girls trip to Italy in October--recommendations?
 

Hello, we are three girls in our early 30s planning a trip for approx 10 days to Italy in Mid October.

I am set on seeing Cinque Terre and one girl is set on Tuscany. Other than that we are pretty flexible and a little overwhelmed as to how to plan. Basically we want to relax, eat, wander and drink lots of wine!

We were thinking of trying to rent some type of Villa in the Tuscany region and maybe just doing 2-3 days in Cinque Terre. Ideally, we would like to do an open jaw trip and fly into Rome and out of Venice or vice versa. We would like a day or two in each of those places if possible.

We are trying to keep this reasonably low budget if we can....does anyone have suggestions on best ways to do airfare to Italy, especially open jaw or one way trips? What about finding a villa or place to stay in. We'd also love to do some cooking classes if possible. Any tips much appreciated!

Hi there darbyvt,

Good choice! I would stay in Florence for an entire week...you will be in a wonderful city at a reasonable distance from any Tuscan tourist attractions, both sea and country-side. It takes only 1.40h by train to Rome and 2.40h to Venice. Train is the cheapest and quickest solution...

As I have done, I would strongly suggest to rent a car in Tuscany...but just if you don't drink too much wine ;-)
Auto Europe is one of the best and most reliable car rentals http://www.autoeurope.com/

If you are looking for an apartment in Tuscany, have a look at:
http://www.summerinitaly.com/
http://www6.cuendet.com/URP/lang/eng/
http://www.rentvillas.com/

hope it helps ;-)

Don't miss the markets and other gorgeous shops in Florence. Budget or not, they are worth a look. I now have gorgeous leather gloves that weren't expensive and that I adore. :)

Ciao from Florence!
I also agree, on a budget staying in a villa is tough.

Are you renting a car?
there are some fabulous B&B's in farmhouses which would allow you to stay for shorter times and not be blocked into a Saturday to Saturday schedule.

Staying in FLorence ( which has been my home for 20 years) is a great base to tour from for all your dreams.

Flying into Venice and out of Rome makes sense with Tuscany in between.

I'm not sure on the maximum number of persons , but email this hotel,
http://www.hotelpuntamesco.it/english/hotel.html
It is in the new town of moterosso and can recommend it from a visit last year.

Where are you coming from and will you be renting a car?

And when you say Tuscany, do mean a big city like Firenze or do you want the "under the Tuscan type" place?

If the focus of your trip is not cultural sightseeing -- and you shouldn't feel obliged to load up on churches and museums -- then basing yourselves in Firenze (Florence) is going to mean a terrific amount of traffic and pollution day after day. And Firenze is more expensive than some other towns on the train line (Pisa pops to mind, which has better night life, too.) I even think the shopping Lucca is better.

How about Cortona?

http://www.cortona.com/

It's a little harder to get to by train, but it might offer you a terrific combination of wandering and views, and should you want more greenery, you can take a bus rides to nearby smaller towns. Rome is 90 minutes from there.

My suggestion would be

Venice
Cinque Terre
Cortona
Rome

Thank you to everyone for your replies! I apologize for not getting back, have been out of town for a bit. The Tuscan apt sites are great, definitely helped narrow things down. I think we have realized that we can't afford so much a 'villa' but we want something more rustic than a hotel in a big city. Cortona looks lovely...so many options!

At this point, I think we (2 of us) will fly into London (as that seems to be cheapest) and stay for a day or two and then an inter European flight to Florence (or nearby) meet our friend, hang in Tuscany for a few days, head to Cinque Terre for a day or two, then head to Rome until our friend leaves. From there we will explore Rome and surrounding areas of Amalfi for a few days and then head to Barcelona for 4 days to finish off our trip and fly out. Any thoughts on Naples or Capri? What about Ischia? Has anyone been there, is it easy to get to and stay in a budget?

Finally, what are thoughts on getting some type of train pass? Are we better to just do single tickets? We plan to only do train within Italy only. Probably will need a ticket from Florence/Tuscany area to CT and then from CT to Rome. Not sure beyond that.

Again thanks for all the links on accomadations and car rentals, we will keep looking at all of them. Also, anyone good cooking class recommendations (in Tuscan regions) Has anyone used accidental tourist? Thanks again in advance!

You are planning a 10 day trip or a longer one?

No train pass. Not worth it.

Now on to the knottier issues.

It might help your planning to know that there are regular flights from Gatwick London to Genova (about 2 hours from Cinque Terre.)

There is also an overnight ferry from Genova to Barcelona.

Right now, you are hopping all over the map, backtracking.

Are you still only going for 10 days?

Right now you are describing going to London, Cortona, Le Cinque Terre, Roma, Napoli/Amalfi, Barcelona in ---- how many days?

I wouldn't take less than 3 weeks to do a trip like that.

It will not be easy to get from a place like Cortona to Cinque Terre -- or from Cinque Terre to Roma (unless you fly from Genova airport). It is never easy to move in Napoli or go back and forth from islands. You will of course need to fly to Barcelona.

You are talking about a lot in transportation costs, and you've picked some fairly pricey hotel destinations: London, Rome, an Amalfi island, Barcelona.

You are leaving very little time to eat, wander, relax and drink lots of wine -- which was your original motive to travel as a group.

You need to cut some destinations. For 10 days, even 12 if you are transiting through London, I would pick two destinations if you want to get beyond cities.

London is a good choice. Check Ryanair for flight to any city into Italy.

On way out, if you are flying back to states from Spain or Italy through London, I highly suggest taking the same airline out of Italy or Spain as you will fly back to the states. I am assuming this in British Airways. This will save you big time hassles.

Make sure to plan the boat trip in Cinque Terre, Portovenere to Levanto. Nice video of thre trip by boat here:
http://www.webvisionitaly.com/catego...p;ref_item=379

You need to clarify if you're still going for 10 days. There's no way you can do London, Cortona, Le Cinque Terre, Roma, Napoli/Amalfi and Barcelona in 10 days! Even all your Italy destinations stated earlier are too much for 10 days. For that number of days, you need to choose 2, or at the most 3 destinations.

And if you want to wander and drink a lot of wine, you don't want to be staying out in the country in Tuscany where you have to drive home after dinner!

>>And if you want to wander and drink a lot of wine, you don't want to be staying out in the country in Tuscany where you have to drive home after dinner!<<

You can stay in the country if you stay at an agriturismo or locanda that serves meals. Some of them are fantastic destinations with fantastic food. You'll be happy not to leave.

There are also Tuscan hilltowns so embedded in the beautiful countryside that one really does feel one is in the country, but the town has several restaurants which are easily walked to.

But no -- don't pick a villa or farm apartment that requires you to drive home after dinner.

Thank you all. Let me rephrase. We are flying into London, will arrive early Friday morning. Plan to take a flight to Florence/Pisa/whatever is cheapest and meet our friend in Florence Sat evening or Sun morning. Personally I am still overwhelmed with where to stay in Tuscany region. We may just stay in Florence but I/we are completely open to staying anywhere. We just want to drink wine and look at the countryside! We will probably do Sun, Mon, Tues in Tuscany/Florence area, Wed morning take a train to CT via Pisa. Check in to hotel, hike all day, train back, stay the night and then train to Rome in the morning. Then we should have Thurs eve and all day Friday in Rome. Our friend will leave Saturday and then 2 of us will have another week+ (until the following Monday). IF we get too cramped getting to CT we will just do that after the other friend leaves and then probably fly to Barcelona for 3-4 days. If we made it to CT we will just hang around Rome or nearby areas for the next few days. Ferry is out (from Genoa) for the other friend gets seasick after too long.

So...total will be actually about 17 days (for 2 of us). Does this sound more doable now? Sorry for the confusion! Personally I am fine to stay in hostels the entire time...just trying to satisfy three women though! :)

So...keep the advice coming for a good place to stay in the Florence/Tuscany area for a few days. There are just so many areas, as nice as it sounds to have a big villa in the middle of nowhere, I think realistically we would like easy access to other places or be able to walk/bus places. Again, thank you thank you! The trip is still much in the works (obviously). Need the advice! :)

Has anyone heard of La Collina (San Gimignano Volterra) Tuscany. It doesn't require a full week rental and seems to be a good central location and reasonable. Advice?

www.lacollinatuscany.com

thanks!

Your link doesn't work but if you base yourselves in that area you are going to isolated from major attractions. You may not care if you want to sit and enjoy wine, but you mentioned being "realistic" about doing some touristing.

How about going up to Fiesole?

http://www.fattoriadimaiano.com/en/

PS: You can rent in at the Fattoria for less than a week, especially the later you get into October. There are other places in Fiesole and Impruneta (also close to Firenze) if you do google searches.

Well, I was able to make the link work to La Collina, but surely you are not thinking of this villa as a good base without a car?

Hi,

I read the posts with interest and would offer a professional reply if I may. I work for a villa rental agency ( www.qualityvillasitaly.co.uk ) and though our product may not suit you, you should bear in mind a villa rental, when divided in cost between the 3 of you, can be cost effective.Often you will have your own private grounds and pool if you pick carefully. They are a great base from which to make day trips out. October could be mild as well, so possibility of a late autumn BBQ!
Other than that, maybe an inner city apartment - e.g. Florence. Having enjoyed self catering for too long, I couldnt go back to a hotel where you have to take breakfast at certain times and have other guests wondering past you etc!

I don't quite understand why others were recommending a week in Florence, Florence is a horrible place from which to daytrip by car. Unless you stay on the outskirts and then you might as well be anywhere.

You can do daytrips from Florence by train and bus, but it sounds like you're more interested in the countryside. Your trip sounds too rushed for a relaxing stay at a villa, doing daytrips and sampling the local wine.

I'm still a little confused as to your schedule. However, look into cheap flights from airports like Genoa/Genova or Pisa or Florence. www.whichbudget.com and www.harefares.com are good sources of cheap flight information.

Personally, I would be bored in a villa for a week based in a small town. We go to Tuscany for the wine and food and travel mostly with friends. Last year there were 8 of us this year 12. We prefer to base ourselves in Florence and hire a driver to take us into the countryside to the wineries we want to visit. Then we make a day trip to Assisi or Siena, etc.

We like having all Florence has to offer at our fingertips as we have different interests as well and do not to be doing things together all of the time.

Personally I found the CT to be a big letdown but I know some love it.
I think a few days in Rome would be far more interesting and fun.

JMHO having traveled often to Italy with girlfriends and small groups over the past 20 years.