AmyinAL

Hello!

In a couple of months, we (myself, 15 & 11 year old sons) will be leaving for three weeks in Italy. At this point, all I have is the tickets over - flying into Bologna, and out of Pisa 3 weeks later. The trip was motivated by that gap between the end-of-school and beginning-of-camps and the miracle of finding decent airfare from Atlanta over to Europe during the summer.

We have been to Italy a few times before. We were in Rome when they were small, Sicily six years ago, Milan for a week five years ago, then Padua (including Venice day trips) -Assisi-Rome for a total of a bit over three weeks in the fall of 2012. (We've also spent time in France, Spain, Germany Mexico, all over the US - just to give you a sense that these are experienced travelers. And patient, too. They've been dragged to churches and museums since they were babies, and don't complain about that and might even enjoy it once in a while.....)

In theory, I adhere to a Slow Travel philosophy - I say "in theory," because my excitement over seeing All The Things too often gets the best of me and we end up moving about 50% more than I had originally hoped.

BUT NOT THIS TIME! I am really going to try to keep it to three places. Okay, maybe four. No more!

I'm writing this post, not to pose the "WHERE SHOULD WE GO IN TUSCANY?" question, but...

um...where should we go in Tuscany?

(Kidding. Sort of.)

No, I'm starting this thread just to throw ideas out there and see if anyone has any feedback or experiences. I've read through a few pages of "Italy" posts and have bookmarked those of interest.

My initial plan is to park ourselves for a week in Bologna. Day trips to Ravenna, Ferrara, Parma, Modena....maybe a car factory tour or two? I am contemplating the high cost of the food tours and trying to balance the cost/benefit of all that. They would certainly be interested, but I don't know if it's $150 apiece worth of interest. We are *really* looking forward to the food in the region.

Then what? I am not sure, and am starting to sort it out. They've said they would like to go back to Rome - the younger one doesn't have the sharpest memories of it. So I figure, the fast train gets us there in 2 hours, and we can spend three days revisting and seeing some new things. I'd like to go to Ostia Antica - we have been to Pompeii, but more ruins are always good, and my dad, deceased now, went to Ostia and raved.

My plan then is to rent a car outside of the Rome environs and head to Tuscany. At this point, we would have about 10 days left. Florence, Siena, Pisa, hill towns. What I am trying to sort out is...agriturismo or apartment in a town or city? We had a marvelous experience at an agriturismo in Sicily and gite stays in France, so we are up for that, but I also love the freedom they have to wander in these mid-sized and smaller European towns. I don't know if I can get away with just one more stay - I don't think so. But that's what I'm thinking over....and look forward to any input. I know this is vague, but I'd just love to start a conversation about this trip!

mainetrvlgrl

I'm no expert on any of these areas (I've been to many of them once or twice), but two thoughts on your marvelous sounding trip.

1) We haven't been on a food tour yet in Italy that wasn't worth the money 100%. Not sure if it is kosher to share companies or not (I have NO affiliation other than a satisfied customer), but we went on the Italian Days tour two years ago and it was amazing. No need to pay for anything else that day-a full day and more food than you could eat in two days! The production aspect of the DOCG products (parmaggiano reggiano, balsalmico, prosciutto, etc.) was very interesting and gave me a whole new appreciation for why the price points are high on these quality products. And the end of the tour at an organic winery and restaurant/farm-was one of our favorite meals on any of our trips. That all being said, you will eat fantastic food in this area, so I understand not wanting to spend the money.

2) With ten days at the end for Tuscany, you might do both a stay in a city like Sienna (my personal favorite of those you listed) AND a stay at an agriturisimo?? Five days each? Both are such different feels-and you could have the best of both. Just my two cents!

Enjoy your trip in this area-we love the less touristy parts of Italy

jacolis

Hi,

Sounds like a wonderful trip with your boys.

We took our girls (then 8 & 10) to Italy for two weeks. A few highlights that they really enjoyed were a parma cheese/prosciutto tour in Parma. We booked with a company called "Food n Walk". We only did the half day tour which included lunch. It was truly worth it. The girls loved seeing the ham cellar and how cheese is made. Our guide, Andrea, was excellent. My husband also enjoyed Maranello (he booked a test drive of a Lamborghini - very $ but worth it for him).

Another highlight was Pisa. We visited the tower and rented bikes to do a few laps of the city walls followed by gelato. Rome was also a highlight (booked a skip the line tour of the Coliseum and also gladiator school). Would have loved to do Ostia Antica or Pompeii but did not have time.

We rented a series of villas and enjoyed the space/freedom to do some of our own cooking as well. Never did an agriturismo but I a m sure my kids would have loved it.

jacolis

Whoops! Just realized I referred to biking in Pisa -- biking on the city walls was in Lucca. Lucca and Siena are definitely worth visiting. My kids did love climbing the tower of Pisa.

AmyinAL

Thanks so much so far - I do think that if we *didn't* do the food tours I would look back and say, "Why didn't I do that???" I would surely regret it, not only for myself but for the boys.

And...I just discovered Ferrara has a palio, and it climaxes the last weekend in May...which will through my "week in Bologna" off, since we'd *really* want to see that. Maybe make it a week and a day, with perhaps a Florence day trip in there to give us a taste of the city and perhaps one of the major museums before we revisit closer to the end.

sandralist

Consider staying in Ferrara rather than Bologna. The pedestrianized, bike-friendly town is easier for kids and if you are there for more than one day you can sightsee at your leisure. (The castle is huge.) You'd also be able to watch the build-up to the palio (I've never been). It will be much easier to make the town "your own" than Bologna.

True, it will add 20 minutes to some of your day trips, because you will need to change trains in Bologna, but I think it would be worth it. If you decide to book one of the food tours out of Bologna, you can just go there and be picked up at the Bologna train station.

Day trips to Florence are rather expensive from Bologna unless you book them far in advance, and it is better I think to do day trips more spontaneously, and be able to see what the weather is.

For your Tuscan stay, I suggest you take the train from Rome to Florence for 5 days, with a day trip to Siena and maybe one to Montecatini Alto, then rent a car and head out to an agriturismo near San Gimignano. Visit Volterra and some other hilltowns as part of that excursion, but ultimately go to Pisa, drop off the car and stay in Pisa your final two nights. Use one of the days to visit Lucca.

AmyinAL

Thank you, sandralist. I had actually started thinking about Ferrara, and after reading your post I got serious, researching apartments, and at this point, I'm seriously leaning that way. I think to be there during the week before the palio would be really interesting.

annhig

sounds like a wonderful plan, Amy.

With lads that age I would definitely want an agriturismo with a swimming pool and bikes - they'll love the chance to rase about on the bikes then dive into the pool.

jamikins

We stayed here over NYE a few years ago and loved it:

http://www.santantonio.it/en-ww/tuscan-resort.aspx

It is only a few minutes drive from Montepulciano and it is easy to visit the towns of Val d'Orcia.

I agree with Sandra about visiting Lucca.

Truffles

I can second the recommendation from mainetrvlgrl for Italian Days in Bologna - I have no affiliation with them either, but took the tour last year. An absolutely wonderful experience, would do it again in a heartbeat!

In Florence I took a food tour with Taste Florence, it was very affordable, and also very enjoyable.

Jean

Just a comment about the car factory tours... Do some research to understand exactly what you see (and mostly not see) on tours at the different factories. Ferrari shows nothing of the production line and no finished cars unless you get a glimpse of one in the distance being moved between buildings. Lamborghini and Pagani do include the assembly line, but check for dates when parts of the tours are closed. You need to book tours in advance, but museum visits can be spontaneous.

FWIW, we enjoyed the museum and car displays at Enzo Ferrari's house in Modena more than the 'official' Ferrari museum in Maranello. Your sons might enjoy the driving simulator at the Maranello museum, but there was a long waiting line.

AmyinAL

Thank you again for the helpful replies!

*Will late May/early June be pool weather in Tuscany? The only summer months I have ever been to Italy (I just realized) was the year we went to Sicily. Every other time we have visited has been either late fall or very early spring.

*Thanks for the advice on the car tours. They are not car fanatics (although the 15 year old is getting more and more interested every day, it seems, as his moment draws closer!), but are always interested in "how things are made" tours - I mean, they don't drink Jack Daniels, but found that tour fascinating!

The point being that if there's no opportunity to see the actual making of the cars...there's no point, so thanks for the advice, Jean - as well as the information about Ferrari's house in Modena.

annhig

Amy - I can't promise hot weather, and it probably depends where you come from, but IME it's normally warm enough to swim in a pool in Tuscany at the end of May /beginning of June.

and even if it's not warm enough for you, it'll probably be warm enough for your lads!