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Italy - the return
Posted on 8/27/22 at 10:17 pm
Posted on 8/27/22 at 10:17 pm
So I came here in may-ish with questions about our first trip to Italy. It was my teen daughter, myself, and my mother. Now I’ve planned a new trip with my husband for the spring. We are gonna position ourselves at JFK for a direct flight to Rome. Our return will be the same route. Based on my experience with lost luggage, strikes, cancellations and delays we are staying in Rome for 4 nights. After that we will train elsewhere but want to end our 2 week stay in Florence. So days 4-8 are open. Any suggestions for a countryside stay? Winery? Villa? Town we can’t miss? but is accessible by train or private transport? We don’t mind passing up Florence to come back to it later.
8
Posted on 8/27/22 at 11:22 pm to SuwMwf
My suggestion for a stay in the Tuscan countryside has been sold as a private residence. I complained about that on here last week and got some great suggestions for replacements. You can check out the thread.
Some towns to visit, besides the main ones of Florence and Siena, are San Gimingiano, Volterra, Montalcino and Montepulciano.
Don’t skip Florence. If you want to go to a big winery near Florence, Antinori is about a 15 minute drive to the south.
Some towns to visit, besides the main ones of Florence and Siena, are San Gimingiano, Volterra, Montalcino and Montepulciano.
Don’t skip Florence. If you want to go to a big winery near Florence, Antinori is about a 15 minute drive to the south.
Posted on 8/28/22 at 8:24 am to SuwMwf
I would use some of that time to visit Venice.
Posted on 8/28/22 at 11:47 am to SuwMwf
4 nights in Rome is too long imo
Posted on 8/28/22 at 12:04 pm to TheOcean
I know a lot of people on here don’t like Rome but I am not one of them. I could spend more than four days in Rome and have on several occasions.
Posted on 8/30/22 at 8:26 am to geauxpurple
quote:
I know a lot of people on here don’t like Rome but I am not one of them. I could spend more than four days in Rome and have on several occasions.
My wife and I did an excursion off of a cruise to Rome for a day. Had to choose between seeing the Vatican or see the Colosseum and everything around it. We chose the Colosseum since that sounded more interesting. Only had about 4-5 hours so it was a little rushed. Definitely could have spent multiple days in Rome easily.
Posted on 8/30/22 at 11:49 am to SuwMwf
Cinque Terre. Absolutely amazing!
Posted on 8/30/22 at 12:58 pm to SuwMwf
quote:
Based on my experience with lost luggage
If I were traveling internationally and maybe for my next domestic trip, all my luggage will have an air tag inside. You can then tell them exactly where it is. I've seen stories of many people getting their luggage back this way when the airlines had no clue where it was.
Posted on 8/30/22 at 2:53 pm to geauxpurple
Antinori is the Disney World of wineries. Stunning and huge commercial feel to it. Still very cool.
The restaurant there is awesome. One of the best meals we had last time and we had some incredible food.
The restaurant there is awesome. One of the best meals we had last time and we had some incredible food.
This post was edited on 8/30/22 at 2:55 pm
Posted on 8/30/22 at 3:32 pm to METAL
Yes
If you are looking for a small, quaint, back road Tuscan winery, Antinori is not the place. Ditto for Banfi near Montalcino which is another huge operation with a beautiful tasting room.
It was easy for us to go to Antinori because it was 10 minutes north from where we stayed. They do have a highly acclaimed restaurant but we just sat outside and had wine with a cheese and antipasto platter.
With regard to the comment about Rome on a cruise, that is my big complaint about Mediterranean cruises, they don’t spend enough time in port and often the place you want to go is a long way from the ship. Florence is another example.
If you are looking for a small, quaint, back road Tuscan winery, Antinori is not the place. Ditto for Banfi near Montalcino which is another huge operation with a beautiful tasting room.
It was easy for us to go to Antinori because it was 10 minutes north from where we stayed. They do have a highly acclaimed restaurant but we just sat outside and had wine with a cheese and antipasto platter.
With regard to the comment about Rome on a cruise, that is my big complaint about Mediterranean cruises, they don’t spend enough time in port and often the place you want to go is a long way from the ship. Florence is another example.
Posted on 8/30/22 at 7:43 pm to LaLadyinTx
quote:This is absolutely the way to go. Going to start doing that every time from now on
If I were traveling internationally and maybe for my next domestic trip, all my luggage will have an air tag inside. You can then tell them exactly where it is. I've seen stories of many people getting their luggage back this way when the airlines had no clue where it was.
Posted on 8/30/22 at 8:50 pm to SuwMwf
When you visited in May, was there not any places you discovered or heard about that was interesting?
Curious to know why you are deciding to go back so quickly if you don’t have places on the list.
I understand going with different company, but the main reason I would go back is if I thought to myself, “I need to come back here or go there with (fill in the blank)”….not judging, just curious.
Curious to know why you are deciding to go back so quickly if you don’t have places on the list.
I understand going with different company, but the main reason I would go back is if I thought to myself, “I need to come back here or go there with (fill in the blank)”….not judging, just curious.
Posted on 8/31/22 at 11:25 pm to kciDAtaE
I actually went in July. Posted questions here in may…The trip was complicated by a lot of things. Taxi strikes limited our mobility. 6 days out of 14 there were no taxis. There was no Uber and i didn’t even try Lyft. Buses didn’t pick up bc they were overloaded. Heat was oppressive. I had my mother and my teen. I mentioned elsewhere 5 weeks before our trip I had emergency open abdominal surgery so I wasn’t in top shape. I personally felt like I could have seen more. For a 40 year old healthy female I have the dumbest health luck! I have been through crazy health stuff plus Life is incredibly short and you never know if you’ll be able to go somewhere in the future. So I figured wth I’ll go again! Those are the negative parts. I loved our trip and the memories we made are priceless and I want to share that with my husband. He loved my stories and facetimes. We’ll be able to do wineries and such I didn’t do with my mom and kid. He loves history and frankly the July trip was a sort of girl’s trip. I have reservations at hotels and apartments in Rome and Florence but I’m open to leaving to visit other towns. There was a ton of great advice that I took in my original thread and that’s why I came back for more. San Gimignano is one place I’ve heard about here that we didn’t visit. Bologna too. Without TD I wouldn’t have known to do the walks of Italy early Sistine tour. That was awesome advice!
Posted on 8/31/22 at 11:29 pm to LaLadyinTx
quote:
If I were traveling internationally and maybe for my next domestic trip, all my luggage will have an air tag inside.
I’ve already picked up a 3 pack. Lesson learned. Thankfully I took advice from here and had 2-3 days clothes in a backpack. I’ll do that again too.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:14 am to SuwMwf
Base in Florence. Magical city. Stayed here. Highly recommend. Full kitchen. Convenient. Right on the river.
Easy touring to the Tuscany Region. Day trips to Sienna, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and much more. Did I mention all the wineries you could tour?
Selected Photos!
Taking the train down to the ancient walled city of Orvieto would be a "must do" as well if you can squeeze it in.
BTW, we watch the Blogger "Lifestyle Hal" all the time. Has great travel videos.
Must Visit Cities Series:
Part 1
Italy Part 2
Easy touring to the Tuscany Region. Day trips to Sienna, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and much more. Did I mention all the wineries you could tour?
Selected Photos!
Taking the train down to the ancient walled city of Orvieto would be a "must do" as well if you can squeeze it in.
BTW, we watch the Blogger "Lifestyle Hal" all the time. Has great travel videos.
Must Visit Cities Series:
Part 1
Italy Part 2
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 10:37 am
Posted on 9/1/22 at 10:47 am to SuwMwf
If you do plan to stay in the city, 100% stay in San Niccolo, and don't be afraid to leave the area around the Duomo, in the south of the city you'll have a lot more of a local feel with some better restaurants and cool squares. Be prepared to walk, and walk, and walk, it's not uncommon to walk 20-30 minutes to dinner due to how the driving zones and parking are in the city. Plus it's nice as an american to experience a true walking city. Don't be afraid to pick a restaurant far away from your hotel to have that experience. Take it slow, stop for espresso/gelato, or a negroni/spritz.
Some of the most enjoyable times I had in Florence were just casual strolls enjoying the city.
For the surrounding area, look into driving to the cinque terra, rent a fiat for the day and go, a short and very enjoyable ride. Hell, you could spend a few days just hitting all of the surrounding villages like portofino, sienna, bologna, etc.
Some of the most enjoyable times I had in Florence were just casual strolls enjoying the city.
For the surrounding area, look into driving to the cinque terra, rent a fiat for the day and go, a short and very enjoyable ride. Hell, you could spend a few days just hitting all of the surrounding villages like portofino, sienna, bologna, etc.
Posted on 9/1/22 at 1:11 pm to SuwMwf
The taxi strike did not mess up our trip fortunately. We were in Milan during the strike. Two places that we went, that were not on our original plan, were Verona and Stresa. I would check them out.
This post was edited on 9/1/22 at 1:12 pm
Posted on 9/2/22 at 3:48 pm to b-rab2
quote:
Stressa
We went there. Nice lakeside town. We took the ferry to St Charles Borromeo’s palace. You can tour the palace then go outside to the terraced gardens where peacocks are walking around.
Posted on 9/2/22 at 8:48 pm to geauxpurple
Yes, it was one of the highlights of our trip because it was not really planned. We picked it out a day ahead and caught a train out of Milan.
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