happy_traveler_too

As one who’s spent A LOT of time in Lombardy and specifically Como/Lecco, there’s going to be lines, whether in June, July or August but last June when we too the ferry with car to get to Varenna from Bellagio it took us perhaps 20 minutes to get tickets. Between the time we visited in late May, before heading to Greece for the other part of our vacation and the 10th of June, when we returned and visited Villa Carlotta, the crowds had tripled. Just saying.

coral22

Karen, I believe, the passes were 1 day or 6 days, kind of weird, and the website is hard to decipher, but you will be fine figuring it out there. If you want 3-1 day passes, you buy each for a specific day, so you could get all 3 at once. I don't know the cost of the 6 day, but maybe it would more cost effective to buy that if you anticipate using it over 4 days. The day passes cover 1 day, midnight to midnight, so if you anticipate going somewhere the first afternoon, the pass you buy is only good that day, not spanning 24 hours. But they also sell single trip tickets. At the booth they were patient and spoke English so they can help you through it.

TPAYT, thanks, it is a fond memory!

The view out of our window in the morning was so nice, we headed down and got coffee and headed to the marina, to enjoy the views and the peacefulness. We had a wonderful, chatty breakfast with our fellow travelers, from the US, and Germany. Our host had designated sections, at the table for us, so we didn't have that where should we sit moment, and everyone had enough space to have split off into their own private conversations as needed. The breakfast was very good and had yogurt, cheese, ham, fruit pastries and breads, and eggs were made to order.

We headed out about 9:30, and bought our day pass from a short line at the station and decided to go to Monterosso first. It was easy, the train was punctual and we did get a seat on this segment. Monterosso was beautiful! With the wide expanse of beach, and the flatter more spread out area, this would be the place to go if you had mobility issues or you wanted some beach time, it was lovely. What is quirky about the town is that the train comes in by tunnel and after getting off, you have to go via tunnel, in either direction to get to one of the separate parts of the town. We had a beautiful walk down the promenade and then turned around, to visit the other half. We enjoyed browsing the shops and soaking up the atmosphere, there are very pretty water vistas here but it isn't that dramatic. I think if you stayed here, you would need to pay attention to where your lodging was in relation to the train station, and I would probably book my dinner reservations on the same side as my hotel.

We got on the train for Vernazza and it was packed. When we tried to get off, there was a wall of people, that were together in a tour group that tried to push their way on. Someone finally screamed from the back, get out of the way and they backed off, but wow! Ok, now we are experiencing the dreaded crowds that people complain about.

The streets are charming and the colorful buildings are wonderful. We found a nice cool place to duck into for some pizza and enjoyed taking a break. We headed out to some of the shops and they had some lovely local offerings. We wanted to head to their beach and the harbor for some water views. It was like trudging down there with the walking dead. It was in the low 80s and bright sunny and everyone around us seemed hot and weary. Vernazza has a small triangle of a beach, and huge rocks and stones piled up all the way to the water. We were ready for some gelato, but so was everyone else. We got some delicious flavors and eventually found a newly vacated spot on the rocks to enjoy it. Every spot was taken, there was no serenity in this moment. I don't know if it was the time of day, and no matter which town we were in, it would be the same or if because this town is Rick Steve's darling, and they were waiting for the clouds to part, and he would speak to them from on high!

This was all we planned today, we thought this would be enough and the 400 steps up from the train to Corniglia made it easy to drop and Riomaggiore would have to wait. I think that was a good decision.

We had originally booked L'Ancora della Tortuga in Monterosso for dinner. which we heard was good, but we reconsidered and cancelled because just staying in Manorola for the night appealed to us. We were planning on going to Nessun Dorma for Happy Hour, but now we were willing to make it our dinner, and if we were still hungry later, there was a cute pizza/pasta place right across from the hotel.

Nessun Dorma is a unique place. It is way up there but it has an easy zig zag road up there that take awhile but is not too strenuous. It gives you the most gorgeous views including the spot where they probably take the postcard pictures from. They do not take reservations so you have to load their app and at 3:00 pm you enter it and get a number for the line. We got #11 and you line up and then scramble for whatever table you want. We got a great one, on the front row in the middle. This only has outdoor seating so the weather could be an issue, but we were in luck again with a beautiful night. They ONLY serve charcuterie, but they have about 20 options, with different sizes and offerings, it was great. We got in when it opened at 4 and sunset was going to be at 6:30 so we felt lucky. The evening and view was magical. When we headed out there was a small park with some benches way up there that anyone could enjoy and on the zig zag road, there were people taking pictures all along it. I highly recommend doing this!

https://www.nessundormacinqueterre.com

Dessert called to us so we found a place close by and enjoyed more outdoor seating. We then headed to the marina to enjoy the sparkling night sky. Belllissima!

KarenWoo

happy_traveler_too, Just want to make sure I understand. Looks like you are saying the crowds tripled between late May and June 10. We do have some flexibility with our dates. This can be an all May trip. It will be about 31 -32 nights, so I can plan it so that we are in Lake Como the last week of May.

KarenWoo

Nessun Dorma sounds wonderful!

Do you remember what the parking lot in Manarola cost?

Thanks!

Tim_and_Jenni

Over the past year, one can often come across information in the press about the summer drought in southern Italy and Sicily. It would be interesting to hear the opinions of those who have been to or are planning a trip to central Italy. Is it worth considering this factor?"

happy_traveler_too

Yes, they tripled. Even my FIL couldn’t believe it.

coral22

Tim,
I don't have experience with that, sorry. I do think there were terrible wildfires in Sicily last year.

Karen,
The parking was $20 a night

We enjoyed another coffee by the marina and enjoyed our new group at breakfast this morning. The luggage service was coming at 9:30 and guess who arrived? Our buddy, Paolo! I was going to walk with everyone else but Paolo insisted I go with him because we are friends! This ride wasn't as exciting, the crowds hadn't arrived yet.He was so thrilled and proud that we loved his town. I think he was close to our age, but his energy level and fitness level put us to shame. He was a great addition to our holiday memories. Our car was still there, so off we went!

Cinque Terre seems like a very debated destination. I am so glad we went.The mornings and evenings were delightful. It is out of the way, so time constraints and transportation options, figure into the decision. I think having a car made it pretty painless. I cannot imagine doing it as a day trip, I think you would only experience the crowds we did in Vernazza, everywhere you went. And what astounds me, is that this was October, imagine August! And there were only several hundred cruisers in town that day, the day before there were 10,000. I would definitely check the cruises in port sites before booking.The train is first come, first served, and so at crowded times you might not get on the first one you want. We were definitely packed in going from Vernazza to Manarola.

I think you can enjoy CT without visiting all 5 towns. A lot of people we saw in the day seemed like they had their checklist in hand and were frantically trying to check it off, We didn't see as much but we enjoyed most of it.

Manarola only has a few hotels and most of the accommodations are apartments. That would have been our first choice if we were traveling on our own, but being with another couple, it was hard to find a building with 2 units available. And we didn't want to share an apartment because most of them only had one bath which didn't appeal to us. We were very pleased with Marina Piccolo, it had a large room and a large bathroom, it was vey clean and updated. Our hosts were delightful, helpful and really seemed to enjoy their guests. We thought it was a great deal at $150 a night.

KarenWoo

coral22, I am printing out all of your posts because they are filled with such helpful information. Definitely interested in Marina Piccolo. And $150 a night is a steal! The way our itinerary stands right now I think we will be coming from Milan to CT, just like you did. My husband says he doesn't mind driving to CT. We will then go on to Tuscany, and we know we want a car in Tuscany. My only concern with parking the car in Manarola is that I read somewhere we can't make parking reservations. So I hope we will be able to find a parking spot. There are 2 carparks, right? Are they large? $20 a night for parking is very reasonable, too.

coral22

Karen,
We stayed in the lot closest to town, which you cannot make reservations for, It has about 75 parking spots and was only half full when we arrived and when we left. It helps that you will be there in May. La Spezia and Monterosso also have huge parking lots.

Here is some information that might be helpful
https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/parking-cinque-terre

In terms of your routing for your trip, if you would be coming from Milan, I am assuming you would visit Lake Como then, too. I would have been fine renting a car in Milan and heading up to Lake Como if we hadn't just landed. It is a 1:15 drive and there was reasonable parking near our hotel. We would have still used the ferry while there, but I think it would have saved us a little time when heading to CT.

KarenWoo

coral22, thanks for the information and the parking link. That's very helpful!

We plan on visiting Lake Como at the end of our trip. We will fly in and out of Milan. Planning to do a circle. We are also going to the Dolomites, so will visit there towards the end of our trip, and then continue on to Lake Como. I have been reading my guidebook and researching and just about have a rough itinerary ready that I will post on Fodors in a few days for review.

Tim_and_Jenni

This seems like a good idea. It will be interesting to receive your feedback about the trip)

coral22

Karen,
I can't wait to see your itinerary! And that means another one of your fantastic trip reports when you return.
The Dolomites, I am envious! We got a small taste of the mountains on our picnic, but to head further north would have been wonderful.

coral22

I am going to take a moment to defend my research and planning. I am usually very thorough in my process and we are usually very happy with all of the results. I can say we were very pleased with our trip, but a few things did fall between the cracks. I always am looking at books, trip reports, blogs and printing up a lot of possibilities and maps. Binders, clear pocket inserts, highlighters, and post it arrows are all involved. Then editing and more editing and I constantly have the trip focused in my mind. I know, I need a new hobby! But now, starting in the end of September, we have my son's out of town wedding, our trip to Italy, hosting the entire family for Thanksgiving, my daughter having our first grandchild a week before Christmas, and hosting the in-town family for Christmas. Whew!

So, we did have 10 months to plan the trip but with so much else to plan, I would find myself going back to my notes, and barely remember writing them. And now our friends had their input so it was hard to focus and juggle it all. Then about 6 weeks before the trip, our friends found out that an immediate family member, had an illness that they would need further testing, and if the results required a complicated treatment, they would not be going. We agreed that it would be fine if we went alone, but it might change the length of our car rental, and arranging non refundable tours and drivers, since the costs that we would have been splitting, would now be ours. Luckily, the prognosis was good and the treatment was manageable, so they were back onboard. This is further reinforcement to have travel insurance, refundable car rentals, and cancellable accommodations. Sometimes the cheaper options are tempting, but adding a financial hit to a difficult life situation is not worth it.

On with our adventure!

coral22

Trying to pick where to stay in Tuscany with only 3 nights there, was perplexing. We eventually closed in on the Val d'Orcia area because it seemed to have what we were imagining. Now what town? We wanted a location that was central to be able to visit other towns, but then I went into my Goldilocks mode, what is not too big, not too small and just right? Some of the steep walks up into some towns, far away parking and the dreaded ZTLs were complicating it even further. We decided on Montalcino.

On our way down we decided to try to stop at Lucca, San Gimignano and Sienna. The drive to Lucca was easy 1:15 and we found parking at a closeby lot and walked over to the magnificent golden walls. Lucca is very appealing because it is very flat. The walk through the high arched tunnel to the town was interesting because there are a lot of artifacts on display along the way. The town was charming and larger than I expected. We enjoyed stopping in a couple of the beautiful churches, the artisan shops and couldn't resist the children's shops with their precious different clothing. Pinocchio was also featured heavily, he was "born" there. We found a wonderful outdoor restaurant and enjoyed a pasta lunch which was delicious. The only downside was that in the center of the piazza was 2 story scaffolding covered in tarps so it made a large area inaccessible and it block the views. I assume it was a temporary repair, but it was not fun to look at. We stopped by the outside of Puccini's birth house and headed out. We really enjoyed Lucca, maybe as place to stay in, it was a little too big for us and we did want to be further south, but was a delightful visit.

We continued on to San Gimignano, another easy drive 1:30 minutes. The parking lot was right there, and did require some step climbing to get into the town, but nothing too demanding. This is a smaller medieval town, with a beautiful church and shops and we happily sat outside with a gelato. We are so lucky, the weather has been partly cloudy with temperatures in the high 70s. We loved the size of it and its personality and we agreed this would be a nice place to stay. The views were beautiful. Our day had gotten away from us, but that was fine because we leisurely enjoyed everything. We decided to head for Montalcino and save Siena for tomorrow. We had hoped to not backtrack, but moving on was the right choice.

We had a 1:20 drive ahead of us. I can confidently say that if you are debating whether or not to drive here, go for it. Everything was very well marked, the surrounding drivers were respectful, and the roads were well maintained. We picked Montalcino because it was flat, smaller and well located. We should have started to worry when the owners sent us a step by step, picture by picture guide of how to get there. It didn't help. These town has tiny, winding roads and a lot of the signs are hard to see. And the remember at the car rental location where I recommended the smaller car? Now this choice has unanimous approval! We finally had to call and Annalisa sent her son out to guide us there. We drove to the back of the town and through winding roads and down a significant hill, uh oh.

We were at the lovely Porta Castellano B&B at $185 a night, and $10 a person for breakfast. At this point in our trip, we were thrilled to stay in an apartment, with a full kitchen, and more importantly, it had a clothes washer and a drying rack. It did have the kitchen and the bathroom upstairs, so if mobility is an issue, this unit would not be for you. It didn't matter to us, but it also didn't have a TV. All of the 4 units are different. Our friends preferred the ground floor unit without the kitchen. It is so peaceful and the rolling hills are beautiful, there is not another place in sight.

When Annalisa's son was leaving us, we asked how to get to our restaurant for the evening and he said, that is not close at all. Oops, here is one of the ideas that I didn't follow up on. We debated whether or not to cancel our reservation and just walk to town, but we had all been looking forward to this restaurant with its wonderful reviews. We had inquired if we could take a taxi, but they thought that would be unlikely, this small town didn't have much service and on a Friday we were probably too late to request one. Our friend nicely volunteered to not drink, so after we unpacked, relaxed and cleaned up, we headed out. We kept looking back during our drive to familiarize ourselves with some landmarks, hopefully we will make it back. Dinner was at Boccon DiVino at is deserves the hype! It was a gorgeous restaurant and had delicious food. We were happy we had an early reservation, so we could see the sunset and the gorgeous views. We were thrilled we made it back with only one missed turn in town and enjoyed a cocktail in our friends apartment. We keep feeling so grateful about our great weather, lovely accommodations and all of the warm, helpful, entertaining people we are meeting. And all of the vistas have been a feast for eyes and senses.

https://www.boccondivinomontalcino.it/web/

coral22

We woke up to another beautiful day and had the option to have our breakfast served in our room or set up outside in the beautiful covered terrace overlooking the countryside. We opted for inside because we had the same view and we were moving slowly. It was wonderful, with many bread and pastry options, fruit, meats and cheese and if you requested eggs the night before, that was brought in.

Now you Tuscany aficionados, might need to turn away from this part. At dinner last night we were discussing our next day and decided to eliminate Siena. I know it is many peoples favorite, but it looked like it would be 2:15 roundtrip with driving and parking and then how many hours for Siena to do it justice? Siena might have been one our favorite place of all time, but we will never know. We always say next time, but honestly I don't know if we will go to Italy again with our long bucket list and at our age. We had talked about getting a guide in Siena, but when we had to pause our planning, that was a detail we didn't get to. We knew we had a driver/guide for 5 hours tomorrow, so we would get to a lot of our preferred destinations. And the day after that, on our drive up to Florence we would be making some stops.

We felt like we had been in the car most of the day yesterday, and we just wanted to relax. This was great opportunity to do laundry, enjoy the views and the peacefulness and explore Montalcino. We inquired how to use the washing machine and if soap was available and Annalisa came over to assist. I know in a lot of places in Tuscany, the agriturismos and B&Bs, have been family homes for decades. Often they put in more bathrooms, build a pool, and build a small house where they live during tourist season, while renting out their big home. I pictured someone's Nonna coming over in her apron. Annalisa arrived and she was one of the most sophisticated, well dressed, polished woman I had ever met. She had been there for about 15 years and had grown up in Florence. She moved there with her sons and lived on site, I would have loved to peek into her place.

She got us started and sat and visited and gave up tips for where to go in town. We headed out and the joke was on us, Montalcino was indeed very flat, but we had to climb up 2 challenging hills to get there, Details, details! This is a charming town, but very wine oriented. A lot of the wineries have store fronts and tasting rooms, it seemed like well more than half of the shops were wine. If you wanted to try some of the fabulous Brunellos, without spending the time and money involved in going to a winery, this would be a great place to come. We found a simple outdoor place for pasta, that hit the spot. Again a leisurely lunch, and then we continued on to the recommended Montalcino museum. This was very worthwhile, it is on the site of an old convent. First, you put on goggles to do a virtual tour of the area, recorded by a drone. You feel like you are flying like a bird, and I had to touch the wall to not feel like I was falling. It was really beautiful and took you from sunrise to sunset and all through the areas we would be visiting. The exhibits showed the history of the city and the development of the Brunello wine industry. The basement had religious artifacts and the art gallery was on the 2 floors above that. It was nice afternoon and we headed back to tend to our laundry. DH took a nap, I sat out and enjoyed the view and then we freshened up and headed back into town.

We wandered the streets some more and got to our restaurant for an early dinner to take advantage of their beautiful views and to see the sunset. No one else was in the restaurant, Osticcio, never a good sign. Of course, we got the best table and they were very attentive. They had a little balcony that you could go out on and take pictures. It was one of the best dining experiences I have ever had. They brought out 3 consecutive complimentary amuse bouches, that were out of this world and we all loved our dinner and dessert. Another couple, finally wandered in. I don't understand the lack of patrons, I hope they make it.
https://osticcio.it/en/

At dinner the night before, I had to try the Brunello and it was fabulous! And guess what, DH loved it, too. I think he was feeling bad that we weren't going to any wineries, so he ordered a very fine bottle for us to share, and we offered our friends a taste and they really liked it, too! When we were waiting for our room to be ready back in Varenna, they offered us a complimentary glass of champagne at their covered poolside bar, sure! There was a young couple next to us that we started sharing stories with and they had just come from Tuscany, and said their finest experience was going Castello Banfi in Montalcino and doing their wine tasting. I almost had to put my hands over my ears and start chanting lalalalala, to not hear anymore. Everyone looked at me sheepishly because that had been my winery choice to visit. So if you go, raise a glass to me!

KarenWoo

Enjoying your visits to the Tuscan towns! I understand your decision not to visit Siena. There comes a time while traveling when you just need to relax and stay put. And take care of things like laundry.

Our daughter and her family spent 3 weeks in Lucca last year, and they loved it. They enjoyed walking the walls, and at night they joined the locals during their evening strolls. I was initially planning on staying 4 nights in Lucca next May. Just posted my itinerary for review, and some people are suggesting staying in Siena instead. So now re-thinking our plan. Siena would be closer to San Gim and Volterra. But Lucca sounds nice, too.

coral22

We enjoyed our breakfast outside today, another wonderful feast! The views are indescribable. And the quiet is so restorative.
We were really looking forward to today! It was debated whether a driver was a good use of our budget, when we were already renting a car, but we decided it would be so nice with all of the advice we would get, avoiding the potential parking problems, and the ability to sit back and enjoy the views. Splitting the cost also made it appealing.

Annalisa put us in touch with Ciara, who agreed to be our driver for 5 hours. She showed up promptly at 9:30 in her beautiful black Mercedes van and went over our itinerary.We had originally requested to go to San Quirco, Pienza and Montepulciano, the movie filming location for Gladiator, and a place for lunch that I had seen, Podere Il Casale. Ciara proposed that we could do it all, but she also wanted to add Montichiello, to take a peek at that tiny village, and maybe she would recommend eliminating San Quirco to give us a more leisurely pace.

We agreed and headed to Pienza. Everything is pretty close there and it was a quick drive. Pulling right up to the gate was great. We loved Pienza! It was so charming and is a Renaissance town as opposed to a medieval one and is more polished. The views are beautiful. We really loved browsing there and the Pienza cathedral is gorgeous. It is very accessible and was the right size us, we agreed we could easily stay there.

We headed to Podere Il Casale for our much anticipated lunch This a wonderful property, you can tour their farm, take a cooking class, see a cheesemaking demonstration and then there is lunch! One thing that is great about having a driver, who was born and raised in Montalcino, is that she knows everyone. She has been friends with the owners for years and we were put in a spot front and center on the outdoor covered terrace. The views were gorgeous, the service very fun and friendly and the homemade pasta was delicious. And a glass of wine was a nice luxury since we weren't driving. We sat there awhile, happy fellow guests and lively enthusiasm surrounded us. I highly recommend this!
https://podereilcasale.com/en/

We continued on to Montichiello and it was darling. It was a quick 30 minute stop, but it was a nice peek to see what a tiny village is like. We headed to Montepulciano. Ciara said we could limit our time here or extend our trip by an hour, so we extended. We were curious to see this popular town.The steepness is not exaggerated and the town is more bustling than others we have seen. It has a lot of gourmet shops and interesting artisan shops and of course, gelato! We enjoyed an outdoor table and people watching, this probably would be too big of a place for us to stay.

We headed to the Gladiator filming site by way of the backroads. This is where you see the golden rolling hills, the cypress trees and the charming farm houses dotting the countryside. This is what I dreamed of seeing. The Val d'Orcia is heaven. This was the perfect day for us.

Ciara was delightful. She and her husband both do tours for a living. She said they had just bought this van right before Covid. It was a really difficult time for them trying to make ends meet when travel shut down.She talked about how different Montalcino is since the wine shops have opened and said it was great for the economy, but as a town for the residents, the shopping places for them are gone.

I don't know that Montalcino had the shopping and the vibe we were hoping for but we loved the size and the location. And everyone was very friendly and welcoming. And we loved our apartment, the views and getting to meet Annalisa. And Annalisa connected us to Ciara who was really the ideal driver. In a way, our accommodations being on the edge of town, gave us that remote feel with still having the ability to walk into a town. It did reinforced the thought that a remote villa would not be for us. I could see it being fun for an extended family trip or if you really wanted to relax and enjoy a pool.

Unfortunately, I was starting to feel under the weather when we got back to the apartment, so we cancelled our dinner reservations and I headed to bed for the night. The 3 of them wandered into town and just were in the mood for a lighter dinner and went somewhere more casual. Luckily, I did feel better by morning.

TPAYT

Outstanding trip report. I feel like I’ve gone to Tuscany with my morning coffee. The views from those restaurant terraces will be in my dreams. I’m definitely putting Tuscany on my bucket list. Are you going to post any of your photos?

Is there a web site for Ciara’s tour company? IMO, the private driver is worth any extra cost. Driving in the countryside of Europe is usually somewhat easy, but finding parking in the individual towns is a challenge.

coral22

Thanks, TPAYT,
I will look up Ciara's information, she was wonderful and spoke fluent English.
We are woefully inadequate at posting pictures, maybe my son can help us do a few.

I meant to say Montepulciano was too busy, it was not too big, it was actually a nice size. We also, wanted to be a little more central than that. And from the parking to the accommodations seemed more challenging.

Maybe any of the towns would be busy at that time of day. Again, getting an early start for visiting and picking a place to stay that you enjoy in the evenings is an important factor.

TPAYT

Adding photos are so easy on this site.
click on the square on the top line above on the right with a mountain
it will take you to your photos
choose from device
choose photo library
it should go to the photos on your phone
choose a photo, click add, and bingo it appears right here

Give it a try!