franco

Beautiful pictures, thank you nessundorma. It's like coming home...
Btw, anybody who comes to Castelluccio in summer, don't miss the gorgeous delicatessen kiosk (in fact, a simple hanger) on the "main square" (those who know Castelluccio will continue laughing till tomorrow morning reading my "main square&quot. Those tiny soft wild boar sausages are among the greatest delicacies to be tasted anywhere; or the culone di mulo, a delicious salami to be soaked in heavy red wine one day before eating (sagrantino, nessundorma!!); or that soft fat truffled salami whose name I simply don't remember at the moment...

nessundorma

I'd still want to break it into two days, and probably 3.

But I'm not a fast driver.

nessundorma

(In fact, I brake for photo ops.)

rbs1175

I have great news my parents trip is now actually a full 14 days, thanks for the advice...keep it coming if you have anything else.

rbs1175

Oh I forgot to add..my parents are used to moving around a lot and seeing lots of places. Although many advise against trying to do too much my mother will go crazy in one place for too many days...In her opinion of course.

Eloise

Robyn,

No offence intended, but you did say that this is your parents' first trip to Italy and that they had travelled in the U.S. (which I assume means not in Europe).

A lot of the U.S. is much of a muchness; a skyscraper in Chicago does not look all that different from one in New York. Small towns look different in different areas of the country, but in New England they all look pretty much the same.

That is not the case in Europe. For one thing, there is a huge amount of diversity <b>within</b> each city and a humongous amount of difference <b>between</b> cities.

I very much doubt that your mother will get bored if she spends four days in Rome...

bobthenavigator

Nessundorma, I do have 3 shots in the Dolomites towards the end of the gallery--none of Lago Garda.

BTW, you certainly are a welcome and knowledgable addition to this forum. Do I know you from a former life or from slowtrav?? Who you be ???

franco

Robyn, greet your mother: Rome alone boasts a plenty of sights and monuments that whole other countries (if not continents) could be very proud of. I dare saying that there are at least 100 states on earth where a truly thorough visit needs less time than only a half-as-thorough visit to Rome.

nessundorma

Great rbs. Those two day will really help.

Even in Venice your mom has plenty of opportuntities to get a change of scene: A trip to the lagoon islands of Torcello (so atmospheric) and Burano (so colorful) are really right up their alley. There are good places to have lunch on both islands.

I'm including a link to photos of Pitigliano to give you some idea why I think it's a great photo op:

http://www.pitigliano-toscana.com/album

By the way, for the marginal benefit of trying to beat the heat in Rome, I suggest flying into Rome and out of Venice.

In between, they can really go just about anywhere and have a great trip. Obviously (if you look at Bob's pictures) the classic Tuscan landscapes of the Chianti region inspire a lot of photographers. But if your father would rather go someplace less touristed, there are really fine destinations (like northwest Tuscany or Le Marche) that might really be exciting.

When I travel by car, I tend to stay in rooms rented by restaurants, one night at a time. I like to keep moving and to see a lot of the countryside. It's cheap and fun -- although I have to admit that part of the appeal is that I am a wine drinker, and I'd rather walk &quot;home&quot; (upstairs) after a dinner than drive an unfamiliar Italian road at night after a few glasses of vino.

I still think that the problem with Lago di Garda is that the best scenery is in the north of it, and to include that with a trip to Rome means a lot of driving, although one possibility is to fly into Milan, immediately tour Lago di Garda, then to Venice, then down to Rome. But that means speeding through some very beautiful countryside, and they might find it heartbreaking!

I'm sticking with my recommendation of Maremma and a bit above.

nessundorma

bob,

Found the cows! Nice shots. But I think my fave is the guy shaving.

Maybe we do know each other from some old Italian movie. Haven't you heard -- there really are only a couple of thousand people in the world, and they keep running into each other, increasingly in Italy.

franco

nessundorma, I didn't quite doubt that you'd stick to your Pitigliano/Maremma recommendation, and I, too, think that this is a very interesting region.
But just to correct a fairly misleading impression that you're creating: it's by no means nearer to Rome than the Piano Grande... From Rome, the difference between Pitigliano and Castelluccio is exactly 7 (seven!) kilometres, or 4.4 miles, with the lesser percentage of highway kilometres for Castelluccio; or a difference of 23 kilometres, if you take the Terni route, with almost precisely the same percentage of highway kilometres as for Pitigliano...