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Trip to Italy

Montepulciano is a beautiful hill town with the piazza at the very top.

Montalcino is home to Brunello, one of the finest italian wines. Both worth a stop at the very least.
 
BarcaDeac said:
Montepulciano is a beautiful hill town with the piazza at the very top.

Montalcino is home to Brunello, one of the finest italian wines. Both worth a stop at the very least.
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I could not agree more with this.
 
Bought airfare out of ATL yesterday for $800 for an 8 night stay in Siena, San Quirico d'Orcia, and Florence in mid April. I still have not booked my stay in Florence on the last 2 nights of the trip but prefer to stay in the Oltrarno neighborhood or south of the Arno River. Anybody stayed over here away from all the tourists?
 
We got some awesomely cheatp tickets from lufthansa for a 12 day trip to florence and Umbria in September with some in-laws; was glad to see Rico enjoyed his stay in the region
 
For those that have bopped around Tuscany, did you rent a car to do so? It sounds like you don't want to deal with a car if you are staying within Florence and maybe even Siena, However, what about staying in and visiting some of the other smaller towns?
 
Train is pretty good heading west from Florence to visit Pisa and Lucca. Other than that a car would be good for vineyards and small towns. We had a driver for that but have only done it once. Roads are probably kind of tricky in the Chianti region since your going through the hills. We rented a car in Rome for the trip to Naples/Pompeii/Sorrento and the experience wasn't all that bad. All of the big highways in Tuscany are good. I think we got an international certification at AAA just to be safe. We heard if you don't have it, it can be a hassle if you get pulled over.
 
Visiting the smaller towns you absolutely need a car, whether you're driving it or someone else is. We stayed in Trequanda a few weeks ago and visited tons of places in the countryside, but you're screwed without a car.

If you happen to be passing near it, there's an amazing place in Panzano where we ate about 10 different styles of beef. Google the butcher of Panzano for details. It's about halfway between Siena and Florence on a straight line, but there is no quick/easy way to get there so be warned.

There's a great little farm outside Pienza that we went to and made our own pizzas; if you like pasta there's a place in Montefollonico that I recommend highly - 13 Gobbi.

Also - use the "download areas" option on google maps to save all of the area you're going to. It will save your mobile phone battery as well as your sanity, as reception is sketchy and even when you have a signal, it's slower than we're used to. I saved everything in a rectangle from Montepulciano to Florence and it was so helpful.
 
Bubble Boy said:
For those that have bopped around Tuscany, did you rent a car to do so? It sounds like you don't want to deal with a car if you are staying within Florence and maybe even Siena, However, what about staying in and visiting some of the other smaller towns?
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We were a little apprehensive about a car but knew we would need one down in the southern part of Tuscany. I used autoeurope.com to rent the car over here so all we had to do was pick it up at the Florence airport. It ended up being an almost brand new VW small diesel SUV with an installed GPS (I think that's pretty much standard at this point). It was a stick shift but that added to the fun.

Getting around from town to town was way easier that I imagined and as Biff said the roads are in really good shape. We got the international certification from AAA as well just to avoid any headaches should we get pulled. All parking is outside town walls so don't even try to go in the main parts of small towns. We turned in the car and didn't even try to navigate Florence traffic. By the way there is no Uber in Florence and there cabs suck, you just have to deal with it.
 
by all means get a car, driving in Italy is paradise, I've driven well over 10,000 kms in Italy and I have never seen an accident there, Italian drivers are aggressive but they know how to drive, once you pick up the tempo of the traffic it's great fun, I've enjoyed every second of driving in Italy
 
Thanks for the responses. In what city did you rent the car?
 
I am looking at a trip Venice(2 nts)-->Florence (4 nts)--> Rome (3 nights) for the wife and kid in March. The wife may be 6 months pregnant at the time if all goes according to plan, and the kid will be turning 3 in July. Is this a bad idea? Pregnant wife I think would be okay but doing Italy with a toddler does not seem like the most ideal way to go to Italy but know it will only get tougher with more kids. Flights now are pretty cheap round trip out of NY.
 
Bubble Boy said:
Thanks for the responses. In what city did you rent the car?
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I have rented at the Rome airport and at the Rome train station. Airport was much easier to get out of. Downtown Rome is fun to drive if you don't mind total chaos but if you're nervous behind the wheel avoid it at all costs.
 
I rented at Rome train station which can be a hassle with your luggage.
 
BostonDeac said:
I am looking at a trip Venice(2 nts)-->Florence (4 nts)--> Rome (3 nights) for the wife and kid in March. The wife may be 6 months pregnant at the time if all goes according to plan, and the kid will be turning 3 in July. Is this a bad idea? Pregnant wife I think would be okay but doing Italy with a toddler does not seem like the most ideal way to go to Italy but know it will only get tougher with more kids. Flights now are pretty cheap round trip out of NY.
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Doesn't sound fun to me. Ditch the kid with its grandparents and take the wife.
 
Bubble Boy said:
Thanks for the responses. In what city did you rent the car?
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In Florence. Stayed 2 nights in Siena and parked at hotel, 3 nights in San Quirico D'Orcia, turned car in and 3 nights in Florence.

I have a friend in Tuscany now with a 5 year old and he said if he could do it over he would not take anyone under the age on 12 and there in no way he'd go in the summer. We went late April and it was terrific.

Personally there is no way I'd try to do that many towns in 9 nights. You're just rushing through it to get to the next town. I have been to Rome twice and it deserves a solid 5 days by itself. Florence & Tuscany deserve 5-7 nights. Venice is a smelly pit. No way I'd ever go there.
 
Yeah, I don't think you're going to get much out of two nights in Venice right after getting off the plane. Venice is great if you know your way around and know what do do once you get out of the main tourist areas. It's awful when you're surrounded by people who just got off a cruise ship.
 
So thinking out loud here. Sounds like a decent option could be to pick up a rental car at Rome airport - drive straight up to Siena for a couple of days - stay another couple of days in another (yet to be determined) smaller town in Tuscany - then head to Florence to drop the rental car and stay for another couple of nights - and then ultimately train back down to Rome for the last part of the trip. I'm not worried about driving over there, and I can drive a stick. It just sounds like you don't want to deal with a car in Florence. Or in Rome.
 
No need for a car in either of those places. Capri is also pretty easy to access from Rome.
 
agree - your plan is good. 2 days in Florence is good. 1 is too rushed, 3 is too much.

if you're looking for a good small town you should check out Trequanda/Montisi/etc. They are great. Also let me know if you want a recommendation on a tour guide for Siena - we have used the same lady for years and she's great....actually edited part of the Rick Steves book.
 
DeacDiggler said:
agree - your plan is good. 2 days in Florence is good. 1 is too rushed, 3 is too much.

if you're looking for a good small town you should check out Trequanda/Montisi/etc. They are great. Also let me know if you want a recommendation on a tour guide for Siena - we have used the same lady for years and she's great....actually edited part of the Rick Steves book.
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disagree that 3 is too much. so much to see and do in Florence. However, even if someone feels like 3 is too much you could also mix in day trips to Pisa, Assissi, etc. from there.
 
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