Cinqueterre, Tuscany - help greatly appreciated!
 

Hi! Myself and my husband are travelling to Italy in mid July for 2 weeks. Our proposed itinerary is: Florence 3 nights, Vernazza 4 nights, Agritourism in Chianti region 4 nights, Rome 3 nights.

Can anyone please recommend a nice 4/5 star hotel in Florence with pool? Re. Cinque Terre - we are looking for an authentic 'Italian' ambiance, access to either a pool or swimmimng in the sea and ability to get around without a car-is Vernazza our best option (I've recently read about Levanto) - any accomodation recommended?

Finally - Agritourism in Chianti. This is where we plan to hire a car to visit Sienna, Verona, San Giamano, etc.on daytrips. Can anyone recommend some where wonderful to stay - looking for the usual - perched on hilltop, rolling vineyards, old farm building - great food + pool!! (Not asking for much??!)

Many Thanks.

A Florence hotel with a pool? I had never heard of one, but here is at least one: http://www.venere.com/it/firenze/parkpalace - - surprisingly affordable, but a goodly little walk (20 minutes?) to the "center of things". I suspect that this will be true of ANY place in Florence with a pool.

I do not know hotels in the Cinque Terre; I'm sure they could be searched on Venere also - - but perhaps others can advise you on swimming in the Mediterranean in July. Might be okay.

Best wishes,

Rex

I think most would agree that Verona is too far from Chianti for a daytrip, but there are plenty of great destinations in Tuscany.

I also meant to add that you can search for villas to rent at www.tuscanynow.com. They all include pools. I believe you need to stay at least a week, but you could combine that with your Florence days, daytripping into the city, if you so desire. Others here have talked about www.tuscany.net for agritourism accomodations.

There are occasionally some "villas" (actually apartments in clustered self-catering accommodations) with minimums as low as 3 days (though maybe not in peak mid-summer). The last time I looked at www.domani-usa.com they had some.

But if you want to see <i>Florence</i> then I recommend staying IN Florence.

Check our Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso (of the Cinque Terre) and Hotel Pasini (I think that is the name), also in Monterosso. Both are fabulous little hotels and you do not need a car to get around Monterosso. You walk anywhere in the town, and then you catch the little train to the other 4 villages. Or you catch the boat to the other 4 villages. The website is http://www.pasini.com and it has links to both their hotels in Monterosso. Whatever you do, do NOT stay at the Cinque Terre Hotel in Monterosso, it is terrible and overpriced!

Hi All,

Thank you so much for your helpful advice. Rex, I logged on to Venere.com - a great website, thanks! Looked at Parkplace,also looked at the Astoria (Boscolo Hotel) and Villa Anten - these hotels are without a pool which may not be very pleasant during mid July?

Jocelyn - thanks for the Agritourism pointer - am wading my way through it at present - great selection though will stick with B&amp;B accomodation as only wish to spend 4 nights there leaving 3 to stay in Florence - will keep you posted!


Thanks TexasAggie (Great name!) for your advice also. Am considering Monterosso - do you know how it compares to Levanto or Vernazza ? Am afraid of landing somewhere that is really crowded and hence lacking that vital 'Italian feel' - again, Thanks all for your help.

By the way - does anyone recommend altering this itinerary to replace Cinqeterre with Umbria or Venice? We only have 2 weeks and don't want to stretch ourselves too-o-o much - thought that Cinqueterre, Florence, Chianti region (with daytrips) and Rome would be a good introduction?

Cinque Terre will be packed, stay in Vernazza if you can, Monterossa second choice. RioMaggiore and the other small towns are cheaper and full of backpacking college kids (no offense, just not my cup of tea on vacation). Do you hike? Cinque Terre is worth it for the hiking from town to town. Stay in one of the 5, but you only need 2 nights here. Very crowded. If you aren't hiking, I'd consider missing it though it's beautiful and going to Umbria. If you do 5Terre, I'd add 2 nights in Tuscany.
tuscany.net has great farmhouses with pools, I'd try to stay S of Siena and explore from there. Or what we did, 2 nights in San gimignano (N of Siena), then 3 nights further South. (Verona is too far east). Montepulciano was our favorite town but we coudlnt' get to all of them we hoped too!

Hi Eroz,

Thanks for your help. We are into walking but not enough to dictate our itinerary. Our primary desire is to 'experience' Italy.

As mrntioned in original posting, we'll be spending 3 nights in Florence, 4 in Cinqueterre, 4 in Chianti (thanks for input on that) and 3 in Rome. I had thought that Cinqueterre would give view to a different aspect of Italy. We are not going there to hike - moreso to swim, eat, drink and browse. Don't really want to have more than 4 stops - in light of all this do you think we should substitute Cinqueterre for somewhere else?

Thanks so much for your help.

In July, it will be crowded regardless of where you are.

The CinqueTerre is a great, wonderful place, and in addition to being an increasingly popular American destination, is also very popular with Italians as a vacation destination. The only other place I'd possibly suggest that you substitute is Venice, but that's a decision you'd have to make based on whether you want more time in the countryside or on the coast, vs. in Venice, a city like no other.

I doubt that any hotels in the Cinqueterre have pools, though the ocean's right there (can't tell you about temperature). We've always stayed in Monterosso, one time at the Villa Steno &amp; one time at the Pasini. Monterosso, I feel, is enough bigger than the other Cinqueterre towns to have a bigger restaurant choice, which we like, and definitely still an Italian feel! Go to the piazza late in the evening, sit at a cafe, and have an espresso with all the Italians...

The Pasini is closer to the beach and to the train (a bit noisier), and the rooms don't have balconies. The staff is very helpful there and at the Villa Steno. The Villa Steno is kind of at the edge of town, most rooms have balconies with views of the ocean, and the best way into town is through the hotel's back door, through villagers' kitchen gardens, and on to the main &quot;street&quot; of town. (Though both may be already totally booked for July.)

Have a wonderful trip!

There are several hotels in Florence with pools, but they are just not in the city center. I looked on Karen Brown's website and found 3 fabulous looking properties. 2 of them are within 10 minutes away and one of them is probably 5 minutes away so you would get the charm of the country and the views of Florence but being only minutes away from the crowds. The closest is Torre di Bellosguardo, it's in Florence but a bit removed. Another one that looks exquisite is Villa Montartino and the third I found is Marignolle Relais &amp; Charme. You really can't go wrong with Karen Brown's recommendations. We stayed at the Lungarno 3 years ago and had a room w/terrace overlooking the Arno. We loved this hotel but if we were taking our kids I would definitely look into the option of the ones mentioned above with a pool, especially during July! Florence can be quite crowded and it would be nice to take a relaxing dip in the pool in the afternoon after touring and then be able to take a bus/cab to dinner. Check these out.

I'd stay outside the Cinque terre then. I wish we had. You can boat or train in for the day to experience it. Check out Levanto, Santa Margherita (sp?) or Portofino (if money is not a big deal, my boss swears by Camogli) for more of a relaxing beautiful town on the coast!

The Sina group of hotels has a wonderful hotel with pool called the Grand Hotel Villa Medici. Friends of ours loved it and you will see great reviews at Tripadvisor.com and other sites. They offer discounts if you stay in more than one of their properties. I will add that my family cannot afford to stay there this summer but we would consider it in a less expensive season. Five star but personal and friendly....is what my friends report. www.sinahotels.com
Best!

Hi All - back again!!

After literally 100's of hours of deliberation(??!!) we've narrowed our accomodation down to the following - can anyone PLEASE further advise from here?:

Florence: Bellosguardo/Villa Medici/ Florence Marignolle

Vernazza: We've actually booked Albergo Barbara and Gianni's based on Fodors.

Tuscany: Relais Vignale/Villa Vignamaggio/Castello di Leonina Relais
NB: Castello di Spaltenna looked gorgeous but was ludicrously over-priced?

Thanks again,

Kim

Hi Kofki,
For Tuscany, I can strongly recommend Vignamaggio... it is an incredible property with landscaped gardens, 2 pools, a winery, and in close driving distance to the wineries around Greve.

Don't miss out on the tour at Castello di Verazzano, they do a tasting with local food. though I think Vignamaggio is also doing one of those, too...

Have a great time.

~k

Thanks a lot for your response K,

Would you classify Villa Vignamaggio as luxurious?

Thanks,

Kim

Kofki, I definitely think it was luxurious... the grounds are like a botanical gardens, and you're on top of a hill overlooking vineyards and olive groves.

The accommodations in the apartments were very luxurious... our bed was firm, the comforter was down, the bathrooms were large and beautifully tiled, the breakfast was PHENOMENAL... which we took outside.

We also stayed one night in the main accommodation, and I would say that felt a little less &quot;new&quot; but still quite elegant.

That said, it's not expensive, the way a luxurious 5 star hotel might. It still has all the charm and grace of an italian country inn, which is one of the reasons we enjoyed it so much.

Also, there are two pools, one of which is one of those &quot;horizon&quot; pools... where the edge literally drops off of the horizon. The horizon pool is over by their Casolese buildings.

All this talking about it an of course now I want to go back. Here's their website

http://www.vignamaggio.com/uk_villa.htm

We'll go there again in a heartbeat.

~kat