Adventurous Activities in Italy?
 

Hello!

My friends and I are going to Italy next month (Rome, Cinque Terre, Florence, Tuscany & Venice). We're seeing all the famous monuments/landmarks. However-- looking at our itinerary as a whole, our trip is very lacking in the adventure category and probably a little too heavy on the touristy sites so I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions on fun outdoors types of activities we could do. (Especially since some of our group members are guys in their early 20's and this will be after seeing France, Germany and later Prague-- maybe too many monuments and churches by then!)

For example: hiking/nature-y things, zip lining, water sports, scenic ATV tours, etc.

The only activity in our Italy itinerary right now is hiking at Cinque Terre. But is there anything else that's popular? For example, should we add in Abruzzo or bike tours/horseback riding in Tuscany or ocean diving or even exploring Pompeii ruins?

Any help would be appreciated! Grazie~

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...g-kayaking.cfm. Was fun in Venice

Last year I went to Cinque Terre park, we hired mountain bikes and we did a great tour with beautiful traks and views.

You can get more info on this website:
http://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/cinque-terre-bike

Most of the places you are going are lacking in adventure activities. Even the CT appears to be overrun with wrinklies toddling from place to place.

The action is probably off shore if you sail, or in the Dolomites if you don't. There is serious hiking, rock and ice climbing, and whatever you call the sport of ascending narrow mountain streams with guides. Also kayaking and no doubt parasailing. Similar things are probably available on the Western side of Italy, to the north of Torino. But the places you now plan to go are mostly pretty mild on the action front.

In Tuscany, you can also go hot air ballooning in Tuscany, horseback riding and rent Vespas, but you will need a car to get to many of these activities (except Vespa rental). You can go whitewater rafting in Umbria near Spoleto, but you would need to pull apart your itinerary to do this.

There is scuba diving and surfing near le Cinque Terre, and kayaking and sail boat rentals.

It is not hard to get to the Dolomiti mountains from Venice with a car, where the hiking is superb, with lots of cable cars to the peaks.

While stomping around Pompei in the summer is an endurance test, I wouldn't rate it as an outdoorsy break from cultural sightseeing. Some people climb Vesuvius, but in summer you would need an extremely early start if you are attempting it as a day trip from Rome because it is crushing hot by 10am.

If it is not too hot, you can focus on things like climbing the tower of Pisa (you must reserve in advance) and other church interiors in Rome and Florence.

If it is not too late, you might want to reconsider your Italian itinerary to in light of your travel group. If they are not truly interested in church art or shopping, or gazing at wine fields in the shimmering sun, consider skipping Tuscany in favor of either Umbria (for white water rafting and hang gliding in the Piano Grande, or visit Lago di Garda.

To get to Umbria, head by train to Foligno and rent a car there. Stay on a farm near Spoleto or further east. You can visit Assisi if you are feeling guilty about not seeing enough church art.

To get to Lago di Garda, take a train from Rome to Pisa, see the monuments, rent a car in Pisa and stay in Levanto (next door to le Cinque Terre, with surfing and diving). Drive the car to Lago di Garda, somewhere around Riva del Garda. Drop off the car in Venice.

I should add that the reason I suggested the northern end of Lago di Garda is that is a prime spot for hiking, mountain biking and wind surfing. The southern end, which is reachable by train, has a lot of amusement park infrastructure, including water parks, but it is nowhere near as scenic. However, it is not hard to get to the southern end by train from either Florence or Venice if you wanted to make a stop in between.

Pompeii is hardly adventurous - it's mobbed by tourists of all ages exploring the ruins - which are extensive but hardly onerous. (When we were there we saw a ton of seniors and elementary kids on school trips.)

If you are experienced English style riders you could look for places that offer riding. And I think boating etc - in the sea - offers some opportunities.

CT is small hikes/walks between tiny towns and again mobbed with tourists. You might want to consider spending a couple of days in the dolomites rock climbing - that might be more adventurous for young guys.

Something fun they might enjoy is a Segway tour. We did our first one in Rome this April. This was a third trip to Rome so I was looking at doing something a bit different. We did a night tour and had a great time! We went with Rex Tours (http://www.rex-tours.com/). It is run by two brothers who are fabulous tour guides - tons of info and incredibly funny. Also, may want to consider renting bikes in Borghese gardens I realize these are not super "adventury" but they are a break from the norm in the city.

We met a couple who owns a villa in Tuscany, and have a companion rental company which rents Ferrari's. Really nice couple who worked their way up from owning a hot dog stand. I am not kidding. Now they own some Hilton hotels and this Tuscany escape.

Would the 20-something young men like to drive a Ferrari in Tuscany?

Driving a Ferrai in Italy's "motor valley" is a must. I have done it and it was a thrill! Maranllo holds the HQ of Lamborghini, Ferrar, Maseratii and Ducati. You can drive a sports car on the green hills, have lunch with the professional test-drivers and visit the Ferrai museum. I used LivItaly Tours when I was there. It was great and I even got a DVD as a memory from my driving experience. My recommendation is to book in advanced. When we got there it was a lot of promoters but they sell experiences without insurance or anything..

Il volo dell'Angelo in Basilicata Pollino Natural Park. Look at the crazy video http://vitv.it/volo-dell-angelo-basi...290785001.html
Ok, ok, let's all: I would like to try but I am frozen just thinking of it :S

As jgg mentioned Rex Tours Segway guides above I can my opion at Segway Fun Rome who make three-hour guided tour (http://www.segwayfunrome.com/trips/grand-city-tour.html) and for me the night tour they do is the best :) I simply love Rome at night :) They told me, they also do tours in Prague, so when I get there I'll try it there to, because visit the main attraction on Segway is far more comfortable than taking public transport or taxis :)

You want adventure... Rent a scooter in Rome but only if you are looking for the extreme, adrenaline filled adventure...

I thought about the volo dell'angelo as well but that is way down in the south, I think

catherinehaas you think it is dangerous in Rome on scooter?