Trip Report - Rome, Tuscany, & Florence
Dec 3rd, 2006, 08:21 PM
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Trip Report - Rome, Tuscany, & Florence
My husband and I recently returned from a wonderful 11 day trip Italy. I have broken my trip report into several sections instead of doing a day by day report. I hope this is helpful for other travelers and isn’t too long. I tried to only include what I thought would be helpful. There is just too much to share! I found other travelers postings incredibly helpful when planning for our trip so I tried to include what was most helpful for me.
QUICK OVERVIEW:
We spent three nights in Rome, three nights in a villa in Cetona in Tuscany, one night in Siena, and three nights in Florence. We had very good weather during our trip although we were told repeatedly that we were very lucky as it normally rains quite a bit in November.
In Rome, we did the big attractions – Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps (this was disappointing as part of the monument was under scaffolding), Colosseum and Roman Forum, and the Vatican. And lots and lots of walking, wandering, and of course eating!
In Tuscany, we visited several towns in Umbria and Tuscany. We stopped in Orvieto on the way to our villa and had a wonderful sandwich and ½ bottle of wine on the steps of the duomo. We enjoyed a day in Umbria visiting Deruta and Montefalco. We highly recommend both towns. Very quaint and charming. In Tuscany, we spent time in Montalcino and Pienza. We didn’t have much time in Pienza and I would have liked to explore it a little more. It was lovely at dusk.
We spent a night in Siena which we just loved. We were tired from all of the driving in Tuscany and ended up spending several hours at a café on the Campo people watching and reading our books. It was wonderful and a nice way to rest up before our time in Florence.
In Florence, we toured the Duomo and climbed to the top. That was a great experience. Worth the 473 stairs! I shopped at Santa Maria Nouvella’s fabulous pharmacia (great Christmas gifts!). We saw David at the Accademia and also visited The Bargello – a lovely sculpture museum. We attended Sunday services (in Italian!) at Santa Croce, crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and wandered south of the river. We walked to Piazzale Michelangelo for a fantastic view of Florence. And again, lots of walking, wandering, and eating!
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Rome - Hotel in Parione (now called dependance Hotel Smeraldo). Great price, great location. Smalls rooms but very clean and in good condition. It was right in the center of the city near the Campo de Fiori. We walked everywhere - Vatican, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, etc. The only cab we took was to pick up our rental car when we were leaving for Tuscany.
Cetona (Tuscany)- small villa arranged through a friend of a friend who is a travel agent. (Here is the website - www.toscanavillas.com ) Lovely place. I highly recommended it for a long stay in Tuscany during peak season. We were the only guests so it was a little too quiet for us and we were rarely there because we were gone the majority of the day seeing the sights. It is located right on the edge of Tuscany and Umbria so you can really see a lot of wonderful towns in both regions.
Siena – Hotel Caterina. Wonderful hotel. Lovely room. Great breakfast. Ideal location – just outside of the town walls so it was always a pleasant 15-20 minute walk to the Campo. They also have parking which is ideal. We really enjoyed our stay here.
Florence – Residenza Il Villino. Again, a wonderful small hotel. The owners, Sergio and Beth, are incredibly helpful. Very nice, large rooms. Comfortable beds. Nice sized bathrooms. Free internet access. Good breakfast. Ideal location – just a 5-10 minute walk to the Duomo. Highly recommend this hotel. They gave us great restaurant recommendations and also handled our reservation at the Accademia for us.
HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP:
Along with all of the wonderful other sightseeing that we did on our trip, these were some of our favorite experiences. Some were a little different than the usual stops so I have highlighted them here.
Group tour for the Vatican – we arranged for a tour through Context Rome who limits their groups to 6 or less people. We ended up being the only ones on the tour so it turned out to be a private tour. It was great and definitely worth the extra money. If you are going to do the Vatican, you should really book a tour. I don’t think it would be the same with out it.
Olive Press Tour in Montefalco – Antico Frantoio Brizi (http://www.frantoiobrizi.it/) – we were getting ready to leave Montefalco when we walked by this little storefront. I recognized the name from a posting on Fodor’s about their wonderful olive oil. I just wanted to pop in and purchase some oil. We were greeted by the daughter of the owner of the olive press who asked us if we were interested in doing a tour of the press. We agreed immediately and joined a small group of Americans (who were also from Chicago!) and had a wonderful time. We learned so much about the production of olive oil – what truly makes it extra-virgin and cold-pressed. Afterwards, we sat down to a delicious snack of bruschetta with the olio nuovo.
Ceramics in Deruta – Deruta is a wonderful small hill town in Umbria. We had a great time meeting the different artists and visiting all of the stores. I highly recommend venturing to the top of the hill to see the small stores rather than just visiting the larger more commercial outlets at the bottom of the hill.
Tour & wine tasting at Altesino in Montalcino (www.altesino.it) – we had a wonderful tour and wine tasting at Altesino just outside Montalcino. Gretchen was delightful. Very friendly and knowledgeable. The wines were delicious. Beautiful property. Highly recommended visiting this mid-sized winery.
VALUABLE TRAVEL TIPS:
These are things that we found very helpful and worthwhile to think about when planning our trip.
Car Service in Rome - We arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport in Rome and take us to our hotel. This was a relief to have when we arrived in Rome. We were tired and this made everything so easy. We booked it through Context Rome when we arranged for our Vatican tour.
Cell Phone – We also booked this through Context Rome. I would recommend traveling with a cell phone if you are going to be driving in the country. It was very helpful and good to have in something every happen to your car.
Driving in Italy - I mentioned this in an earlier posting but we rented a GPS system with our rental car. Great decision! It helped us navigate the country roads with ease! We rented our car through AutoEurope and didn’t have any problems. We had a great rate and picked the car up from Europcar. We enjoyed driving and the scenery was just amazing! It was tiring though – more than we expected. It was also tough because we were there in November and it was dark by 5:00 pm. We were usually driving back to our villa in the dark which was a little stressful since you can’t see much outside of what is just ahead of you in your headlights! It always takes longer to get where you need to go.
Packing – Layers, layer, layers! This was key for our clothing for the time of year we were traveling. We found it was perfectly acceptable to wear nice jeans out in the evenings with dressy tops, sweaters, etc. We packed comfortable shoes that worked well for both evening and during the day. Per several other recommendations, I packed an additional duffle bag in our suitcases. We used this to carry home our dirty laundry and the suitcases to pack our wine, pottery, olive oil, etc. I purchased some of those huge zip lock bags to store the olive oil in case anything broke. Those were nice to have for peace of mind. Who wants a suitcase full of olive oil!?! I also brought along some packing tape and bubble wrap which proved to be very useful.
RESTAURANTS/FOOD EXPERIENCES:
Best meal – Restaurante Giardino in Montalcino, Piazza Cavour. This was recommended in Rick Steve’s but we really just happened upon it during our wanderings. The menu looked fantastic and once we saw it listed in our guidebook we decided to check it out. It was wonderful! My husband had the pici with duck meat sauce and mushrooms. I had the gnocchi in a “fondue” of pecorino cheese, sliver of walnuts, and black truffles. We also split a pear salad with pecorino cheese. The chef makes his own bread which was delicious. They had dark bread (maybe wheat?) in addition to the white. That was the first time I had ever seen dark bread in a restaurant during our trip. We each had a glass of their house wine which was a rosso de Montalcino. It was very good. We were too full for dessert but the options looks delicious. (Plus we had discovered a fantastic patisserie when we first arrived and picked up an assortment of cookies for post-lunch. They were delicious! The best on our entire trip. It is called Pasticceria Mariuccia on Piazza del Popolo. Here is their website: http://www.pasticceriamariuccia.it/. )
Best gelato – San Crispino in Rome. They have a small store near the Trevi Fountain. Outstanding! We had gelato one or two times a day during our trip and by the end we started to consider ourselves experts. We discovered San Crispino our second night in Rome and just loved it. They make their chocolate with valrhona chocolate – amazing! A very close second was Gelateria dei Neri in Florence by Santa Croce. They have gelato with profiteroles in it! I have never tasted anything like it.
Cul de Sac in Rome – this was recommended everywhere so I felt we had to check it out. We had a wonderful late lunch here after a morning of sightseeing at the Colosseum and Forum. We enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend others to check it out. The wines were fantastic.
La Pinga in Rome – near the Pantheon. This received good reviews both on SlowTrav and in Maureen Fant’s book. Very disappointing. The food was mediocre. I have had better Italian meals at home in Chicago. It was our first night in Rome so we really expected a lot more and we were just not impressed. The house wines were very good though– including the white which was unusual for Italy. We always found the reds to be better. I would definitely not recommend this restaurant.
Roscioli in Rome – great bakery near Campo de Fiori. Best croissants we had in Italy. We picked up breakfast here every morning in Rome. (www.anticofornoroscioli.com)
Dar Poeta in Rome (Trastevere) – good pizza. Amazing crust! More upscale pizzeria. Lots of locals. Definitely worth checking out plus this is an interesting area of Rome.
Pizzaria Ai Marmi in Rome (Trastevere) – also good pizza but very different than Dar Poerta. Very causal. Fun atmosphere. Our guide for our Vatican tour said this place was the ultimate Roman pizzeria experience. Lots of locals. Very little English spoken here!
Osteria dell’ingegno in Rome (Piazza di Pietra) – we had a delicious lunch here after our Vatican tour. It was definitely our most expensive lunch but very good.
Sobborgo Ristorante in Cetona – We had an excellent dinner here. Highly recommend it if you are ever in this area. Service was great. Lovely atmosphere.
L’Alchimista in Montefalco – We had a very good casual lunch here. Friendly service. Good food. Very small restaurant in the basement of an enoteca.
Trattoria Quattro Leoni in Florence – We had lunch here our second day in Florence and I was somewhat disappointed. It was good but I felt it was overrated. Based on the reviews I read on this discussion board, I expected to be completely blown away. I had their signature salad with the avocado and cheese with pesto. That was very good – unlike any salad I have never had before. I really enjoyed it. I also had the pear & cheese pasta. This was good but not outstanding. The restaurant was also full of Americans which made it feel very touristy. It was busy though and I don’t know if we would have been seated if we didn’t have a reservation.
il Pizzaiuolo in Florence (Santa Croce) – great Neapolitan pizza. Very popular. Must have reservations for dinner so we came for lunch instead.
13 Gobbi in Florence (near Santa Maria Nouvella) – Great food, fun atmosphere. We really enjoyed our meal here. One of our top experiences in Italy.
Trattoria Accadi in Florence – This was our last meal in Florence and it was delightful. It was recommended by our hotel as it was just around the corner. The service was excellent, very friendly. Pleasant atmosphere. Good food.
Central Market in Florence – This was a wonderful experience! The foodie in me wished we were staying in Florence for a week with a kitchen so I could have taken advantage of all the wonderful meats, cheese, produce, etc. Through several other postings, I saw Baroni’s stall recommended several times. We visited them at the market and I found them very helpful in helping me select Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar to take home to the States.
I think that abouts sums it up. Wow - this was longer than I thought!
Thanks to everyone for all of their great postings. Reading about other people’s trips and experiences was so helpful. We can’t wait to return! Italy is truly a magical place!
I am of course happy to answer questions about anything I posted. And of course would love to hear feedback and stories from other travelers.
Beth
QUICK OVERVIEW:
We spent three nights in Rome, three nights in a villa in Cetona in Tuscany, one night in Siena, and three nights in Florence. We had very good weather during our trip although we were told repeatedly that we were very lucky as it normally rains quite a bit in November.
In Rome, we did the big attractions – Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps (this was disappointing as part of the monument was under scaffolding), Colosseum and Roman Forum, and the Vatican. And lots and lots of walking, wandering, and of course eating!
In Tuscany, we visited several towns in Umbria and Tuscany. We stopped in Orvieto on the way to our villa and had a wonderful sandwich and ½ bottle of wine on the steps of the duomo. We enjoyed a day in Umbria visiting Deruta and Montefalco. We highly recommend both towns. Very quaint and charming. In Tuscany, we spent time in Montalcino and Pienza. We didn’t have much time in Pienza and I would have liked to explore it a little more. It was lovely at dusk.
We spent a night in Siena which we just loved. We were tired from all of the driving in Tuscany and ended up spending several hours at a café on the Campo people watching and reading our books. It was wonderful and a nice way to rest up before our time in Florence.
In Florence, we toured the Duomo and climbed to the top. That was a great experience. Worth the 473 stairs! I shopped at Santa Maria Nouvella’s fabulous pharmacia (great Christmas gifts!). We saw David at the Accademia and also visited The Bargello – a lovely sculpture museum. We attended Sunday services (in Italian!) at Santa Croce, crossed the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge and wandered south of the river. We walked to Piazzale Michelangelo for a fantastic view of Florence. And again, lots of walking, wandering, and eating!
ACCOMMODATIONS:
Rome - Hotel in Parione (now called dependance Hotel Smeraldo). Great price, great location. Smalls rooms but very clean and in good condition. It was right in the center of the city near the Campo de Fiori. We walked everywhere - Vatican, Spanish Steps, Colosseum, etc. The only cab we took was to pick up our rental car when we were leaving for Tuscany.
Cetona (Tuscany)- small villa arranged through a friend of a friend who is a travel agent. (Here is the website - www.toscanavillas.com ) Lovely place. I highly recommended it for a long stay in Tuscany during peak season. We were the only guests so it was a little too quiet for us and we were rarely there because we were gone the majority of the day seeing the sights. It is located right on the edge of Tuscany and Umbria so you can really see a lot of wonderful towns in both regions.
Siena – Hotel Caterina. Wonderful hotel. Lovely room. Great breakfast. Ideal location – just outside of the town walls so it was always a pleasant 15-20 minute walk to the Campo. They also have parking which is ideal. We really enjoyed our stay here.
Florence – Residenza Il Villino. Again, a wonderful small hotel. The owners, Sergio and Beth, are incredibly helpful. Very nice, large rooms. Comfortable beds. Nice sized bathrooms. Free internet access. Good breakfast. Ideal location – just a 5-10 minute walk to the Duomo. Highly recommend this hotel. They gave us great restaurant recommendations and also handled our reservation at the Accademia for us.
HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR TRIP:
Along with all of the wonderful other sightseeing that we did on our trip, these were some of our favorite experiences. Some were a little different than the usual stops so I have highlighted them here.
Group tour for the Vatican – we arranged for a tour through Context Rome who limits their groups to 6 or less people. We ended up being the only ones on the tour so it turned out to be a private tour. It was great and definitely worth the extra money. If you are going to do the Vatican, you should really book a tour. I don’t think it would be the same with out it.
Olive Press Tour in Montefalco – Antico Frantoio Brizi (http://www.frantoiobrizi.it/) – we were getting ready to leave Montefalco when we walked by this little storefront. I recognized the name from a posting on Fodor’s about their wonderful olive oil. I just wanted to pop in and purchase some oil. We were greeted by the daughter of the owner of the olive press who asked us if we were interested in doing a tour of the press. We agreed immediately and joined a small group of Americans (who were also from Chicago!) and had a wonderful time. We learned so much about the production of olive oil – what truly makes it extra-virgin and cold-pressed. Afterwards, we sat down to a delicious snack of bruschetta with the olio nuovo.
Ceramics in Deruta – Deruta is a wonderful small hill town in Umbria. We had a great time meeting the different artists and visiting all of the stores. I highly recommend venturing to the top of the hill to see the small stores rather than just visiting the larger more commercial outlets at the bottom of the hill.
Tour & wine tasting at Altesino in Montalcino (www.altesino.it) – we had a wonderful tour and wine tasting at Altesino just outside Montalcino. Gretchen was delightful. Very friendly and knowledgeable. The wines were delicious. Beautiful property. Highly recommended visiting this mid-sized winery.
VALUABLE TRAVEL TIPS:
These are things that we found very helpful and worthwhile to think about when planning our trip.
Car Service in Rome - We arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport in Rome and take us to our hotel. This was a relief to have when we arrived in Rome. We were tired and this made everything so easy. We booked it through Context Rome when we arranged for our Vatican tour.
Cell Phone – We also booked this through Context Rome. I would recommend traveling with a cell phone if you are going to be driving in the country. It was very helpful and good to have in something every happen to your car.
Driving in Italy - I mentioned this in an earlier posting but we rented a GPS system with our rental car. Great decision! It helped us navigate the country roads with ease! We rented our car through AutoEurope and didn’t have any problems. We had a great rate and picked the car up from Europcar. We enjoyed driving and the scenery was just amazing! It was tiring though – more than we expected. It was also tough because we were there in November and it was dark by 5:00 pm. We were usually driving back to our villa in the dark which was a little stressful since you can’t see much outside of what is just ahead of you in your headlights! It always takes longer to get where you need to go.
Packing – Layers, layer, layers! This was key for our clothing for the time of year we were traveling. We found it was perfectly acceptable to wear nice jeans out in the evenings with dressy tops, sweaters, etc. We packed comfortable shoes that worked well for both evening and during the day. Per several other recommendations, I packed an additional duffle bag in our suitcases. We used this to carry home our dirty laundry and the suitcases to pack our wine, pottery, olive oil, etc. I purchased some of those huge zip lock bags to store the olive oil in case anything broke. Those were nice to have for peace of mind. Who wants a suitcase full of olive oil!?! I also brought along some packing tape and bubble wrap which proved to be very useful.
RESTAURANTS/FOOD EXPERIENCES:
Best meal – Restaurante Giardino in Montalcino, Piazza Cavour. This was recommended in Rick Steve’s but we really just happened upon it during our wanderings. The menu looked fantastic and once we saw it listed in our guidebook we decided to check it out. It was wonderful! My husband had the pici with duck meat sauce and mushrooms. I had the gnocchi in a “fondue” of pecorino cheese, sliver of walnuts, and black truffles. We also split a pear salad with pecorino cheese. The chef makes his own bread which was delicious. They had dark bread (maybe wheat?) in addition to the white. That was the first time I had ever seen dark bread in a restaurant during our trip. We each had a glass of their house wine which was a rosso de Montalcino. It was very good. We were too full for dessert but the options looks delicious. (Plus we had discovered a fantastic patisserie when we first arrived and picked up an assortment of cookies for post-lunch. They were delicious! The best on our entire trip. It is called Pasticceria Mariuccia on Piazza del Popolo. Here is their website: http://www.pasticceriamariuccia.it/. )
Best gelato – San Crispino in Rome. They have a small store near the Trevi Fountain. Outstanding! We had gelato one or two times a day during our trip and by the end we started to consider ourselves experts. We discovered San Crispino our second night in Rome and just loved it. They make their chocolate with valrhona chocolate – amazing! A very close second was Gelateria dei Neri in Florence by Santa Croce. They have gelato with profiteroles in it! I have never tasted anything like it.
Cul de Sac in Rome – this was recommended everywhere so I felt we had to check it out. We had a wonderful late lunch here after a morning of sightseeing at the Colosseum and Forum. We enjoyed it and I would definitely recommend others to check it out. The wines were fantastic.
La Pinga in Rome – near the Pantheon. This received good reviews both on SlowTrav and in Maureen Fant’s book. Very disappointing. The food was mediocre. I have had better Italian meals at home in Chicago. It was our first night in Rome so we really expected a lot more and we were just not impressed. The house wines were very good though– including the white which was unusual for Italy. We always found the reds to be better. I would definitely not recommend this restaurant.
Roscioli in Rome – great bakery near Campo de Fiori. Best croissants we had in Italy. We picked up breakfast here every morning in Rome. (www.anticofornoroscioli.com)
Dar Poeta in Rome (Trastevere) – good pizza. Amazing crust! More upscale pizzeria. Lots of locals. Definitely worth checking out plus this is an interesting area of Rome.
Pizzaria Ai Marmi in Rome (Trastevere) – also good pizza but very different than Dar Poerta. Very causal. Fun atmosphere. Our guide for our Vatican tour said this place was the ultimate Roman pizzeria experience. Lots of locals. Very little English spoken here!
Osteria dell’ingegno in Rome (Piazza di Pietra) – we had a delicious lunch here after our Vatican tour. It was definitely our most expensive lunch but very good.
Sobborgo Ristorante in Cetona – We had an excellent dinner here. Highly recommend it if you are ever in this area. Service was great. Lovely atmosphere.
L’Alchimista in Montefalco – We had a very good casual lunch here. Friendly service. Good food. Very small restaurant in the basement of an enoteca.
Trattoria Quattro Leoni in Florence – We had lunch here our second day in Florence and I was somewhat disappointed. It was good but I felt it was overrated. Based on the reviews I read on this discussion board, I expected to be completely blown away. I had their signature salad with the avocado and cheese with pesto. That was very good – unlike any salad I have never had before. I really enjoyed it. I also had the pear & cheese pasta. This was good but not outstanding. The restaurant was also full of Americans which made it feel very touristy. It was busy though and I don’t know if we would have been seated if we didn’t have a reservation.
il Pizzaiuolo in Florence (Santa Croce) – great Neapolitan pizza. Very popular. Must have reservations for dinner so we came for lunch instead.
13 Gobbi in Florence (near Santa Maria Nouvella) – Great food, fun atmosphere. We really enjoyed our meal here. One of our top experiences in Italy.
Trattoria Accadi in Florence – This was our last meal in Florence and it was delightful. It was recommended by our hotel as it was just around the corner. The service was excellent, very friendly. Pleasant atmosphere. Good food.
Central Market in Florence – This was a wonderful experience! The foodie in me wished we were staying in Florence for a week with a kitchen so I could have taken advantage of all the wonderful meats, cheese, produce, etc. Through several other postings, I saw Baroni’s stall recommended several times. We visited them at the market and I found them very helpful in helping me select Parmesan cheese and balsamic vinegar to take home to the States.
I think that abouts sums it up. Wow - this was longer than I thought!
Thanks to everyone for all of their great postings. Reading about other people’s trips and experiences was so helpful. We can’t wait to return! Italy is truly a magical place!
I am of course happy to answer questions about anything I posted. And of course would love to hear feedback and stories from other travelers.
Beth
Dec 3rd, 2006, 08:34 PM
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Hi Beth:
I really like the way you outlined your report. I'm happy you had good weather as well.
I'm hoping to get back to Deruta as
we went on a Sunday and forgot about lunch hours and they were closed.
I like your style of a sandwich and 1/2 bottle of wine in Orvieto. You guys did alot of wonderful things.
I'm bookmarking your report for our return trip to Italy, especially the olive press, winetasting and bakery in Rome.
Thanks for sharing. Time for me to sleep.
I really like the way you outlined your report. I'm happy you had good weather as well.
I'm hoping to get back to Deruta as
we went on a Sunday and forgot about lunch hours and they were closed.
I like your style of a sandwich and 1/2 bottle of wine in Orvieto. You guys did alot of wonderful things.
I'm bookmarking your report for our return trip to Italy, especially the olive press, winetasting and bakery in Rome.
Thanks for sharing. Time for me to sleep.
Dec 4th, 2006, 03:08 AM
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Dear Beth,
Great trip report. Loved how you laid it out and the details you gave. We are taking a similar trip (substituting Venice for Florence) in April so most of it is very helpful to us. Thanks.
I am thinking of basing in Siena for a couple of nights to do some Tuscan touring. Good idea? We are travelling with our children who are 10 and 13.
Great trip report. Loved how you laid it out and the details you gave. We are taking a similar trip (substituting Venice for Florence) in April so most of it is very helpful to us. Thanks.
I am thinking of basing in Siena for a couple of nights to do some Tuscan touring. Good idea? We are travelling with our children who are 10 and 13.
Dec 4th, 2006, 07:51 AM
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Hello, I am a novice on this site, just signed up today. My family and I, (wife + 2 teenage boys 17 &15) are in the process of planning a trip to Italy. Very confused and frustrated with which way to go, independant travel or guided coach tour. Beth's trip sounded great. We want to hit the toursist spots, (1st time overseas) but also do not want to be pushed into optional tours and shops from a commission based tour guide. We would like to spend 12 days in Italy. I have an uncle in Rome wih lots of 2nd cousins all about. My Grandmother was born outside of Rome in a small village. I'd like to hit the tourist highlights, but also spend time with my Italian relatives for a behind the scenes tour. I would very much appreciate and help, advice or suggestion from people more seasoned than I. Looking forward to Italy. One last hurrah before my eldest son goes away to college.
P.S. Since we have ever done any type of tour before. We are worrried that our boys will be bored, and not ave anyone their age aboard. Any opinions on companies to seek out or avoid???
Thanks in advance...
Jboz
P.S. Since we have ever done any type of tour before. We are worrried that our boys will be bored, and not ave anyone their age aboard. Any opinions on companies to seek out or avoid???
Thanks in advance...
Jboz
Dec 4th, 2006, 05:32 PM
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I am so glad you liked this format. I also found it easier to write rather than thinking about each day.
DiG - Deruta is wonderful. You definitely need to return. Mark these two stores to visit on your next trip -1) Terra E Fuoco - the artist is Carla Corna - the address is Via Solitaria, 8. It's down one of the little side streets. We discovered it when we were leaving. The artist was so nice and her pieces were very different from everything else we had seen that day.
2) Ceramiche El Frate - P.zza del Consoli 29. The owner is Alfredo. He was so kind. He actually saved us from getting a ticket by showing us how to work the little clock in our front window to show how long we were parked. We would have received a ticket if it wasn't for him! We bought a beautiful place from him at a great price. Yes, that sandwich in Orvieto was one of the best I have ever had - and it was just salami, cheese, and bread! Delicious!
ccrosner - Siena would be a wonderful base to explore Tuscany. You are so close to Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza, etc. It's nice because it gives you a small city with lots of different places to eat and visit while you are staying there. I can't speak to what 10 and 13 year olds would enjoy as we don't have any children. But in terms of convenience, Siena is a good choice. And it's such a magical city. We loved it.
DiG - Deruta is wonderful. You definitely need to return. Mark these two stores to visit on your next trip -1) Terra E Fuoco - the artist is Carla Corna - the address is Via Solitaria, 8. It's down one of the little side streets. We discovered it when we were leaving. The artist was so nice and her pieces were very different from everything else we had seen that day.
2) Ceramiche El Frate - P.zza del Consoli 29. The owner is Alfredo. He was so kind. He actually saved us from getting a ticket by showing us how to work the little clock in our front window to show how long we were parked. We would have received a ticket if it wasn't for him! We bought a beautiful place from him at a great price. Yes, that sandwich in Orvieto was one of the best I have ever had - and it was just salami, cheese, and bread! Delicious!
ccrosner - Siena would be a wonderful base to explore Tuscany. You are so close to Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza, etc. It's nice because it gives you a small city with lots of different places to eat and visit while you are staying there. I can't speak to what 10 and 13 year olds would enjoy as we don't have any children. But in terms of convenience, Siena is a good choice. And it's such a magical city. We loved it.
Dec 4th, 2006, 05:38 PM
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Jboz -
We didn't look at any group tours so I can't speak to them. We really enjoyed traveling independently - scheduling our own days, finding our own restaurants, shops, etc. There are so many wonderful tour companies that you can utilize in the big cities to enhance your experience. For example, we used Context Rome for our Vatican Tour. They offer many other interesting tours in several cities. This gives you some structure but you then aren't locked into anyone's schedule on a daily basis.
I found it very easy to book hotels rooms and do all of my research online. In fact, I never called Italy once before we left! I did everything via email and found all of the hotels very responsive.
Therefore, I vote for independent travel but I think it is a personal choice. It depends what kind of experience you want to have.
I hope this helps. Let me know if I can answer other questions for you.
Beth
We didn't look at any group tours so I can't speak to them. We really enjoyed traveling independently - scheduling our own days, finding our own restaurants, shops, etc. There are so many wonderful tour companies that you can utilize in the big cities to enhance your experience. For example, we used Context Rome for our Vatican Tour. They offer many other interesting tours in several cities. This gives you some structure but you then aren't locked into anyone's schedule on a daily basis.
I found it very easy to book hotels rooms and do all of my research online. In fact, I never called Italy once before we left! I did everything via email and found all of the hotels very responsive.
Therefore, I vote for independent travel but I think it is a personal choice. It depends what kind of experience you want to have.
I hope this helps. Let me know if I can answer other questions for you.
Beth
Dec 4th, 2006, 06:29 PM
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Beth -
Very enjoyable report - thanks so much!
Jboz -
Why don't you purchase a couple of guidebooks and get some idea of what is involved in doing it yourself. Rick Steves' books are especially good for first-timers. Since you have family you want to visit (lucky you!) you may want to manage your time more independently than a coach tour would allow. At least with some information you can better determine what you feel comfortable with.
I know it seems intimidating, but Italy is really easy for travel. Why not do a little research and then start your own thread with whatever questions you have. The good folks on this forum are terrific and have lots of good ideas!
Linda
Very enjoyable report - thanks so much!
Jboz -
Why don't you purchase a couple of guidebooks and get some idea of what is involved in doing it yourself. Rick Steves' books are especially good for first-timers. Since you have family you want to visit (lucky you!) you may want to manage your time more independently than a coach tour would allow. At least with some information you can better determine what you feel comfortable with.
I know it seems intimidating, but Italy is really easy for travel. Why not do a little research and then start your own thread with whatever questions you have. The good folks on this forum are terrific and have lots of good ideas!
Linda
Aug 2nd, 2007, 07:02 PM
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Hello all, instead of topping this Dec. 06 thread so that you can find it again did you know you can right click it and click on "Add to Favorites"? Consequently you will have this thread to refer to without constantly bringing it to the top of the Europe Forum. Also, you can email it to your email address if you so prefer.
