Italy north to South - July
Discussion
We're thinking of heading to Italy for 10-12 days in July. Never been before but I have no idea where is good and where isn't.
We don't want to spend the entire holiday in a car, general idea is to sightsee and relax, but we're thinking of first 2 days in Rome before heading South - maybe a stop at Pompeii, Florence, Amalfi (Sorrento?) etc.
Anyone done similar? What routes did you take, great places to see along the way? Ideally we'd end up in the final destination for 7 nights with a Villa - any recommendations in this regard as well?
We don't have to end up right at the other end (also need to think about flight home, so distance from an airport is also a consideration).
Any help would be hugely appreciated as we have no idea where to start (or end)
We don't want to spend the entire holiday in a car, general idea is to sightsee and relax, but we're thinking of first 2 days in Rome before heading South - maybe a stop at Pompeii, Florence, Amalfi (Sorrento?) etc.
Anyone done similar? What routes did you take, great places to see along the way? Ideally we'd end up in the final destination for 7 nights with a Villa - any recommendations in this regard as well?
We don't have to end up right at the other end (also need to think about flight home, so distance from an airport is also a consideration).
Any help would be hugely appreciated as we have no idea where to start (or end)
HJG said:
Florence is North of Rome.
I would advise flying into Pisa...see the tower.
Get a ~1 hour train to Florence (personally I think it is Italy's best city).
Take a train to Rome.
Take a train to Naples and fly back from there.
We've done something similar to this a few times.I would advise flying into Pisa...see the tower.
Get a ~1 hour train to Florence (personally I think it is Italy's best city).
Take a train to Rome.
Take a train to Naples and fly back from there.
We fly in to Pisa, 1 night there, you only need 1/2 a day there to see the tower, do the photo pose and crack on...
Train to Florence, a few days there.
We've then always gone north, next stop Bologna, if you need to ask why you're on the wrong website.
Few days there as a base to head to Modena, Maranello, Sant'Agata, Imola...etc.
Train to Verona, few days there, see an opera in the Arena
Then we've got the train to Lake Garda and had a few days there to relax, then back to Verona on the train for the flight home.
For a villa - take a look at Simpson Travel and also CV Villas - they've both got some nice villas in the Puglia region. We stayed in the Trulli Le Rose and it was fabulous. Some of the prices are really out there, but there are many relatively affordable ones. Sorrento and Amalfi will be rammed in July. Puglia won't exactly be quiet, but it will be alot less busy than the Amalfi coast.
We did something similar for our honeymoon back in 2010. We started in Venice, then travelled to Florence, Rome and ended in Amalfi.
We used Citalia and just told them where we wanted to go and they sorted flights, hotels, trains and boat/car transfers. Appreciate that it was a while ago now but they were excellent and very competitive on price too.
https://www.citalia.com/?infinity=ict2~net~mac~cmp...
We used Citalia and just told them where we wanted to go and they sorted flights, hotels, trains and boat/car transfers. Appreciate that it was a while ago now but they were excellent and very competitive on price too.
https://www.citalia.com/?infinity=ict2~net~mac~cmp...
See here for some previous ideas...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I'd add Lucca to your list - it's really near Pisa airport, and far nicer than Pisa. A great stop off when you arrive or before you leave.
If you've never been to Italy, it might be better to focus on a smaller area as it would be a shame to spend a lot of your time travelling instead of enjoying places.
Cities in Italy tend to be far better got to by train than by car as they all tend to be tricky to drive in and have significant ZTL (resident only / pedestrian) zones in their centres. Lucca, Siena, Florence and Verona are all lovely, and Rome is spectacular.
If you want something more chilled, then the Tuscan hilltop towns are lovely, as are the towns in the Chianti sub-region. It tends to be slightly cooler in the hilltop towns than in the valleys / cities. Florence was in the high 30's when I was there in late July and was too hot for me personally.
We often split a holiday into a few days to explore a big town/city (e.g. San Gimigniano / Lucca / Florence) on foot, then the other half in an Agriturismo in the countryside doing day trips to various places.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I'd add Lucca to your list - it's really near Pisa airport, and far nicer than Pisa. A great stop off when you arrive or before you leave.
If you've never been to Italy, it might be better to focus on a smaller area as it would be a shame to spend a lot of your time travelling instead of enjoying places.
Cities in Italy tend to be far better got to by train than by car as they all tend to be tricky to drive in and have significant ZTL (resident only / pedestrian) zones in their centres. Lucca, Siena, Florence and Verona are all lovely, and Rome is spectacular.
If you want something more chilled, then the Tuscan hilltop towns are lovely, as are the towns in the Chianti sub-region. It tends to be slightly cooler in the hilltop towns than in the valleys / cities. Florence was in the high 30's when I was there in late July and was too hot for me personally.
We often split a holiday into a few days to explore a big town/city (e.g. San Gimigniano / Lucca / Florence) on foot, then the other half in an Agriturismo in the countryside doing day trips to various places.
Our itinerary last year.
Flew into Verona - 3 nights including lake garda day drip and ferry.
Train to Bologna. 2 nights.
Train to Florence. 2 nights.
Train to Siena 2 nights.
Picked up hire car on last day.
Drove to Montepulciano. Stayed at wine hotel. 1 night.
Drove to Salerno. Stayed 3 nights including day cruise to Amalfi.
Drove to Alberobello. 7 night villa.
Flew into Verona - 3 nights including lake garda day drip and ferry.
Train to Bologna. 2 nights.
Train to Florence. 2 nights.
Train to Siena 2 nights.
Picked up hire car on last day.
Drove to Montepulciano. Stayed at wine hotel. 1 night.
Drove to Salerno. Stayed 3 nights including day cruise to Amalfi.
Drove to Alberobello. 7 night villa.
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