4 Days In Northern Italy advice

Old Apr 25th, 2017, 09:43 PM
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4 Days In Northern Italy advice

Hey all,

My guy and I have a wedding just outside of Ventimiglia, Italy in early July. After, we plan on spending 4 days there. I'm well aware that's not much time but it's all we have. Side note - we are flying in and out of Nice in case anybody thinks that area may be more interesting.

I've been to Italy twice, done the south and Venice both times, so I'm wondering what I've been missing in the north. I've been thinking about Genoa, Cinque Terra and/or possibly the Lake Como area but am very open to suggestions. My favorite things are beautiful views, old buildings, cathedrals, castles and anything that seems remotely haunted. I don't mind museums but they aren't generally on my bucket list. I couldn't care less about shopping. My guy is easygoing and has no real agenda.

I know this leaves it very open but what I'm really looking for are those things people have seen that you look back on fondly. For instance, one of my favorite memories from my first trip to Italy was Siena. Nothing specific, I just loved its beauty. Also staying at a rental in a remote area of Tuscany. My favorite thing from my second trip was Pompeii because of its history

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give!
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 10:06 PM
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If flying in/out Nice, I'd stay somewhere between Nice and Ventimiglia. Heaps of possible day trips from Nice itself by bus and train or pick one of the other smaller towns along the coast which has reasonable transport connections such as Menton or Antibes. Too short a time, in my book, to travel so far from your departure port.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 03:46 AM
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"anything that seems remotely haunted"

All these are a few miles from Ventimiglia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussana_Vecchia

http://www.italythisway.com/places/triora.php

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hotel-angst

This will sound wacky, but given the way you describe your interests, I suggest you go to Verona if you haven't already visited. It is likely to be hot & humid, but if you could put up with that, and the travel complications of getting there, then it could be fun. In July, there is the spectacle of the opera in the Roman arena if that would interest you, but if it doesn't there is still plenty in the town to enjoy + an easy day trip to Trento to see the castle & a bit a great mountain scenery, plus get some cool breezes -- or day trip to Lago di Garda, where it will be quite crowded -- but maybe if you are road tripping it, you'd enjoy an evening in Sirmione or some other castle town.

Fastest way to get there is a flight from Nice to either Milan or Venice.

In addition to visiting those sights, I would suggest going into France and renting a car and exploring the less-touristed hill towns around Le Bar sur Loup or Gourdon for its great views. Or do some research about the historic roman towns of the area, of which Ventimiglia is one but there are others in France, around Nice. You won't have the spectacular sights of Pompeii, but you'll probably be glad you went.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropaeum_Alpium

If staying in the Riviera seems like too little of an adventure, then this will sound wacky, but given the way you describe your interests, sounds like you might enjoy Verona if you haven't already visited. It is likely to be hot & humid, but if you could put up with that, and the travel complications of getting there, then it could be fun. In July, there is the spectacle of the opera in the Roman arena if that would interest you, but if it doesn't there is still plenty in the town to enjoy + an easy day trip to Trento to see the castle & a bit a great mountain scenery, plus get some cool breezes -- or day trip to Lago di Garda, where it will be hideously crowded -- but maybe if you are winging it, you'd enjoy an evening in Sirmione or some other castle town.

Fastest way to get to Verona is a flight from Nice to either Milan or Venice. But you must return to Nice the night before your flight due to the unpredictably of summer storms in all airports at that time of year that can delay flight. You don't want to miss connections.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 03:50 AM
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sorry for repeating myself. copied and moved things for clarity, and forgot delete things --so it ended up confusing!
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 07:34 AM
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If you are flying into Nice, going to a wedding in Ventimiglia and flying out of Nice four days later then I certainly would not go to Verona or Lake Como or anywhere further than Genoa and the towns just south of there (Camogli, Rapallo, Portofino, Santa Margerita, the CT towns).

Option A - base in S. Margerita or Rapallo and do day trips to some of the others. You will only have 3 full days so won't see all.

Option B - base in Genoa - could still do a couple day trips down the coast.

Option C - base in Nice the whole 4 days and do a few day trips from there.

Anything else will be too much traveling for the amount of 'seeing'.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 10:26 AM
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Agree with Dreamon and Isabel, particularly if you have not been to the French/Italian Riviera before.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 10:38 AM
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Thank you everybody. We are generally pretty lazy people so adventure isn't important to us.

Neither of us are terribly interested in driving so we will need to decide where to park ourselves. This is all excellent information so thank you again!
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 10:52 AM
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Many wonderful day trips from Nice by bus and/or train, no driving.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 04:06 PM
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Now you guys have me thinking maybe we should be focusing our energies on the south of France instead of northern Italy. I may have to start a new thread...
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 04:58 PM
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All the options I suggested would be trains (no need for car rental at all for any of these). Genoa and the Italian Riviera are great, but so is the area around Nice.

But if you are renting a car anyway for the wedding, and if you are renting it at the Nice airport, then in that case I'd keep the car and visit some of the hill towns inland from Nice such as Vence, Tourettes-sur-loupe, etc. But if you don't need a car for the wedding there are plenty of places that can be reached by public transportation (bus or train) from Nice.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 01:47 AM
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You could stay on the Italian riviera not too far from where your wedding is taking place. Bordighera is certainly worth your time, it's lovely. If you have a car you could check the villages of the Val Nervia:
https://french-riviera-blog.com/2012...nervia-valley/

Some other worthwhile places to see on the Western Riviera: Sanremo, Porto Maurizio, Cervo, Albenga, Finalborgo, Finale Ligure, Noli. You really don't have to travel far for having a fabulous time on the Riviera.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 03:13 AM
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Be sure to ask someone to tell you about all the sandy beaches on the riviera and incidentally, where they actually are.
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 12:52 PM
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The Riviera isn't plagued by hurricanes so you won't find beaches where the coastal terrain has been pulverized to powder. Still, there are sandy beaches if you know where to look in the vicinity of Ventimiglia

http://viaggiare.dimoredepoca.it/ind...guria-ponente/
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Old Apr 27th, 2017, 10:04 PM
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In case any of you are still paying attention, what are your thoughts on the following?

I'm really liking this idea of the Italian Riviera and these smaller villages that may not be quite as touristy. We will not be renting a car so it's trains and buses all the way.

Monday we go to Genoa and spend the day/night. Tuesday we can see anything we didn't in Genoa or just leave and stop in Chiavari where there doesn't seem to be a ton to do but it looks gorgeous. Then we park ourselves in Sestri Levante where we spend Wednesday and where we can also take a day trip to Portofino (which is gorgeous but super expensive so we won't want to stay there). So that's probably two nights in Sestri Levante. Thursday we go back to Nice (it will probably be about a 5-6 hour train ride), spend our last night in Nice and then head out Friday.

Or are there better villages that you've encountered or villages on this list that you hated?

Side note - my Italian will be poor. I've been learning on an app for the past three months and I'm pretty decent at reading it but unless you're saying "A cat is not a person," I'll probably struggle. Apps are strange learning tools.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 05:51 AM
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Looks good to me. We stayed several nites at Francheville Sur Mer close to Nice and loved it, but the idea of seeing more of the Italian Riviera is a good one as well.

Concur in the priceness of Portofino. We stayed a few hours and walked around, and it was enough.
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 07:24 AM
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Chiavari is charming but I think you would have a much more fascinating experience with just as much charm in Albenga, which is between Ventimiglia & Genova. I suggest skipping Portofino entirely & going to Camogli instead -- in fact, if you do that, you don't need to go as far as Sestri Levante to have a very similar experience. And it would shorten your train trip back.

The way I would do it is

Ventimiglia
Albenga (stay in the medieval center)
Camogli
Genova
Nice
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 09:35 AM
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This is such great insider info. Thank you all, I feel like I have a much better handle on things thanks to you!
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Old Apr 28th, 2017, 12:52 PM
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https://walkingontravels.com/undisco...albenga-italy/
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