millie2112

I am so confused about what to do with 5 days between our stay in Santa Margherita Ligure and the Como area.
My husband and I are doing a driving trip through south of France, Italy, Switzerland and back through to France.
We have not seen any of country Italy, and the last time I was in Florence,Rome,Venice was back in 1987 so it has been a while.

I have thought of 2 possibilities and I am not sure which is the best.

1) base myself in Bologna (although I keep reading mixed reviews about Bologna) and do a day trip to Venice and a day trip to Florence.

2) spend time in Tuscany with a day trip to Florence and visits to Siena and San Gimignano

we will have a car so can move around a bit if we need to.

please help - I am not which option would satisfy my need to see Italy and get the best of our 5 days

annhig

hi millie,

instead of following the hoards of other tourists, why not go up into Piedemonte and have a look at Alba and Asti, even Turin?

it was just featured on "Italy unpacked" on the BBC -here's a link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q9rgn

and here:

http://www.piemonte-property.com/new...ont-italy.html

it looks terrific, and it's right on your doorstep. We went skiing in the area many years ago and loved it - I've NO idea why we haven't been back. in fact....

isabel

Wow, sounds really similar to the overall itinerary of my trip this summer. But to really answer your question it would help to know more about where else you are going and how long you are staying in each place. Also which month.

The problem with driving in Italy is driving in cities - they have so many restrictions, plus parking headaches, etc. You do need a car in Italy for the really rural areas - like small town Tuscany (Florence and Siena are not small towns) so since you will have a car anyway I'd be tempted to say base in a small Tuscan town and see other small towns (and take a train or bus to the ciites on the days you want to see them). The other area you need a car for is the area ann mentions above. I was looking to do that area - Val D'Aosta - on my trip this summer but will have dropped the car off before I leave France and it turned out to be too hard without a car. But since your other areas are very rural it might be nice to add in some Italian cities. That's why I asked what else you are seeing on this trip - is it all small places or some cities as well?

neckervd

What are you interested in:
scenic landscapes, medieval towns, outstanding museums, castles, monasteries, high mountains and glaciers.....?
Everything is possible in 5 days and all I mentioned is situated more or less between the Riviera and Lake Como.

You may google for Alba, Asti, Turin, Aosta Valley castles, Gressoney, Breuil Cervinia, Aosta, Alagna Valsesia, Oropa, Varallo, Orta san Giulio, Isola Bella, Stresa, Locarno, Lugano, Bellinzona castles, Swissminiatur Melide, Monte Generoso cog railway, Milano, Certosa di Pavia, Pavia, Lucca, Volterra, Florence, Ravenna, Parma, Mantova, Cremona, Bergamo, Capo di Ponte .....

bobthenavigator

I see two stops.
First, 3 nites in Piemonte near Alba and then 2 nites at Lago Orta---the most romantic of the Italy lakes.

If not Orta, then sub Torino.

Jean

I think it makes a big difference when you're going. If the middle of summer, I'd stay as far north as possible and away from big cities.

millie2112

We will be flying out of Australia and into Paris in the middle of August. We will not be in Italy until the start of September.
Our itinerary so far is Paris - Lyon (picking up the car) - Provence - Nice - Santa Margherita Ligure - ???? (this is my 5 days problem) - Bellagio - Swizterland- Annecy - back to Lyon to drop off the car.

So my problem 5 days is to see the cities or do Tuscany. I change my mind each day as to which would be the better option.

thanks for the suggestions. I will look into them.

HappyTrvlr

Piedmont.

annhig

honestly, I can't see any reason to drive down to Tuscany when Piedemonte is on your doorstep.