Sue

In mid May, my father and I will have 3 days to enjoy traveling on our own in Italy, after our ten day whirlwind tour by motorcoach (to Milan, Pisa, Orvieto, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Lake Como.) Where do you think would be the best places to go for 3 days, with a car? (We have reserved a car at the Malpensa Airport, in Milan.) We are thinking of driving down to Cremona (home of Stradivarius, the violin maker), which is 60 miles south-east of Milan. We will most likely arrive around noon, but since it will be on a Sunday, the museums will be closed from noon to 3pm. After they re-open again, there will be only 3 hours to peruse the exhibits. If anyone has visited Cremona, I would appreciate comments on your experience there and if you think 3 hours is enough time to spend there. After Cremona, we are thinking of driving to Portonvenere that evening, to stay for the night. Is this a good place to stay? If so, what are some nice hotels? The next morning, I am planning to drive through Cinque Terre and drive along the Italian Riviera. (If possible, where can I enjoy a little walking of the Cinque Terre, while having to return to my car?) I think it may be nice to also visit Vernazza, Portofino, and the hill towns of Northern Italy (like Dolceacqua) all on the second day, before I hit Nice, France that evening. The third day, I thought of devoting my time to Nice and Monaco, and then drive back to Milan, Italy. What do you think about this scheduling? Unrealistic? Where would you stop by? Having a car, I thought it might be fun to drive along both the Italian and French Riviera, all the way down to Nice, France. Sorry this became so long...Any advice or comments will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Barbara

Sue,

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this is not a joke. I don't think you can cover that much ground in three days even if you don't get out of the car. Why don't you just pick one place to relax for three days after your "whirlwind tour"? Perhaps a nice room in Levanto along the Ligurian coast, from which you can walk to a lovely beach or the train which will carry you through the towns of the Cinque Terre. You will savor nothing if you try to taste too much. Get a good guide book and start reading.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Sue, Did you say 3 days or 3 weeks. Barbara is
right. Forget Cremona and take your choice of:
Go directly to Portovenere and stay at either the
Paradiso or G.H. Portovenere and have a blast taking
the boat to Monterosso, hiking to Vernazza, and
return and lunching in Lerici.
Option: Go to Lago Orta, stay at hotel Orta, and
do Lago Maggiore and Stresa from there----all within an hour of Malpensa. If you must kill yourself, then combine Orta with Santa Margherita.

Richard

Whoa Nelly! I'm exhausted just reading that itinerary. To do the Cinque Terre any justice takes at least a day, we've hiked it twice. If you must say you've seen the Cinque Terre, take the walk from Riomaggiore, it's well paved and affords lovely views of the Med. Slow down, once you've been to Italy you'll go back again and again. We go to Europe twice a year and each time have to talk ourselves out of Italy. BTW, Orvieto is a great town, the walk down the well is something we enjoyed.

Lex

Just a tip...you can't drive through the towns of cinque terre, all the roads suck and they usually don't let cars in. It will take a full day just to explore all of these towns

Sue

Thanks everyone for your input! I honestly thought that I could drive from Portovenere to Nice, France (if I stopped by only a couple of places briefly, in between.), since it is only a distance of 170 in MILES, according to the map. This means that it will take less than 3 hours if traveling at the average speed of 60 mph. I was told by the Italian Travel Agency that in Italy, the highway speeds are 80 mph, and that Italians drive even faster than that!... Anyway, I have decided to skip Cremona and stay in the Cinque Terre region or do the Northern Lakes, as Bob has suggested. Is it possible to drive to a certain point at/near the Cinque Terre and enjoy a little walking of the Cinque Terre, while having to return to the car? If so, where is the place in Cinque Terre that I can do this? If anyone has been to the Cinque Terre/Italian Riviera or Norther Lakes region, please share your experiences. Thanks again for your advice/opinions!

Suz Stevens

We are thinking about flying into Paris and then driving to Nice. We have ten days and would like to see the French AND Italien Riviera and possibly Corsica. Is this unrealistic? Would love to also bike, hike etc. Any suggestions on sequence and lodging?

Suz Stevens

We are thinking about flying into Paris and then driving to Nice. We have ten days and would like to see the French AND Italien Riviera and possibly Corsica. Is this unrealistic? Would love to also bike, hike etc. Any suggestions on sequence and lodging?