seeksocean

HI,
I have five days from the day I get to Venice until the day I meet friends in Florence for a weeks stay outside of Florence somewhere. I want to optimize my time. My daughter says I must see Cinca Terra. Can I pull this off?? Any good hotel suggestions for a low-key 3-star couple in Venice or Cinco Terra?

But wait there's more!!! After the week with friends I have two nights in Florence before we fly out. I would love to stay fairly near the airport since our flight leaves at 7am. Any suggestions of a hotel that is an easy jaunt to the airport, yet not so far that we can't get a taxi for a nice one-dayer in Florence? Thanks!!

Jean

For all hotel recommendation requests, please provide a budget. We have no idea what a "low-key 3 star" hotel means to you.

Five days is enough time to visit the Cinque Terre. Using the correct spelling, do a search on this forum. There have been dozens of threads on how to get there, where to stay, etc.

suze

Depends on how bad you want to see the Cinque Terra. For me, in your situation, I would simply spend 4 days in Venice, take the train and spend 1 day in Florence, then meet up with your friends.

This is because I love Venice and don't see the fascination with CT (having never been there). Strolling along the historic canals and architecture of Venice appeals to me far more, than hiking from town to town in the countryside.

Point being, "optimize my time" means different things depending on what you are interested in.

My favorite 3-star hotel in Venice is Pensione La Calcina. www.lacalcina.com but it is very popular and fills up far in advance so book asap.

seeksocean

Thank so much. My daughter spent time in Cinque Terre and really liked it, but I hear you on the optimize my time thing. I will strongly consider just staying in Venice for the 4 days and Florence 1 day. Any great places to stay in Florence?

'Low-Key' was meant to mean that we are casual folks, not too demanding. Thanks again!!!

Mimar

I like the 4 days in Venice, 1 day in Florence plan, but would suggest a slight modification: 3 days in Venice, 2 nights in Florence with one day spent seeing Siena (taking the bus) or maybe Lucca (taking the train). That would get you out into the Tuscan countryside a little bit.

For hotels, check the reviews at www.tripadvisor.com. The Pensione La Calcina is popular and off the tourist-beaten path in Venice.

seeksocean

One moretime...I looked at the La Calcina web-site, and it looks beautiful. However, is there a advantage to staying more on the main part of Venice (if there is such a thing!). Are there any places you could recommend that would be easier than a 20 or 30 minute water taxi? Thanks!

jgk

Stay in Venice! If you want to be more in the middle of things look for Hotels in San Marco. Your can look at venere.com to sort them by area. You can walk from La Calcina to San Marco in about 15 minutes. It's not so bad and it's a little calmer in that area. Depending on when you're going and your price range, you should certainly look at Locando Orseolo. Simply the best and not outrageously priced.

Good luck,
j

seeksocean

Thanks J!
I just E-mailed them. I think this would work out better location wise, as my husband is a little bit disabled, and too much walking could be a bit too hard on him.

We would be flying into Treviso airport. What would be our mose of transport, and how much would it cost approx. to get there (Locanda)? Thanks

JBX

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http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34597154 ~
<font color="blue"> one of the many threads on this forum discussing LaCalcina </font></font>

JBX

Posted the link to LaCalcina while you had already moved on to the Locanda Orseola suggestion .... which by the way, is another hotel that gets enthusiastic comments on this forum. As for your tranport options, I've never flown in/out of Treviso. Looking at the airport's website -- http://www.trevisoairport.it/ -- it shows an ATVO bus that'll take you from airport to Venice (P. Roma). Note that Venice Mestre is the stop that's on the mainland .... if taking that bus, you'll want to get off @ Venice (P.Roma) stop .... and from there you can take a vaparetto down the Grand Canal to hotel. That's probably the least expensive option; of course, you could take a taxi from the airport. Probably another poster can advise cost for that choice.

chicagolori

I would agree to stay in Venice those 4 days. But, the Cinque Terre is about a 2 hour drive from Florence area. There is also a train. Not knowing the details of your stay with friends -but - a day trip from Florence is not out of the question. Then you get to see it all.

isabel

If I understand you, you will be spending a whole week near Florence with your friends? And then another two nights in or near Florence? If so, then I don't think you need yet more time before you meet your friends. (I assume you will be seeing Florence, Siena, etc during that time. If that's not correct, then ignore the rest of what I'm about to say and spend your extra days in Florence.)

So that means you have 5 nights for Venice or Venice plus somewhere else. Three nights seems to be a good amount of time for Venice. That number gets suggested here all the time, and I personally have been to Venice twice and both times spent 3 nights and felt it was a good amount of time.

I think you could easily take the train to the Cinque Terre from Venice for two nights. That's enough time to get a taste of the area, and it really is quite nice. Not my favorite area in Italy, but you will be spending close to two weeks in Tuscany and Venice so the CT would be a nice addition. The train connects all five towns so if you don't feel like a lot of hiking you don't have to.

I can recommend the following hotels in Venice: Violino D'Oro (www.violinodoro.com/) and Hotel Canal and Walter (www.hotelcanal.com/). They are both available on multiple booking sites, if you google them you'll turn up several. In Florence I can recommend Hotel Desiree (www.florence.ala.it/desiree/). When we went to the CT we stayed in Camogli, a little town about an hour north and took the train back down to the CT towns.

suze

I certainly consider La Calcina *in* Venice. It's on the Dosoduro near the bridge Accadamia. Maybe a 10-15 min. walk to San Marcos. But a much more quiet part of the city than sy around Rialto Bridge or on San Marco square. Not sure about the water taxi question, as I have always come in by train and taken a vaporetto to the hotel.

jgk

Loc Orseolo has no elevator, so ask for a lower floor if you think that would be helpful to your husband.

You can take a water taxi from Piazzale Roma right to your hotel. I think it cost about 65Euro in May '05. If you choose the vapporetto, be sure you download and print their map to find the hotel from the stop.

seeksocean

Wow, A lot to think about!!! Thanks so much. I'll look into all these places and let you all know where I end up. I like the three nights in Venice and then Cinque Terre and then meet my friends. I'll be in touch!!

seeksocean

Hi,
Just wanted to let you know that I picked a view room at La Calcina, and reserved for three nights, leaving on the 18th. That really only gives me one night somewhere else, since I believe we occupy the place with our friends May 20-27. I guess I should get a one nighter in Florence. Any suggestions?

Also, since I fly out of Florence early morning on the 29th of May, I will have two more nights in Florence. Any recommendations of Florence hotels closer to the airport? Thanks!!!

cjacob

The airport in Florence is only 15-20 minutes from the city. There are no hotels near the airport that I would recommend to stay in. The airport is only 4 gates so you don't need to get there the recommended &quot;2-hours&quot; in advance. I would stay in Florence those two nights and not bother staying near the airport. You'll be much happier staying in the city where you can go out to great restaurants and wander the streets eating gelato afterwards!

As for a hotel in Florence, stay in the center of the city, near the Duomo. It's walking distance to everything and has such a better atmosphere then staying &quot;off the beaten path&quot;.

seeksocean

Thanks so much Cjacob,

Great advice! Any recommended hotels?