filmwill

So I'm a first-time Italy traveler and heading to Rome for 4 nights with my DH for a conference he's to speak at. That'll give us 6 nights to play with once we're done in Rome and -- based on my initial set of research -- I think we're pretty set on heading to Tuscany after Rome for a little unwinding (after considering a slew of other destinations).

I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed with the choices. And I'm sure that they're all beautiful but, given all the beautiful hotels/villas, it's starting to feel like just closing my eyes and pointing at a map and choosing a town. I know we'd like a bit of respite but, honestly, we also tend to get a bit bored if we're "stuck" in places too long without much to explore. That's why I'm thinking we might want to split our time in place like Pienza (where there's still a town to speak of--and other restaurants to explore outside of the hotel) and then also maybe somewhere more remote for the "escape" factor. We'd then head to Florence for one final day/night before flying home out of Florence. Just not sure what order to do those in.

So it'd maybe look something like this:

Mon Train from Rome to ??? / Pick up rental car / Drive to Pienza
Tue Pienza
Wed Pienza
Thur Drive to Destination 2 (TBD)
Fri Destination 2 (TBD)
Sat Drive to somewhere just outside of Florence and return car. Train/taxi to Florence. Afternoon/evening in Florence
Sun Fly Home

Am I taking too much on? We usually travel at a pretty fast clip (still in early early 40s and no problem jetting around) but I do want this to be a relaxing last half of our trip.

Also would love to get some info on car rentals and where you think the best places to pick up and drop-off might be given our potential itinerary. I've been warned about driving anywhere inside of Florence due to the ZTL lanes (and potential fines).

Thanks in advance your advice!

filmwill

Sorry. A few more details about the kinds of places we're looking for might be helpful.

Looking for something a bit more luxury/high-end but also hate ostentatiousness so not something inauthentic. Looking at La Bandita Townhouse in Pienza in particular.

We're very food and cooking-centric...so for the "escape" part maybe someplace we might even be able to do a private cooking lesson. I'm much more into wine than my DH, so I don't think that wine will the focus of our trip but certainly an excursion here or there wouldn't hurt.

Loacker

No, I don't think you're taking too much on.

Take the train from Rome to Chiusi and pick up your rental car there.

In addition to Pienza, you can visit Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Quirico D'Orcia, Montichiello... They're all within an short drive from Pienza. You can base yourself in Pienza the whole time.

Have you already been to Florence? Why are you only spending an afternoon there?

I think the most luxurious hotel in Tuscany is La Saracina. It's located in Pienza, too.

You chose the most beautiful part of Tuscany. Enjoy

bilboburgler

hi, welcome

It would be useful to know which month you are travelling.

Pienza is fine, a little small and very much built in one era, but the views from this ridge town are lovely and the various churches and palaces are great.

You are also close to a few other nice towns nearly all on high points (for defensive reason) some of which will require a car and a bit of walking to access.

Alternatives; you might look at Siena, Buonconvento, St Gim..

Depending on the time of year the heavily touristified towns are better seen in the evening when the coaches have gone, but somewhere like Buonconvento is more like a normal town all day long (it is also near a very famous monestry, worth the visit).

Towns mentioned above are also good stays.

I'd book the car through AutoEurope, a broker who goes the extra mile for the customer and resolves any language issues.

I'd pick up in Chiusi say, an interesting Etruscan town in its own right, (fantastic museum) but with easy access to Pienza.

wife03

Definitely consider Lucca. It's a beautiful Renaissance walled city with no cars within the walls. It is really well situated 1hr from Florence, 30mins from Pisa and 1hr from coast. It is also close to both wine and food regions which are all easily accessible for day trips. It is a foodies paradise with some amazing restaurants and cooking schools.

annhig

I think that you would regret not spending a bit more time in Florence.

I would add a night to Pienza [where you will find plenty to do, there and there abouts] and then finish the trip in Florence.

You will only have one full day but if you plan well [forget about the Uffizi for example] you can still get a good flavour of the city.

Lucky you being able to join in this trip!

bobthenavigator

San Quirico !

massimop

Consider a loop into a corner of Umbria, where you'll find a greater density of towns with noteworthy artistic treasure, better olive oil & food (provided you are not looking for seafood). For wine, I would recommend paying a visit to Montefalco, but for a beautiful town of interest where you won't run out of things to do, consider Spoleto.

Spoleto is easy to reach from Pienza with a 2 hour drive that you could break up with a lakeside lunch on Lago Trasimeno or a visit to Assisi (but not in early October, when the town goes into lockdown for the feast of St Francis). It's a 4 hour drive from Spoleto to Florence, but you could stop on the way for lunch in the Chianti wine country.

If Spoleto seems too far south, consider Corciano, just north of Perugia and a wine growing region From there you'd have an easy trip to Gubbio and Montefalco (plus Bevagna). You could take a bus or taxi to Perugia if you wanted to go but not deal with the traffic and parking of the city, and Perugia has world class sights. You could drop off the car in Arezzo & take the train into Florence without worrying about ZTLs.

I'm sure you can find cooking classes near Spoleto and these other towns. Madonna del Piatto for years ran popular cooking classes near Assisi. Google can probably locate an e-mail for her and she if she's still doing it.

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/umbria/corciano.html

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...a-attractions/

Mimar

Where does your flight home leave from? It's best to be in the town from which you'll fly home the night before your flight. What if you run into a traffic jam or have a flat tire? In Italy it's just too easy for plans to go awry.

When is your trip? They're having a heat wave now in Italy. You may want to plan lazy siestas in the afternoons.

I love this part of Italy and Tuscany. And think the perfect way to visit is to locate yourself in Pienza or San Quirico or on the edge one of these towns, in place walkable to the restaurants. Both these towns are on the flat so easy to drive in and out of. Loacker mentioned good, nearby destinations. There are many more at a slightly greater distance. Look at a map and use viamichelin.com to compute the distances--by the slow scenic route.

Italy has very strict drunkdriving laws, so the driver can't drink. Hence the walkability of town is nice if you want to have wine with dinner. Also the driver(s) need an International Drivers Permit, a translation to accompany your license. They're cheap and easy to get at your local AAA/CAA office.

Have a lovely trip!

massimop

Actually, come to think of it, you'd probably get more in the way of the kind of lodgings you like by staying in the vicinity of Torgiano/Brufa, just south of Perugia, rather than Corciano. But it's also a wine growing corner of Umbria, and a good location from which to go sightseeing if you feel like.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/u...arche/torgiano

http://www.poggioallevigne.it/eng/wi...ism/index.html

massimop

occurs to me to add, re-reading your post:

Isn't La Bandita created and run by non-Italians? Doesn't invariably make it "inauthtentic" but (if so) maybe not what you are looking for.

Also, reading someone else's post, If you opt to go to Lucca, suggest you get rid of the car and go sightseeing by train in that part of Tuscany. I would think it would be pretty hard to just kick back and relax in Lucca, with so many sightseeing destinations in the immediate vicinity (Lucca itself has few) and also will add FWIW since people vary so much, that Lucchese food is not my personal favorite.

massimop

(If I were looking for great food experiences in northwest Tuscany, I'd opt for Pistoia, which is a lovely little town in its own right, with art treasures but rarely visited by tourists. It has a ridiculous number of good restaurants for a town so small. But again, I would ditch the car and use the trains to visit attractions outside of Pistoia, to avoid ZTLs and traffic.

Jean

My advice on destinations would depend a lot on when you're going.

To return the car on a Saturday afternoon "near" Florence, you'd have to go to the airport. But do you have to go to Florence to fly home? Florence is my favorite Italian city, but I'd suggest leaving it for another trip and flying home from Rome. For me, being limited to an Saturday afternoon of sightseeing in Florence (esp. in crowded high season) would be extremely frustrating. You'd probably wonder what the swooning over Florence is about.

I'd pick either southern Tuscany or Umbria, and I'd stay in one place the entire time. If Tuscany, I'd train from Rome to Orvieto or Chiusi, rent the car and go. You could return the car at the same point or Siena or drive to the Rome airport. If Umbria, train to Spoleto or Foligno or maybe Orvieto, depending on where you're staying), and rent a car. Return the car at the same point or drive to the Rome airport. [FYI, returning the car anywhere but the airport on Saturday afternoons or Sundays usually isn't possible.] Five full days in either region would be great.

In southern Tuscany, Pienza isn't my favorite (Montepulciano wins), but Pienza is easy for days trips.

In Umbria, I like Spoleto a lot and have stayed there twice, but for a first-timer with your timing and logistical situation, I'd stay in Todi. Smaller, charming town, and some lodging have fabulous views.

massimop

For a countervailing view, I've found it exasperating to base in one place in Italy and do hub-and-spoke tourism, unless I'm staying in a town with enough layers of interest to hold my attention for a week. Some place as small as Todi would mean I'd be daytripping every day in search of interest. Spoleto has more to see and do than takes a single day.

Two things make daytripping uncongenial to me: One is the midday Italian closure. I don't want to set the alarm in the morning and hurry through breakfast to make sure I'm on the road in time to make to another town before all the sights of interest close. Walking around a closed up medieval town isn't really why I go sightseeing.

Second problem for me is the feeling of being a suburban commuter, driving back and forth and back and forth every day between 9 & 5. The scenery is in itself is beautiful, but a day or two is enough and I'm curious to see what's beyond the bend. I can stay in an apartment on a farm for an entire week surrounded by beautiful scenery, and cook and read and snooze and go for rural walks. But not for me to stay in a b&b in a town without a kitchen for a week, go driving every day for variety (or scenery) and eat in restaurants every meal.

I'm quite moody about travel, so there are some trips where I go to nowheresville in Italy to enjoy the scenic countryside, and only make a few excursions to see a castle or artwook. Other trips I move around a lot, covering quite an area, but never driving more than 2 hours before an extended break & overnight, but I'm rarely going back to the place I just left.

Obviously my quirky preferences for a 2nd or 3rd cup of morning coffee, or preferring to switch hotels than stay in one spot are not a guide for other people who roll out of bed at 6am or who unpack their entire suitcase into drawers and closets every time they check into a hotel. But thought it was worth adding to the mix.

massimop

One more observation, and then I promise to desist.


Your original post expresses 3 concerns:

1) overwhelmed, it's starting to feel like just closing my eyes and pointing at a map and choosing a town.

2) could get bored if we're "stuck" in places too long without much to explore, we usually travel at a pretty fast clip

3) I do want this to be a relaxing last half of our trip.

As for number 1, it can definitely be ridiculous to overthink a trip to scenic Tuscany. The scenic area is very large, and there is beauty, charm & interest in a radius in all directions from wherever you pick as a "base". So don't worry about it.

As for numbers 2, there is also a definite hazard of finding the popular castle towns of wine-growing Tuscany more or less alike, which is why I suggested paying a visit to Umbria, where towns are more varied.

Number 3 - it's not clear to me if the "last half of our trip" means everything following Rome, or just the last half of what you'll be doing after Rome, the blank you are trying to fill. Clearly spending all 5 days in one place is emphasizing "relaxing". But final suggestion from me is to gradually unwind after Rome by going first to Umbria to do some un-rushed by high-value cultural sightseeing, for 2 or 3 days, but finishing up in the val d'Orcia for the hypnotic scenery, without any sightseeing agenda.

ElendilPickle

I'm no expert, and you've gotten good advice from other posters, but we really liked Fattoria Poggio Alloro, which is about four miles from San Gimignano. http://fattoriapoggioalloro.com/?lang=en It has good wine, cooking classes, and comfortable rooms, and it's fairly close to places you might enjoy visiting.

Lee Ann

LunaBella

I think your plan sounds great, and you'll just get a peek at lovely Florence and Brunelleschi's dome as the sun goes down on your last night; that would be enough to make me want to come back right away!

Anyway as for a Tuscan town, in my opinion you cannot do any better than the Val d'Orcia, and Pienza is an absolute jewel. I was just there again in that area this spring, I rented a car and stayed a week in San Quirico, which is just right down the road from Pienza (with the lovely Cappella di Vitaleta in between).

I know you say you'd like somewhere more remote than Pienza for the escape factor, but I felt like I'd escaped just a mile or two outside Pienza! (At Monticchiello, for example, and you can see one place from the other.) The distances are short and - for me at least - moving all my stuff from hotel to hotel is a hassle.

So here's my advice, for what it's worth...I see no reason not to choose a town like Pienza or San Quirico and stay for all 4 nights, there is so much to do nearby! Plus just driving that countryside is amazing in itself. From San Q I easily drove to Pienza, Monticchiello, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Bagno Vignoni and many other small towns. All wonderful places, all nearby.

Also if you do visit that area, I highly recommend reading Iris Origo's book "War in the Val d'Orcia," then cap that off by visiting the place it was written, La Foce. Such beautiful gardens and such an amazing (true) story! I don't think you say when you'll be there but the wisteria (which an Italian friend of mine accidentally calls "hysteria" which is so wonderful...), wait where was I...oh yes the wisteria was ridiculous. It was in full bloom at the end of April, just glorious but also I would guess the garden would have some charm for a large part of the year and the view of the valley is wonderful also.

Another recommendation: Drive La Strada Provinciale 88, just behind Monticchiello. Amazing! I was by myself when I found it by chance. It took my breath away, so beautiful in the spring. When I got to the top I turned around and drove down and back up again, like a kid who keeps riding the same roller coaster over and over again. Such is that part of Tuscany! I feel it's best experienced by doing some homework before you go but once you get there, let the day take you where it will!

Also I highly recommend the car rental company I used, Autonoleggio Il Girasole: http://www.autonoleggioilgirasole.it/index.en.php.

They were SO helpful! Terontola-Cortona train station is right on a main line from Rome, you get off a few stops past Orvieto and it's right after Lake Trasimeno, and the rental office is pretty much right across the street. Due to the days my apartment in San Q was available, I wanted to pick my rental up on an Italian holiday (April 25th was Italian Liberation Day) and drop it off on a Sunday, both days where most (all?) other places were closed. Massimo was so helpful and they let me pick up and drop off on both those days, I think they came in on April 25th just for me. And they were so easy to deal with! And my little Panda was almost brand new and in perfect condition. I will use them in the future whenever possible.

Last thing: I also recommend getting the GPS, I don't use one at home but can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been trying to navigate those roads by myself, but the GPS made it a snap and allowed me to really relax and not worry about getting too lost.

Hope this information helps, and buon viaggio!

filmwill

Wow. Thanks so much, everyone, for the amazing responses. I really need to go through these with a fine-toothed comb.

To help answer a repeated question here (and sorry for not including this before): we will be there in the tail-end of October; specifically in Tuscany the last week of October. So, luckily, we'll avoid the summer crowds and also be there during what I understand is peak grape harvest and truffle seasons.

As far as where we leave from...it's Florence. So making our way back to Rome wouldn't make much sense. And, yes, I'd totally be open to spending 2 nights in Florence. I'm sure it's lovely and there's plenty to see, but we'll have our city fix in Rome and I know that we can't see and do everything on this trip (I will be back, for sure!) so Florence sort of just took a backseat on this trip. But if we did stay in 1 place in Tuscany (and daytrip), spend 4 nights there then spend 2 nights in Florence, that could work too.

@massimop, I really want to thank you for going the extra mile (it's so very much welcomed!). I do think we're still gravitating more towards Tuscany than Umbria -- which looks lovely too, but that might have to be for another trip. As for La Bandita, yes, I'm aware. But I've also had fellow traveler friends stay there (who I trust immensely) and they raved about it. That's not to say I'm married to the place whatsoever.

Any thoughts on other possible hotels/inns that might fit the bill in either Pienza, San Gim, Montelpulciano, etc.?

One other thing. I really am torn about Lecce. A lot of people have told us to go. But, again, it's one of those things where I don't think we can do everything. Would Lecce be a better day trip or a better place to call homebase and daytrip out of?

Jean

In Montepulciano, we've stayed twice at La Locanda di San Francesco. But FYI, even the last week of October is a very popular time to be in Tuscany, and this particular hotel has only 4 or 5 rooms.

http://www.locandasanfrancesco.it/bo...l-tuscany.html

Lecce is a 6+ hour drive from Rome, or 5.5 hours by train. I wouldn't want to do that long journey twice in less than a week, but that's up to you. FYI, the return trip (to the airport) would be longer. Lecce to the Rome airport would be 6.5-7 hours, and the train ride would be 6.5 hours.

filmwill

Thanks for the info, Jean, but we're using Rome as our base nor are we flying back home out of Rome. We're going from Rome to Tuscany--then flying out of Florence.