Italy 2011 - Booking Tickets

So we've finally booked the plane tickets, so we're definitely going, which to be honest i wasn't sure was actually going to happen. we've found some hostels to stay in, but we had some issues with the one in Rome because Vikki doesn't want to stay in a room with people we don't know, and Eliot wants to stay in one that's done through Hostelling International. i think i'd rather stay in Eliots choice, because i'd feel safer, even if we were staying with people we didn't know - in fact it might be more fun if we meet new people, if they weren't scary or anything. but i think we'll probably end up going with Vikki's choice to be honest, because i don't think we'll be able to persuade her otherwise.

We're flying with RyanAir -lol- for about £148 each, return from London to Rome, which i don't think was really too bad. although i don't know a lot about travelling alone, as this is the first time i've really done it before.

One of the people who was going to come, Dan C, can't come any more because of financial reasons, which kind of sucks but there's not a lot we can do about it.

Italy 2011 - Initial Planning.

Now that we've decided where we want to go, we have to work out how to get there and what's going to happen once we're there. we figured that we'd spend a few days in Rome, then go down to Naples so we can visit Pompeii, then go on to Reggio Calabria. however, after a bit of research i realised that Naples looks like a seriously dangerous place to go. there were stories of people getting their earrings ripped out of their ears on busy streets, and someone being held at gunpoint for his bag. in fact, i couldn't really find any reviews that didn't end in '..but i didn't feel safe' and personally, i like to feel safe. so instead i went to look at Sorrento, which sounds like an adorable seaside town, and i couldn't find any reviews saying 'and then my bag was stolen...' or anything too terrible really. and it's just the same distance from Pompeii, and probably closer to Reggio Calabria.

I discovered last night that Reggio Calabria is a six hour/fifty euro each way train from Rome, which kind of sucks because i really want to go down there, but at the same time i really don't like spending so much money. so i suppose now we have to decide if it's worth spending an extra £100 for. i think it might be, but we're meeting up tomorrow to talk about it...

Italy 2011 - Planting The Seed

so basically i met up with a few of my friends yesterday, and we all decided that we wanted to go somewhere this summer. it was a choice between Rome and Athens, and although i didn't really have a preference, after a little bit of research we decided that Rome was probably going to be cheaper, and that we could definitely just do Athens next year. one of my friends, Dan, has some friends in Rome that he met on his travels around China a few years ago, so we contacted them, and unfortunately one of them wont be in Rome on the dates that we're there for..but.. he is still somewhere in Italy - Reggio Calabria - and luckily he said that we can stay with him for a few days, which will cut the costs down a bit, and give us the chance to see another side of Italy.

so after that we just talked about the places we wanted to visit while we were there - the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, Pompeii.. and then tried to work out a way we could visit everything. at the moment, i think i'm probably the key planner, i've yet to meet up with everyone else after our discussion to start booking it all.
As we're students, everything has to be reasonably cheap - personally i'm on a budget of the left over £500 of my student loan - absolute maximum, and seeing as we're looking to travel to three different places in the space of a week, and a day trip, it's probably not going to be as cheap as it could be, but we're looking to really make the most out of the time we have there, and see as much as possible.

Travel Blog