treebones09

I would like to fly to Milan then drive to Portofino or some where near the water. Stay there for a couple nights. Then drive down to Tuscany for a few nights(not sure where yet, but excited either way We would like to end our trip in Rome(dropping off our rental car right when we hit Rome). We heard cars are not the best idea in the city?? Please let me know if this trip is possible by car, etc.... Any help would be fanastic.

ekscrunchy

Number one, if you are heading for that area you should think about flying into Genoa and not Milan.

Number Two, unless you have an immense budget, I would look into Santa Margherita Ligure or Camogli for overnighting, and visit Portofino from either one on a day trip.

I think it is a lot to cover in 9 days, but certainly doable.

At the end, you might drop your car off in Tuscany, or in Orvieto, which is an hour from Rome by train. Better not to drive it into central Rome.

Big_Red

Yes this is doable. First, look at a map. Then, the Viamichelin and Mappy websites will give a computer generated route and and estimate of time. Take the time estimates with a grain of salt, but you are not talking about any distances that are too much.

Drop off before you get to Rome. A lot people use Orvieto to pick up and drop off rental cars. There is a train to Rome (basically an hour) and Orvieto has some sights in itself.

treebones09

Would it be easier just taking a train to Santa Margherita from the airport, then taking a train to Florence(renting a car their for my Tuscany portion), then dropping car off in Orvieto instead of renting a car in Milan???? If we can avoid a car(except in Tuscany)that would be the best. Thanks for the input....please let me know what you think.

treebones09

Should I head to Lake Como instead of Portofino?? Then take the train to Florence, etc...etc....Which would be easier and nicer(Como or Portofino)?????

ekscrunchy

Can you not fly into Genoa? Or Pisa? And from there go by train to SML or Camogli, or any of the other inviting seaside towns in the region?

Yes, you can go by train from there to many points in Tuscany..do you want to spend time in Florence, too? Because then you are really trying to cram a lot into 9 days.

treebones09

We just would take the train to Florence to rent a car and spend our couple nights in Tuscany. It's a little more expensive, but maybe flying into Pisa would be better. We would then take the train to Santa Margherita. Then take train to Florence(just to rent a car for our Tuscany leg of the trip). Drop car off in Orvieto, then train to Rome. In your honest opinion how does that sound?? It would be 2 nights in Santa, 4 nights in Tuscany and 3 nights in Rome??

ekscrunchy

First you have to decide where in Tuscany you want to visit. That will determine where you should rent your car.

Two days in SML is short, considering that your first day is the day of arrival. So that means only one full day there. Not enough time to merit going all that way. I think I would leave out Rome on this trip. Fly into Genoa, visit SML, and then Tuscany, and go home from Pisa.

Or else leave out SML and do Rome and part of Tuscany, flying into Pisa or Rome and home from Rome.

Can you extend the trip by 2 days?

treebones09

We would love to go for two weeks, but my wife just got a new job and 10 days is the max alotted. We really want to see Rome. How does this sound? Fly into Rome(take train to Florence and spend a couple nights). Rent a car in Florence before our trip south into Tuscany(Siena,Montepulciano...???). Would it be easiest to rent a car in Florence for our trip south into wine country? Then we would drive to Orvieto(maybe stay one night)then take the train to Rome for last leg of trip. Is this less running around???

ekscrunchy

Yes. This is much smarter and more compact. But you might also look into flying home from Florence; you could rent your car there after a few days in the city, see the Tuscan towns, and then return the car to the airport.

OR, fly into Florence, see the city, rent the car and see southern Tuscany, then drop the car in Orvieto before taking train to Rome.

But if those alternatives are not possible, your plan looks good.

I might plan: 3 nights Florence; 3-4 nights Rome; 2-3 nights in southern Tuscany-- an agriturismo or country hotel in the general area of Montepulciano/Pienza. Adjust based on your interests. If you give general price guidelines, people here can suggest hotels.

ira

Hi TB,
>Jun 15, 09 at 09:22 AM<
You are improving.

You could take the SITA bus from Florence (Via Santa Caterina da Siena - near the SMN train station) into Siena.

Get your car there. You could use Siena as a Tuscany base.

Drop the car off in Orvieto or Chiusi. I would not suggest taking very much time from your Rome visit to do this.

Enjoy your trip.

Big_Red

With three stops (Rome, Florence, Tuscany) in a nine day trip, things are a little hectic. The experience of the Fodorites is that the packing up, checking out, relocating, finding the hotel, and getting settled pretty much fills up a day. My point is, if your must do's in Florence could be done in a day. Then, you might consider doing a day trip from you Tuscan base.

So you land Day 1 (Saturday?) and get to Tuscany.
Day 2 (Sunday) Sightsee your Tuscan base town.
Day 3 (Monday) a differnet Tuscan hilltown.
Day 4 (Tuesday) Daytrip to Florence.
Day 5 (Wednesday) relocate to Rome
Day 6 (Thursday) - Rome
Day 7 (Friday) - Rome
Day 8 (Saturday) - Rome
Day 9 (Sunday) - fly home.

I don't think Orvieto warrants an overnight unless you are unbelievably attracted to it.

ekscrunchy

Two threads running concurrently...here is the other one:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-continued.cfm

treebones09

OK just talked to my wife and she really had her heart set on visiting somewhere by the water. We need to figure everything out and crunch numbers and travel time. I like the idea of a day trip to Florence so we could have an extra day in either Rome or Tuscany. We both want Rome and Tuscany...I could live without the water side, but I'm sure it would be breathtaking.

We really want to fit three places in the 9 nights. Rome and Tuscany being 2. Where could we go by the water that wouldn't be too far from either of the two????? What is the weather in April near the coast???

Thanks again for all of your help

ekscrunchy

You certainly will not be able to swim and might not even be able to sit on the beach.

But if you still want to go to the shore, you could always do an overnight to Sperlonga or someplace nearby from Rome.

Or, you might try to fit in someplace on the Tuscan coast..such as Porto Ercole, or Porto Santo Stefano.

See this recent article:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/07...07Tuscany.html

ekscrunchy

See these, and do a search for more info on Sperlonga:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-sperlonga.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-for-ideas.cfm