2 weeks in Italy

[delfrio]

Hello all. First time posting on this board...

I am heading to northern Italy for 2 weeks in late May. For one week there will be 4 of us traveling, and for one week there will be 2. Some have been to Italy before and some not, so we have to visit some of the popular places. I am looking for ideas about small towns or off-the-path destinations around the areas we will be in. With only 2 weeks, we’ll be rushing around, and we’re fine with that.

The definite stops are:
Rome (although we'll minimize time here)
Venice
Cinque Terre
Lake Como

What I’m looking for:
1. Suggestions for small towns in Tuscany. We’d especially like to find a place to do a wine tour. We’re thinking about basing out of Siena and doing day trip or two. Apparently there is a big wine festival at the end of May called Cantine Aperte, but I don’t know how this works (or where).

2. Suggestions for nice towns in either France or Switzerland that are relatively near the Italy border. Right now, I am trying to figure out if this would be a better bet than the Amalfi coast.

Looking for scenery and uniqueness mostly.
Thanks!

[madamtrashheap]

Welcome to GFE, delfrio.

You'll love your trip to Italy and although you say you are all fine with "rushing around", you'll enjoy it more if you have time to stop and experience the places you're visiting.

You have 2 weeks and the places you've listed will take every bit of that time. As an example:

Rome - 4-5 days
Venice - 2 days
Cinque Terre - 3 days
Lake Como - 2 days (depending on where you base yourselves).

As you'd also like to visit somewhere in Tuscany (Siena is a good choice if you want a smaller town than Florence, but it will still have a lot of visitors at that time of year), you really only have around 3 days left for Siena/Tuscany if you stay in the above places for the recommended amount of time. There are lots of great towns in Tuscany that may fit your bill for scenery/wine: Montepulciano, Greve in Chiani, San Gimignano, Montalcino, ...all reachable from Siena by bus/car/train (in some cases).

As for Lake Como vs Amalfi Coast, these are two totally different places scenery, food and climate-wise so it will depend what appeals to you most. A base on Lake Como (what town were you looking at?) will allow visits to Bellagio or Locarno and Lugano across the Swiss Border. Whereas a base on the Amalfi Coast (again, any town in particular?) will allow visits to Pompei, Capri, Sorrento, Positano.

If you are looking for scenery rather than sightseeing of museums, etc then you could reduce the time you spend in Rome. It would help to have an idea of how much time your were contemplating spending in each of the places listed, plus your "must-sees" in each place so we can recommend the best options for your trip.

Happy choosing!

[delfrio]

Hi, thanks for the reply. I think your times generally look good, but as 2 of us have been to Rome and the other 2 aren't so into big cities, we will probably only spend 2 days there. So something like this:

Rome - 2
Venice - 2
CT - 2-3
Como - 2-3 (probably based in Menaggio)
Tuscany - 3 days (thanks for the suggestions!)

So that leaves about 2 days. If there are any nice small towns in Switzerland or France within reach of the CT or Como regions, that would be great. One person in the group wants to go south to Capri, but we may decide to split the group up at that point.

[Eagle]

delfrio,

With only two weeks for travel, my recommendation would be to focus on Rome and the north of Italy this time. Travel to the Amalfi coast (and especially Capri) is going to use precious travel time, so would not be a "time effective" choice. The trip to the Amalfi coast involves travel by "normal" train from Rome to Naples, and then transfer to the rickety Circumvesuviana train to reach Sorrento (hold onto your wallet while you're riding that!). Travel to Capri is possible from Sorrento, Positano and I believe Naples (travel time varies depending on which departure point you choose and which boat). One thing to keep in mind is that Capri is VERY expensive!

Were you planning to visit each of the locations in the same order as your most recent post?

A few thoughts on the destinations you listed:

> Rome - given that some of your group have been to Rome and the others aren't too interested, 2-3 days should be adequate.

> Tuscany - there are LOTS of choices! I'd recommend fitting this in on your way north from Rome. In addition to the places that MTH suggested, one location you might consider is Orvieto, which is about an hour north of Rome by train. Although it's technically in Umbria, the scenery is very similar to Tuscany and the town has an interesting history (in addition to "the tablecloth Church" which MTH will describe for you). It's the region where the Orvieto Classico white wine is produced.

Siena is another good possibility, and again it has an interesting history. The Palio takes place in July (I believe?), so it shouldn't be too crowded in late May.

One city in Tuscany that's conspicuous by it's absence is Florence. You could easily spend 2-3 days there. MTH would be the most appropriate one in the group here to provide details on Florence, if you're interested.

> Venice - your estimate of 2 days is good, but plan your touring carefully. If you haven't been there before, note that you'll be going to Venezia S.L. rail station.

On the way from Venice to Lago di Como, another possibility would be to make a short stop in Verona (the train will probably go through there anyway). The Romeo & Juliet balcony and courtyard is a bit of a "tourist trap" but it's interesting to see. The large Roman Amphitheatre in Piazza Bra is quite impressive, and they hold live Opera productions there in the summer. If you're there in late May, you should miss the crowds.

> Lago di Como - one of my favourites! Rather than stay in Menaggio, you might consider Varenna, as it's a very easy one-hour trip from Milano Centrale by train. From there it's easy to use the boats for day trips to Bellagio, Menaggio or other points on the lake. However, if you're planning on staying in the Hostel in Menaggio, I believe that a Hostelling International membership is compulsory. Bellagio tends to have more "high end" accommodations (have a look at www.villaserbelloni.com/Bellagio/index.cfm for one example). Varenna doesn't have any Hostels AFAIK, but rather a fairly good selection of small Hotels. If you're interested in basing in Varenna, have a look at www.varenna.net/ or www.centrohotelslakecomo.com/royal_victoria_varenna/homepage.html or www.olivedo.it/. The Ferry / Boat dock is directly in front of Albergo Olivedo.

On your way from Lago di Como to the Cinque Terre, you could possibly make a short trip to Lugano in Switzerland (about 1.5 hours by train from Milano Centrale).

> Cinque Terre - you didn't say whether you've checked the rail connections, but your best access to the C.T. is probably via La Spezia. From the station there, the local trains run to the five towns very frequently. Which of the five towns were you planning to stay in? Vernazza tends to be one of the most popular, especially with tour groups. Monterosso al Mare is the largest and has the best selection of Hotels and other tourist facilities. The "official" C.T. Hostel is located in Manarola. It's an excellent Hostel, but has a STRICT Lockout in the afternoons, which is a problem for me. If you want a very nice but somewhat pricey B&B in Manarola, have a look at www.torrettas.com/. Riomaggiore is a bit less formal, but has a reasonably good selection of private rooms. For an example, have a look at www.5terre-marmar.com/pag_eng/rooms.asp.

Good luck with your planning!

[delfrio]

Thanks Eagle. That was a really comprehensive reply. I think we've decided to concentrate on northern Italy. Our updated itinerary is currently looking like:

Rome - 2 days
Tuscany/Umbria - 3 days
Cinque Terre - 2 days

(for the first week)

For Tuscany, you gave some great suggestions. We were thinking about staying in either Siena or Florence and daytripping from there (two of us have been to Florence before, so we thought Siena might be a change of pace). But this is one question we were wondering about -- what are the benefits of choosing Florence vs. Siena as a base? We're still deciding on where to daytrip, but San Gimignano, Orvieto and maybe Pitigliano all look good. We're skipping most museums this trip, so Florence might lose points on that count, but any other opinions would certainly be appreciated.

For CT, we were thinking about the hostel in Manorola mostly for price, but I agree the lockout and curfew don't sound great.

After, CT we are thinking about a stop somewhere, potentially Lugano (though if there is anywhere smaller in range, that would be great). Then to Como -- Varenna sounds like a great place to stay, I'll definitely look into it.

Next will be Venice. I've been there once before and stayed outside the city in Padua. But I think we'll stay in Venice this time, so if you have any (reasonably priced) hotel recommendations, I'll definitely take them.

Thanks again!