Dec 22- Jan 2nd- need help! small cute towns!
 

hi
Planning to go with my husband, from Paris, to Italy for 10-11 days, and really not sure where to go. I do really like the sounds of Cinque Terre, but I think you only need 3 days. Where else can I get to, which is not touristy/crammed or commercial?

would the euro rail from Paris be a good option, or is Air to Rome better, then take the train, or is renting a car in Italy better than taking the train.
Open to doing vineyards, but not sure at that time of the year.
Any suggestions would be appreciated !

For small cute towns you need to drive though the Cinque Terre, worth perhaps zero days in the winter IMO or perhaps one or two at the most can be reached by train

If going to cities like Paris and Rome and Florence and not cute little towns then cars are liabilities once there - large parts of cities off limits to cars, parking costs arm and leg and can't leave anything of value in car it seems

If you were taking the train Paris to Italy (there is overnight service Paris-Venice/Florence/Rome) you would not consider a Eurailpass buy at most a France-Italy railpass good for travel in both countries.

But you'd probably have to return to paris to make that viable since trains once in Italy are very cheap compared to other European countries

You use the term euro rail and that tells me you are a novice European rail traveler - two good sources for rail info i always refer clueless train types to about trains and railpasses: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - on the latter home page request their excellent free European Planning & Rail guide that is a fine primer on European trains and railpasses - with separate sections for France and Italy with rail maps, itineraries, etc.

That said flying can be cheaper than taking the train - but on the train during the day you do see some nice scenery - for cheap flights check out www.whichbudget.com and www.ricksteves.com also has a bit on cheap flights.

I'd say in the dead of winter cute small towns are not nearly as cute as in spring summer or fall and i'd concentrate on cities such as Venice, Rome and Paris personally

How much do you know about Italy? Have you done much research; ie: travel videos, gruidebooks etc to get an over view of the different regions? So you have 10 days just in Italy or is that including Paris? You will not see much in the way of vineyards if you are going during the winter. They'll look like stumps.

I agree wholeheartedly with PalenQ. Winter is not the time to visit the small towns.

I've been to the big 3 in winter and they were fine. But I just got back from Tuscany last week and, already, the towns are starting to shut down. In Montechiello, the last open shop closed for the season as soon as we walked out the door.

Concentrate on the bigger cities and you'll do fine.

Also remember your dates. I would doubt you will find anything open in small Italian towns over Christmas. As others have said, stick to the big cities.

And, FWIW, the big cities are popular with tourists for a reason...

I am going to dare to disagree, though I speak for only two "small,cute" towns in Italy but I do have personal experience of both at this time of year.

The first is Lanciano, in the Abruzzo... about 90 minutes drive toward the Adriatic from Rome and well served by bus and train. Lanciano is a very ancient town with a historic Dioclesian bridge and is the home of (one of) the Eucharistic Miracles and therefore has many good hotels and restaurants. At Christmas time they have a custom of opening their artisans' homes and galleries to the public and they are marvelous.

Bookbinders, artists in oil and watercolours and papermakers, handmade lace and ceramics are all on display with many special food offerings as well. This goes on fro a week to 10 days. Everything culminates in an amazing fireworks display after a tour of ALL the churches in town that have ancient huge nativity scenes. Everybody gathers in the main piazza to greet one another (and then goes out to eat in one of the many fine ristorante and trattoria.)


Then there are the famous cave displays in Puglia. We saw the extended ones near Faesano (Pezzi de Greco) and Torre Cano (about 30 minutes from Bari). This is a series of tableau created within the caves and olive barns of the area celebrating their past. There were displays of farming and agriculture as it was 10 centuries before and working olive oil 'mills' and wine and cheese making. There were singer and dancers and lots and lots of food, some for free and some you paid just 1 Euro for a delicious local treat. It all culminated in a charming nativity scene. The local girl chosen to play Mary considers herself blessed for life. This area is also on main train lines from Rome and some of the resort hotels along the coast remain open all year round, though you do have to search. But either Brindisi or Bari offer lots of hotels.

I find it hard to believe that the only two towns in which we chanced to celebrate the holidays when we lived in Italy are the ONLY two to offer something special.

Good luck with your search and do learn some Italian as that is the only downside of the quest for the "not touristy"...you can get by with English only but it helps to bridge the gap and enjoy whats going on if you can speak a little,

thank you to everyone for their kind suggestions. We currently live in PAris, but are from NYC.
Since I was really keen on Cinque Terra and or vineyards, will plan this trip , in the summer months.

I think the train is too long from here to Rome, (14 hrs) and almost the same as a flight..

Lanciano and Puglia sound great, will keep those in mind too.

An alternate idea is to do Austria and Budapest.