Gite or Agriturismo without renting a car? Budget travel suggestions needed!
 

My husband and I will be traveling from the US to London Gatwick and from there would like to fly to France or Italy in October. We will be traveling with a 5 month old baby as well, so are trying to keep things as simple and low-cost as possible. Sticking with easyjet for the prices, Nice looks like one of the only places we can fly without having to spend the night at Gatwick on the way back (expensive and boring).

I've searched the forums and have learned a lot from the country house in france topic, but still need more advice...Is it possible to stay in a gite or agriturismo without having to rent a car? Any positive or negative experiences to share?

I'm looking for an inexpensive weeklong place/area to stay that is:
-accessible by train from Nice
-walking distance from market/groceries and has a kitchen
-allows babies

A small town/village in a somewhat rural area would be nice. We have been on a few fast-paced trips to Europe, so this time we really want to spend a week together as a family, "living like Europeans." We don't care to see any important sites. We'd just like to relax--walk a bit around town, eat good simple foods, etc. We're obsessed with Italian food, but are willing to give France a try also.

Any advice on regions or the feasibility of what I've written above would be greatly appreciated! Meanwhile, I am slowly but surely scouring the gite and agriturismo websites...

To the top. What do I expect, posting at midnight?

Since most country houses are...out in the country, I can't imagine that you would be able to do anything other than stay at the house. That is unless there's a bus stop that you can walk to that can take you to other towns.

What is your budget per night?

The gites website is operating very slowly for me right now, but it looks like there are some for 250 euro and under per week in October. Of course, the lower the better. We aren't picky about how nice it is...just want something relatively clean and safe. It doesn't have to have much space, but the criteria I mentioned in the first post are important.

I think we wouldn't be willing to spend much more than 40 euro per night for a rural gite. Do you think this is unrealistic?

We love Italy and France, and I think that both countries are child-friendly. We love food in both countries, probably preferring France, but that is an individual decision. As another poster said, gites tend to be in small villages or the countryside. Are you sure you do not want to rent a car? I can't imagine traveling around rural Italy or France with an infant, relying on public transportaion. The driving is not difficult. Without a car, I'd stick to the larger towns or smaller cities.

Car rental looks like it would really add to the cost of our trip and we are happy to just stay in one little area, so it doesn't seem worth it to us. I think one day when our baby is old enough to appreciate things, we'd like to tour Normandy by car. But for now, we have a lot of constraints in terms of budget and flexibility. We also really enjoy relaxing in areas where there are few cars, so the larger city idea isn't as appealing. Maybe there is a happy medium? Ideas?

I wouldn't write off a night near Gatwick so quickly. It would reduce worry about whether you will actually make your connection, and there a lot of nearby B&Bs that will pick you up and drop you off at the airport for no extra charge. Last time I stayed here: www.springwoodguesthouse.co.uk/Default.htm - I see they say they can provide a cot. You can either eat in the nearby pub (good food) or maybe take a train up to London for the evening.

How about going to Camogli (near Genoa) and staying in Casa Lauridsen? It would be perfect with a baby.

You can't get to Nice from there, but so what? You won't need a car. There's a train in town. You can go other places on the train, but Camogli is so nice, you might not want to go anywhere else.

And the food is lovely.

Casa Lauridsen has a garden perfect for a baby.

http://www.casalauridsen.dk/

Best airport is Milan, then take a train to Camogli.

Actually, I should have said you can take a train from Nice to Camogli. It's just a very long ride that you probably don't want to do with a five-month old after a transatlantic flight. But if you were willing to spend a night in Nice, that might work.

It would still be easier if you could fly into Milano, or perhaps Pisa or Torino. I don't think you can fly into Genova, but check it out.

Also, BA has some cheapo flights to Italy, as does Alitalia. They might be competitive with EasyJet.

You might look at Vacation Rental by Owner, http://www.vrbo.com/
Numbers 67714 and 108463 are studios/1 bedrooms in Nice for 400 Euro/week in October.

I think it will be very difficult to find something in your price range accessible by public transportation. Most hostels want at least 20 Euros per person per night.

Thanks for the great ideas I hadn't thought of at Gatwick, Camogli and Nice! The Gatwick guesthouse looks great (and a bit cheaper than the Ibis I stayed in last time) and would really open up the possibilities of where I could fly into. Which could be a good thing or a bad thing...too many possibilities! I'm still holding out hope that there might be a small village or town I could get to by public transportation...Car rental seems so expensive!

You're welcome. Without a car I wouldn't think about an agritourismo - I thought the whole idea was that they were out in the country. You might have better luck with a gite. But I'd be inclined to go for a small to medium sized town, and look for an apartment or B&B (chambre d'hote in France).

I would think it would be tough to find somewhere cheap around Nice. How about flying into Marseilles and taking a train to Arles or Avignon, or seeing if you can get a bus to Cassis? If it doesn't have to be near the coast, I enjoyed flying into Lyons and taking the train to Annecy, or consider Paris and staying in Chartres. In Italy you could look at the Cinque Terre, or maybe up in the mountains, like Castelrotto. Have you looked at Lonely Planet or Rough Guide for cheaper accommodation?

I'll look into those places...Castelrotto
I've never heard of--looks like a dream! What month were you there? No, I haven't checked those guides yet...library trips aren't as easy these days. =)

I would never consider either without a car. They're out in the country - and even assuming you're on or near a main road (which doesn;t seem ideal) local transport is likely to be relatively infrequent.

Are you planning on just staying in the house and cooking all your meals there? If so - how will you do shopping without a car? Or how will you see any sights with a baby (you really need a car for all the baby stuff - just think how many diapers you use in a week - and dragging them around on a public bus.)

I think it's a great kind of vacation with a baby - since you can do as much as you want each day - but without a car - VERY complicated.

If you're determined to do without a car, then you really need to rent an apartment in the center of a village - so you can walk to everything. (And don;t forget that in europe -esp in smaller towns, stores are open limited hours and often close on Sunday plus one day or half day per week.)

I was in Castelrotto in June last year, and it was hot! Not so bad up in the mountains - although there's no shade in the meadows - but melting in Bolzano. You should visit Bolzano for the "Ice Man" museum, which was much, much more interesting than I expected. Bus transport is very good around Castelrotto, plus the ski lifts/cable cars/etc are used by hikers in the summer.

I arrived by train (in Bolzano) from Zell-am-See and left by train for Milan for a flight to London. Flying into Venice would put you a bit closer. Did you find this site: www.castelrotto.org? I stayed here: www.cavallino.it which with half-board in the off-season I thought was a good deal. Half-board was a multi-course dinner. May be out of your price range, but there seem to be lots of B&Bs.

Good points about logistics...so if I considered the car rental route, how much should I expect to budget for it? I assume I won't be able to do the smallest type of car b/c of the car seat. Maybe I haven't been looking in the right places to get an idea of how much it would cost. Where online can you find the best deals for car rental in Italy or France?

If I go without a car, the apt in a village option, any more suggestions for villages accessible by public transportation in SE France or NW Italy? I've looked into the cinque terre but doesn't look as much like a 'live like europeans' place b/c of the tourism, we won't be able to hike much, and food/lodging seem a bit more limited and pricey.

The place in Castelrotto looks beautiful...I don't know if I can pull off Castelrotto for this trip, but I am definitely interested in going there sometime! The half board is pretty reasonable and quite appealing. Dumb questions--how does half-board usually work? Is it breakfast and dinner or lunch and dinner? Are you supposed to give a tip if it's half board and you're in Italy?

After finding car rental estimates on this forum, I'm getting even more determined to go without...

Half-board is usually breakfast plus either lunch or dinner. I definitely opt for dinner, which in this case was four courses! I don't remember tipping. For my trip report see www.wilhelmswords.com/eur2006 - last entry.

Great site...thanks!