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Help with italy itinerary and places to stay

Help with italy itinerary and places to stay

Old Jul 28th, 2009, 06:34 AM
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Help with italy itinerary and places to stay

Hello,

We are planning a trip to Italy in the beginning of September. We are a group of three couple and two young children (2 and 3years old). We are all in our early thirties.

We would really appreciate comments on our itinerary and also recommendations for apartments.

3rd September: Early morning 9:00am flight to Rome from London
4th September: Rome
5th September: Rome
6th September: Rome

I have written to quite a few places for apartments in Rome in Piazza Navona/ Campo dei Fiori and Trastevere area.

On 6th evening we plan to rent a car and drive down to Tuscany. Could you please suggest an apartment/villa a town/village in Tuscany which would make a good base for day trips to Florence, Pisa and two days for seeing the countryside. Also with two young children we would prefer something which is not remote.

7th September: Florence (we plan to drive to the outskirts of the city. Park some where and take the public transport from there).

8th September: Tuscan Countryside (I know Tuscany is huge, however I haven't really read much about the area yet, so any suggestions would be most welcome)

9th September: Pisa ( we will take the car into Pisa)

10th September: Countryside/ relax

11th September: Will driving down to Venice with two small children be a better idea. Or taking the train would be better?

12th September: Venice

13th September: Venice

14th September: Fly back from Venice

We had planned an extremely rushed trip to the Scottish highlands, which the fodorites had tried warning us against. This time we have tried to keep a moderate/fast pace. Please suggest what would be a good base for Tuscany area? Also please do suggest any accommodation recommendations that you might have. We are looking for accommodation in teh range of 200-250euros/night.

This forum was extremely helpful for us, for planning our lasttrip. Hope we will get similarly good and honest suggestions this time too.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:03 AM
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>>>10th September: Countryside/ relax
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:06 AM
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Kybourbon - I don't think the OP was suggesting that they would leave/drop the car in Pisa, but that they would use the car to get to/from Pisa on the day they plan to visit.

I would suggest basing in Pienza, Montalcino or Montepulciano (southern Tuscany) - very nice area. I would not bother with a car to Venice but I don't have children so can't comment on train travel with kids.

Regardless of where you choose to stay, you should book your accommodation immediately. September is still high season in Italy and many places will be booked up already.

Happy travels!
Amanda
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:06 AM
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First, please don't take it poorly if I just tweak your language a bit to help you orient yourselves. You'll be heading north your entire trip, so where I learned to drive (California), we'd tend to say "I'm going up" to Tuscany and Venice.

Since you don't want to leave Rome until the evening of the 6th, and it gets quite difficult to drive in Tuscany in the dark, I suggest that you take the train to Firenze (Florence) and stay 2 nights there. Then pick up a rental, go see Pisa, and then head off for your countryside adventure. Drive to Venice.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:09 AM
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Kybourbon I think there is some confusion. We are drive from which ever town we are in (Seina?) to Pisa and come back by the car. I just wanted people's opinion on taking the car to Pisa. We return the car only on the morning on which we leave for Venice. Or if you people suggest then drive down to Venice and give the car in there.

Your suggestion of changing the Pisa plan to day 10 is definitely worth considering, if we plan to take the train ton Venice. I will keep that in mind.

Thanks a lot. Any recommendations for a specific base in Tuscany?
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:20 AM
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Amanda thanks a lot for your suggestions. I will immediately start looking for accommodation in the area mentioned by you. Do you have specific recommendations.

Zeppole you were right in pointing out my mistake, we really are going up to Tuscany and Venice. Even in India we drive up north.

We could leave from Rome a little sooner in the day, so that we have time to get to the Tuscan town/village, wherever we are based. With two small children we do not want to keep changing accommodation every two nights.

I think we will drive to Venice as it would be much simpler.

T
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:26 AM
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Yes, I can understand your reluctance not to keep switching acommodations. Tuscany is filled with wonderful ones, and others can give you specific recommendations, but I will add I think you should get one with with a pool/and or air conditioning for that time of year and -- very important -- mosquito screens.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:28 AM
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If you are asking if it's easy to use a car to drive to the monuments in Pisa and find parking, yes.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:35 AM
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Zeppole thanks for your suggestion about mosquito screens, we hadn't thought of that. Though I have written to a few places in the Val D Orcia region, however there has been no place yet which has really caught my attention. Those that I really liked don't rent for less than a week. I have largely looked at vrbo and uk-holidayrentals. Please let me know if there are any other suggested agencies/ websites that O coild look at.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:41 AM
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Haven't used this agency so I can't personally recommend it, but they have a lot of listings in the val d'Orcia area:

http://www.homeaway.com/Italy/Tuscan...iata/r8984.htm
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 07:54 AM
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this place caught my eye, although I have no idea of the price or if it accepts nightly rentals

http://www.homeaway.com/Italy/Tuscan...iata/r8984.htm
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 08:10 AM
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Zeppole this place looks absolutely lovely. I have written to them. They do not give a nightly rental option, however I liked it so much that I anyways asked.

I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Thanks again.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 09:49 AM
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I was thinking about our time in Tuscany and realised that Val dOrcia area could be too far for the day trips to Florence and Pisa ( especially with children that young). Do you people think it would be a better idea to look for a small town/village near Florence/ Pisa.

Could you please suggest a good town?
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 10:23 AM
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Montepulciano is only 115km from Florence so that doesn't seem long to me for a day trip, but again I don't have any experience travelling with children. Pisa would be a good 2-3 hour drive though so I can understand that being a bit much.

Perhaps if proximity to Pisa and Florence are priorities you should consider a base of Siena, San Gimignano or Volterra, or even Lucca...
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 02:23 PM
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I agree with you rajshiv, and was originally going to suggest you look in the Chianti area.

I don't think San Gimignano is a good base for day trips (nor Volterra). Lucca is a completely walled car-free city, with bike riding atop the high walls -- but it is in an absolutely flat part of Tuscany, like Pisa and Firenze, and it can get quite humid. You will miss a countryside experience.

There are many, many rentals in Chianti, which is all rolling vinyards. It would make more sense to me to take a day trip to see Montepuliciano from somewhere near Florence, than the other way around.

Let me see if I can find you some Chianti-rental websites.
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 02:29 PM
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http://en.agriturismo.it/chianti_fiorentino/index.jsp

http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/holi...8fd74d80e15f31

http://www.chianti.it/

http://www.agriturismofiorentino.it/eng/gallery.html
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 02:35 PM
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http://www.castellina.com/holiday_ho...723e5325a0487e

And although you'll be sharing space with a lot of tourists, sometimes it is convenient to stay right in a small town rather than on a farm

http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/vaca...einchianti.htm
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Old Jul 28th, 2009, 02:39 PM
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I want to mention that if you stay in or near Panzano, you can take a bus from there to Firenze, although I am not sure when they run.
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Old Jul 30th, 2009, 06:06 AM
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Thanks a lot Amanda and Zeppole. We finally decided to stay at the Alloro BnB in Florence. The rentals that we liked were either full or would not accommodate 6 adults and 2 young children, or were not within our range. After looking at the positive reviews for Alloro on trip advisor, we just decided to go for it.

We also have our apartment booked for Rome in the Trastevere area through a friend of ours. We are still looking for a place in Venice. For the Venice leg we have decided to split as two couples have already been there and they decided to go to the lakes. We are now looking for something in the range of 100-120 euros/night. If anyone has suggestions, please do share.

I will soon start working on a more detailed itinerary for our trip, for which the posts on this forum will be invaluable. I have already marked an excellent one day itinerary for Florence. Once I put together my itinerary for Rome and Venice, I will definitely come back for comments.

Thanks for all the help.
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Old Jul 30th, 2009, 06:18 AM
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Could youn clarify please, R? are your Venice needs for one couple, no kids?
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