i no I dont have much time but am looking for a place to stay with my boyfriend who i have not seen in 7 months! so i will be coming (driving from santa margherita) and looking for a great place that has charm, romance, and a town to dine in at night that would be somewhat close to the hotel,winery that i would be staying in.. after the third night i will be driving to rome for the last leg of my trip! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i am going in 20 days!! looking for price between 200-300 a night us dollar and a pool would be great!

also are the winerys in prodoction in the summers?

This should get you started. Some are on wineries (grapes grow all year, wine ferments all year), all have pools and restaurants on the site in case you don't want to drive to a town. I included some tripadvisor reviews because they just were handy, but you should check for current reviews for the other places too

not too expensive:

http://www.leragnaie.com/index_eng.html

http://www.laromita.net/

http://www.lamoscadella.it/aboutus.htm

http://www.tripadvisor.it/Hotel_Revi...o_Tuscany.html

http://www.abbeveratoio.it/LITA/Z833...hhcm-Home.html

little more expensive:

http://www.lalocandadelcastello.com/

this place usually only takes week long stays, but it has an apartment for 2 people and you could contact them:

http://www.lapievedipoggioallemura.it/home.html

expensive:

http://www.amorosa.it/en/index

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

Don't know what the prices are here:

http://www.borgotrerose.it/en/index.html

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

Good luck!

some one just posted a trip report today saying that they had a wonderful meal at a relais which has a pool and a highly regarding restaurant called Ristorante Walter Redaelli. When I looked up the prices for rooms, I was surprised at how affordable the rooms were (don't know what dinner costs). It is very well located in Tuscany:

http://www.relaislaleopoldina.it/#

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

The poster -- who is ABCDEF -- wrote of their eating there:

"Dinner at Ristorante Walter Redaelli (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) is a high-cuisine, artisan type environment and was one of the highlights of the trip. Located in a small section of Bettolle, it is not "Touristic" in the least, and represents high Tuscan cuisine at its best. The service was old school and the place was buzzing with well heeled Europeans. Walter is some type of celebrity chef, and the food and wine were outrageously delicious. Recommended to us by locals over La Grotta. Beautiful building and grounds. "

http://www.ristoranteredaelli.it/

rose, I am now concerned that the above place -- Relais Leopoldina -- is too close a major highway and gets traffic noise.

zeppole,
no worries, i have reserved at amarosa and also have reserved at Palazzo del Capitano Relais & Wellness. i am trying to decide whice to stay at. both are around the same price range and both look nice. i am trying to find on the map where palazzo is. Is it easy to get on the train from milan to SML. should I reserve before for that? also should I reserve a car before hand and where do you suggest i drop it off before i do to rome? thanks again for all the help!

EIther place in Tuscany is very well located.

It is easy to get the train in Milan. You take the bus from the airport to the train station and buy a ticket for the train at Milano Centrale. Don't reserve your tickets ahead.

You SHOULD reserve a car. Use AutoEurope to book it, and your best pick up location is Rapallo. If that doesn't work for you, pick up the car at La Spezia or Pisa.

You will probably find it easiest to drop off your car in either Arezzo or Chiusi or Orvieto, all of which have train stations. Pick the one closest to your Tuscan lodgings that will be open when you want to drop off the car. Take the train to Rome from there.

I just submitted a post asking for Tuscany help so I couldn't have found this at a better time.

zeppole
i am having a hard time trying to find a drop off place for the car on a sunday, what do you suggest?
perhaps driving from tuscany to rome and dropping off at the airport?
i kind of wanted to get rid of the car on the sunday and train in

I don't know who your rental company is, or where you are staying, but call your rental company directly and ask for the nearest rental office with a place to drop off the keys, or that is open on Sunday.

Lots of people drop off the keys without incident. Get instructions from the rental company. If it makes you feel better, take pictures of the car when you drop it off.

is it possible to do a day trip to verona from sienna?

Nope!

PS, rose: It would also be extremely muggy and hot in the city in July.

in the city of verona? okay i read one of your postings about dinner somewhere in tuscany, that it was a great place. i am in the rest. business so i appreciate all your advice on the restaurants. also a friend told me of a rest. which he said was the best lobster spagetti in riomaggiori but of course he couldnt recall the name! what would be the best place to walk the trail? from what town ?

There are lots of threads and trip reports about hiking the trails in le Cinque Terre. Most guidebooks also describe the easiest places to start.

Sorry I can't help you with the restaurant in Riomaggiore. Lobster may not be in season when you are in le Cinque Terre, or it may not appear on lunch menus.

(Yes, I was talking about verona being muggy. But it's simply too far.)

i am running into trouble and i have called the auto europe about the car. problem is only rome is open on sundays for the drop off. it may be my only option. any other suggestions. they say no one does drop off anymore?

also is the rapallo downtown far from the train?

The train station in Rapallo is in "downtown". The car rental office is a 5 minute walk from the train station, which is also the bus station, so you could also take a bus from your hotel if that's easier. The towns are so close together that you could pick up the car first and then go back to pick up your luggage. Or take a taxi from your hotel to the car rental office. Ask at your hotel how much it would be.

I don't know where you are staying in Tuscany, so it is hard for me to advise you what to do. One option may be to turn in the car Saturday morning in a town like Chiusi, Arezzo or Siena and use public transportation or a driver to get back to your hotel that night and likewise to go to a train station on Sunday morning, taking a train into Rome.

If you are staying closer to Siena than Rome, it might make sense to drop off the car Sunday at the Florence or Pisa airport, or downtown Florence if the offices are open, and go by train to Rome from there.

Otherwise, if you are staying near Montepulciano or San Quirico, and the Rome airport turns out to be your most appealing option, make a nice drive of it. I would head through the hills for the coast.

I also don't know if you could drop off the car in Rome itself, not only the airport. Driving in Rome is nobody's idea of fun, but on a Sunday morning, it can be less problematic that at other times, and it could potentially save you a lot of time.

You can look at this website (under the heading "Car Rental") to find detailed instructions about dropping off a car at the airports, or in the cities.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/index.htm

But it you are tired of hassling with this, driving to Rome airport and taking the train into Rome may be the way to go.

thank you so much zeppole, my boyfriend is from new delhi so the drive to him will not be much different once we reach rome and i am sure its a beautiful drive. i think maybe to leave early and stop at orvieto for lunch, that seems to be the half way point for us. and all i really wanted to see in rome was the treve fountain anyways, the rest will be for another trip

I especially like the Trevi fountain at night! Orvieto is a beautiful town. Have a great trip!

zeppole - the hotels/farms look very nice. Just curious - have you stayed at any of them? Where did you find them? In researching my trip for next year, I've been finding places (including in books) much less charming.

rose28 - have a great trip!