quietman

We are looking for tips on spending 10-14 leisure days of good food and good living in Italy in May. First time. Def want to do Rome, Florence, Lake Como(?), Amalfi (?) and Sicily. Want to avoid tourist traps and looking for more upscale trip. Less interested in bustleing around then finding some great spots and spending a few days at each. any thoughts? both of us in late 40/s.

adrienne

10 to 14 days isn't enough time to do justice to Rome, Florence, and Sicily and certainly not enough time to see them leisurely. IMHO the words leisure, Florence, and Rome are oxymoron since both cities are noisy and bustling. For leisure I would see the countryside; Tuscany, Umbria and definitely the lake areas.

All the places you mentioned are highly touristed so please define "tourist traps." There are many less explored areas in Italy such as Basilicata where you may be happier.

Zerlina

Adrienne is right.

Many of the upscale places in Italy are frequented exclusively by tourists; in some places, they are almost exclusively from the US. Basilicata, mentioned by Adrienne, is quite untouristed, but it lacks an upscale infrastructure.

bobthenavigator

So, what is it---10 or 14--big difference.
In 14 you coulld do Rome, Florence and AC. In 10, I would stay north and see Rome Florence, and day trips into Tuscany. Sicily deserves 2 weeks by itself.

quietman

OK. So you've convinced me I'm trying to do too much. most important is relaxation, good food/wine, and a 'little bit" of the tourist sites. So, would Rome/Lakes or Rome/Sicily be good options? and, what would we do in sicily for 10 days?
Thanks!

mamcalice

As bobthe navigator indicated, you can't do Rome and Sicily in 10 days. I would do Rome and Florence with a day trip to Tuscany or Rome and Venice. We spend 2 weeks in Sicily and there were many things we wanted to see that we couldn't get to. Don't get caught up by the term "tourist traps". Most of the areas you mention are heavily touristed but they are the destinations of tourists for good reason. They are wonderful places to visit. Take Bob's advice - he is right on the money!

quietman

ok. what do i do for fourteen days in sicily?

primeranoche

If food and wine are important, you don't want the Lakes

You can't "do" anyplace in 14 days in Italy or anywhere, You can only do a little bit of something anywhere you go -- even if you spend it all in one place.

You are going to have a hard time having an "upscale" trip in Sicily and not being in tourist traps. Most people dont' find it very relaxing to drive around Sicily for 14 days or even 4.

I'm sorry you are being talked out of Rome, which is both upscale, can be tremendously relaxing and has great food.

How would you feel about a 14 day trip that included Florence and Rome and one of Sicilian islands, like Panarea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panarea

You might prefer, instead of Florence, the town of Panzano, which is a bus ride away from Flroence. It's fairly touristy, but it's also in the Chianti countryside and you can go into Florence to see if you like it.

http://www.panzano.com/

Or you could stay in Fiesole, also just a bus ride or taxi ride from Florence, up in the hills, in olive and grape growing territory

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiesole

http://www.fattoriadimaiano.com/

In Rome, stay in Trastevere for a quieter feel and don't overload on sightseeing. Or stay in a great comfy hotel with great amenities. Check out Tripadvisor.

If you go to the Amalfi, you will be surrounded by tourists all the time.

Have a great relaxing trip.

primeranoche

Something like this might work for you in Panzano if you prefer not to stay in a great hotel in Florence itself

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...o_Tuscany.html

primeranoche

Getting to the island of Panarea in Sicily:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Italy-145...oint-point.htm

Or you could pick another of the Aeolian islands, based on your choice of hotel

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html

primeranoche

PS Quietman,

You don't have to go to some quiet place to be a quiet man. Do tourists imagine that the people who live in Rome and Florence never relax there? Large parts of both places are car-free and filled with charming piazza, filled with people relaxing, chatting, enjoying wine and food. Nobody forces anybody to go non-stop sightseeing or be in constant motion. If you stay in the Oltroarno in Florence, it can feel like a village. Likewise Trastevere in Rome.

Also, there is certainly a difference between a marvelous destination and a tourist trap, and the latter are to be avoided. Everywhere on your list, you can find, if you look, some area to stay in other than a tourist trap. But you really have picked a lot of places where a lot of tourists positively want touristy schtick, or at least shrug their shoulders at it, so you'll have to be careful.

Relax wherever you go!

primeranoche

Quietman,

I thought of another relaxing itinerary, even though I don't so much recommend wine and food around lakes:

You could spend some time on Lago di Como, then take a train to Genoa and take the overnight ferry to Palermo. From there you might want to stay in Cefalu instead of Palermo, someplace like this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...lu_Sicily.html

And then take a ferry back to the mainland, going to Rome to finish your trip there.

Here's some more info on ferries to Sicily and the kind of cruise-ship type boats that are available from Genoa

http://slowtalk.com/groupee/forums/a...85/m/261102445

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...vice-versa.cfm

But if you still want to visit Florence but stay outside the busy city, I remembered another place in Panzano people talk about really favorably and the bus to Florence stops right in front of it:

http://www.villasangiovese.it/e/eindex.html

Have fun!

Zerlina

"Relaxation, good food/wine and a 'little bit' of the tourist sites"... The best cooking in Italy is generally said to be in Emilia Romagna (closest to what most people consider "Italian" cooking), Piedmont (strong French influence), Liguria (lighter and seafood-oriented) and Sicily (many cultural influences, including Arabic). Roman cooking generally comes fairly low on the totem pole, but there are many upscale restaurants that do excellent "revisited" Roman cuisine. You could fly into Rome, do some sightseeing and fly (Sicily) or train to one of the other regions. There are country hotels in all of them that have excellent cooking, for the most part traditional, some creative, where you can relax to your heart's content and do some easy daytripping by car. And you won't find (m)any tourists at most of them.

bobthenavigator

Here is what you do in Sicily, but it is a trip unto itself.

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=634

DonnaD44

Poor quietman--he just wants to go to Italy and everyone is being discouraging in some way. "Leisurely" can refer to a pace or an attitude. It doesn't necessarily have to refer to a place. If quietman wants to do Rome and Florence at a leisurely pace--what the heck?
Anyway, If it were me with 14 days, I'd start in Rome for 3-4 days, take a train to the Amalfi Coast for another 3 or 4 days then fly from Naples to Catania and spend a week on the east side of Sicily. I love Siracusa, Taormina, and the Baroque towns of Noto, Modica and Ragusa--all of which fall under the category of leisurely places to experience Italy.

adrienne

<< everyone is being discouraging in some way >>

I don't see any discouragement here - the OP has been given some good suggestions. Quietman has not defined his view of "leisurely" nor has he answer my question regarding what he considers to be tourist traps.

He asked for "any thoughts" which is what he received.

lovisa

For upscale hotels, you can get some idea on the j.p. moser site, then search for the hotel's websites:

http://www.jpmoser.com/hotels-italy.htm

bobthenavigator

Congrats Zeppole[Primeranoche],
You have set a new record by breaking your own. This time you have posted 5 consecutive posts on the same thread with various disjointed ramblings. I suspect the OP had to look up Panarea--what a great off-the-path suggestion. You seeem to have a "P' fettish these days---Panarea, Palermo, Panzano, and formerly Pistoria. I hope you are sleeping well.

Surfergirl

ttt

[Thanks for the comment, bob -- love your posts and photos!]

StCirq

Bob