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One Month in Italy - Where would you base yourself?

One Month in Italy - Where would you base yourself?

Old Jan 31st, 2016, 08:45 AM
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One Month in Italy - Where would you base yourself?

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are toying with the idea of spending 3-4 weeks in Italy later this year. We've been several times now, but a week vacation goes by so fast. We want the chance to rent an apartment, relax more, and sink into the local way of life. With so many options and not having done a trip like this before, I wanted to get some ideas from folks who may have done it before....so where would you choose to base yourself in Italy for a month?

Here's what we're looking for:
-A place where we could spend 75% of the time in that town, and approximately the remaining 25% taking day trips. I speak Italian well enough to get by, so we'd be open to less touristy places where a little Italian could be helpful for day-to-day. We love places that are off the tourist radar.
-We have been to Rome, Florence, much of Tuscany, and Cinque Terre. High on our list to explore is northern Italy (Emilia Romagna, lake region, Venice) and southern Italy (Amalfi coast, Puglia).
-We love food/wine/cooking, architecture, and being by the water.

Our timing is unknown at this point. Location might inform when we travel, but then again so may our work demands. Clearly, we want to avoid July/August due to heat and crowds. And at this point, a spring trip would be hard to pull off with only a few months to plan - so it's likely we would be there in September or October. I don't know much about apartment rentals, and am wondering if there are certain areas or cities where it's easier to come by one, or where we'd be less reliant on a car and could easily walk most everywhere, and catch a train to other cities for day trips. (although we've driven in Italy before and wouldn't mind renting a car if need be)

So again, if you could go to Italy for a month, and wanted to play local, rather than tourist, where would you choose to go? Thanks for helping us get the creative juices flowing!

Kaitlyn
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 09:16 AM
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Your idea of a single base plus daytrips is impractical for combining northern Italy with southern Italy. At minimum, pick two bases, although three could be possible also and still allow enough local interaction to meet your goals.
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 09:24 AM
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Hi AJPeabody - To clarify, yes, for just a month, we'd stick to north OR south as a base and explore closer to the base. We'd be open to either a north or south base, as we haven't visited either of those areas...but possibly leaning a bit toward northern Italy.
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 09:59 AM
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NAPOLI!!!!
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 11:01 AM
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For the north I would consider Verona or Bologna.
(You could spend a month just eating in Bologna -
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 11:10 AM
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2 weeks in Venice and 2 weeks in Naples.
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 11:19 AM
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Maybe Bologna and Naples or Salerno. It depends on your month of travel and your budget. Salerno makes it easy to explore the Amalfi Coast by ferry and if you choose to hire a car, you can head further south to the lesser explored areas of the Cilento National Park and Calabria, and see the Greek temples at Paestum. Salerno is also a quick train trip away from Pompeii and Naples. Ferries run from Salerno to points along the Amalfi Coast until the end of October.
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 01:11 PM
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SInce you don't seem to be interested in Rome or Florence, I think only Venice or Naples is going to be interesting enough to spend 75 percent of your days there unless you are super-nesters who like to cook all the time or write or draw or read or amuse yourselves. An alternative that would be interesting to me would be to go to a real working farm with a car rental, and be part of the farm life, and then do some exploring around with the car, but I like farms.

My choice between Venice and Naples would be Naples, but I would want someplace a bit removed from the most intense hubbub of the city, probably in Vomero or maybe along the seafront somewhere. But if you would prefer Venice, which is rich in fascination, look for someplace away from the most dense tourist impact.

Another possibility in my mind would be Padova, because it is only 20 minutes from Venice, but utterly removed from the worst of the tourist mob scene. Padova has loads of interest in itself, and you could frequently dip into Venice, but also Vicenza, Ferrara, Verona, Treviso....
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Old Jan 31st, 2016, 01:16 PM
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Maybe I should add that if you stay in Padova for a month, you can see all the places I mentioned without renting a car, and quite a few more, quite easily.

http://www.zanardi.it/azienda/welcome/?synSiteLang=2
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 10:54 AM
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Hi everyone! Hearty thanks for the ideas! I thought I had responded to this thread last year, and it appears I did not. We ended up not taking our trip in 2016 due to work commitments, but are now planning for a September 2017 trip. I came back to this thread to re-visit the excellent ideas. At present I'm leaning toward Venice or Bologna for the north, and a small town on the Amalfi Coast for time in the south, perhaps two weeks in each. I'm intrigued by all the recommendations for Naples...I'm not sure such a big city makes sense for us given our desire to be in a small town, but now I'm reading a lot on Napoli to see what all the love is about Thanks again!
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:00 AM
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(oops a year old thread -haha!)

Regardless my answer is the same & completely personal, I'd love to spend a month in Venice staying somewhere, somewhat away from the central tourist area.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:07 AM
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have you read the TRs from Peter_Aus? he has spent several extended stays in Venice which you might find interesting.

I like the idea of 2 weeks in the north and two in the south; it would be hard to beat Naples as a southern base I think but the northern base is a little more difficult to choose - either Venice or Bologna would be good, though the late and not so lamented Sandralist suggests Padua, and whatever one thought of her manners, her advice was usually spot on.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:10 AM
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I happily spent 8 weeks on two trips in rural Umbria, and would go again. In fact, hope to plan a trip there next year for at least 3 weeks with my DH. I also love the lakes, especially Maggiore and Orta.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:12 AM
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have you read the TRs from Peter_Aus? he has spent several extended stays in Venice which you might find interesting.

I like the idea of 2 weeks in the north and two in the south; it would be hard to beat Naples as a southern base I think but the northern base is a little more difficult to choose - either Venice or Bologna would be good, though the late and not so lamented Sandralist suggests Padua, and whatever one thought of her manners, her advice was usually spot on.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 11:33 AM
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I think most people would recommend Sorrento for your Amalfi coast time.
From there you can visit Pompeii, Herculaneum, all the Amalfi drive towns, Paestum, Capri and Naples itself. Train for the ruins... and I think a boat/ferry would take you
to the others.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 02:13 PM
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Should you decide to base part or all of your time to the north, Padua is pretty ideal. Large enough city on its own merits. Its train station takes you quickly and easily into Venice. Also to Verona and Vincenza and to the lakes which deserve at least a couple of nights. In the south Sorrento is also a great base from which to explore Capri, Naples, Pompeii, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello. In Sorrento you can catch the crazy Sita buses along the Amalfi coast, and cruise over to Capri. In Padua the train will serve you well. There are also villa/palazzo cruises from Venice-Padua that I was unable to take advantage of due to schedule. Note too, that I am one of the few who was totally underwhelmed by the chapel ceilings of I-forget-what in Padua. Venice, Verona, Lake Coma were far more appealing to us (over three separate trips). Sounds like a fabulous month to me.
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Old Feb 20th, 2017, 06:38 PM
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'Venice, Verona, Lake Coma were far more appealing to us'

aliced Funny we called it Lake Coma purposely but I think this was accidental?
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 01:17 AM
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Sounds like an exciting plan!
I would recommend somewhere like Bologna for your 'north section' - It is like a hidden gem of food, and is nicely located, not far from Venice, Florence or Milan.
I would recommend Napoli for your 'south section' as it just bursts with culture, and has a totally different atmosphere, not to mention all the things to do and eat!

Here is a great blog post with some suggestions of: Where to Go in Italy in 2017: https://theromanguy.com/italy-travel...ew-italy-2017/

Happy planning!
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 02:57 AM
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I like the idea of any of Padua, Bologna, Ferrara etc for the north.

I'd look at Lecce in the south, very friendly people.
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Old Feb 21st, 2017, 05:26 AM
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Funny we called it Lake Coma purposely ...

Love that! and concur!
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