kim4

Hello everyone,

My husband and I are taking our 2 girls (8 and 12) to Italy in spring. I am thinking of starting around Camogli and move on to the Cinque Terre area, then on to the north and south Tuscany. We will end our trip in Florence. We are planning to drive most part of our trip. We are thinking of staying in 2 places, in the north and south Tuscany as a base. Could you recommend 2 places and some Tuscan towns you like plus hotel suggestions?

luxuryintuscany

Hi,
I would suggest you rent a place right in the center of Tuscany, maybe Impruneta or Greve. I think it would give you a real taste of the authentic Italian lifestyle. Since you have a car you you could plan day trips to a variety of interesting places in Tuscany; Siena, Pisa, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Lucca, Volterra, Pienza............
Have a wonderful family vacation!
Sandra

bobthenavigator

Do you have your flights booked? I assume you mean 2012.
If so, where do you arrive and depart?
Does your 10 days include travel days?
You say spring--does that mean Easter?
We need more facts to give good advice.

kim4

We will be arriving in Milan and departing from Florence around late March this year. We thought of going directly to Camogli to avoid a big city such as Milan. I wanted to put in the Cinque Terre region since I haven't been there. Then, sleep in Pisa and see Luca, and move downward towards Tuscany towns. I thought maybe Siena would be the next base but I've been there a few times before and didn't have a good experience with the hotels.. The towns I am thinking of visiting are: San Gimignano(I have been here), Bano Bignoni, Montepulciano, Pitigliano, Orvieto, Pienza, etc. Please let me know if you have any suggestions because from what I understand, Pitigliano would be a bit far(?) to drive from Sienna region. I am thinking of spending 2 nights in Sienna region and 2 nights in the southern Tuscany region, like Pitigliano.
If anyone has hotel suggestions, I would appreciate it.

Jean

I assume your flights are booked. It's unfortunate you're not arriving at Pisa (or Florence) and departing from Rome.

You plan to land at Malpensa and go directly to Camogli. How? The train will take about 4 hours. Driving will take about 3 hours not counting the time needed to rent the car. If you're coming off a long/overnight flight, driving might not be the best idea. CT in late March is also not the best plan, but it's your trip. Why not go directly to Pisa and decide on the CT (as a day trip) if the weather is nice?

I think the rest of your list of towns is pretty long for the time you have, would involve a lot of driving (almost every day) from the base towns you're considering and not give you much time in any one place. You'll need to be in Florence the night before your flight.

For hotel recommendations, it would be helpful if we knew your budget and whether you're looking for a quad/family room or two double rooms.

bobthenavigator

Yes, how do you get to Camogli after landing?
And, Camogli is not near near the CT---which do you want?
How do you plan to travel? Do you have 10 nites to sleep in Italy. Sorry for all the questions, but your plan sounds fragmented to me.

mamcalice

Agree that your plan sounds pretty fragmented and also that you have too many stops for 10 days. Do you plan to stay in Florence or only to fly out of Florence? So many questions. Give us your "must sees" so that it will be easier to suggest places and amounts of time.

kim4

Thank you so much for all the responses! I thought that it took 2 hours to Camogli by car from Milan.(Yes. we bought the tickets already..) Is CT not so nice in late March? How far is it from Camogli by car?

It is true that we are being too ambitious in thinking that we will stop in all those towns.. I really wanted to see the CT region, Pisa, Luca. After that, we will find a base(maybe Sienna) and see a few towns. I am thinking that it might be too much to go down to Pitigliano area.. How far is it from Sienna?

Our final destination is Florence. We might see it on the last day and fly out the next afternoon.

As for the hotels, we are thinking of getting 1 big room and our budget is around $200-300.
So the rough plan is this:
- Camogli 2 nights
- Pisa 1 night
- Sienna or San Gimignano 2 nights
- Montepulciano(?) 1 night
- Florence 2 nights

jamikins

CT is a seaside area and the main things to see there are the beautiful scenary and the hiking trails. The beaches are not great (some are just big rocks) although Monterosso has a half decent beach. Not sure how the beach has been impacted by the land slides late 2011 though.

March can be very rainy and unpleasant, closing hiking trails and there isnt alot to do there in the rain so thats I think why someone above advised this might not be the best time to head there.

If you were to give up CT I think you could accomplish what you want to see with 1 base, which would be so much more convenient, especially with kids. If you based yourselves in a Tuscan town or on an agritourismo (kids might like a working farm?) you will save all the time of checking in and out and unpacking/packing and could spend that time doing day trips.

The other challenge will be finding 1 big room. You will need to ask for family rooms, and they are not as common in Italy.

It is also not a good idea to drive in a foreign country right after landing due to jetlag. You not only endanger yourselves, but also everyone else on the road. So I would suggest taking the train to Florence and spending your first two or so nights there, then taking the train to the airport (you DO NOT want to drive in Florence, just search here for all the people that have been given tickets for driving there) and then drive to your base in Tuscany and then drop the car back at your departing airport on the way home!

jamikins

I meant then taking the train to the airport TO PICK UP THE CAR - sorry!

jamikins

Sorry, one more thing - dont forget to go to AA and get your International Driving Permit before driving in Italy - it is manditory! You just need a passport photo and your license and they cost about $20.

bobthenavigator

Too many hotels---you can do this with 3 hotels.

Drive to Ligurian coast destination[Camogli]?
See Pisa as you drive to Tuscany base. Stay near Siena for 4 nites---day trips to hill towns[Forget Pitigliano]
Drop car at Florence airport--stay Florence 3 nites

Have fun !

Jean

A minor correction to jamikins' suggestions... Between Florence and the Florence airport, there is bus service but no train service.

And a thought on bobthenavigator's suggested itinerary... I would drop the car at Siena and take the train or bus to Florence to eliminate one trip between Florence and the Florence airport.

You need to start looking for those family/quad rooms in your budget range. Availability may determine where you end up staying.

Henry

kim,
This may help http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

Lexma90

I like Bob's suggestions too, and either driving or taking train/bus from Siena would be a good idea too.

Here's an idea for a B&B in Florence; we stayed there with our DD two years ago; they have one good-sized room with one double (queen?) bed and two foldout sofa beds. It's Casa dei Tintori. The owners are very kind and helpful, and when they learned my daughter loves chocolate, each breakfast included some chocolate pastry. And the place is gorgeous.

An advantage of including a city destination is that if the weather is bad, you have plenty of indoor destinations to visit.