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Renaissance and Romantic Italy - 10 days in Nov?

Renaissance and Romantic Italy - 10 days in Nov?

Old Mar 24th, 2012, 07:02 PM
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Renaissance and Romantic Italy - 10 days in Nov?

We're planning a 25th anniversary trip to Italy for November. Will be husband's first trip there. My last trip to Italy was nearly 30 yrs ago. We've both traveled extensively in other parts of Europe, US & Asia, but keep missing Italy. We have 10 days/9 nites.

High points should be romance, Renaissance history & art, great food & wine, and a bit of wandering (our travel style). We've already cut out Rome - will have to plan another trip!

Does the following itinerary look doable for a Nov trip? Any recommendations on where to stay longer vs shorter?

Venice – 2 or 3 nites
Train to Florence – 2 or 3 nites
Car to Val d’Orcia, Tuscany – 2 or 3 nites (see Sienna as daytrip or on way)
Car to Ravenna (possibly via San Marino) – 1 nite (DH really wants to see the mosaics)
Train to Milan – 1 nite (for flight home; or better to fly out of Venice? Can likely get direct flight to DC from Milan).

Thanks!
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Old Mar 24th, 2012, 07:28 PM
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Your going a little light on the Renaissance history and art.

I think you could skip Milan and while the Val d'Orcia has some great towns, giving Siena a quick visit on the way there is, again, kind of shorting yourself on Renaissance history and art.

I would think that the great capitals of the Renaissance, Florence and Siena, ought to be a focus, with Venice for some romance.

9 nights aren't that many.

If you could land in Venice, you could go from there to Ravenna, and then on to Florence where it is easy to take day trips but really, you don't have that much time.

3 nights Venice (mosaics at San Marco and Torcello)
Ravenna on the way to Florence (the mosaics are worth trip but you won't really need an overnight stop)
3 nights Florence (the first day will be lost getting there)
2-3 nights Val d'Orcia (November isn't a great time for that area; it's scenery and can be very dull in November)
I guess the last night for wherever you're flying out of, but why not Rome for a departure airport? You could be going from north to south, which would make sense.

Since we are talking about November, I might do something like
3-4 nights Venice
2 nights Verona (very romantic; lots to see and do; a good small city to visit in winter)
Stop in Ravenna on way to Florence.
3-4 nights Florence (you can day trip to Siena and soak up the Renaissance in both towns)
A night at your departure airport, if necessary.

You won't need a car for that itinerary, and can go slow, and enjoy better wine and food.
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Old Mar 24th, 2012, 07:44 PM
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Thanks tuscanlifeedit! This is very helpful feedback.

Sounds like driving thru Tuscany is better saved for a different trip.

Great to know that we can stop in Ravenna on way rather than overnight.

I really like your 2nd itinerary with the smaller city of Verona. Would you recommend this over the more classic Venice-Florence-Rome?

Thx again.
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Old Mar 24th, 2012, 07:56 PM
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Well, maybe.

You have 9 nights and why push for all three big cities?

Read a little about Verona; it's really quite lovely, and as I said, a good place for a winter visit. Really nice shops for window shopping, lots of art, and a good spot on your route.

Since you said you will go back and visit Rome, I do think a trip with two biggies, and one smaller but lovely city would be great.
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Old Mar 24th, 2012, 08:58 PM
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If you plan to stop in Ravenna on the way to Florence, you need to confirm there is luggage storage somewhere. There is no service for this in the Ravenna train station. Some websites mention a kiosk just off the train station property offering luggage storage, but I don't know whether this info is up-to-date.
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Old Mar 24th, 2012, 09:03 PM
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I've just done some reading on Verona. It does sound terrific. Agree that a smaller city would be a nice respite.

And thanks, Jean, for the heads up about luggage. We'll check into that.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 01:59 AM
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I have to really disagree with the notion that your original itinerary, which includes Milan, "goes light" on the Renaissance. In Milan there is Da Vinci's Last Supper, Michaelangelo's ultimate work (and it is stunning) and Raphael's original drawings the School of Athens.

I have no idea why your trip is being ripped up and you are being steered to Verona. It's a perfectly nice city, but it has very little of the Renaissance and in November the weather is lousier there than it is in Tuscany.

I heartily applaud your husband's desire to see the mosaics in Ravenna and I do think it is worth it to spend the night there instead of Verona. Ravenna is also a very handsome small city and besides, you have something you really want to do there. You will be delighted to be in an Italy that isn't mainly a mega-tourist draw. Great food, too.

I don't think you have time for rural Tuscany. Go to Florence and stay there if you want the Renaissance. Personally, I think Pisa is the far more beautiful Renaissance stunner, both for architecture and the history of Renaissance thinking than Siena. If facing the tourist mob around Pisa is just too horrifying to contemplate, take a look at Arezzo as a possible day trip from Florence for renaissance art and ambience. (In the end, I find the Sienese renaissance more violent than romantic, to this day, and much of the architecture downright awful (John Ruskin agrees with me! -- but some people love the big wow of it.)

Fly out of Pisa or Florence if you can, or Milan if you like. Or Rome. Or Bologna.

You have to be aware that everybody on the internet has their favorite Italian trip and factor that into the advice you get. You should post on a couple of different message boards to get a wider range of travel experience and perspective. And you should certainly wait until more than one person answers your post before you start changing your plans away from seeing the greatest Renaissance sights to go window shopping in a Lombard city.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 02:01 AM
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PS, dusty,

I'm not popular here for saying these things so adamantly, but this is your trip so get a lot of advice.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 03:15 AM
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Thanks, zeppole. We're going to do some more digging. Husband's the big history buff and we both love art. So Siena was high on his list for historical reasons.

We do want to hit what Renaissance highlights are feasible on such a short trip. Sigh. Few more years till we get the kids thru high school & college...

We really appreciate all the advice - esp. on what makes sense given the time of year.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 03:20 AM
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One more idea dusty:

It is often a good idea when you think of "saving" some place for a later trip to eliminate the place that is easiest to get to. For instance, on a later trip, it will be quite easy to pick up Verona or Pisa if you don't get to see them this time. Verona is quite easy to get to from both the Milan and the Venice airport, or the Bologna airport.

So if you are now feeling wistful that you maybe you won't see the Tuscan countryside, maybe a trip like this would work for you:

Day 1 --Arr Florence via Pisa airport or Rome airport
Day 2 --Florence
Day 3 --Florence
Day 4 --Rent car, head to Chianti in time for lunch, spend afternoon sighseeing
Day 5 --Chianti
Day 6 -- morning in Chiatni, Lunch in Chianti, drive to Ravenna, drop off car, spend night.
Day 7 -- stow bags at hotel, see Ravenna, take train to Venice
Day 8 -- Venice
Day 9 -- Venice
day 10 -- depart

Not a perfect plan, and you probably would need to get up at the crack of dawn in Venice to make a flight to the US.

Your "renaissance trip" would also be easier if you eliminated Venice and it is a very easy city to get to on a return trip -- but maybe for you, eliminating Venice would be eliminating too much romance.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 03:39 AM
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Interesting. I hadn't thought of starting in Florence. We do want to both wander in Venice, so that one needs to stay in.

Appreciate the idea for keeping a bit of rural Tuscany. Husband also loves driving.

I have seen those early Venice departures! I think there's one that's a bit later. Fortunately we have some time to shop for flights.

Thx again!
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 03:50 AM
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Hi Dusty congrats my wife and I go a lot headed there in April
for our #38. We usually find cheapest air into Milan(MXP)usually www.AA.com we snagged free flights this year AAdvantage Citi Credit Cards you have time to do something like that to save a lot. Train our fav seat61.com/italy in 10 days in the past we have done Milan sirmione.com(Garda) venice-tourism.com our fav (Torcello has excellent Mosaics skip Ravenna too far) Florence Siena Pisa www.lucca.info www.metropole.it for Portofino cinqueterre.com area back up to Milan. booking.com for lodgings.
southernartgallery.com for pictures of all this my wife took.

Congrats and Happy Trails PM if needed,
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 04:02 AM
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Thx qwovadis for all the great links! We're on the United/Star Alliance ff plan, so saving up points like crazy for this trip, but also hoping prices will drop for November. They seem amazingly high right now for "off season." Maybe too far in advance?
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 04:01 PM
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Check your flight options out of Venice. Depending on where you're headed, some flights leave at very early hours. I hate ending a lovely trip with a 4/5:00 a.m. alarm.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 04:58 PM
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We enjoyed a similar trip, couple of years ago. My husband wanted to see as much Renaissance art as possible (I still glaze over, thinking about our 6 hours in the Uffizi) and he was definitely NOT ready to leave Florence after 3 nights. (Granted, the plane caught on fire on the way over, so we lost a whole day ... but that's another story.) His enthusiastic recommendation to y'all:

Fly into Florence and stay half your trip. Rent a car and drive to Venice via Siena (stay one night), and Ravenna. Return the car outside Venice and fly home from there (after your romantic stay). Our flight left at a polite time and it was easy getting to the airport by bus. DH enjoyed visiting the Santa Fosca church on Torcello, if you tour the islands, but I stayed on Murano to stare at the glass. I've found that great food and wine is really easy to find, in Italy. (Unless you hit Rick Steve's restaurant suggestions, where all the diners have their tour book out on the table.)
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 06:25 PM
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Thanks Jean & Just27. I'm seeing a 1:20 pm flight out of Venice on Luftansa/United. A bit more $ but worth it to avoid the 6 am flight.

We also have tales of hours-long museum adventures (with the kids!) but no planes on fire! This time we're looking forward to hanging out a good long time with the art on our own. Our 14-year-old son is eternally grateful. However our 17 yr-old daughter keeps making us feel guilty for not bringing her. She's even drafted a "bucket list" of art she wants to see in her lifetime, and, of course, Italy has the motherlode.

But how often does one get a chance to celebrate a 25th anniversary! So we really appreciate all the advice to help us make it memorable.

Any particular restaurants we should try in Florence/Siena/Venice?
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 07:02 PM
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We were in Siena and Florence last October and particularly enjoyed these two restaurants:

Ristorante Il Paiolo on Via Corso, Florence

Ristorante Mugolone on Via dei Pellegrini, Siena

Both are family owned and operated.
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 07:08 PM
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Thanks! I'm marking these down now.

It's the personal, family-run places that we love best. Can hardly wait...
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 07:12 PM
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I also had a fave restaurant in Florence, Siena, and Venice; plus an amazing little Michelin*** place just outside Venice, while we still had the car. I need to do some googling for the names, though I could kind of describe where I think they were ...
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Old Mar 25th, 2012, 07:18 PM
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Very cool! I could see splurging at one Michelin*** on this trip. What I manage to justify for a 25th anniversary!!
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