JoyT

Leaving end of May from Toronto. Thinking 3 days in Rome, 5 Amalfi and 5 in Tuscany. Need advise on airlines, travel options, towns and accommodations. Looking for affordable quality and great food.There are 4 Adults (50's) and we don't mind sharing accommodations for some of the time. All Villa rentals are by the week from what we see. Thinking of renting car in Tuscany but don't want to spend a lot of time on buses and trains so we would like accessibility to the sites. Please help us experience Italy without spending a fortune Thanks!

bobthenavigator

WOW--do you have an hour? It would take that long. I suggest you go to slowtrav.com and spend at least an hour looking at good input and come back when you have more specific questions. Sounds like a great trip.

Jean

For $50 an hour, I'll plan your trip.

JoyT

Thanks Bob, yes I'm a newby and I trust your advise since your name appears everywhere on Talk. Thanks for your suggestion, I'll be back!

travelfan1

Your trip is very similar to my next one. Here is a two bedroom/1 bath apartment in Montepulciano which rents daily, recommended on this forum and great reviews on Slowtrav:http://www.politian.com/ Available for 3 night minimum: http://nautilus-mp.com/tuscany/affit...ini/index.html Don't know anything about it however. This is a great base to explore southern Tuscany. 2 bed/2bath apartment in Orvieto with good reviews on Trip Adviser: http://www.argoweb.it/bedandbreakfas...medici.uk.html

Towns: Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pitiglano, Civit di' Bagnorgio, San Gimignano, Orvieto......just to get you started.

For the coast: staying in Amalfi try http://www.hotelfloridiana.it/english/location.html or http://www.residencedelduca.it/eng/index.htm. Del Duca has rooms and an apartment, unfortunately, it too is 1 bath. If you can do lots of steps and want to base in Positano try http://www.villarosapositano.it

For Rome...also recommend slowtrav.com...there are many with a 3 night minimum. For a no frills hotel, great location and low price by Rome's standard try http://www.smeraldoroma.com. We've stayed there twice and found employees helpful...others haven't. Knowing what kind/price of accommodations you're looking for would help.

Car rental: Autoeurope - depending on your itinerary you can pick up or drop off in Orvieto or Chiusi.

Has anyone in your group done any research?

Have a wonderful trip.

ira

Hi JT,

I'll plan your trip for $40/hr.

Best way from Rome to Amalfi is the train to Salerno and the ferry to Amalfi.

You can take the SITA bus to Salerno to pick up your car for the drive to Tuscany.

Train schedules are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Drop the car off in Orvieto or Chiusi to train to Rome for your flight out.

You could save time if you fly into Naples and out of Rome or VV.

JoyT

Thank you travelfan for your suggestions. Have enjoyed reading all the Italy advise on Fador's and have been doing lots of research. Here's our tentative plans;

1) Arrive in Rome on May 16 and stay for 3 nights. Looking at booking Apt Cardinale near the Vatican.

2)Travel to Amalfi on the 19th and stay for 4 nights. Looking at Pilazzo Talamo in Positano

3) Travel to Tuscany, San Gimignano and rent a villa for 1 week May 23 to 30. Looking at #36 Marina or #65 Leo (La Bella Toscano)
Would appreciate any feedback on our accommodation selections.

zeppole

If your Tuscan villa is right in San Gimignano, you might find it tiresome to maneuver around that many tourists for a week. Or even if San Gimignano is just the nearest town, getting in and out for restaurant meals could be dreary -- and perhaps not even the best food around, since sometimes that doesn't go hand in hand with super-touristed towns in Italy.

If your villa is an agriturismo that serves dinner, or you are going to be doing all your own cooking (save lunches during day trips), I take it all back.

What will you be doing in that area? If you are going to relax, and scarcely leave the terazza of the villa (can be great!), fine.. But if you are planning a lot of day tripping, my recollection of the drive to San Gimignano is that it's a lot of switchbacks for a long time, and I'm not sure I'd want to face it on a daily basis. So did you have a list of target day trips?

San Gimignano has a very lovely church with beautiful frescoes. A surprising number of visitors fail to make the modest effort to see them. I highly recommend them.

Also, regarding Rome: places in the Vatican area that are only a stone's throw from the Tiber can be great locations (despite some of the howling you'll hear on Fodor's). But "behind" the Vatican or too far from the TIber only makes sense if the Vatican is your main interest in Rome and you've not much interest in the old roman empire piles.

have a great trip

Dayle

Hi JoyT,

My main suggestion would be to do the Amalfi Coast first and put Roma in the middle of the trip. Also, really add a day to Rome. That way you will have enough time to enjoy Rome and the fast-paced city will be in between the 2 more relaxing parts of your trip.

Also, don't limit yourself by thinking you HAVE to rent a "villa in Tuscany". There are many small inns, hotels and agritourismos that are totally charming and don't require 7 full days. Some are within the town walls (whatever town you choose) and some are very nearby.

You'll have a wonderful trip. Buon viaggio!

Dayle

Oh, just noticed the date of this post. I wonder how Joy's plans are progressing?

JoyT

Thank you Dayle and Zeppole for your advise. The villa we are looking at in Tuscan is in the countryside 5 Km from SG. It is an Agriturismo (wine and olives!) We can book for 5 or 7 days so you have me thinking. We want to venture to Volterra, Siena, Florence and any other daytrips we come upon. Hope to do some of our own cooking (recreate meals we've enjoyed along the way!)

We have since been discouraged regarding apt in Rome. Lots of horror stories out there. Looking for afordable B & B or Boutique hotel near Spanish steps if even possible. Any suggestions are appreciated.
Would we rent car in Sorrento to go to Tuscany or train it and pick up car closer i.e. Siena etc?

jrecm

http://www.italybackroads.com/
I first located it on vrbo
This is where we stayed in Spello and loved loved the accommodations. It would be perfect for 4 adults. Look at the website to see how unique it is. It is quite large with 2 bathrooms. We stayed a week and were able to visit many hill towns from this location.

zeppole

If you are planning on Volterra, Siena and Firenze as your day trips, I think San Gimignano is OK. You will discover other towns in that region, and you'll have fun discovering them, rather than being led by the nose to them.

However, if you have the opton of 5 or 7 days, I would consider taking the 5 days and using the other two to stay in Florence, since driving in and out of Florence is a major pain.

I don't know what you mean about Rome apartment horror stories. Is it just one? Or do you think everyone has a horror story? Many people happily rent apartments in Rome.

I don't think the train connections between Siena and Sorrento are good, but you can see by using the trenitalia website. I suspect with 4 adults, it is more cost effective to simply rent a car. Just make sure you get one big enough for 4 suitcases.

Presumably your San Gimignano villa has a washing machine, so don't pack heavily. Pack as light as you can.

JoyT

Thanks for all the great advise. Ira and travelfan 1, your transport suggestions are very helpful. thank you. Trying to narrow down apt in Rome. Looking at two options 1) Apt. Cardinale-Near the Vatican- 30 min. walk to Piazzo Navona and 40 min to Colosseum.2) Apt. Popola 3 blocks north of Piazzo Popola and viale del Muro Torto. Any suggestions? Getting very excited and getting addicted to Fador talk, sooo much to learn Joy

zeppole

Rome is full of rental apartments. I see that you are 4 adults, so that limits some of your apartment choices -- but do you really want an apartment anyway? You're not going to be cooking your meals in are you?

There are nice B&Bs where your cost per couple would be about 120e per night or less -- plus the guarantee of air conditioning, in locations a stone's throw from the Piazza Navona or the forum.

I can recommend Pensione Barrett. Others can give you other tips.

ekscrunchy

I'll plan your trip for $150 an hour! But here is some free advice:

For affordable rooms and good food, you cannot do much better than the agriturismos. If you want to take a look at a few more, you can find some here:



http://www.italy-farmholidays.com/

JoyT

our trip is coming together and we are pumped
Thanks for all your advise. We have booked flights, accommodations are being confirmed as we speak and now working on transport and tours. Couple of questions regarding train from Rome to Solerno and then Ferry to Amalfi. We are actually staying in Positano. Does this ferry make stops or is there a separate one. Love the idea of arriving by Ferry. How much time should we allow for the trip from Rome to Positano?

ekscrunchy

The ferry makes stops.

JoyT

Flights booked and all accommodations, thanks for all your help
We are trying to confirm travel arrangements from Positano to San Gimignano and from there to the Airport in Rome. Ira you suggested we rent a car from Salerno and drive to San Gimignano. We are wondering if it is better to take the train from Salerno and rent a car closer to SG (Orvieto/Chiusi)as we have to be at our villa by 4 pm?

kybourbon

I doubt you can leave San G in the morning and make a flight at FCO. Training to Orvieto or Chiusi to pick up the car would work. Orvieto if you have time to visit, Chiusi if you don't.