Effects - Pedals, Multi-Effects, and Floor Boxes

[brokenfixed]

Leaving for Italy on Saturday, renting a Fiat and doing a +/-1300km, 14 day roadtrip starting in Venice, across to the West coast and down to Salerno and the Amalfi Coast, then north up to Rome to fly back home.

Not my first roadtrip, but first time abroad so if anyone travels to Europe alot or lives in Italy (Italians welcome) theres some technical questions...

Cellphone situation, did you get a new plan, buy one in Italy, or pay a lot of money?

GPS - Just realized my garmin doesnt have European maps, is that common to find over here? Might have to buy a new one. Wondering if I should wait to get to Italy, not sure if it'll work the same over here.

How did you handle your money? Was your ATM card working right? Were people picky about Euro dollars?

Anywhere in particular I should definately get to?

What else?

[macadood]

bump for gaetano. hes our #1 italian expert.

i'll be going on a trip to italy and the rest of europe in 2 months myself good luck and have fun!

[brokenfixed]

thanks maca, good luck on your trip. I plan on doing that one myself someday.

So whats your plan for cellphone situations? Apparently smart phones are constantly ticking away and driving up the bill when theyre not in use and depending on your international plan they can really get expensive. We use my wife's, and she's planning on getting one in Italy and says most people do that when their providers are screwing them.  Ive never owned a cellphone, so I have no clue.

[cpapu]

hello there. new member (old member with new user, forgot the old one)

you can contact me by mail for all the questions. i work with mobile phones, or something similar.
you should have to buy a rechargeable card, no contract needed here to call (they exist but, not in your case)

suggest you to choose between TIM and VODAFONE operators, they are the most covered.
e.g. you can pay 50€ and get SIM card and 45€ of traffic, or similar ..

anything else just PM me

BYE
Claudio

[ArrMatey]

Sorry I don't post often anymore but It might be a good way to get back into it

A few things to consider:

1) bank and cash

- Euros are accepted everywhere
- Ask your bank to make sure that your card is good to retrieve euro from ATM cash points
- Make sure to take a backup situation in case the machine eats your card.
- Take a good chunk so you don't have to regularly use your card and incur international fees.
- In places where Credit Card works, def use it. It means you got cash for anything that might come up and need a decent sum.

2) travel
- Italian roads are notorious for getting crazier as you get more south. I've travelled around the amalfi coast and the little mopeds are the most dangerous thing, not cars.
- In the south, it is notorious that some people get into car accidents to claim cash so be careful driving, no need to think you are a speed king.
- There are a few tolls so make sure to have some cash when travelling by car.
- GPS: get either the maps for Italy or a GPS there, they cost round 100-150 euros. You don't need to fanciest, just get a decent one. Don't forget to hide it every time you stop, you never know someone could smash your window and steal it.

3) Communication

- If you have an Iphone or a phone with SIM card, make sure it's unlocked and useable abroad. You can then get a top up pay&go from TIM or any other operator that deals there.
- Failing that, just get a crap little phone and use it just for call and text.

4) Staying

- Hotels are plenty but look at websites like hotel.com or lastminute.com, just make sure you print a confirmation of your booking as sometime the booking might not make it to the smaller places. You will have a proof of your booking and can take it from there.
- Usually the star rating system is a bit lower than in the states. a 4 star hotel will actually only be like a 3 star hotel so keep that in mind.

5) Places to visit

- Pompeii
- Amalfi coast has too many places but I loved all the places I stayed at. Hopefully the weather will be on your side
- Stay as little as you can in Milan. It's horrible and it's just plain ugly, except for the few good touristic sites.
- Lake Cuomo and take the funicular to the top.

6)food

Dinner can get expensive very quickly so don't dine out all the time unless you have the cash. Find places for lunch that do quick bites and have a nice dinner. Sometimes, a sandwich made fresh is a better option.

Hopefully some people can give better insight as these are mainly general travel tips.

[gae86]

Hey man, I'm from Italy, from Napoli and really close to Pompei, Amalfi and Sorrento. It's
Really late and I'm going to sleep, but tomorrow I'll answer all your questions!

[placebo62]

Go to Positano, one of my favourite places ever.

I wouldnt bother with the Cinque Terra if you were entertaining that. Rome and Florence are great too.

[bieke]

Italy, beautiful country, lovely and lively people, great food
2 weeks, hmmm, you'll have to make choices

from Venice, I'd stay 1-2 days and head to Florence (interesting if into renaissance), Pisa nearby
but most of all, you will be driving through Tuscany, a beautiful region, Siena, Arezzo, Cortona, San Gimignano and Lucca are smaller cities worth a visit.

Driving a car into any major city in Italy is a stressful and haunting experience.

From there I would head down to the Amalfi coast, we stayed in Sorrento a couple of years ago, very touristic place, good location for daytrips, instead of renting a car, you should check out the Circumvesuviana public transport, gets you anywhere for cheap, you need mad skillz to drive a car around the Amalfi Coast and whatever you do, don't drive a rental car into Naples.
When we were there, we went to Naples a lot, a great town to explore, very friendly folks, it's got a great hectic vibe during the day and a wild vibe at night, great food, great musea, also the contemporary stuff and lots of cool things to see and do, like the Sotteranea

there's Pompei or Capri, but don't miss Ercolana, you could take the car and explore the Amalfi coast, tourist traps like Positano and such, nice for touristy things, expensive ... also nice, Atrani, Amalfi, Cetara and Paestum.

there aren't many beaches

if you do some research and have a rental car, you could visit some of the less touristy things like the Stabian villas (great archeological sites that are a bit off the tourist track)

learn a bit of italian, the italians really appreciate it when you at least try to communicate in italian, most people also understand a little bit of english, most of the young folks are fluent in english.

have fun ! plan ahead, 2 weeks will fly by in no time

especially if you also want to do Rome (you need at least 3-4 days)

[awallace]

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placebo62 wrote:

Go to Positano, one of my favourite places ever.

---

This...

[gae86]

Everything said Bieke was perfect.You definitely need to check at least Napoli, Sorrento, Pompei and Amalfi/Positano. If you have more time and interested in history definitely Ercolano is worth a visit. Like Bieke said, driving around could be a little of an hassle, because especially in "costiera" (amalfi, sorrento, positano etc) it's often crowded, streets are tiny and parking is expensive. Sorrento or pompei is a great place as base, from there you can take coachs or circumvesuviana that will take you to most of touristic places we mentioned.
As for money, obviously you need Euro, I recommend having with you something for small expenses like 200-250€, and paying with credit card when you can.
As for cellphones, I recommend not using smartphone, at least that's what I do when I go aborad; It gets crazy expensive, so I just send txt when needed

[brokenfixed]

HOLY SHIT!....thanks dudes. Ive been picking out places from all these posts and looking up where each of them fall. THANKS so much for the information. Its gonna take me a while to dig through here and digest it all.

Gae, youre a lucky motherfucker to be living somewhere so awesome. I might have to pick your brain on whether or not to see Naples. I'm getting mixed opinions on how bad it is there. It's hard to judge cause I'm sorta used to being around cities with a decent amount of crime and wouldnt consider myself a chump when it comes to street smarts. Although its a bit different int a country where I'm obviously a big white american guy in a rental car carrying loads of cash...haha. So whats the "must see" thing/place/activity that I wouldnt wanna miss in Naples? Considering all the sights I'll be seeing before and after. Am I missing anything?

[macadood]

gae, can you simply climb mt vesuvius to the peak? is it fun?

[goodhonk]

olive garden

[ArrMatey]

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macadood wrote:

gae, can you simply climb mt vesuvius to the peak? is it fun?

---

Yeah you should be able to. I've done it once when I was younger. There are so many beautiful places in the South of Italy, Pompei, Ercolano and the multitude of towns in the south of Italy are beautiful to see!

[erksin]

Hook up with Gae - he's an awesome dude. Highly recommended.

Civita Bagnoregio is incredible. Assisi, Todi, Tuscany/Umbria regions is fantastic. San Marino is really cool too.

Stop in small towns and eat. Listen to Gae when he tells you to walk an extra 3 blocks outside the main tourist areas and you'll pay 1/2 of what you normally would for a meal.

Pompeii is great if you get there before the gates open, otherwise you will be overrun. Ercolano gets 1/10 the amount of visitors but it's better preserved and you can walk into so many of the ancient villas and really feel like you've gone back in time.

Rome is pretty fricking incredible. Crazy, but you will see stuff you'll never forget.

[bieke]

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macadood wrote:

gae, can you simply climb mt vesuvius to the peak? is it fun?

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yes you can, the climb itself is OK, the real fun is getting there, you can take a bus from Pompei to Mt. Vesuvius but the better option is to go to a nearby village Scavi and take a shuttle (fares include entrance ticket to Mt. Vesuvius) that drives you halfway up the mountain, this ride is the best part, sort of like a rollercoaster, the drivers races through tiny streets and up the mountain (the ride back is even more spectacular) and then you have 90 minutes to walk the last mile up, it is not steep, but very dusty and better not go when it's hot, take a bottle of water and wear sneakers or something, walk around, enjoy the view for 15 minutes or so and walk back, the shuttle will be waiting.

[bieke]

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brokenfixed wrote:

HOLY SHIT!....thanks dudes. Ive been picking out places from all these posts and looking up where each of them fall. THANKS so much for the information. Its gonna take me a while to dig through here and digest it all.

Gae, youre a lucky motherfucker to be living somewhere so awesome. I might have to pick your brain on whether or not to see Naples. I'm getting mixed opinions on how bad it is there. It's hard to judge cause I'm sorta used to being around cities with a decent amount of crime and wouldnt consider myself a chump when it comes to street smarts. Although its a bit different int a country where I'm obviously a big white american guy in a rental car carrying loads of cash...haha. So whats the "must see" thing/place/activity that I wouldnt wanna miss in Naples? Considering all the sights I'll be seeing before and after. Am I missing anything?

---

well, Naples can be a bit intimidating, crowded, noisy, chaotic, crazy, but I never felt unsafe. 
If you use common sense and remain vigilant, you'll be fine.
We got lost in the narrow streets off Spaccanapoli, where you can be confronted with poverty and piles of dirt

if you're into modern art, I really enjoyed both PAN and CAM musea

http://www.palazzoartinapoli.net/

http://www.museomadre.it/

and of course the Archeologic museum

http://goitaly.about.com/od/naples/qt/naples_museum.htm

and Capodimonte if you want to see Michelangelo, Rafael, and other classics

http://cir.campania.beniculturali.it/museodicapodimonte/

and I really enjoyed the Sotteranea, we took an italian tour (did not understand everything, but it was entertaining)

http://www.napolisotterranea.org/?lang=en

and of course you have to treat yourself to perhaps the best pizza and coffee in the world

http://www.cellartours.com/blog/italy/the-ten-best-pizzerias-in-naples-italy-possibly-the-best-pizza...

http://www.amoitaly.com/napoli/caffe.html

and icecream

http://www.fantasiagelati.it/nostriGelati.htm

[awallace]

GF and I were lucky enough to visit Pompeii when it was pretty much deserted... no one else around. That was a pretty trippy feeling, thinking about what had happened and seeing all the plaster casts of the victims (and some of their bones showing through). Highly recommended though.

Standing in the middle of the 'Live at Pompeii' amphitheatre was super cool!

There's also a real cool spot near Sorrento- the ruins of an old Roman outpost overlooking the ocean- it wasn't in any of the guides that we had, we just went for a walk one day, wandered down a path through some olive groves and stumbled on to it. If you're curious to check it out it's here:

Old Roman Outpost

Just follow Traversa Punta Capo all the way down to the ocean, you can't miss it, there's a super cool enclosed grotto with a cave opening leading out to the ocean and lots of cool ruins.

[placebo62]

dont waste your time in Naples

[gae86]

I support everything Bieke said. 

Napoli is a strange city, with lot of contrasts. If you like to travel, you will rarely see something like Napoli, in its bad and good aspects. It's crowded and noisy, somewhere dirty, but walking through spaccanapoli and buying a pizza on the fly or a sweet is something kinda peculiar. Napoli sotteranea is really amazing, and the whole city is plenty of museum, churches and history. Anyway it's all about personal tastes!