skimom53

Hello Fellow/Sister Travelers, Suggestions/comments please!

Hubs and I are 62, fit and healthy, with experience traveling in Europe several times, and celebrating our 35th anniversary. For the first time in our lives we have time to drink things in a bit more. The last time I was in Bella Italia was on a small women's group trip in 2003 to Rome, Florence, and Venice. Hubs has been to Florence and Pisa, never to Rome or Venice. He wants to spend lots of time in the Tuscan countryside and several days in Venice. I've set the countryside stay for a Sat.- Sat. stay, as many of them seem to work that way. I'd like a couple of days in Rome (have seen most of the sights but want another day in the Vatican again). He has little interest in Rome. We're planning a couple of days in Abruzzo to see his mom's ancestral village. We will be flying into Rome and out of Venice, spending nearly a month in Italy. Southern Italy will have to wait for another trip. I have built in travel and restful/casual days too. Both of us love seeing art, old villages, going on little excursions (cooking classes, wine tastings, and possibly a truffle hunt, etc.). I'd like a day in Assisi. Using Marriott points in Rome and Venice, possibly Florence.

Fly into Rome, leave out of Venice

Tues. 29 Sept.- Leave for Rome.

Wed 30 Sept- Arrive Rome, hotel check in, deal with jet lag, and casual day.

Thurs.1 Oct.- Rome

Fri. 2 Oct.- Rome

Sat. 3 Oct.- Leave Rome; rail travel to Pescara; pick up rental car. O/N in Pescara.

Sun. 4 Oct. Drive around Abruzzo

Mon. 5 Oct.- Day in Fara San Martino, ancestral village of Hubs' mom. O/N in Pescara

Tues. 6 Oct- Leave Pescara; rail travel to Florence.

Wed. 7 Oct.- Fri. 9 Oct. Three full days in Florence for art and shopping.

Sat. 10 Oct.- Pick up rental car in Florence, travel to countryside base. O/N in base.

Sun. 11 Oct.- Fri. 16 Oct.- Tuscan countryside, six full days. Go on spontaneous and organized excursions to hill towns, etc.

Sat. 17 Oct.- Leave countryside base for Florence. Turn in rental car in Florence. O/N Florence.

Sun. 18 Oct- Day in Florence, maybe take a day trip to Pisa or Assisi.

Mon. 20 Oct. -Leave Florence for Venice by rail. Arrive Venice.

Tues. 21 Oct.- Fri. 25 Oct.- Four full days in Venice.

Sat. 26 Oct. Leave Venice for US.

Thanks in advance everyone!

bvlenci

It looks fine to me; I don't see anything I'd change. I myself would want more time in Rome, one of my favorite cities in the world, but if your husband isn't interested, two days may be enough. I suggest you spend one of those days visiting some of the hidden gems of Rome instead of shuffling along with the tourist hordes in the most famous spots. Maybe if he spends some time on the Janiculum Hill, or on the Aventine Hill, he'll fall in love with Rome.

isabel

Are your dates set in stone and do you know for sure that you need to do Tuscany Saturday to Saturday? Because if either of those could change I'd put Tuscany right after Abruzzo, having just one car rental. Then drop the car and do Florence all at once rather than split it. Then go to Venice. It's just less dealing with car pick-ups/drop-offs and hotel check-in/outs. But probably not a big deal on a trip that long.

I'd also add a day or two to Rome. You haven't been in 12 years and he's not been at all. I didn't like Rome the first time I went but now I love it and go back frequently even though I've seen the 'sights'. You might want to give it more of a chance given you have a pretty leisurely trip.

Dukey1

I would NOT try to do a daytrip from Florence to Assisi. You'd be better off doing that location from Pescara or Abruzzo, distance wise vs. from Florence.

Be aware of exactly where in Florece your rental car pick-up is located. You can drive in the city but you have to be careful to avoid pedestrian zones, etc.

I think a better daytrip from Florence BESIDES the easy one-hour rail trip to Pisa would be to Siena.

skimom53

Hello, Thanks so much to all of you for your thoughts! They are helping me a lot.

Re: Rome, I'm OK with it. We may do southern Italy on another trip, which would leave time for another Rome stay.

Planning to see Siena from either Florence or countryside base. Doing both independent day trips and organized excursions in Tuscany. Countryside stay not set in stone; hubs is sorting through responses to inquiries he made on VRBO for some properties that looked good to us.

Re: Assisi, a poster on another board suggested we stay in Fara San Martino with the car, and drive to Assisi from there. It might be nice to see a bit of Umbria along the way too, I'm thinking. They said it was about five hours from Fara San Martino. Great idea. I've read several books about San Francesco, and can't miss him this time.

Thanks again!

PalenQ

Yes Assisi is at best three hours by train and bus from the Assisi station far below the hill town.

As for your trains - booking early on mainlines can yield huge savings - especially Florence- Venice; Rome-Florence - go to www.trenitalia.com or www.italotreno.it to see what is best - Italo Treno is a competitor to the state-run railways Trenitalia and competes on main lines - mainly the Naples-Rome-Florence-Milan axis and perhaps Florence to Venice - can have cheaper available tickets at times especially when trenitalia.com discount tickets are sold out. www.raileurope.com also now has some low fares matching the lower discounted fares on either site but not across the board.

Anyways discounted tickets are sold in limited numbers and to be guaranteed must be booked in stone - no changes, no refunds I believe - weeks ahead of time. Fine for many but not to others - don't miss that specific train.

To me on the trip of a lifetime the benefits of 1st class are significant, especially for those with loads of luggage - fewer seats in same-size train car and often half full for a fuller 2nd class - only in first class can you get an aisle and a window seat - rows of just one seat in them - couples can have these facing each other - those to me are a major perk of first class - no hassle others to get in and out and privacy that at least I feel more comfy with. Anyway 2nd class is getting better and better but so is first class! And at times discounted tickets in first class may not be much more than the cheapest still available 2nd class ticket - you also get in 1st class a free beverage and pastry or a free Italian newspaper!

For lots of great info on Italian trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Note you can always buy full fare tickets IME once in Italy - especially in first class - always always IME so it's not that you won't get on a train is the reason to buy in stone early but to save a significant sum on money for the exact same seats you'd get at full fare.

kybourbon

I don't find that places in Tuscany require Sat/Sat stays except in summer. Many only require a 3 night stay. Tuscany is a big area. Which part do you want to see? It's not easy to day trip from one central location to all areas. You might consider splitting your 7 days and staying in two different areas (4 nights one and 3 nights in another).

I also don't see the sense in staying in Florence twice. I would probably keep the car from Abruzzo, visit Assisi on the way to Tuscany. Keep the car until you are finished with your Tuscany stay and then drop it in Florence. Visit Florence a few days and take the train to Venice.

Dayle

skimom,

You might look at staying in beautiful, flower-filled Spello in Umbria. You can see Assisi from the top of this little and untouristed hill town. Easy to drive in/out and park. I loved staying at Palazzo Bocci, a real old palazzo with frescoed ceilings.

Personally, I would not want to spend that much time in Florence. I would take several of those days and spend them in more of the countryside - either Umbria or Le Marche.

Just my preference.

PalenQ

4 days in Venice - you could do a day trip to nearby Padua or Vincenza - the latter is an especially sweet town known for its Palladian architecture - Padua is nice too but has some famous churches and pilgrim worship places.

And be sure to be a boat tour to some islands other than Murano - seeing Venice hovering on the water from a distance is a real treat - I put myself into the place of ancient mariners first glimpsing the then Wonder of the World Venice from afar - their goal finally in sight.

skimom53

Thank you all again for your help! I especially liked Palen's suggestions on rail travel in Italy, and I will check the mentioned resources online; while we don't have to travel bare bones anymore, an extra 15 or 20 Euros is money to spend on a bottle of wine or a small gift to take home if I'm not spending it on rail tickets. Also appreciated the suggestion on Venice day trips.

We did find out the Marriott in Florence where we will likely stay does have onsite parking for 15 Euros a day if we choose to stay there for a day before heading out to the country. Still evaluating properties we found on VRBO. Considering the day there for buying myself a leather jacket, gift shopping and possibly hitting the Prada outlet (have read about the train to Montevarchi and getting a cab from the train station there). Although shopping is NOT the purpose for my travel, I always enjoy buying unique gifts abroad for my adult daughters and friends, especially a few months before Christmas. On my last trip everyone was delighted with what I brought back for them, plus I got nearly all of it done in one day in Florence and the outlets.

Dayle, I will look into Spello near Assisi.

Again, I really appreciate everyone's great ideas, and promise to file a trip report when I return in late October! Can't wait to go!

jabez

I'd suggest considering splitting your Tuscan countryside stay in half. The Val D'Orcia area to the south is quite different from the more northern area. We have always found it best to divide our stay to best enjoy the area. It looks like you will have a great trip.

bilboburgler

do you really want to go to Italy and buy mass produced Prada?

Different strokes etc, have a great time

skimom53

bilboburger, thanks for your observations. My experience has been that many times designers have varying items or different versions of them available in other countries. I actually have a Prada bag I love already. Was thinking about gifts, but then again, maybe goods made by local artisans might be more unique. I am still carrying my woven lambskin bag from the Santa Croce Leather School from nearly 12 years ago and get compliments on it to this day.

There's a well regarded shopping guide in Florence, Maren Erickson, who gets great reviews on TA, and her fees are reasonable. Apparently she has connections with many of the better leather, silk, and jewelry purveyors in and around Florence. I may decide to go with her for a few hours to save time. I will be looking for a leather jacket, and several Christmas gifts while there, but don't want to take all day doing it.