For those of you who have done the Viva Italia trip and taken your lap top

[helenk]

My daughter just graduated from college and is looking for a teaching job so she would like to keep an eye on the education website for postings.
Will she be okay taking her lap top? Do any of the hotels have wifi, free or otherwise.
I am hesitant about her taking it with her on the tours, do the hotel rooms have safes big enough to hold a lap top? Or will she be okay taking the lap top on the tours?

 

[LTFrench]

We took our laptop on our trip that ended last week, as did many in our group. The safes were not big enough for it, ever. At the Rome hotel, Bernini Bristol, the wireless would not work for us, unless we bought the 1 hour card at the front desk, 2 or 3 Euros, can't remember. Cheap enough, you just needed to find time for internet time, it was a one time use card, use it or lose it. We ended up using one every morning and night, for the bare minimum because our phone wasn't working and we were too tired to stay on for an hour. Wasted a few Euros, but consider it part of the cost of leaving the country. In Umbria, Hotel Paggeria Medicea, we were in room 30 and the wireless worked wonderful in our room, for many it did not, but there was a lounge area were it did work and a small closet with a computer for public use available, too. It was free here but you need to get a pass code at the front desk. In Venice, at Dei Dogi, the internet was down and they looked at you like you were crazy when you asked if it would be up soon.... There was an internet cafe about a 10 minute walk away. You could use their computers or bring your own and buy their wireless pass code, don't let them rip you off on price. LOL, the price is on the wall, I *can* read in Euros! I would not have wanted to carry my laptop around with me, took much else to carry. The rooms were secure, it wasn't a concern. We did carry it on the Eurostar travel day because we wanted to use it the morning after the luggage was whisked away, but before we had to leave. Was able to download pics and get some work done, but it was a pain all the busy long day... They don't like bags and backpacks in most of the buildings....

 

[Diskidatheart]

We took our Macbook Pro with us. Fortunately for us, it did fit in the safe in our hotel in Rome and in Venice, but not in Tuscany. We too paid for Internet access one of the nights in Rome. We did the 5 hour for 5 Euros. We should have just done the 1 hour for 3 Euros. It was hit or miss in Tuscany for us. Some days we got Internet in our room, other days we had to go to the lounge, but the Internet worked fine here. As far as whether your laptop will fit in the safe really depends on how large it is. Ours is pretty small in size, so we were fortunate. I liked having it, especially in Tuscany because you could actually check to see if anything was going on in the US. The TV in all 3 places was pretty bad as there was only 1 English station in Rome and Venice and only 3 in Tuscany. All were essentially news stations. Believe me, you don't watch a lot of TV while on this trip, but we just turned it on for some background noise while getting ready.

 

[helenk]

Thank you both for your replies. Euros for the access cards are now included in my budget. Again, printing all this info for my trip folder.
My daughter does not have one of the smaller lap tops so she can just keep her's in her back pack.

 

[Diskidatheart]

Thank you both for your replies. Euros for the access cards are now included in my budget. Again, printing all this info for my trip folder.
My daughter does not have one of the smaller lap tops so she can just keep her's in her back pack.

You could probably check with the front desk to see if they can lock it up for you while touring. The days in Rome are long and A LOT of walking (but well worth it), so the added weight of a laptop in your backpack may not be the ideal situation.

 

[helenk]

You could probably check with the front desk to see if they can lock it up for you while touring. The days in Rome are long and A LOT of walking (but well worth it), so the added weight of a laptop in your backpack may not be the ideal situation.

Eh, she's 23 she should be able to lug that sucker around for awhile. Just kidding. I will check at the hotel when we get there to see what she might be able to do.
Again that you so much for all of your tips.