first time
 

First time to Italy, 7 adults traveling in the fall with a vehicle , plan to stay two nights in Rome and then rent a villa in a small town in the Tuscany area. Need ideas on a villa and things to do,places to go while there. Thanks

1 vehicle for 7 people?
Vehicle while in Rome?

How long in Tuscany?
Train to Tuscany, then rent car?

It would be helpful if you:

told us how you decided on the villa idea

why you think it is so great

Two days is not a lot of time for Rome, especially if you are arriving with jet lag, getting to hotel,etc..

Are you driving while in Rome? If yes...Yikes.

Especially with 6 other people saying...turn left...no...left ...over there.. :)

Two days in Rome - - especially the first two days after an intercontinental flight to get TO Rome - - is a recipe for some (if not all) of the travelersw in your group to hate Rome. It takes time to get used to the INTENSITY of Rome... the density of sights and sounds and people and SCOOTERS.

Consider instead starting your trip in Florence or Milan or Verona.

Or, if that seems impractical, perhaps you can make it 11 nights... and make BOTH the first two nights AND the last two nights in Rome.

Best wishes,

Rex

Some thoughts:
You want to avoid driving in Italy's major cities.
For one vehicle, seven people and at least 7 suitcases, you would rent a small bus. These are brutally expensive and too big for the typical places you might be going. You need to think about two rental vehicles.
Villas are usually out in the country. It might be a better experience to not be out in the country.

also, there is an old expression 'be careful who marry. be very careful who you travel with'.

Couple of cars also allows the group to split up to do different things (...be very careful who you travel with....)

thanks so far..... It seems like a vehicle is tough to use in rome.. We had 7 in a van in austria and germany last yearthats why we considered it.

Michel havent decided on where in tuscany,looking for ideas

What is the thinking of the group as to flying into rome vs. any other city ?

Dukey, Splitting costs of the villa,room to move around,aassociate with the local people and off the beaten path are some reasons for the villa idea. Getting 4 hotel rooms in various towns and moving nightly is not what we intended to do.

We travel nearly every year with a group of friends (usually five couples) and a few years ago I researched villa rentals in Tuscany.

We decided to go elsewhere, but I found some very nice-looking villas listed by Parker Villas.

You might check them out.

http://www.parkervillas.com/

I might also suggest that you consider renting two cans instead of one van.

It's fun to have everybody together, but we have found that it's also nice to be able to split up the group sometimes.

Works for us!

Byrd

Hello finandcoach. Family members went as a group (there were 8 of them) to Tuscany a few years ago and stayed in a villa the the total three weeks as they all had been to the major cities previously. I don't remember the name of the villa or the town as although they had a wonderful time they were not completely "overjoyed" with the villa. The airconditioning consisted of fans, the dining table and chairs were only for six although their reservation showed there would be eight of them etc.

I mention this so if certain things are important to you when making a reservation verify and verify. The person in my family's group didn't, she just took the information from the website as the "gospel truth" so to speak. But one thing they did right is that they rented two cars and that worked out quite well. The cars could handle the roads in the small towns and the country roads. And it allowed one group to go to one place and another group to visit somewhere else and of course anyone that wanted some quiet time could stay at the villa and relax or walk into the small town and enjoy an outdoor cafe and so forth. So Byrd's suggestion is a very good one and something to consider. Also, although I haven't used them the Parkervillas has been in business a long time so they would seem like they are a very reliable company.

Oh, my family flew into Malpensa (north of Milan), took the Malpensa Shuttle bus to the central station in Milan and than caught a train to Florence. I can't remember where they rented the two cars but that arrangement worked out perfect for them. They would have flown into Florence but the airfare to Malpensa was a lot lower thus that decision.

You might think about booking a Multicity flight aka Open Jaw where you fly into one airport and depart from a different airport so that you are not having to backtrack. With you desire to see a bit of Rome perhaps fly into Malpensa or Florence, spend your time in Tuscany, and take the train to Rome and spend your few days there before flying home from Rome. If you wanted you could drive from Tuscany to Orvieto which is in Umbria, drop off the rental cars and even take a few hours to take a peak at Orvieto and the beautiful and famous duomo and than catch the train from Orvieto to Rome.

Have fun planning your trip, you have lots of possibilities!

Fly into Rome or Pisa(which serves Florence area) and use another airport to leave out of.Its called an open jaw ticket and really saves alot of time and energy.Delta has a nonstop Pisa flight out of JFK that usually starts in April-took it a year ago to go to Cinque Terre and it really saved us alot of time.

love italy and duty free-- thanks for your responses...all this will help in our planning.

Driving any car in Rome is a complete waste of time and energy - and the least useful way to see the city. Don;t think it's anything like Austria or Germany. Traffic is chaos - few traffic lights and most intersections operate on the chicken system. PLus a good part of the road system was lad out 2000 years ago. I'm a native New Yorker and drive here all the time (and sometimes even scare cab drivers) and I drive in Rome only to pickup a car and head out of town. Not only is the traffic awful, there are pedestrian-only areas - and NO place to park. (At night many locals park on the sidewalk.)

Second I would never stuff 7 people in one vehicle. MUch better to have 2 - then each group of people can do what they want for the day - not be tied at the hip.

Staying at a villa is great if you want a countryside vacation and plan on cooking dinner yourselves (or staying at a place that provides dinner). Other wise drivers have to forego wine at dinner in order for all of you to get home safely - and without tickets for DUI (limits are low and laws strict).

If it were me I would stay in one of the hill towns and use the car to visit others - but eat dinner and walk home after in the town you're staying in. (But then I don;t cook at home and would never even consider it on vacation.)

A couple questions?
Are you all the same age-friends or family?
Has anyone been to Rome before?
What are the goals in regards to your traveling in Italy-sitting around and relaxing or sightseeing?

If you have never been to Italy I would say use public transportation so that you won't have to pay the high insurance and have the hassles with parking,etc.

Personally,I would allow at least 3/4 days in Rome including your arrival day.There is so much to see and do there for EVERYONE that you won't be bored-eating,shopping,sightseeing and just basic great people watching at the cafes.
Would you do better to do two city pairs instead of just being in a villa in Tuscany? Trains are soooo easy to use in Italy and alot cheaper than you think.
Give us some details and I am sure everyone here will help with their two cents.