Italy trip

Old Jul 12th, 2010, 10:02 AM
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Italy trip

I am starting to plan a trip to Italy and looking for a nice little area that is not too touristy, kind of off the beaten path and prefer a nice little town close to the ocean. Would like to rent a quaint little villa. Any suggestions?
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 10:11 AM
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The Italian seacoast -- it is surrounded by seas, not oceans, so don't expect many waves -- is extenisve, including serveral islands and extraordinarily varied in terms of topography, montly weather and cuisine.

You will get much better answers if you reveal what time of year you are going, whether you wish to be near France or Venice, Rome or don't care, and whether you are traveling with children or anybody with mobility problems.

Do you want to rely solely on public transportation getting there or will you rent a car?
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 10:17 AM
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zeppole~We will be going sometime between June and Aug. NO KIDS and no mobility issues. I do not have a preference as to what city we are close too--we will probably stay 2 different places if I get a good response back on suggestions.
We will be relying soley on public transportation.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 11:23 AM
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Well, August is off-limits for holidays on the Italian sea - see this recent thread: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-387836-2.cfm. If you go in July or, much better, in June, I recommend the island of Ponza as a sea resort. Not too touristy is just the appopriate description for Ponza; it's touristy enough to be comfortable (showers on the beach, a nice bar-restaurant there, as well), but definitely not crowded - kind of a insiders' tip (Italian insiders, mind you), and quite upscale... and most important: the village of Ponza is still pretty, which cannot be said of 99 percent of Italian villages by the sea, no brutalist modern tourism-related building excesses, a historic and well-kept village. Yes, it's living on tourism now, but it doesn't feel "touristy". Plus there are no littered beaches. And it's definitely off-the-beaten-path (one hour by ferry from Formia), and fine for people without a car (there's no use for the car on that tiny island, anyway).
An obvious second destination, in this case, would be Rome.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 11:45 AM
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Go to www.summerinitaly.com and go crazy. Look at the area called Cilento or the village of Massa Lubrense. I agree that Ponza may be a good idea.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 11:59 AM
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Nice website, Bob! Here's what a quick search for villas on Ponza island resulted in: http://www.accomodationsrome.com/zone_index.asp?ID=Pz - both Villa Massimo and Villa Le Forna look very, very nice IMO.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 12:30 PM
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I love Ponza! This was the article that lured us.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/arti...ered-islands/1
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 12:42 PM
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I forgot to add that we stayed at La Limonaia (mentioned in article) shortly after it opened. Very nice.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 01:09 PM
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For me, Ponza would be too isolated, but maybe you want to be isolated! I have heard that ferry service to and from the mainland can be erratic, but maybe I am misinformed about the waters.

Since you will be relying solely on public transportation, I will point out that the coastal train line of Liguria services any number of charming towns with lots of options for renting villas, and then using the train to potter around the coast. Staying near the French border -- on either side of it -- might put some variety into your stay. Staying fairly close to the Tuscan border in the south also offers a few options for day trips to art cities. Some towns on the Riviera are absolutely over touristed (Portofino and le Cinque Terre leap to mind.) But quieter towns like Moneglia, Bonassola and Zoagli to the south often have nice villa options, and while I am less familiar with Ospedeletti, Bordighera and Cipressa (and Menton on the French side), you might find interesting villa destinations there.

I would also consider the Latium area, because I would like to be in striking distance of Rome. This article might give you some ideas:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...familyholidays

Last but not least, a tony little place "not far from the ocean" is Capalbio, not far from Rome in the Maremma. It is not on the sea, but just a bit inland. Plenty of rentals there -- but to get someplace else, you would need a bus to the train station -- and then it's at least 90 minutes to Rome.

For a remote, turn your back on the world destination, I would probably pick Corsica -- but I've never been!

Have fun choosing!
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 02:46 PM
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That's of course plenty of other excellent tips, I just have to file a mild protest against Capalbio. For me, Capalbio was not tony, it was snobbish in a rather unpleasant way. The village proper is historic, but definitely ill-kept (more cement plaster than you could imagine in such a tiny town), and it's the favourite summer hangout of Rome's in-crowd, strictly just the leftist part of it, which sounds fine (I wouldn't want to share my holiday resort with Umberto Bossi). Francesco Rutelli is spending his summers in Capalbio, for example; but reality didn't live up to the expectations, and now I know that I don't want to share my holiday resort with Rutelli, either. I found the place uninviting for anybody who - like myself - isn't among the "insiders"; I felt looked at askance, and unwelcome. The beach (the famous Spiaggia Ultima, with a nice website) is excellent, however, and the prices reflect the highbrow flair and clientele.
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Old Jul 12th, 2010, 07:05 PM
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Thank you all so much!!! I have spent the past hour looking over Ponza and Cilento and still have so many other places to look into, this is going to be harder that I expected. It appears all of Italy is amazing!! Thanks again!
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 02:57 AM
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I'm not going to disagree with franco's description of the society of Capalbio! It just popped to me as easy to get to by public transportation from Rome's airport, with places easy to rent, and with a great beach, if beach is the reason you want to be by the sea. But scratch it from the list. (I would want to be directly on the sea anyway.)

I also wanted to suggest that if the attraction of being by water is beauty and light, and the point of the holiday is really relaxation, you might consider Lago di Como. The towns of Bellagio, Menaggio and Varenna are super-touristy, but if you look on the lake shore between the towns of Cenobbio and Lenno, or between Blevio and Nesso, you can locate really lovely villas there (this is George Clooney's view) and have fun taking boats around the lake. in high summer, the lake can sometimes be more idyllic than the sun baked sea.

However, if seafood and salt sea air is what you desire, then the Mediterranean has nearly infinite choices. I don't know how easy it would be to get to the Cilento area without a car, and do be aware that you don't have to go much north of that into the Amalfi to be in some of the most touristy destinations on the Italian coast. But that still leaves you a lot to choose from!
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 03:44 AM
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I should perhaps add that I'm definitely not a beach person, and that I cannot stand more than half a day on the beach in the course of a one-month-holiday. So I'm doing plenty of research in advance which beach may be the most tolerable for me... that's how I chanced upon Capalbio (for a Tuscany trip) as well as Ponza (for a Lazio trip), and Ponza has been my favourite sea resort, not just among these two, not just in Italy, but of my whole life and all my travels summed up. It's one out of just two I'm sure I'll be back to one day. (The other one's on a Greek island.)
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 04:03 AM
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Is it shady, or have lots of amenities -- or just not touristy?
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 06:05 AM
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Well, besides the unusually pretty (for the Italian coast, that is) village being a big advantage, the beach is on the opposite side of the same cove, and can be reached by a (short) boat ride only, which is just another big advantage; it's of course not crowded, but well-equipped with showers and so on, very very clean, and then there's that very pretty (for a beach!) restaurant-café where you can have an appealing snack, fresh (!) salads and so on. And yes, there's shadow too. I don't know whether you'd call that "lots of amenities" (sb. on another thread recently called a pitch & put golf course on a hotel island in the lagoon of Venice an "amenity", which is what I would call exemplary nonsense...), but for me, it's amenities enough, and not too much of it, either.
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 08:05 AM
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I was just looking for a description, taking guesses as what might distinguish it from other places. I thought perhaps it had lots of shady beach bars, but not a lot of foreign tourists. I find the sun really too strong at most Italian beaches. Camogli is nice, I think, for having good food at some seaside cafes, and despite the rather small main beach, you can take to the boat to Punta Chiappa or San Fruttuoso for a swim in a cove. But the rental villas around here tend to be very large, which is why I didn't suggest it to susierah. And I think Ligurian villages like Moneglia are probably quieter in August.
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 10:20 AM
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If you are looking for a seaside vacation but not necessarily on the beach, check out the area around or slightly north of Carrara, where the marble quarries are. There is a small town on a peninsula there, called Boca di Magra (mouth of the Magra River) that is quiet, but you would need a car to drive to it from the train. There are lots of beaches around Carrara -- Pietrasanta, etc.
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 10:56 AM
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Where do you fly into?

If coastline is a priority, the best coastline in Italy by a long way is on Sardinia. The island is a very close by ferry and even closer by air to the major airports.

The beaches are just below the quality of those in the Caribbean which is unusual for Europe. The main attraction is the tight control that the island has placed over development. Unlike coasts such as Sicily, development has been totally restricted and there are very few buildings over two stories. There have been movements over recent years to ban all development within 2km of the coast.

The cuisine is different from the mainland and obviously bias towards seafood. Alghero and Cagliari are cities with enough history to give interest for a couple of days.

We have stayed near Santa Teresa three times, this area gives you the chance of day trips to Corsica and the stunning Maddalena Islands.

http://www.italiantourism.com/island2a.html

Finally, the Sardinians are the lest complicated and most friendly Italians we have encountered.

In June I would also recommend Elba, it too has stunning underdeveloped coasts and Portoferraio has a lovely centre.

http://www.motortravel.it/fotogaller...rtoferraio.jpg

In July/August, the island is just too small to cope with the hoards.
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 12:01 PM
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zeppole, you're figuring Ponza way too large. It has ONE shady beach bar, where you can get real food (not fast food)... the beach is small enough to be served by that single restaurant-café, and nonetheless, it isn't crowded - the small village of Ponza just doesn't need that many tourists to make a living from them. Admittedly, it's not cheap there. But they have no natural water on the island, every bottle has to be shipped in... plus I'm ready to pay for having such a nice environment and share it with so relatively few other tourists. And then, the landscape is simply beautiful. A small cove surrounded by rather steep (but not high) mountains and a strip of sandy beach in front of them on one side, the (pretty steep) village on the other... but I would say the main difference to other seaside resorts is the good taste that's prevailing in restoring the historic village AND in obviously limiting new construction, plus the small, human-scale dimensions. Camogli is like Mexico City in comparison. Well, perhaps not Mexico City. Make that Paris instead.
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Old Jul 13th, 2010, 01:15 PM
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Bocca di Magra is indeed enchanting, but without a car, it really does get complicated. Plus, it really is a yacht town, with very few villas to rent, I think.

It IS possible to rent villas along the Bay of La Spezia in towns like Serra and Tellaro and take a ferry ride in summer to visit Bocca di Magra. But that requires being willing to use a bus from the train. It's not complcated, but it will limit your range if you want to take a few day trips rather than lounge.

Regarding Sardegna, you have to be careful as to whether you want a "resort" standard or an authentically traditional town. Some of the coastline of Sardegna has been developed to attract people who otherwise find Italy 'dirty' -- although it is spotlessly clean.

franco,

Thanks for refining the picture of Ponza. But don't imagine the food along the Ligurian coast is all fast food. There is plenty of real food on the lungomare. (In fact, I have to confess I often wish they would speed it up!) What I think anchors the charm of Camogli and a few other such places is the city-bound Italian families that escape here when the heat is on. Tonight, Camogli was a paradise of Genovese toddlers being treated to gelato until 9pm, because their parent knew there was no hope of sleep in the hot apartment until midnight.

But forget Camogli. I'm not sure anything around here is quite as tiny as Ponza, but Moneglia, Zoagli and and Bonassola (maybe I should toss in Bogliasco too) are off the tourist radar, have just their local bars and one trattorie, and retain their village life despite being on the train line.

Moneglia

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...a_panorama.jpg

Zoagli:

http://www.nonsolotigullio.com/coroc...ges/zoagli.gif

Bonassola:

http://www.daluca.it/images/bonassola1_orig.jpg

Bogliasco:

http://www.italianvisits.com/images/..._the_beach.jpg
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