Help us plan :)
 

Hi everyone,

We are planning a one month August Italian vacation this summer and we would really appreciate your suggestions on where we should visit and spend our time. As it looks like the threat from COVID is falling and with the increased delivery of vaccinations, August should be a safer time to travel.

Last summer, we had planned to visit Vienna, Prague and the Puglia region of Italy, but this summer, we just want to fly into Italy, rent a car, then drive through the country, visiting different regions and off-the-beaten-path places.

We adore Italy and have visited many of its treasures over the last decade, basing ourselves in Bellagio, Trieste, Venice, Lido, Bologna, Verona, Florence, Noli, Rome, Naples, Sorrento, Praiano, Sant'Agata, Tropea, Urbino, Ascoli Piceno, Otranto, Lecce, Ortigia, Noto, Scicli, Favignana and Palermo; taking day trips by car to many of the highlights around these beautiful places, including Parma, Ravenna, Pisa, Siena, Volterra, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum, Capri, Ravello, Offida, Gallipoli, Alberobello, Modica, Enna, Cefalu, San Vito Lo Capo, Varenna, Murano and Montepulciano (I am sure I am missing a few).

We do not mind driving long distances and covering different regions, but we do not want this to be a very touristy type vacation. We want to visit beautiful, serene villages, eat great local food, spend some time at gorgeous beaches, spending a few nights near to the beach and in country resorts, with museums/art being a secondary interest on this vacation. We also would not mind ferrying it to Sardinia and/or the Aeolian Islands, which are places we have considered visiting in the past but never did.

Where would you recommend we go?

Thanks for taking your time and helping us plan. I am sure this will help other people as well as they start planning their vacations.

Andrea

I like what your crystal ball thinks about Covid recovery on a global level. Because of the virus variants, I'm not as optimistic, although you can certainly dream plan. Here's the current situation for U.S. travelers:

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/reope...irus-recovery/

For other reasons, August would not be my first choice. Too hot and humid for me (but perhaps not for you) and too crowded in many places (but who knows about this year). If it has to be August, I'd go to mountains rather than beaches. I love the Dolomites and Alps, but there are other mountain destinations and national parks that might fit into your eventual itinerary.

FWIW, July and August are the busiest months of the year on Sardinia and the Aeolian Islands. Lodging rates are much higher. It's so much nicer to visit in May/June and September/October.

August, go up into the Alps. Hotel costs fall a bit and the views are wonderful.

The Lakes! Nothing but the lakes! Fly into Milan and do some visiting there first. Do a search on Fodor's and check out travel books. Now that I write nothing but the lakes, I was sorry we didn't visit the town of Como.
We based in Bellagio..scroll down to August 21: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...gio-tr-947180/

Hope the covid situation will allow this, AirBalloon.

Hi,

We do not mind the August heat or crowds (we have travelled to southern Italy in both late July and August and really enjoyed it) and the sea water is the perfect temperature for us during these months.

We would like to see the north of Italy, so we would consider a mix of north and south by starting in the north and driving down south for a little more warmth and a more Mediterranean atmosphere. If you have any special places we should base ourselves in the Alps region, please let us know.

As well, apart from the places we have already been to and mentioned in my post, do you have any inland or coastal southern towns we should see? Any of the southern regions appeals to us, including Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Abruzzo and Basilicata, as well as Sardinia and the Aeolians.

Thanks again

Positano
 

Have you been to Positano? It looks really nice there.

At this point, Italy hasn't even announced a date when U.S. tourists will be allowed into the country, so if you make any reservations be certain they can be cancelled without penalty.

Florence and Cinque Terre were my favorite places. Not sure I could hike there now but it was beautiful. We are booking cancellable reservations, a bit higher prices but worth it for the risk.

Sounds like a great opportunity for a nice long trip to Italy. My advice would be to stay flexible, book refundable hotels versus AirBNB's. Driving should make it easier to plan. Here are some trip ideas for Venice and Rome/Positano/Sorrento: https://travelfam.wordpress.com/category/italy-2017/ https://travelfam.wordpress.com/cate...-croatia-2014/ Bon voyage.

Thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it.

On this vacation, we really want to travel to more 'off-the-beaten-path' places as we have visited, sometimes more than once, the larger, more touristy cities. We want to travel the countryside, both inland and coastal, seeing smaller, sometimes overlooked villages, which can offer the most unique opportunities to see Italian life and its history without the multitude of non-Italian tourists.

Urbino, Ascoli Piceno, Tropea, Scicli, Favignana and Noli are the type of places we have been to that I am referring to. We drive on all of our vacations and do not mind driving longer distances from one region to the next to explore and we always stay in hotels/B&B's.

Any places like these you have visited that you would recommend that are not only amazing places to stay in but also serve as great bases to see the surrounding areas?

Thanks

Andrea

We were in Italy for 5 weeks in the fall of 2019 and started our trip in Vicenza. We loved it as my husband is particularly interested in architectural history and this was Palladio’s home town. We not only explored all the sights in the town but did a wonderful day tour with Roberta Parlato, a top notch art historian and guide. She was fantastic and we spent the day exploring several of Palladio’s villas in the region. We also did a day trip to Padova/Padua, where we saw the Scrovegni Chapel.

We traveled north to south, and stayed in Bologna, which I see you’ve already visited. From there, we spent several nights in Spello - wonderful Umbrian town, where we took day trips.

We worked our way to the south, staying in Orvieto, Naples, Capri, Sorrento and, one of our favorite stops, Atrani, a charming town that feels less touristy than many other spots along the Amalfi Coast.

We then traveled to Paestum, which we loved for the Greek temples (an amazing site) and eating at Barlotti, one of the buffalo farms in the region. An absolute must. I still remember the ricotta we ate (and the regular AND smoked mozzarella) as the best I’ve ever had.

Our trip ended in Rome, but that is hardly off the beaten path!

Italy
 

Still not letting tourists in??? Surprising! I thought I read a post of someone going to revello and poditsno. Maybe certain areas or u need a covid test?