Sher

Hi everyone. I am joining friends near Pisa for a week in September.
Because I am using miles to travel to Italy (PSA) the best flights get me there two nights before the rental.

I will have a car and would be spending two nights by myself before we meet up. Please give me some suggestions of a town that I might enjoy for the time on my own.

I have been to Siena, Florence, Rome. I am thinking of a town not too far from Pisa maybe on the coast but really I am having a difficult time deciding.

Can you give me some suggestions?

Thanks.

yorkshire

Everybody seems to love Lucca. (It did not really do it for me.)
It's not on the coast, but how about Barga?

dwdvagamundo

I'd recommend Lucca, but you've got enough time to get anywhere along the coast. While it's not a town, I'd probably go to Genoa, as it should have enough to keep you occupied for a couple of days.

Rubicund

I'd head for either Rapacious, Camogli or S Margherita Ligure. Good choice of hotels, restaurants, scenery and all on the sea.

Rubicund

Sorry. That's Rapallo, but you may be rapacious there!

TDudette

If you haven't visited Pisa, you could easily stay there and find enough to do. Take a good tour of the Duomo (it is spectacular), actually climb the tower (you need a rez). Take a tour (or drive) to San Gimignano.

We stayed there two times at the Royal Victorian -- http://royalvictoria.it/ -- and loved the old world charm. It is about a 20 minute walk to the Tower in one direction; and about the same in the other to the train station. Ask for a quiet room. The area around the university vibrant with cheap, but good, food.

Sher

Great ideas. I have been to San Gimignano a couple of times but the other places I haven't.
The only thing I did on one trip to Italy long ago in Pisa was visit the tower. At that time you could not go in. I think maybe it was under repair. Anyway it was a very short visit.

So now I can make a list.

willit

Pisa often gets dismissed, but I found I really liked it. The Duomo and Baptestry are both magnificent, and one of the museums has an extensive display on various attempts over the years to correct or stabalise the lean of the tower.

Lucca seems to divide people - I've stayed there a couple of times and while it lacks the "wow factors" of Siena or Florence, it is still a beautiful historical city.

I believe the Garfagnana region is well worth exploring (although I've never done so myself)

bobthenavigator

I would pick Volterra from Pisa as well.
Lucca and the Garfagnana are both good options.

Sher

I really need to get some new guidebooks.
I do a lot of surfing but I love guidebooks.
Use them as long as they are around, I guess.

Am adding to my list.
Thanks again

Sher

OK. I have been working very hard on this since I started. I also have found that there is very little in guidebooks about the Garfagnana.

I eliminated Pisa and Lucca from my search as I really felt I wanted to concentrate on a smaller, easily navigated area since I will be by myself.

I started looking at Barga, which appealed to me. But it has been so difficult looking for public transportation. I thought maybe I could not use my car for this part of the trip. I planned an individual tour for my second day in the area to treat myself. I wanted to stay IN a town instead of the outskirts and it would be easier in Barga without a car. I wrote to the hotel to ask if I did drive there where could I leave my car for two days.

So maybe I will look at Bagni di Lucca which seems smaller.

If I am stumped there I will move to the sea and probably drive there.

Thanks again for getting me started. I am trying to be organized but don't feel like I am.

TDudette

If you google Livorno beaches, you'll find even more to confuse you! DH and I traveled from Pisa to Florence to Livorno one day using the trains FWIW.

Please do a trip report about all this!

Sher

TDudette. Sorry for me that I usually drive in Italy. It isn't that I have not taken trains but not such a complicated trip.
I will let you know.

yestravel

We spent a week in that area basing ourselves in Lucca. Another town worth a look is Pistoia. Lots to see all over the area. We used buses for some trips and picked up a car and did some great day trips to the Garafagna and surrounding area.

sandralist

Hi,

Take a look at Pietrasanta. You can easily go there from Pisa by train or by car. It is an interesting place in itself to spend 2 nights in September, and if the weather is nice, you can go to the beach for a swim. (You don't need a car to do that). But if it isn't nice, you can poke around Pietrasanta and have a nice time.

http://www.visitsitaly.com/tuscany/p...anta/index.htm

http://goitaly.about.com/od/versilia...ietrasanta.htm

Sher

Thanks sandralist and yestravel also.

I am splurging on a one day tour of the Garafagna. I usually do self tours also but I thought I would let a local show me some of the sights which will include cheese making and a typical farmer's lunch.

But they would pick me up anywhere in the area.

letsgeaux

The obvious answer would be Lucca and that would be great, but if I had two free days around there I would probably leave the car in La Spieza and spend the time exploring the Cinque Terra.

Sher

letsgeaux. Lucca is very popular. But I really wanted to do something different. I will be staying near Pisa for a week and am sure I will visit Lucca although on two previous trips to Tuscany I did not.

I am all set. I will drive from the Pisa airport direct to Barga. The hotel assures me there is parking nearby. Forget the train or the bus. The bus takes three hours and if I read the timetable correctly stops 43 times.

Anyway. I have my hotel reservation right in Barga and my private tour reserved.

I still have filed all of your suggestions for the next time.

yestravel

We spent some time in Barga -- a very nice small town.

Sher

I just wanted to say that I posted the parking question on another forum (one I do not look at often) and someone from Ireland answered with the exact place for parking, the name of the street to drive on etc.

My point being that everyone helps when they can and boy is it great.