Rome & Venice

During our time in Rome our days are of a Grade 3 predominantly sightseeing in nature. However, we will be on foot for most our sightseeing and will cover some distance over the ground. Days will largely be spent on hard concrete surfaces so comfortable footwear is a must. Also remember Rome is built on seven hills so inevitably there is some up and down. The longest walking day is spent exploring a length of the Appian Way when we will cover about 6 miles over generally flat terrain.

Once we have moved onto Venice our Grade 2 is more compact so walking distances are generally shorter and there are no hills! Whilst the physical walking demands may be less, there is equally as much to see, do, take in and stimulate the mind. Expect active whole day sightseeing – plenty of experiences leaving you fulfilled and with many memories.  

The incredibly rich treasures of Venice are under threat as never before from a combination of subsidence of the city caused by natural gas and water extraction (now ceased), rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events - both a result of global warming. This means that high tides (acqua alta) are more frequent and some flooding of parts of Venice (especially St Mark’s Square) is more common. Local shop keepers, hoteliers and restauranteurs are well prepared and remarkably resilient and adaptable. 

You also need to be adaptable and prepared too with wellington boots to just below the knee and waterproof over-trousers. Should you struggle in packing wellington boots you can buy disposable versions locally and we suggest you spend around €20 avoiding the really cheap versions.

We hope not, but you may be one of the last generations to see the splendour of Venice if it proves impossible to defend it in the coming decades.

In Rome all local transport costs in conjunction with the advertised activity programme are included in the holiday cost. There may be occasions where additional visits or excursions are added to enrich your experience, these will be paid for locally by you if you choose to participate. Local transport can be a mix of private hire coaches, taxis, local buses and ferries depending on the itinerary. 

Once we get to Venice we include a 7 day vaporetto pass that offers free transport anywhere on the lagoon for the time we stay in Venice. The only limitation of this card is it cannot be used for trips to the airport but as we include airport transfers anyway this should not be an issue. Your Ramblers Walking Holidays leader will purchase these tickets and hand them out on the first morning in Venice. For interest details of the Venice transport system can be found at: www.actv.it

A range of local excursions and activities may be available to book at your destination through a local operator. We have no involvement in such activities or excursions which are not run, supervised or controlled in any way by us. Your contract will be with the local activity supplier and we accept no responsibility for their actions or omissions.

When budgeting for your holiday, you will need to consider drinks, any meals not included in the holiday price, non-included entrance fees, optional excursions you may choose to participate in locally and any souvenirs or additional services such as laundry. A general guideline for lunches and drinks is £10-£20 per person per day. (This includes €10 for a light lunch with water.) In Venice all lunches will be taken in local cafes or restaurants for very good reasons which are fully explained later both in the section on "Meals" and the section on "Italian Laws and Customs", which follow later in our information.

Some entrance fees to sites are included. The Colosseum, Forum,Vatican Galleries and Borghese Villa (if your return flight departure time allows).

If all other museums and galleries are visited this could cost a further £80.00 for the week.

In Venice our entry into the Scrovegni Chapel is included in the holiday price. 

Entrance fees to other sites visited are not included. If all museums, galleries and churches (which also house much great art well worth seeing) are visited this could cost a further £60.00 to £70 for the week. 

The different combinations of museums and church passes and age discounts are confusing. 

For over 65’s we recommend buying the 11 Civic Museums pass €18 and the Chorus ticket €12 (which gives entry to several churches) as the best combined value and most flexible.

Similarly for under 65’s we recommend the Venice Card €39.90 (no concessions) which combines the above two + The Jewish museum and 2 places you are unlikely to visit. Your Leader will help you to buy them on the first/second day to get the most value from them. There will not be time later on to obtain them and you may have to buy a more expensive alternative.

The 11 Civic Museums ticket includes the Lace and Glass museums which you are likely to visit on your day to the islands and the Doge’s Palace, Correr Museum and Cà Rezzonico which you may choose to visit on your day off. You can find more information at https://www.visitmuve.it/en/home/

There are other Museums, Galleries and Churches not covered by these tickets some of which we may visit during our programme and some you may wish to visit independently.

The currency in Italy is the Euro.

Although entirely at your own discretion, tipping is an important aspect of tourism and hospitality life and expectations are fairly high. In order to simplify tipping, we strongly recommend that you allow your leader to take care of making sure tips are given to hotel and restaurant staff and to local guides and drivers. This will be done using some funds provided by us together with, if you wish, a contribution from you, which he/she will collect during the holiday.

Your tour leader makes the world of difference to your holiday and ours are as passionate about discovering the world on foot as you are. They're resourceful, organised and widely travelled. They will handle all the local administration and other needs that might arise to ensure that you don't have to worry about planning your days and you can enjoy your holiday. Although leading group holidays, they won't forget that every group is made up of individuals. Each tour leader has their own individual style, talents and professional backgrounds and all are trained, qualified, experienced and dedicated to making your holiday as enjoyable, interesting and inspiring as possible.

Each evening, your tour leader will discuss with you the programme for the following day. This will be your opportunity to discuss the details and ensure the planned activities suit your walking ability. If you have concerns on clothing or equipment, this can be discussed then also. If you do not wish to join the organised group programme, please let the leader know.

To enhance your experience, as well as your tour leader, each holiday will be accompanied in some centres by a well qualified and knowledgeable English-speaking local guide.

Transfers between Rome Airport and the hotel are by road and take approximately 1 hour. 

For clients making their own way to the hotel it is an easy journey. From Fiumicino Airport take the train to Rome Termini station. From here take a taxi for the short (and relatively cheap at approximately €15) ride to the hotel. The alternative is a few stops on the bus or metro followed by a short walk to the hotel but it would not be pleasant to do this with luggage.

Whilst in Rome we will use public transport to move around the city and its surrounding areas.

When our time comes to an end in Rome we will take the train directly to Venice. Where we then take the Vapporretto to the Lido.

Our return transfer will be via Vapporretto back to Venice Marco Polo Airport.

If you wish to organise your own flights from a non-UK or provincial airport or travel by rail or car to your holiday destination, 'land only' reductions are often available. Please contact us for details.

Before finalising any independent travel arrangements, please check with us first - especially if doing so 12 weeks or more before your intended date of travel. If you do intend to join your holiday locally please do tell us at least 14 weeks in advance.

If you are joining and leaving your holiday overseas we assume, unless you advise us otherwise, that you will join and leave the holiday at your hotel.

Although airport transfers are not included for those making their own independent travel arrangements, if you wish to join the group at the overseas airport, depending on your flight arrival time, you may be able to be included on the group's transfer. Please contact us at least 5 weeks before departure for more details. 

Please note that your flight must arrive within 30 minutes of the group flight to be able to join the group transfer. We also need your flight number, arrival time and departure point so that the group leader is able to meet up with you.

For all those booking a flight or rail inclusive holiday, details of your travel arrangements and baggage allowance will be confirmed in your travel documents, sent to you approximately 10 days prior to departure.

To ensure that we can accurately administer your holiday arrangements, please confirm that the personal details we hold for you are up to date and that you have provided the information we need to secure your holiday travel and accommodation arrangements. Please check your passport details, date of birth and any other important details necessary for us to properly manage your holiday booking. You can view and update information already provided, and add details not yet asked for, by using the Manage My Booking facility on our website www.ramblersholidays.co.uk, or by calling our Sales and Reservations team on +44 (0)1707 331133. When you receive your booking confirmation please check the details as soon as possible.

It is a good idea to carry photocopies of the personal details pages of your passport. Should you lose your passport, this may assist with the issue of replacement documents and your return to your home country.

Passport and visa requirements can change at any time. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you inform yourself from a professionally qualified source on, and comply with, such requirements.

General travel and destination advice for UK nationals is available from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at www.fco.gov.uk/travel and at www.gov.uk/travelaware.

You should have at least 6 months validity left on your passport from your date of arrival.

If you renewed a 10 year passport before it expired, extra months may have been added to your passport’s expiry date. These extra months will not count, so you should ensure that your passport is not older than 9 years and 6 months from the date of issue at the time of travel.

You may wish to renew your passport sooner rather than later, in order to make sure you have it in time for your holiday or travel plans.

Please ensure to regularly check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website for updates on passport requirements leading up to and after Brexit or contact us for more assistance. 

UK Government Brexit Information for Passports can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/passport-rules-for-travel-to-europe-after-Brexit.

The UK Government has published a website tool to check the validity of your passport under these rules  which can be found at www.passport.service.gov.uk/check-a-passport.

In the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK citizens will be able to visit the EU for up to 90 days within a 180-day period without a visa. The UK Government also has information for travellers available at gov.uk/EUexit

Non British Passport holders should consult the host country’s embassy for applicable passport and visa entry requirements.

In Rome breakfasts will be taken in the hotel, which offers a good selection on the breakfast buffet.

Five evening meals are included where your leader can choose from a variety of characterful restaurants near to the hotel. All will be authentic ‘Rome restaurants’ but each will have its particular style.

On our first night, we might well visit a Roman ‘bistro’ where an assortment of salads, cold platters of cheeses and cooked meats is a great way to start the meal. This can be followed by a crafted and unusual pasta dish (no they won’t give you the recipe, we have tried) and a choice of light desserts. A great start to the holiday.

We certainly will visit the nearby Pizzeria, with a roaring wood burning oven, producing the thinnest, crispest pizzas you have ever experienced. It is always full of local diners, a good sign of quality. A fish restaurant is close by, where the fish greet you at the door lying on beds of ice, maybe hold back a bit on the pasta that night. They serve rather good meat dishes too.

When we visit the Vatican, we can choose one of the many boutique restaurants hidden in the streets behind St Peters. Probably after a long day we can let ourselves go with huge plates of spaghetti. Or maybe, if we are early enough, they will just have prepared the Lasagne………it soon goes!

For vegetarians, have no fear, all the restaurants have excellent choices. We can even find pizzas which are gluten free, if wheat is a problem.

What else? A rustic meal with pitchers of red wine in a cellar restaurant, an elegant restaurant with a slightly Turkish inspired menu, everywhere some of our clients may well choose yet another pizza with a side salad which can be a meal in itself.

For lunch we might have a Caprese Salad or restrict ourselves to bruschetta with mediterranean tomatoes which melt in the mouth and always, always there is gelato. It has been suggested by several clients, that you can have a gelato twice a day for the whole tour and feel no side effects whatsoever.

If there is one thing the Romans do well that is eat!

When we get to Venice meals change a little whereby each morning will start with breakfast in the hotel before heading out for our days activity. 

Lunches are not the normal Ramblers Holidays packed lunches because to protect the fragile environment of Venice the city authorities have banned the consumption of food and drink in public spaces. This means that picnics are not an option so we will be eating in cafe/ restaurants. You can get a light lunch for around €10 with drinks extra. On the plus side there is somewhere to sit and have a chat, a handy toilet, also warmth and shelter inside should the weather be less kind!

To finish each day your leader will take you to sample local culture further in local restaurants experiencing the different local cuisine and of course sampling the classic Italian dishes including fresh pastas, pizza, or rich local seafood.

Good quality waterproof walking shoes or trail shoes with a thick, moulded sole with a good tread and a low heel are likely to be all that is required for these holidays. If you are a frequent walker and are comfortable in good quality hiking sandals, these may be adequate for some walks. You can wear lightweight walking boots if you prefer. 

Remember to take knee length wellington boots in case there is an acqua alta (high tide) and parts of Venice are flooded or be prepared to buy over boots locally. It may only be for one day in the week but it will be worth it!

Outdoor activities are always safer and more enjoyable if you are prepared.

If you have not travelled with us before the following list might be of use:

• Waterproof jacket (Goretex or similar) and trousers
• Fleece or jumper
• Sun hat, sunglasses, lip salve and sun screen
• Swimwear (if appropriate)
• Day sack (this should be able to carry all you would need for the days activity)
• Water bottle - at least 1 litre capacity
• Basic first aid kit
• Reusable Lunchbox
• Walking poles (should you find them useful)

This list is not exhaustive and every walker is different and may have their own preference.

We will be visiting many churches and religious buildings in Venice. Local rules require you do not wear shorts, nor for ladies to wear revealing clothes. In deference to these rules please dress appropriately.

Documents and Information to take with you:

• Passport (make sure it's yours and valid)
• Your travel tickets or e-ticket itinerary
• Any visa or electronic travel authorisation (if required)
• Holiday money
• Credit or debit cards (and separate details of who to call if lost)
• Car parking ticket and car park directions (if prebooked)
• Coach or rail travel tickets (if prebooked)
• Your holiday Booking Confirmation document
• Your travel insurance details
• Alternative form of identification (such as a driving licence)
• Photocopy of the personal details pages of your passport
• A valid European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) if relevant
• Details of any medical condition or allergy your holiday leader should know about

Electricity in Italy is supplied at 220 Volts. If you wish to use electrical equipment you will need a European two pin adaptor with round pins. More information can be found at https://www.power-plugs-sockets.com/

An alternative to bottled water from single-use sealed water bottles is filtered water from a refillable bottle containing its own water filter such as a Water-to-go bottle available from www.watertogo.eu. Just fill up from any water source and save the environment from disposable plastic bottles.

We have negotiated an exclusive 15% discount with our partners Water-to-Go for you as a thank you for helping the environment. Please go to their website at www.watertogo.eu and enter the code RWH17 when ordering. In addition, Water-to-Go will match the discount with a donation to our charity, Heart & Sole, which will allow us to continue to make a difference in the countries you visit on our holidays.

For those keen on research we recommend two films:

A Roman Holiday starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. A nostalgic view of Rome in the 50’s

Angels and Demons starring Tom Hanks. An entertaining modern day adventure. Perhaps the fun to be had here is the spotting the artistic license taken with Rome’s geography.

Maps and guidebooks relating to the areas you will be walking in may be bought before your holiday from The Map Shop at www.themapshop.co.uk

Visit the following websites for an idea of the climate in your destination:

• Weather2 - www.myweather2.com
• BBC Weather - www.bbc.co.uk/weather

Health requirements can change at any time. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you inform yourself from a professionally qualified source on, and comply with, such requirements at least 6 to 8 weeks before departure. Advice on vaccinations is available from your GP.

No compulsory immunisations are required for visits to Italy.

You should be up to date with the usual immunisations recommended in the UK. 

You may wish to consider immunisations against Tetanus and Tick-borne Encephalitis.

For further advice please visit:

• The National Travel Health Network and Centre (NaTHNaC) travel health website at www.travelhealthpro.org.uk
• The NHS 'Fit for travel' website at www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk
• The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website at www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice
• Or a local travel health clinic

You might wish to take a small bottle of antibacterial hand gel with you for times when you're unable to wash your hands.

You must be adequately insured to join our holidays. You will be unable to participate in our local walking and other activity programmes without being able to demonstrate that you have valid travel insurance.

Please ensure that as a minimum your travel insurance policy covers you for travel to your holiday destinations (country and geographical region) and for medical expenses, mountain rescue (including helicopter rescue) and emergency repatriation to your home country in the event of illness or injury. Your policy should also provide adequate cover for the activities, included and optional, you are likely to participate in during your holiday.

Whoever you insure with, please ensure that you take full details, and ideally the policy itself, with you on holiday and provide our tour leader with your insurer's name, the policy number and emergency assistance contact numbers.

Please note that it is very difficult to obtain travel insurance once your holiday arrangements have started.

From January 1^st, 2021 UK travellers can continue to use their European Heath Insurance Card (EHIC) – which can last up to five years, until its expiry date, to gain access to medical assistance during your holiday. However, you will no longer be covered in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. Travellers without a valid EHIC can apply for a new UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), which will replaces the EHIC once it has been phased out. Please note however that the EHIC/GHIC should not be considered a substitute for medical or travel insurance.

For more information, please visit www.nhs.uk/ehic

The UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office provides up to date information on security and local laws for travellers, together with current passport and visa information, at www.gov.uk/travelaware. Please take a few minutes to look at the current advice on your planned destination.

Please be aware of what's going on around you, take sensible precautions with your credit cards and passport and avoid displays of wealth such as wearing expensive jewellery or watches. Do not carry more cash on you than you will need for each day, and we recommend that a money belt is used.

In some Italian towns and cities you may be fined for dropping litter and in some towns or cities it’s an offence to sit on monument steps or to eat and drink in the immediate vicinity of main churches, historic monuments and public buildings. It’s also an offence to enter or bathe in public fountains.

In May 2019, the Municipality of Capri introduced a law forbidding the use of any disposable plastic objects such as bags, cutlery, plates, cups, food packaging, trays, straws on the island of Capri. Violations can incur a fine of up to 500 euros.

Illegal traders operate on the streets of all major Italian cities, particularly tourist cities like Florence, Venice and Rome. Don’t buy from illegal street traders. You could be stopped by the local police and fined.

It is illegal to remove sand, shells or pebbles from coastal areas in Italy. Doing so may result in heavy fines. It’s also forbidden to collect various species of flowers, plants and herbs from mountain and wooded areas. For more information, check with the regional authorities of the area you’re visiting.

We're committed to ethical tourism in all our destinations. Our holidays are designed for you to discover the essence of the country you are visiting. Travelling in small groups not only gives you an up close and personal experience of your destination, but minimises your impact on the immediate environment. We feel that the most important starting point to protect the environment is to be out in it. For more details visit our website.

Unlike many tour operators we have our own trust through which RWH Travel’s profits are channelled back into a variety of outdoor, walking-related or environmental conservation projects in the UK. The focus of the Trust’s financial support is Britain’s leading walking charity, The Ramblers, and their role in promoting the benefits and importance of walking to the British public. In addition the Trust welcomes applications for small grants from local organisations in the UK who need support for walking-orientated activities. This includes the establishment of footpaths and bridleways, funding for rebuilding bridges and renovating huts, as well as bursary funding for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for children who could not otherwise afford to do it. Please visit the ‘About Us’ section of our website and click on the Charitable Trust link for more details.

We appreciate that we are in a fortunate position to be able to use our profits to help make a difference to people's lives. Heart & Sole is a venture managed by our office staff, whose aim is to reach the heart of the communities in the countries we visit. Through Heart & Sole, we hope to make more of a long term, direct impact to these communities, particularly in less developed countries where even a small amount goes a long way. See our website for more information and details of some of the projects we support.

Please do provide us with a mobile phone contact number. We will only use this to contact you with important information relating to your holiday arrangements. 

Do keep your mobile phones switched on and readily available when travelling to the airport or if delayed in transit so that we can contact you with any last minute information relating to your travel arrangements.  

As a matter of courtesy, please switch off your mobile phone during walks, or endeavour to minimise its use. Please also try to minimise the use of mobile devices during group meals.