First trip to Italy
 

My husband and I are planning our trip to Italy in the Spring 2018. ( we are pretty active 60 year olds.) We are thinking about a 2 week trip and including Rome and Florence, spending some time in tuscany. We like small family run hotels, or b and b's. were looking for suggestions on hotels, small towns, activities and any other suggestions. We like exploring interesting towns and neighborhoods, in a more relaxed atmosphere. thanks in advance Diane

Almost all the family run hotels and b&bs in Italy advertise themselves on booking.com and Airbnb. So you can plug in your actual travel dates, see prices, read reviews, look at loads of pictures. You can filter the search to show you only places with air con, elevators, wi-fi --- whatever you need.

People can give you more helpful information if you explain what you mean by "Spring" (end of March? Beginning of June?) Are you going to rent a car to see small towns in Tuscany? What kinds of activities do you enjoy? Most everywhere one goes in Rome, Florence & rural Tuscany is "interesting to explore".

And the great virtue of booking.com is all bookings are cancellable.

There are lots of posts here about first trips to Italy. Click on "View by Country" above and browse through previous posts. Read about agriturismi, farms that host travelers.

In general you want a car in rural Tuscany but NOT in cities. If you're visiting cities stick to the train.

And Tuscany is a big place. You might want to narrow down what part of Tuscany you want to see. Southern Tuscany/the Val d'Orcia is a great favorite here.

We are hoping to travel in April -May 2018. Yes we will rent a car in tuscany. We enjoy visiting vineyards, touring castles, eatting local food, maybe a cooking class, investigating interesting little villages with shops, countryside hikes or walks. Does that help?

-I'd suggest flying into Florence, spend 4 nights there.
-Rent a car on last day in Florence and head into Tuscany.
-Find a central location (agriturismo or small B B) that allows for daytrips to Sienna, Assisi, Parma.
-On final day, make a stop in the hill town of Orvieto before arriving in Rome and ditching the car.

We stayed at the Croce Di Malta in Florence (converted monastery in good location)

For a great neighborhood experience in Rome, find a place in the Travestere. A little more walking to some sites, but it's what you're looking for.

<Fly home from Rome>

Only alteration to your plan I'd consider would be flying into Venice and spending a few days there, or driving to the Amalfi Coast for 1-2 nights before hitting Rome

I have done this trip twice.
Tuscany Region:
We stayed in San Gimingiano Center. At the Hotel Lyon Blanco, located on the village square. The hotel is lovely and has a wonderful breakfast. We stayed on the top floor at he front of the hotel, in a room overlooking the square. Our room was very spacious, king sized bed, well appointed bathroom, sitting area and best of all a terrace over looking village rooftops to the rolling vineyard covers hills. It is wonderful to be inside the village walls when the day trippers depart. Don't forget to make a reservation for dinner at Le Vecchie Mura, and ask for the outdoor terrace along the outside edge. Amazing views! Book well in advance, as it is well known. I recommend the ravioli in brown butter sage sauce, delicious.
We took easy day trips to Sienna, Pisa and Volterra.
Have fun!
Tina

1st trip - 2 weeks

Venice would be at the top of my list- fly into Venice and out of Rome and work your way down. But to me Venice is a must for any first-time Italian trip.

Train to Florence

I'd suggest taking bus Florence-Siena - classic hill town - rent car next day and drive south meandering thru Tuscany's iconic hill town to say Orvieto - another great hill town - return car and train to Rome.

That would be a neat two-weeks IMO

For info on trains: www.trenitalia.com; http://www.italotreno.it/en (always cheap fares on high-speed lines); www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Yes, that does help.

Given what you say you want to do on this trip, with an emphasis on appreciating local food & a relaxed pace, I would not add the megatourist destinations of Venice & the Amalfi coast. San Gimignano is also a mass tourism destination, and it is not in the most scenic part of Tuscany.

It is much easier to find local food & neighborhoods with a mainly locals feel i the center of Rome than in the center of Florence, but there are defiinitely places to avoid in both cities. If you want to see the major sights of Rome, Trastevere will put many of them out of walking reach, so if walkability is important to you then you might want to talk more about your sightseeing agenda for Rome if want detailed guidance about hotels, restaurants (& state your budget)

Most Tuscan wineries do not give tours to individual visitors without appointments so going with a group makes sense. Typically the smaller the group the higher the price & level of sophistication. There are very noticeable differences between the wines & scenery of Tuscany's Chianti area & that of the val d'Orcia, although both have beautiful hilltowns to visit. But worth your time to research both wine areas to decide which you want because it is not relaxing to visit both areas + Florence in the same brief trip to Tuscany, which is a very large place where driving is slow.

Regarding cooking classes, look at some cookbooks & decide whether you want to learn to cook Roman food or Tuscan food. Countryside walks in in Tuscany are a mixed bag as far as I am concerned. (Hot sun, few paths, bugs.) You might prefer a walk though the Boboli gardens of Florence in Spring.

Again, adding Parma (in Emilia Romagna) + Assisi (in Umbria) etc etc only makes sense if you plan to write a book after your trip or face an oral exam. You have a very sensible & delightful agenda for a 1st trip to Italy. The places being tossed at you are not mandatory & several get VERY mixed reviews from 1st time visitors to Italy (in particular the super-touristed Venice, Amalfi, Assisi, San Gimignano, where few locals live anymore).

Have a great trip & customize it to your heart's desire. Italy has everything you want & you can have it all in a relaxed way. You won't "miss" Italy your 1st time around if you take the trip you are envisioning.

Great advice above, certainly a car in Tuscany is very useful.

You may also like to stay in agriturismo (most of whom are in booking, but there is a website agriturismo.it) which aims to offer you a more countrified place, so think farm house/converted old mill et either as one large place in which you rent a room or mini-appartments. These can be in the middle of no where or right next to a town, so you can walk into town say. There are some lovely ones around Pienza for example.

There are also "white roads", hard to find but all the locals no where they are and where they go. If you don't like walking across fields, they offer routes for the hiker.

sorry "know"