Family Friendly Day Trips from Arezzo

Old Mar 29th, 2017, 08:52 AM
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Family Friendly Day Trips from Arezzo

Hello! We (2 families with 2 babies and 1 4 year old) are renting a house in the Arezzo / Monterchi area for 1 week at the end of April. We are renting through Kid and Coe, which should be good, as we don't have to lug our travel cribs and high chairs! Another couple (with a 1.5 year old) will be staying nearby as well.

We enjoy eating, wine, walking around, taking photos, visiting fun playgrounds, etc. We will have 2 rental cars and were hoping for some recommendations of fun family friendly day trips and maybe some restaurant recommendations. We plan just to really walk around and enjoy / relax. It is very unlikely that we will be able to any museums with naptime, interest of the kiddos, etc, so we won't really play on that.

The house is on the Tuscany / Umbria border, so we were thinking about the following:
Florence (likely by train)
San Gimignano / Colle di val d'Elsa / Volterra / Siena
Cortona
Perugia / Assisi / Spoleto
Orvieto
Montepulciano (any family friend winery recommendations - probably just to do a quick tasting or grab a bottle to have on the grounds / picnic)

We were wondering if anyone had any must dos that are great with toddlers. The babies are pretty portable! To be completely honest, I haven't had a ton of time to research just yet (with work and 2 kids, etc)!

Much appreciated.
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Old Mar 29th, 2017, 10:43 AM
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Get the train or drive to Lake Trasimeno (Passignano is on the Perugia/Assisi/Spoleto line). There's a very small beach there, and you can take the ferry over to the island.
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Old Mar 29th, 2017, 11:46 AM
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I assume you're actually staying near Monterchi, because Arezzo is not near the Umbrian border. Monterchi is in the province of Arezzo, which is like a state in the US.

Montepulciano and Cortona are both pretty hilly, and I imagine you'll be pushing strollers. Also keep in mind that a lot of the roads in that area are very twisty, which can make many small children get car sick.

I think San Gimignano is altogether too far away from Monterchi (if that's where you're staying) for a day trip by car with small children. It would be well over two hours each way.

There's a wine festival, with a coincident beer festival, in nearby Città di Castello on the 22nd and 23rd of April. I don't know if your dates allow a visit to that. Città di Castello is an attractive little town.

Monterchi is also near the border with Le Marche and with Emilia Romagna. There's some very pretty scenery in that direction. Mercatello sul Metauro is a charming town on the Metauro river. There used to be (and maybe still is) a lace-making tradition in Mercatello.

San Leo is a very beautiful town, bigger than Mercatello, in Emilia Romagna. There's a castle on a cliff above the town, which is one of the best castles in this part of Italy. You can get up to the castle by bus; if you didn't have the babies, it's a nice, but steep, walk. I can recommend the restaurant Osteria la Corte di BerengarioII in San Leo. The bus to the castle leaves from the piazza in front of the restaurant.

Pennabilli, along the road to San Leo, is a very interesting town on two different peaks (Penna and Billi). The town is full of quirky sculptures, and it's basically just a quirky town. The roads are pretty twisty to get there, but the scenery is absolutely fantastic, and maybe even better between there and San Leo.

Pennabilli and San Leo were in Le Marche until recently, and we marchigiani still mourn their decision to pass over to Emilia Romagna; in doing so, they broke apart the ancient duchy of Montefeltro.
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Old Mar 29th, 2017, 01:58 PM
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I think most of your day trip ideas are too far from Monterchi (if, as bvlenci says, that is where you're staying). And you couldn't realistically in one day go to SanG/Volterra/Siena or Perugia/Assisi/Spoleto.

You need to investigate driving times. I use maps.google.com but find that the estimates are almost always too optimistic by about 10 minutes per hour and obviously don't include the time it takes to find parking, walk into and out of the historical centers, etc.

With kids, just getting organized to walk away from the car can take 15 minutes. Add the fact that moving large groups takes a lot more time than you think. It sounds like you are six adults and four children. I guarantee you that all 10 people will not be ready to leave at the appointed time, and that's only the beginning of the day.

Monterchi to Volterra, for example, would take almost 2.5 hours each way. The scenery you'd pass is, for the most part, beautiful, and Volterra is interesting, but that doesn't compensate for sitting in a car for 5 hours.

I second the suggestion of exploring the Lake Trasimeno area, but I would definitely drive and try to get also to some of the towns south of the lake. I wouldn't attempt Florence by either car or train. Too far, too difficult with a large group and so many children to watch/carry/push.

I'm a fan of Gubbio. Not too steep, very atmospheric, great views from the main piazza, nice ceramic shopping, and the ruins of a Roman theater at the bottom of the town (next to the parking lot).

I assume you know about not driving into a town's limited traffic zone (the "ZTL," most towns have one) and that you need an International Driver's Permit.
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Old Mar 29th, 2017, 02:10 PM
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If you tire of hiking up and down hill towns, head to Umbertide. It's flat, and there's a medieval fortress you can visit.
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Old Mar 29th, 2017, 02:18 PM
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Nomterchi is the home of Piero delle Francesca's Madonna del Parto. It only take a few minutes to visit the painting, and it is so moving. As moms and dads, it might strike a chord for you.

Sansepolcro is flat, with parking around the town. Check for any festivals, or spend a late afternoon just walking around. It's very lively during the passeggiata hours. A nice time to shop and stroll.

If you want to drive up the hill to Montone, there is a pretty park at the top. Nice drive, pretty town, hilly.
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Old Mar 30th, 2017, 05:41 AM
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I also like Gubbio very much, and had intended to mention it. Thanks, Jean!

I find Google Maps driving times to be pretty accurate for places I drive to often. It helps to use the approximate time of day you'll be traveling. The default assumption is "right now", which may well be the middle of the night if you're posting from North America.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 10:09 AM
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Hi all,

Thanks for the recommendations and comments about big hills / long drives. We may end up staying closer to the house and may not do some of the longer day trips that we had originally anticipated. Since all 3 families will have their own cars, that offers us some more flexibility as well. Thankfully, we are able to get the kids motivated quickly (and that's way easier with the babies, but our toddler is very flexible and easy going and excited about the trip!).

Re: the ZTL, our friends who live in Rome warned us about this and I've read a bit about it. I assume the signage is pretty clear about the times one cannot drive through, right? Are there maps that show the ZTLs that we can purchase / print?

We don't have IDPs, but I just emailed the Italian consulate in Boston to see if we can get the official translation for our US drivers licenses.

Grazie!
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 11:06 AM
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It will be much easier, quicker, and cheaper just to get IDPs. Go to your nearest AAA office; bring a few passport-sized photos with you, the kind you can get in a machine at the mall. If you don't bring photos, they'll take some, but it costs a bit more. You'll walk out with the IDP in very little time, and for a minimal expenditure.

Getting any US document translated at an Italian consulate is slow and expensive . I had to get numerous documents translated when I moved to Italy, and more when I applied for Italian citizenship.

Some big cities have ZTL maps, but most small towns don't. The signs are not always obvious, and since residents and delivery vehicles are allowed to pass them, you may be fooled into thinking that where there are so many cars, there can't be a ZTL. My husband and I don't drive into any city we don't know well. (Fortunately, we don't live near any big cities.) Small towns also have ZTLs, but it's easy just to park in one of the lots outside the town, and walk in.

The general sign is something like this:

https://www.milanofree.it/images/sto...ztl_milano.gif

However, there are many variations, and often details such as hours of the day, days of the week, types of vehicles allowed to enter, etc. Some cities have tiny traffic lights that are green when you can enter and red when you can't, like this:

http://www.trmtv.it/home/wp-content/...e-16.29.17.png

And here's one that doesn't look at all like the others:

http://www.vivereurbino.it/upload/20...3_ztl_ralf.jpg

There was an article in a newspaper a few years ago about a nurse who started working at a different hospital and passed through a ZTL unawares twice a day for several months before the first fine arrived. So it's not just tourists who get caught.

You should also be aware of parking conventions. Parking spaces with yellow lines are reserved for some special use (Police, etc.).

Those with a white line are free, but often only for a certain amount of time. In that case, there is a little clock face called a "disco orario" that every Italian driver keeps in the car. (I imagine a rental car would have one, but they can also be bought in most tobacco shops or stationery stores.) You set the hand of the clock to the hour you arrived and expose it on your dashboard.

Here's the sign indicating how much time you have:

http://www.agorabrenna.it/arch/stb/w...13/05/disk.jpg

The crossed hammers mean working days only (Monday through Saturday). Sundays and holidays are indicated by a cross.

Spaces with blue lines are not free. These are a little tricky. Sometimes residents pay for a monthly permit, in which case a sign should say "solo residenti" or something of the sort. Some require that you buy a scratch card at a nearby bar or tobacco shop, scratch off enough numbers to cover you, and expose the card on the dashboard. Others require you to buy a ticket for a certain amount of time in a nearby "parcometro" and expose it on your dashboard. Here is the typical sign in that case.

http://3.citynews-torinotoday.stgy.o...gcavallo-2.jpg

The sign on the building to the left indicates the hours during which parking isn't free. Around the corner there's a machine that sells the tickets. Just put in coins until the time it shows is the time you think you'll be back. (If you put in too much it rolls over to the next day.) When you've got enough time, press the green button to print your ticket.

Here's one that tells you to buy parking cards at nearby newsstands or bathing establishments.

http://www.ilquotidiano.it/userdata/...e2030_9919.jpg
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 08:21 PM
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You don't have to be a AAA member to obtain an IDP. AAA is one of only two entities authorized to issue IDPs in the U.S.

Besides the passport type photos, photo copies of both sides of your state-issued drivers license are needed unless you present your license in person at the AAA office. You need to carry your state-issued drivers license in addition to the IDP. If one of you doesn't have an IDP, the car rental company may decline to rent you the car.

https://branches.northeast.aaa.com/

http://www.aaa.com/vacation/IDPApplication20.pdf
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Old Apr 3rd, 2017, 11:23 AM
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Hi there,

Thank you so much for the detailed photos on the parking / ZTL, truly appreciated!

We will end up getting the IDP. I was wondering - will we be able to rent a telepass for the Autostrada from the car rental agency? Is paying cash at the tolls a pain? We aren't in any rush during this trip!

We will be doing daytrips of <1 hour from the house. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for a cooking class that is family friendly (so an adult can walk out with a child, if crying ensues) near us? I just emailed Letizia from the Il Campagna in Umbria and also was about to contact The International Kitchen for a class in Cortona.

Thanks!
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Old Apr 3rd, 2017, 01:17 PM
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I don't think it's worth getting a Telepass for a short holiday. We use the autostrada a fair amount, but don't have one. There are usually several lanes of toll booths. One is clearly labeled Telepass. Then there is a lane for credit cards (Carte), a self-service cash lane (with an icon of banknotes and coins), and a serviced cash lane (with an icon that shows a hand holding banknotes and some coins). This last one may be the most convenient for a tourist, because you wouldn't have to figure out where to put your bills and coins, and where to get your change.

You can see all the signs on this page. It's in Italian, but you really just need to see the pictures.

https://www.autostrade.it/it/il-peda...nto-al-casello

I haven't found long lines to be a problem at the autostrada exits, but we avoid the autostrada at the busiest times, which tend to be weekends in August.

Sorry, I don't know anything about cooking classes.
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Old Apr 3rd, 2017, 02:23 PM
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If you aren't in a rush, it's easy and arguably more interesting to stick to secondary roads that aren't subject to tolls.

When searching driving routes on maps.google.com and viamichelin.com, you can set the parameters of your search to "no tolls." None of the day trips mentioned necessitate taking the autostrade.
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Old Apr 4th, 2017, 05:35 AM
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Thank you all very much!! Grazie mille!
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