All trips can’t be to wine regions or so says the boss. So Rome and Venice it is but we will be looking for great places to eat and drink. Venice is small so we can pretty much walk or take the vaporetto everywhere. Of course, we will likely get lost a few times like everyone else does. Rome on the other hand is larger. Uber time I suppose.
Any can’t miss recommendations are appreciated.
I just spent three days in Rome and had a blast. You’ll find a lot of good reccos in older threads here, I know I did, and you can also check my trip report in Wine Talk. But to put it short we had good food (and wine) in restaurants Roscioli, Ditirambo, Cavour 313 and Osteria del Sostegno. If you want to experience what and where the locals eat try lunch at Trattoria Lilli. It is as far from fine dining as possible though. I bought a lot of good wines in Enoteca Costantini (traditional) and Les Vignerons (natural).
There is lots of good info in the older Rome threads.
We were in Venice last fall for Biennale and ate two excellent modern Venetian dinners at Ristorante Riviera in Dorsoduro. And a very good traditional Venetian dinner at Osteria Oliva Nera, near Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci. And a couple of unmemorable meals unworthy of mention.
In Venice, if you want a higher-end place, Da Fiore has always been a favorite. About the only downside to it is that it’s really not close to any Vaporetto stop
On the more casual side, we had a really nice dinner at Antiche Carampane in San Polo last November. Menu changes daily, always local to what is in season.
If you are looking for something a little different to do, we also had a cooking class at the Gritti Palace cooking school. You start w/ a trip to the Rialto Market where you meet the vendors and pick out the components for the class itself. I think the class was supposed to run from 9-2, but we ended up going until about 3:30, stopped for a drink and some cicheti along the way, etc. Very cool experience
Spent a couple days in Rome earlier this month. Great info on older threads here. But to follow up on your Uber comment, YES! We uber’d all over and it was super easy!
Lots of info on older threads for both cities.
We had one of our favorite lunches of our two week trip at Anima Bella. It’s behind St. Mark’s square, head down the shopping street and hang a left when everyone else goes right. Tiny place, excellent risotto and pizza, and half a bottle of Fabiano Rose that I guess you can’t get outside of restaurants in Italy. So good.
Thanks for the advice. I guess I need to visit the older threads but my luck with old information hasn’t been to good. Things change a lot over time but probably not so much in Rome or Venice.
Rome thread’s last post was March.
Venice is likely older, I’m sure folks will be willing to update their recommendations if they have more recent experience if you ask in that thread.
Uber is naturally even cheaper but we found the local taxi both reliable and cheap. In Finland I mostly use taxi in the evening time (not all that often nowadays though) and the meter already says 8.70€ before the car has moved an inch; in Rome we never paid over 11€ for a ride.
Went here also. Wonderful place. It is very small book well in advance.
In Rome for very high end it is worth the trip out to La Pergola. One of the best views ever.
George
Thanks again all. I have picked up suggestions from recent posts in previous threads. Now to get organized.
In Rome Antico Arco - Piazzale Aurelio, 7 (Gianicolo Hill/Trastevere)
Open daily for lunch & dinner 06.5815275http://www.anticoarco.it
Had amazing dinner here in 2014 on Thanksgiving night, no, no turkey.
We were staying in Trestevere so we walked otherwise you will need a taxi.
Piperno service was like the old 60’s/70’s steakhouses but the food was very good.
Thanks Mark. On the list. Sounds like fun.
I apologize if I missed it in the older posts as they seem to be primarily food and wine recs. Any hotel recs for a moderate budget (<$200/night) in the Old Rome, Colosseo, Trastavere, or Modern Center areas? Thanks!
This is not a hotel but I highly recommend it. I’ve stayed here twice already this year, both with family and friends. It’s owned by the restaurant and it’s a 5 seconds walk to the Pantheon
http://www.casadiarmando.com
We decided to go Airbnb this time. Four of us traveling. Wanted two bedrooms. Decent hotels a lot more expensive.
Thanks, Riccardo, I will check it out.
Michael - I’m a little leery of doing Airbnb overseas. Likely a better deal for you with two bedrooms.
I understand your reluctance Stephen. We have been lucky. We have used Airbnb in Paris twice, Lyon, Nice, Aix-en-Provence, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, and Mendoza so far. Booked for Venice and Rome in the future. Sometimes communication can be difficult though. Of course, we have used them here in the U.S. as well. It does take research into the area which is getting easier to do since a little more information is available on the property map. Also, when in doubt, I ask the owner.
I gave up for our trip to Singapore though. It turns out every property I was interested in was occupied by the owner who rented it out when they were away. I couldn’t plan far enough ahead and the owners didn’t know how to restrict their calendars to dates the property was actually available. I wasted too much time so I decided to rent a hotel room instead.