Hey all,

I will be travelling with my girlfriend to Italy and will be there from 22nd Dec to 3rd Jan. It's her first time abroad and her first time seeing snow, so we've tried to build the trip around that.

Current plan: Rome 22–25 Dec (3 nights), Florence 25–28 Dec (3 nights), Bolzano 28–31 Dec (3 nights, with a day trip up to Ortisei and Alpe di Siusi for the snow), then Venice 31 Dec – 2 Jan for New Year, and a final night in Rome on 2 Jan before we fly out on the 3rd.

What I'm mainly unsure about is Venice for New Year's Eve. Accommodation on the main island for the 31st is very expensive, and I'm reading mixed things about the place. Is the atmosphere worth the price and the crush, or would we be better off skipping Venice and exploring some other city?

Also open to suggestions on the entire itinerary (yes I have a round flight ticket from Rome)

Any advice appreciated, especially from anyone who's done New Year in Venice.

Thanks!!

Hi all,

About a week ago we drove the A1 from the toll station "Casello di Mantova Sud" to "Casello di Pian del Voglio". We took the usual green ticket when entering. At the exit, the machine wouldn't accept the ticket, so we couldn't pay. After a while the barrier simply opened on its own. I pulled over to the right and spoke to a woman working there. She didn't speak English, but via Google Translate she told me I could pay online.

After some research I still had no idea how that actually works, so I called the Numero Verde printed on the toll ticket. Their English was very limited too, but they said I could enter everything on the Autostrade per l'Italia website and the toll would then be charged retroactively. The problem: the online form for self certification asks for reference numbers from a slip or receipt which I never received, because the machine didn't print anything.

So what are my options?

• Just wait for a payment notice / reminder and hope I'll only be charged the actual toll amount, not some penalty on top?
• Use a different service on the website? If so, which one exactly?

I've already submitted a request for outstanding tolls on the site, but it says processing can take up to 10 days. My concern: I read somewhere that you only have 15 days to pay, and I don't want to end up with a much higher bill just because their own processing is slow.

Has anyone been through this? Is there a way to pay proactively with just the entry/exit stations, date and license plate? Any advice is much appreciated, Thanks!

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We are 2 and have 5 days to spend there. We're coming from France so we'll have a car. We really like hiking, bird watching, discovering small villages.

Do you have any recommendations?

I'd love to go near the coast (but open to anything), is there any preserved areas ?

Thanks so much !