October 2019
Last year just before the devastating floods in Venice we finally took our dream trip to Italy. It was officially our honeymoon more than a year after our amazing wedding in Santa Barbara in the Spring of 2018. We landed in Rome spent 4 wonderful nights there, traveled to Florence for the 3 nights, then on to beautiful Venice for 4 nights and finally ended the trip in Lake Como for another 4 nights. The trip was magical. We stayed in some of the nicest and most luxurious hotels in the world that are of course dog friendly and got to see some amazing sites, soak in the food and culture all while keeping our family together. Follow the adventure on IG #amannfamilyhoneymoon
Where to Stay by Italian City
Rome: Hotel Farnese a dog friendly hotel with a super friendly concierge, old style authentic furnishings and AC. We got a broom with a balcony and had a romantic pizza dinner after a very long flight from the US.
Florence: Garibaldi Blu a dog friendly hotel with amazing dog accommodations including dog beds in the room, dog food and water bowls and complimentary poop bags. Decorated in a modern Art Deco fashion you will feel taken care is and comfortable.
Venice: Danieli enjoy world class pet accommodations and human accommodations. This luxury hotel is huge, the service is incredible and their attention to detail and dog considerations are superb. Your dog will get their own dog bowl and luxery dog bed, complimentary treats and during turn down service they clean up your pet area. The Danieli blew us away.
Lake Como: Villa De Este you cannot think about leaving Lake Como without visiting or staying at this romantic, elegant and charming 19th century style CASTLE. It was the most luxurious, dog friendly, world class, 5 star resort we have ever stayed. You and your dog truly feel like royalty or at the least part of the aristocracy at this resort. The rooms come with friendly notes from the staff with champagne, dog beds and bowls and everyone on staff is so professional and catering. The staff even changes their outfits throughout the day based on what time of day and which meal they are serving just like in the 19th century. There are huge lush greens to explore on the property and views of the lake to die for. There are also gothic style statues and a floating pool on the lake. For a once in a lifetime experience definitely bring your dog here.
What to Do
Italy is extremly dog friendly. We found sticking to the tourist paths yielded very pet friendly experiences. Most restaurants in the tourist areas will not object to dogs being with you and will likely not even say anything. If you do catch some resistance they will likey just seat you in a patio if available. The museums however are mostly not dog friendly so your dog will have to stay at your pet friendly hotel while you are on walking museum tours. Definately take your dog on a stroll outside of the landmarks for some amazing photos like this one outside the Colosseum where ancient roman aristocrats watches the fights with their maltese dogs.
Where to Eat
When in Rome you must try the Carbonara. It is traditionaly a Roman dish and thus it is the best Carbonara in the world. I ordered it at every restaurant. Our favorite was this open air place near the Vatican. All Italian food is just amazing so please don’t worry about your diet and go crazy. It’s just the best time. We gave B&C tiny tasts of pasta, cheese and meats from our plates, definately B&C approved! If you dog has a sensitive stomach I would not recommend this.
How to Get There
So this is the million dollar question. First you must plan at least 6 months preferably a year in advance. You must chech the online requirements of your country of origin and the coutry of destination. For us we checked the USDAs website on what our requirements where then we checked with the EUs requirements specifically Italy. From there you will make yourself a check list and please please pay special attention to the dates! You will have to get a vet check 10 days before the date of departure then you will have to drive to the nearest USDAs office and get an official stamp within 5 days or so. There is special planning and consideration to this as the USDAs office does require appointments booked in advance and a strick method of payment upon arrival. Then you will have to pick an airline and abide by that specific airline’s policies. Your pet cannot be in the cabin in the air for over 11 hours straight so you will need to pick flights with long lay overs breaking up the air time and giving you enough time to go to the pet relief areas in between. We google searched each airport when picking flights and looked to make sure the pet relief areas were INSIDE security. This is a big point because if you have to leave security to take your dog to pee, it can take you too much time to go back through. My advice is to research everything before hand and be prepared for anything. Gate changes are always fun so get off the flight and run to a map, find the relief area and head straight to it then take your own time to get water and rest for the rest of the layover. Plan to go back to the relief area one more time before heading to the boarding gate. I traveled with pet diapers and a potty pad in my purse just in case. When we got off the flight from Miami to Rome (10 hours) the boys held it so long they needed to go immediately after landing, we just made it to baggage claim and I put down a pee pad and they happily went on the pad. I then threw it away with no mess what so ever. Do pack wet wipes in your purse as well. I always make it a habit to wipe down my dogs paws during and after traveling. They lick their paws and the last thing I want is all that airplane and airport bacteria in their mouths. This leads me to the dog carrier situation. We have the front loaders for walking around sight seeing while on the trip, but, this is not practical for airports and not allowed for in cabin flights. We wheel Bradley in the Rio Wheeled carrier from Muttropolis https://muttropolis.com/collections/pet-carriers/products/ptt-rio-cout-blk-qlt then we carry Chandler in a purse and each of us holds an additonal small carry on. I still have not found a suitable carrier that will fit both comfortably. Stay tuned.
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