Italy - Travel Deals

You can feel the history when you are in Naples, Italy. The city was founded in the 6th Centure BC by the Greeks and was given the name Neapolis. The name is slightly different today but the city remains true to its roots. Agriculture and its port activities still drive Naples engines, although with modernity there has also come a move towards more white collar and service sector jobs.

In 1995, the historic center of Naples was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. I don’t know one person who has traveled to Naples and not checked it out. You really must too. It is charming. Naples also has a rich cultural history with historic churches on nearly every corner, some quality museums that are often overlooked by tourists, and an underground city – “Napoli Sotteranea” – that holds many fascinating catacombs and tunnels for you to explore.

Flying directly to Naples from the United States is not usually as cheap a flying to Rome, but Air France has some spring deals that are more than worth checking out.

Southern Italy often has a reputation for crime, poverty and unpleasantness and that might be well earned to some degree, but that doesn’t mean that Naples isn’t a fascinating city worthy of being included on your Italian itinerary.

Trivia buffs and fans of history will know that it was Julius Caesar who coined the phrase “Veni, Vidi, Vici”, “I came, I saw, I conquered” before he invented the Caesar salad. This expression is often apropos of travel bargain hunting on the Internet. Sometimes you come across a deal that makes you feel like the self-created travel agent hero that deep down inside you truly know that you are. And sometimes you need a little help slaying the cost giants. We’re here to help.

Today’s offering is a round-trip flight from New York to Venice, Italy for the great price of $513. Venice is affectionately known by those who love her as the “Queen of the Adriatic” and the “City of Water”. It is not so affectionately known by those who have seen her during the peak summer months as the “City of Innumerable Tourists all of which are wearing Day-Glo and wearing a Belly Pouch”.

We kid, because we love.

Venice is awesome and its awesomeness is even more evident if you travel there during the non-peak summer season when you can practically have the canals all to yourself. The current deal fills that bill and it will enable you to come, see and conquer one of Italy’s jewels.

Some people are really into the New Year’s holiday. I am not one of those people. I find that there is always a lot of pressure to have the time of your life and usually you are lucky to just have a good time. People who normally don’t drink very much end up drinking too much. People who normally do drink too much feel compelled to drink even more. The service at restaurants usually stinks because the wait staff would rather be partying elsewhere instead of serving a bunch of drunk people. Frankly, I have had the most fun staying at home and watching Dick Clark. Yes, I am officially an old fart.

Even though it isn’t my favorite holiday I understand why people dig it. The New Year brings new opportunities and the chance to remake yourself into the person you want to be. That is all well and good and if you feel compelled to party in the process than go for it.

Celebrating the New Year in another country is certainly one way to build lasting memories. It also affords the opportunity to see how other cultures get wasted and how the wait staff in other places don’t want to be working. Don’t let my negativity get you down. You can have fun on New Year’s and that fun can take place in a cool destination like Rome. Book your ticket by December 19, 2006 and you can usher in the New Year in Italy for less than $400 round trip from New York.

I’d like to wish a happy and joyous 2007 to one and all. Thanks for reading the blog.

Italy is a country that is on the move. After capturing the soccer World Cup this summer, the country is feeling pretty darn good about itself right about now. Who can blame Italians for feeling good? Their country is full of beautiful scenery, historic places, great food and wine, and much, much more.

Alitalia has an absolutely killer deal on flights to Italy. These prices are normally what you’d find on flights from New York to London, not New York to Rome. Take advantage of this offer and enjoy an Italian vacation sometime between January-March.

Cheap Flights to Rome

The eternal city of Rome, constructed of ruins and in whose name the Caesars sought to claim the world, opens for the visitor as a living museum. The centuries peel back with each new vista in this great city of gladiators, lunatic drivers and well-rounded pasta posteriors. Vespas, nippy little Fiats and red sports cars speed past trendy sidewalk bistros and nightclubs, revealing the Rome of Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. The chillingly stark facades of the Stadio Olimpico complex bring back Mussolini’s attempts to reinvent the architecture of the Caesars.

For a taste of the Baroque, visitors need only climb the famous Spanish Steps, walk through the Piazza Navona or toss a coin into the beautiful Trevi Fountain. Renaissance splendour is perhaps best revealed in the Pope’s residence, the Vatican Palace, or in Michelangelo’s efforts on the roof of the Sistine Chapel. From early Christian Basilicas to the Roman Forum, the Colosseum and the Pantheon, the sequence of history trails back to the height of the Roman Empire.

Cheap Flights to Rome