mcburja

DH and I are going to be in Italy for a few weeks in July. Flying into FCO, picking up our car, and spending our first two nights at the Casa Zia Cianetta just outside Foligno. Then we have a week in a charming converted chicken coop (oxymoron?) at Vivo D'Orcia in the Val D'Orcia. Next week friends are joining us for a week at the Villa il Castagno near Cortona, where we plan to visit the Mercantia in Certaldo, among other wanderings.

We leave Cortona Saturday morning, and our flight back to Canada is Sunday afternoon, so I'm hoping to find a great place for our final night, somewhere within a reasonable driving distance of FCO, but not in one of the soulless airport hotels. My preference would be to stay at a small inn or even a B&B in the old quarter of a town, where we could wander in the afternoon and enjoy a final dinner outside in a piazza. Some of our most memorable evenings have been in this sort of place, where there are lots of interesting shops that stay open into the evening, and there is a lot of life in the main square.

Fodorites have pointed us to so many great places in the past, I'm hoping that we can look to you again for our next trip.

uhoh_busted

On our first Italian road trip, we picked up my sister at FCO after our first two weeks, so we spent the night before we picked her up in Orvieto. It is an easy shot to FCO from there. To keep her first day "simple" we drove to visit Ville d'Este with all the fountains (Tivoli), and then we headed to Frascati (like the wine) to spend the night before heading off for the Amalfi Coast. Frascati was fun that evening and we did indeed have a pleasant meal out on the piazza. (After 3 nights on the Amalfi Coast, we dropped off our car at the airport and took a cab into Rome for our last 3 nights).

So, Orvieto or Frascati are certainly possible choices. Looking at the map, you might also want to try Viterbo.

mcburja

Thanks, uhoh. I've been trying to find somewhere to stay in Orvieto, as it happens, but the places I like are either outside of the town, only available by the week, or booked. I'll certainly check out Frascati, as I gather that there are some very interesting local wines there!

annhig

i have heard ostia antica recommended for this purpose.

it is supposed to have an interesting centre and at least one good restaurant.

there's a thread about it somewhere. I'll see if i can find it.

another alternative would Orbetello, where I spent a week last year. it is on the tuscan coastline [right opposite where the costa concordia went aground] about 150 kms north of Rome.

set in a lagoon it's a lovely and ancient place with loads of nice restaurants and a few hotels, and apart from some rich romans, it seems to be more or less untouched by tourists.

annhig

Here's the link to the thread I was thinking about:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tia-antica.cfm

you'll need to go to the last post to find the information about Ostia antica. it's by zeppole, who, what ever you say about her [and I said a lot in my time] knew her stuff.

uhoh_busted

We did a daytrip to Ostia Antica last fall (from Rome). Didn't really see much of the "town" - but it looks like there is a marina, etc. The ruins are terrific. And it is pretty close to the airport.