caabhi

Hi,

I am single traveler from India traveling to Italy for the first time in month of June for business and has following tentative plans:

1. Reach Venice in morning, stay full day - Personal (tuesday)
2. Start next day morning - Venice to Carpi - Business (wed, thur, fri)
3. Friday evening, travel to Florence - Personal
4. Saturday - Florence - Personal
5. Sunday - morning Florence to Tuscany to Pisa, stay overnight somewhere - Personal (place recommendation)
6. Monday - morning to Druento - Business (till Friday)
7. Friday evening to Milan and stay till Sunday morning - Personal

I am looking for driving tips, places to cover, hotel recommendation for personal stay, any other recommendations.
I have been to few other cities in Europe and driving is not a problem.

Cheers!!

Maltesec

It sounds great, but as for help you you'd better indicate your budget for personal stay.

caabhi

With respct to budget, I don't want to stay in high end hotels..a 4 star or 3 star will be good. Rest of the expenses within reasonable limits...80 - 100 Euros per day excluding hotels.

caabhi

fellow travelers, I am waiting for your valuable suggestions...

HappyTrvlr

For Pisa, stay in Lucca, inside the city walls. Look at La Romea B and B.

Jean

I would stay in Florence for 3 nights and see Pisa and Lucca in a single day-trip by train. (Siena and San Gimignano are also possibilities by bus.) You're already moving around a lot in 10-11 days -- 5 hotels and 3 one-night stays that seem to be unavoidable. Staying the 3rd night in Florence would seem to be the only opportunity to eliminate one more hotel change.

How much of this are you intending to drive? With the exception of Druento, all of your destinations are reachable by train. You can't drive into the historical centers of the big cities on your itinerary (including Pisa) and many smaller towns (including Carpi).

You'll have to be more specific with the hotel budget. "4 star or 3 star will be good" is too vague.

caabhi

Jean - I am planning to drive from one city to another for convenience. Definitely I am not at all looking to drive inside any of the city. Its a good idea to base myself in Florence and then visit Pisa and Lucca for a day trip.
Is Tuscany a separate town/ city than Florence - I am bit confused.
My hotel budget is around 100 Euros.
Another question - can I opt to travel from Druento to Nice (by train) on friday of Week 2 and then take train to Milan for my return flight OR it is better to visit Milan?

tarquin

This is the first time I have seen Carpi on the forum - it is a small town with a huge piazza. May I ask where you will be staying?

Tuscany is not a town but a region - Florence is a city within Tuscany.

I recommend La Magnolia B&B in Lucca, within the city walls with a big courtyard garden and reasonably priced.

Jean

"I am planning to drive from one city to another for convenience." Are you sure driving is more convenient than traveling between cities by train? Other than 3 nights in Tuscany (a region), you don't have much time for wandering around. But if wandering is what you want to do, don't stay in Florence (the largest city in Tuscany) but stay in a smaller town in the countryside.

Druento does not have direct train service, so you'd first have to go into Torino (about 14 kms.) to get a train to Nice. Torino to Nice is at least 4 hours by train, and Nice to Milan is at least 5 hours.

But you were only going to spend 2 nights in Milan at the end of your trip, and you really should spend the last night of your trip fairly near the airport anyway. If the sights of Milan don't interest you (you'd only have one full day there), you could spend that Saturday on Lake Como.