook. Perhaps it depends on the tours, but in the Vatican especially I just found the lady leading the tour was droning on and on about things, it was so crowded that I spent a lot of time just trying not to lose her, and we had to move on from things much more quickly than I would have liked to in certain places. Rick gives just the right amount of information to share what you're looking at and guide you to interesting things, but you can take your time and don't have to listen to the boring stuff.

- The Borghese gallery was really cool - BE ON TIME. We somehow got dropped off at the wrong part of the park by our cab driver (which I think was my fault for giving a bad address) and had to walk quite a ways, so we were a good 30 minutes late. This was a shame because you only get 2 hours and they are very strict about it.

- We also really enjoyed seeing the ruins near the Colloseum at night - there is something called Trajan's column and I think there was a market or something else right there. Worth walking by, especially after being in that general area. We also used Rick Steves' guide to walk around Rome and had a blast. I think you could easily grab cabs to get between places if walking becomes too much.

-If you really feel like you need a day trip from Florence, we loved Siena and it's not terribly far. But I think 3 days in Florence is ideal.

We still talk all the time about how wonderful Italy was and how we wish we lived there. We've had some great trips but this one really stood out.

I've been to Paris but only briefly so I don't have much to add beyond what you've listed - but I am jealous! I would love to go back to Paris and see more. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

[tripleshot]

Thanks for all the awesome tips! One more question-we’re not religious. Should we skip the Vatican or is it still worth seeing?

[wildrice]

Jan 6, 2023 12:53:25 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

Thanks for all the awesome tips! One more question-we’re not religious. Should we skip the Vatican or is it still worth seeing?

Worth it. We aren't religious either but it's really interesting and beautiful. The museum has a ton of stuff that isn't really religious and the cathedral is uniquely impressive.

[majesty318]

Jan 6, 2023 12:53:25 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

Thanks for all the awesome tips! One more question-we’re not religious. Should we skip the Vatican or is it still worth seeing?

I think it has more to do with if you like art than being religious. I was actually going to skip it because I am not at all an art museum person. However, I was there in very low season (fun fact, it was my last vacation before Covid started - end of January 2020!) and I was already there for the necropolis tour that I recommended above. So I quickly walked through to see the Sistine.

In July, it is going to be jam packed. It is also gigantic. If you like art or it's on your bucket list, then worth it. Otherwise maybe not, or try for the breakfast or evening openings.

[lust2hart]

Jan 6, 2023 12:53:25 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

Thanks for all the awesome tips! One more question-we’re not religious. Should we skip the Vatican or is it still worth seeing?

Ditto PPs that it's worth it. Also the very best travel tip I've ever gotten was from Rick Steves about the Vatican - I can't remember if it's in his book or if he just said it on his tv show - 

1. Purchase tickets ahead of time, for the very first time slot.

2. Walk all the way through the Vatican, stopping at nothing, and go straight to the Sistine Chapel (it's at the very end of the tour). You'll have the place practically to yourself as the others are working their way through the rest of the museums. Once you've had your fill, go all the way back to the entrance and do the tour. 

We followed this tip and it was AMAZING. We stayed there for as long as we wanted - I want to say we were in there for at least an hour - and there were maybe 20 others for most of that time (it started to fill up towards the end of our time). When we came back through it a few hours later (after doing the rest of the tour), it was packed.  

[gardengal]

Jan 6, 2023 12:53:25 GMT -5 tripleshot said:

Thanks for all the awesome tips! One more question-we’re not religious. Should we skip the Vatican or is it still worth seeing?

We are not religious & aren’t into art & skipped in favor of a more relaxed time in Rome with no regrets. 

I don’t think you can make a bad decision here, tbh.

[dutchgirl678]

We didn't stay in hotels when we went to Rome and Florence but booked apartments on VRBO. We stayed on the Campo de Fiori in Rome which was amazing. We walked to the Piazza Navona and Coloseum from there and took the bus to the Vatican. If you only have 3 days for Florence, I wouldn't do a side trip, but if you have time for one I would go to Siena instead of Pisa.

[fortnightlily]

We did Paris and Normandy last summer. Are you staying in Caen? Renting a car? There are a ton of different WWII museums around Normandy. Based on recommendations I read we decided to do the WWII Memorial Museum in Caen, and I thought it was very good.

We stayed at an AirBnB in more central Normandy because we wanted to also spend a day at Mont Saint-Michel. But then we spent a second day driving through Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach, and Arromanches-les-Bains.

If we'd had more time I would've also liked to go to Bayeux and see the Bayeux Tapestry.

In Paris we did: Seine River Cruise, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, Sainte Chapelle & La Conciergerie, the Louvre, and L'Orangerie. 

[kittywalker]

We stayed at Hotel Louis II in Paris this summer and really liked it. The neighborhood (the 6th) was fantastic for walking everywhere.

We took the train to Caen, rented a car, drove to our hotel in Bayeux and from there did Mont Saint Michel one day and a tour of the D-Day beaches with Overlord tours the next day. We stayed at Hotel Belle Normandy, which was adorable. Highly recommend staying in Bayeux.

[tripleshot]

Feb 11, 2023 15:20:31 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

We did Paris and Normandy last summer. Are you staying in Caen? Renting a car? There are a ton of different WWII museums around Normandy. Based on recommendations I read we decided to do the WWII Memorial Museum in Caen, and I thought it was very good.

We stayed at an AirBnB in more central Normandy because we wanted to also spend a day at Mont Saint-Michel. But then we spent a second day driving through Utah Beach, Pont du Hoc, the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach, and Arromanches-les-Bains.

If we'd had more time I would've also liked to go to Bayeux and see the Bayeux Tapestry.

In Paris we did: Seine River Cruise, went to the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, Versailles, Sainte Chapelle & La Conciergerie, the Louvre, and L'Orangerie. 

We were thinking of stating in Caen for 2 days but I haven’t booked lodging yet. We don’t want to rent a car but I also haven’t figured out the transportation yet. I’ve had a lot of life stuff happen and I'm so far behind in planning this trip.  Thanks for the tips!

[dragon's breath]

My trip was in 2015, but we did the Caen two day WWII tour then (believe those are on hold now, and they are only doing the shorter one-day tours). The hotel they set us up in was www.liondor-bayeux.fr/en/ and it was really nice. We ate at the hotel for dinner and the food was amazing. I did the trip fairly shoe-string, this was one of the nicer places we stayed during our 5 week trip.