We are planning a trip to Italy (Rome, Florence and Venice) and France (Paris, Versailles and Mont Saint Michelle) in August. Any recommendations for hotels and where to stay, places to visit and sim cards for these countries?

Amy Butterfield
We stayed at Hotel du Printemps in Paris and it was fantastic, super close to a metro entrance and a safe, clean area. In Rome we’ve stayed a couple times now at Roma Boutique Hotel and again, well priced, lovely hotel and great area (our favourite manager has retired). In Venice we rented thru vrbo and in Florence we did a rental at Residence Rocca del Palazzaccio Firenze, which was amazing! It was under different managers who became friends, but an absolutely incredible stay with a pool and private units, great if you have a rental car.

In Rome, The Lancelot has a great location and is very well run. If they are serving a dinner while there, its amazing!! https://www.lancelothotel.com/
LANCELOTHOTEL.COM
Hotel Lancelot Rome Colosseum | Official Website

In Paris, any of the Astotle chain of hotels are great. We stayed at The Joke which is a block from the subway system and near the Moulin rouge. Lots of really terrific amenities..like a fantastic breakfast and snacks that can be visited at any of the chain hotels.

We rented an apartment in Venice for a week, right next to San Marco. Check out veniceapartment.com. Rates are quite reasonable. In Rome we stayed at Hotel Nerva. Right in the centre across from the forum. Pleasant and great breakfast. We could walk to most sites very easily. In Paris, we stayed in an excellent airbnb apartment close to the Louvre. Worth checking out., although I believe they have really tightened up their rentals.
VENICEAPARTMENT.COM
Venice Apartments: Venice Vacation Rentals

Ron Thanks Ron. Great info. Did you get any local sim for europe? What's your experience

Nasir I actually kept my own iPhone and paid for a Europe package from Bell. I think now the plans have become very expensive, so I know most people re on end buying a local sim card. I’m not familiar though.

Hotel Barrett in Rome is amazing.

Check out the "Discovery Italy" FB page as people post questions and ideas all the time. I'm heading back to some of those places in Italy in July so have been on the page quite a bit. I'm not returning to Venice this trip, but I'd like to go to Burano and Murano on my next trip - google them if you haven't already.
As for France, we loved Mont St. Michel. It's close to Saint Malo and Juno Beach, so consider adding those to that leg of your trip. For Paris, if you don't have it on your list, add the Musee D'Orsay. It was my favourite museum/gallery. We also enjoyed the catacombs, but it's changed since I first went.

Go to Versailles super early or you’ll stand in line forever

Sherry We booked an early English tour. Thought it was worthwhile - and no lineups.

In Florence, stay on the south side of the Arno if you want more authentic, quieter, and less touristy. We were there 2 weeks ago and North of the Arno is just a tourist crush and really takes away from the experience, very happy to be on the other side where there's better restaurants and space to breathe and you don't wait 30 minutes in line for a panino. Wake up a bit earlier on the morning and walk to the other side to see the sights. I cant stress it enough, Florence was by far the worst in our 3 week Italy /Greece trip for tourist insanity and its not even high season.

We bought a SIM off Amazon that gave us unlimited data. It was a few years ago but way better than adding to our existing plans.

Thanks folks for the great tips!

Best research all the scams and street crime before u depart…. There is lots to b aware of.

Tim Good point. We were well aware of the scams - and we were accosted as we walked past the Louvre. A young woman and her grandmother wanted help with a map. She was SO obvious, as she couldn’t take her eyes off my iPhone. Shooed her away very quickly. At the Eiffel Tower a tour bus full of Chinese tourists had just arrived, so all the scammers were focused on them. But pickpockets thrive there. Those are the only two places we really noticed the street scams, but I’m sure you could run into them at any tourist site.

Esim by Airolo. No need to remove card from your provider. All handled through an Ap. This guy explains very well.
https://youtu.be/ZkhfJzvTpbw
YOUTUBE.COM
airalo eSIM Store! Buying a Travel eSIM is SO MUCH EASIER!

Hotel David in Florence https://www.hoteldavid.com/en
HOTELDAVID.COM
Hotel David | Florence | Italy | official site -15%

Hotel Golden is great in Rome! I got the recommendation from this group myself and loved it!
https://www.hotelgoldenrome.com/?utm_source=google...

Carey sounds like an excellent choice

Carey Check our airalo for data using eSim and download whatsapp. This allows you to keep your regular phone number (but only use it for important calls as it’s expensive).