Favourite Alpine and Mediterranean place?
 

I'm in Germany for work for 2 weeks and tagging along some holiday after that. Definitely adding Paris and London to the trip. In the remaining 10-11 days, I'd love to get a flavour of the Alps and the Mediterranean. That's where I'm stuck!
My initial plan was to do Slovenia and Croatia, but figured it would be a cardinal sin to miss out on the Italian food. Other combinations I have thought about are Rome+Gran Sasso, Portugal (a bit of everything), Venice+Dolomites etc. I'm after no bucket list but would simply love to do some hiking, gaze at breathtaking scenery, enjoy good food and experience something quintessential European. (history would be added bonus!) If I can get to places on public transport (I'm ok flying)

So.... if you were to choose two places that would allow you to get a taste of hiking/outdoors and enjoy the Mediterranean, what would they be?

Using public transportation it is very easy to combine Italy's alpine Val d'Aosta in the area of Montebianco (Montblanc) and the Italian Riviera just south of Genova. Google up info about hikes near Pre St Didier. Morgen or Aosta (fabulous Roman ruins) and also look up the beach towns of Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure & Rapallo. Taking the train, one generally travels through Torino, and it can be a nice place to spend a night or two for food & wine & some wonderful cultural attractions.

Depending on where you are coming from in Germany, you can utilise airports in Zermatt, Torino, Milan, Genova.

Morgex (not Morgen)

The western parts of Slovenia and Croatia share much of their cuisines with the northeastern regions of Italy. However, if you don't want to miss out on Italian food, then you really have no choice but to go to Italy. There is no sense in considering other countries like Portugal in the 10 days that you have.

I thought Slovenia would be on the Adriatic.

10 days is what it took me to have a first idea of Slovenia. Western part mostly. A bit of south.

but since the invention of planes you can be anywhere in half a day.

Like Switzerland and then Malta.

Thanks all!

@massimop, I'll be coming from Hamburg. Literally Google image searching all those places and they look incredible! Very helpful!

@rtt0921 I did some research on that and sounds like Slovenia has great Italian cuisine, but no Italian gelato ;) Yeah, I agree, I think Portugal is out..

@WoinParis - I'm hoping to just cover Bled, Bohinj, and the Vitgar gorge.. Anything else that is unmissable in that area?

I went to Rome and the Gran Sasso last summer and the Gran Sasso is stunning--but difficult to get around without a car, I would think.

I am considering the Dolomiti + ??? for this summer so I shall be interested to read what you decide. What time of year are you visiting?

From the research I've done sounds like venice or Verona would be the obvious options for the Dolomiti. Though places like Trento and Balazano are pretty well connected too, is my understanding.

Hmm.. Gran Sasso does look amazing..I am tempted to pick up a car. (Just not used to driving a manual..)

I'm hoping to be there around the last week of September..

It's possible to visit some of the Dolomiti without a car, but time consuming, and you need to have done your research about bus connections precisely. I think that if you are unused to driving a manual transmission that the Dolomiti range is not the safest place to test out your skills. It can be very demanding mountain driving, and you share steep, hairpin turn roads with huge tour buses and zoom-traveling motocrycles.

You can fly to Verona non-stop from Hamburg and head up to Bolzano by train. From Bolzano, however, it will again be time consuming to get to the seaside -- either the eastern or western side of Italy. Maybe the fastest land route is a train to Bologna, and then more trains from there to eastern or western coast. Or take a train to Verona, then a sharp turn west to go to the Italian Riviera via Milano. Or fly to Croatia or Greece.

You can fly from Hamburg to Milan to reach the Montblanc/Aosta area by bus or train, or you can fly to from Hamburg to Geneva and take a bus to Chamonix in France. If you've got the money & the nerve, you can take the 5-stage cable car ride over the French border into Italy, through the Alps.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...er-french-alps

From anywhere in the Valle d'Aosta it is possible to make your way by train to the Italian Riviera.

Thanks massimop - very helpful! Think I might follow your suggestion and go directly to Verona and Balzano. And fly out from Verona too. Ta!

Just to let you know, we and others, found the food in Venice to be pretty awful.

How many meals did you eat in Venice, dianedancer? What places did you eat and how did you make your decisions to eat at those places? And what did you eat? While it is true that no one is obliged to like the local Venetian cuisine -- which is focused on seafoods & polenta -- it is not fair to order non-Venetian food in Venice (which many people do) and then complain. Pizza, pasta, meat dishes are not in the local repertoire. They are only being sold to tourists because tourists arrive demanding them.

Because of the heavy heavy tourist impact on Venice there are a great many restaurants that don't take care in what they serve, since they don't need repeat customers. To find the restaurants that do take pride in their food you need to do some good research, about restaurant and what is locally fresh and traditionally well-made. That into can be found online. You still might leave Venice thinking you much prefer another part of Italy when it comes to flavours & ingredients, but you'll have eaten quality.

Couldn't you just rent an automatic transmission car? I know... more money, but in the big picture would it be that much more? I'll admit I don't know how large the cost differential is since we can drive manual and always get a stick.

If you really don't want to drive to the Dolomiti and also don't want to take a public bus from Bolzano to Val Gardena, I have dug up a few taxi companies that you can book to take the trip. Looks like the cost is around 90E.

http://www.val-gardena.com/en/taxi-and-bus/page162.html

I am debating driving myself, not because I can't drive manual, but because for one person it seems cost-prohibitive and a bit of a hassle. I hate driving in the mountains. I'm still weighing my options.

Oh Leely - you champ! Thanks for that.

I might just get the automatic - you're right, Julies. Tho I wouldn't still want to drop off the car I picked in Slovenia in Italy. (drop off fees!)

I've been trying to work the logistics of getting from Ljublana to Verona/Venice or even direct Balzano/Cortina and can't seem to figure anything out!

Has anybody done that bit of the journey? Is it worth going up through Innsbruck or cut directly through to Italy?

There are daily buses connecting Ljubljana to Venice. There are also buses to Trieste, from where you can catch a train to Venice. You could also arrange to drop the car in Piran or Koper on the coast and take a short bus ride into Trieste and continue to Venice.