Italy - Month of July

Old Oct 30th, 2014, 06:11 AM
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Italy - Month of July

I'm planning on traveling to Italy for a month in July 2015 with my family. I have two girls (ages 10 and 12). I wanted to find at least 3 home bases to stay for approximately a week in order to eliminate the packing and unpacking. We definitely want to do the Amalfi Coast and the areas surrounding it. Can anyone suggest how to best divide our time during this month?
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 07:29 AM
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Too many options---you need to define your interests.
Only 3 will be limiting---I would think 5 locations.

Is having a car an option for some locations?
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 08:12 AM
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As bob notes, that's a tough one w/o knowing any more details. Transportation needs?
Do you like cities and the cultural attractions they offer?
Prefer countryside?
And so on.

bob recommended 5 locations. That would give you about 5 days on the ground in each locale and about a day of travel between locales. Not bad.

Of course, the X factor is your preferences, because you'll probably want to stay longer in one spot than in another. Or do a lot of day trips from one area, which might mean that 5 days aren't enough.

Lots of variables in there -- just trying to give you an idea of what they are.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 08:54 AM
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If your purpose is it 'see' places, as opposed to just relaxing somewhere, then a few more 'bases' makes sense. However, there are a few places in Italy that I think could be good for a week.

You mentioned Amalfi Coast. Basing in Sorrento for a week would allow you to do day trips to the Amalfi Coast villages (Amalfi, Positano, Ravello, etc.), to the islands (Capri, Ischia, etc.), to Naples, to the ancient sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Rome of course has a ton to see, plus you could day trips to places such as Tivoli or Orvieto. So a week there would not be too long.

A third area which has a lot in a relatively small geographic area is the Veneto. You could base in either Verona or Padua and day trip to Venice (over-nighting there is really best, but if you really want to limit the number of times you move hotels then it does work to base in Padua or Verona and do a day trip there, as well as to Vicenza, and you can even do Bologna as a day trip from one of those bases, plus Lake Garda, and several other great towns (Mantua, Ferrera, etc.). I just mentioned 8 places so you could easily fill up a week in a base in the Veneto.

Florence is also good for about a week if you include several days for Florence itself plus day trips to Siena, Pisa and Lucca. Some people even do the CT as a day trip.

Another week long base that I've enjoyed is along the coast in Liguria. Either Rapallo or Camogli make a good base to visit the Cinque Terre towns, Portofino, Portovenere, S. Margherita, and Genoa.

Everything I've mentioned so far can be done easily by public transportation (train). If you are willing to rent a car then a base in a Tuscan village to see several others works.
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Old Oct 30th, 2014, 09:15 AM
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Agree we need to know more about your iterests and expectations. Although the AC is a seaside resort area the beaches are poor - but there is a lot to se and do. Or - if you arel ooking for a beach trip (as in the US or Carib with wide pure white sand beaches ) you need to look at another area.

If you want to just relax, versus see ancient sights or museums or churches or fine dining or outdoorsy stuff or ????.

Our first trip to europe with DDs 11 and 14 we did London and Paris - but they were city kids and wanted lots of museums, churches, history, shopping, chance to go to the ballet and opera and practice their French. So it really depends on what you're looking for.
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 10:01 AM
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Thanks for your replies. I have definitely gotten a better idea of what our itinerary will be looking like. I am open to more stops and definitely considered renting a car while in Tuscany. Our interest is sight seeing historical aspects of each area as well a some entertaining activities for the kids. I was hoping to hire personalized tours in Rome and Vatican City to make it a little more meaningful. We definitely would like to do as many day trips as possible from one area. Can anyone recommend place to stay in these locations (ie Sorrento, Tuscany, Rome, etc.) Would like to have a villa but would also want to have the amenities of a hotel (concierge, housekeeping, etc).
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Old Oct 31st, 2014, 10:36 AM
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Nancy,
This may help http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-and-rome.cfm
Henry is offline  
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