Italy Countryside
 

Hi, I visited Val d'Orcia in October 2013. The landscape at that time had already turned brown although I could still see some patches of green. I plan to visit the area again in winter (end January/early February). I know the best scenery has to be found some time in April / May. But, how is the landscape like in end January/early February? Apart from Va d'Orcia, I also plan to explore other regions such as Molise, Le Marche, Abruzzo, etc. How is the farming/cultivation landscape like in those regions in winter? Are they all hibernating at all at that time? Thanks.

Yes, in midwinter almost all the vegetation (except conifers ) are hibernating. If you want a pretty outdoors experience consider from early April on.

In jan/Feb I would do only cities - esp given the short days and early dark.

We spent NYE week there last year - you can see our pics here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7639164500734/

I imagine it would look similar later in Jan...

Hi nytraveler, thanks for the reply. I'm not into outdoor activities but into landscape photography. Winter can be a good time to capture wintry ambience of a countryside and this is the main reason I'm considering going there in winter.

Thanks for sharing your photos, jamikins. They look lovely and now I know how does the winter landscape look like in Val d'Orcia.

Happy to help - we had a great time and found the landscape very beautiful.

Happy planing!

We absolutely love love love Le Marche and have been 5 weeks in the last 2 years.

Pics here https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7634528008046/

Watch the weather there in winter though, they had tonnes of snow a couple years ago in Feb!

Wow, your photos of Le Marche came timely as I was trying to search it over flickr. Thanks again.

You are most welcome!

jamikins,

Your pictures made my mouth water! Now I'll definitely be heading to Le Marche on my next visit. You have an excellent eye for composition - your pictures are wonderful.

I see you are the pug girl. Do you have pugs? I have a black one named Yoda! He makes me laugh every day.

Thanks so much Dayle! I hope you love Le Marche!!!

Yes I have two fawn pugs, our boy Hamilton and our girl Charlie! Aren't they the best dogs ever!?

They really are. Yoda is very elderly now and I don't know how much longer he will be with me, but we've had many great years and quite a few travels together! We are totally attached.

Ours are 12 and 10 and getting very old...but kind are going to live forever ;)

There is so much rain in late autumn and early winter in much of Italy, including southern Tuscany, that the green appears in mid-winter and late winter (meaning January and February). You might of course see white snow.

Nytraveler has never been to that part of Tuscany in winter, so she doesn't know a thing about it!

Here is a report/quote from the NYTimes (not "nytraveler) about visiting the val d'Orcia in winter:

"The temperature had dropped to 40 degrees and the color palette had shifted to the shockingly bright green that appears in these hills only in the winter and early spring."

There are more quotes in the article about how the landscape there in winter is colorful and lush:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/tr...anted=all&_r=0

I live in Le Marche. It definitely isn't totally brown in the winter, and in February there are already many signs of spring. The almond trees bloom even in January sometimes. The fields that have been planted in winter wheat are already a bright emerald green by December, and remain green until May or June, when they begin to turn golden. There will also be plowed fields, which will be planted later in the year, so the green will alternate with brown. If you're in sight of the mountains, which means almost anywhere in Le Marche, the peaks will normally be capped with snow.

Here is a photo I took once in January or February:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...o/IMG_0935.JPG

(The date shown under details is the date I scanned the photo, which was originally on film.)

There is a possibility of snow in February, but the big snowfall of a few years ago (with snow up to our windowsills!) was a once-in-a-generation event. Many years there is no snow at all where we live, in the foothills. Other years, we have snow, but it's gone by noon. I've only once or twice seen a snowfall here that lasted all day. Of course, the possibility of snow varies by altitude. In the mountains, there is snow much more often, or even all winter on the higher peaks.

Bvlenci - gorgeous photo!

Thanks, that's the view from my terrace! It's not as good as it should be, as it was scanned.

Oh my what a beautiful view! We are new converts to Le Marche, having had a few days there in the 2nd week in October near Montegiorgio. I can't wait to go back, so beautiful, delicious food, lovely places to go walking, nice people, no hordes of other tourists...aahhhh. (not to mention all the wonderful factory stores to visit)

Wow I am so jealous of your view!!

Ok nothing to see here people (let's keep it as our little secret!)

I hope that photo once and for all silences the constant falsehoods on Fodor's about Italy in winter from a handful of people who repeatedly jump into these threads -- for reasons I cannot fathom -- to discourage people from taking the trip to Italy they would enjoy.

These people will not take responsibility for the fact that new people here obviously expect experienced people to answer their questions -- not people who have no experience to offer.

Anyone who has been to the Italian countryside after the rainy season has seen how green it is. If you live in New York, Italy doesn't look like New York in winter.

Bvlenci, the scenery looks gorgeous and this is what I'm dreaming of to look at when I get there. I guess one could see this kind of view in every corner of the Le Marche but which village that offers the best view (green pasture in the foreground and snow-capped mountains in the backgrpound)?

You did also mention about the green in the winter which is coming from the wheat. Other than wheat, what else do they cultivate? Sorry for asking such question as I'm also very interested at knowing the farming/cultivation activities taking place in the region throughout the year as it may be helpful in my future trip planning in other seasons.

Thanks a lot.

Sandralist, thank you for the link to the article about Tuscany in the winter. That's very assuring.

Lucky you, bvlenci!

We spent the month of October in Italy and found it to be beautiful: like a brown/tan/gold quilt blanketing the hills. Sure it wasn't green, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

When people come to visit us, they tend to walk straight through to the terrace. In the summer, the door is always open. All year, we get spectacular sunsets. In fact, I tell my husband that I married him for the terrace.

Here's another photo I like, taken at dawn the day after Christmas. It shows the rising sun reflected in the door that leads to the terrace.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

I didn't edit the colors of this photo at all. The door is painted a cream color; the color you see is painted by the sun.

That is stunning bvlenci, lucky you!
When I go back I am going to spend more time just staring at the view.

The entire area of the foothills of Le Marche, from north to south, has many points where you would see views like that. I hate to admit it, but I've seen many even prettier views. In fact, much as I like Tuscany, I think Le Marche is prettier. It has a more varied agriculture for one thing, which yields those views of patches of olive grove, plowed fields, wheat, sunflowers and vineyards.

I live in the province of Ancona; most of the farms around here are quite small, so there is more a patchwork effect. The other important crops around here, other than olives and grapes, are sunflowers, and plants such as lettuce, cabbage, and onions, which are grown for their seeds, rather than for the vegetables.

There are also field corn, barley, and other grains, and various silage crops.

The view we had at our BandB was stunning and we will definitely go back there. The mountains were further away, you must be closer to the mountains.

Can you tell me about the sunflowers, we saw lots of fields of them where they were left standing dead, is there a reason for that, or just the farmer hadn't got round to clearing them yet?

I was also intrigued with how steep the fields were, not sure I'd want to be on the tractor plowing some of those ones.

Thanks blvenci for the great info. Which village do you recommend to stay as a base for someone like me who depends totally on public transport to move around? Will the frequency of the bus service plying between villages drop drastically in winter? Would you mind giving me the link of the website of local buses? Thanks again.

Hi, I have confirmed my air-ticket to Italy for travel between 15 March 2015 to 2 Apr 2015. It's time now to do more extensive research especially cycling routes. Will raise more questions as the time goes.

I'm sorry,Costa, that I didn't see your November question.

There are almost no buses plying from town to town in the parts of Italy where I live. The bus lines are almost always arranged so that buses from the countryside converge on a larger town or city in the morning, and then disperse back to the countryside in the afternoon. This schedule suits students and commuters, but tourists are usually going against the flow. The frequency of buses is usually greater when school is in session, and there is very limited service on Sundays. Many bus routes have no Sunday service at all.

Staying in the countryside doesn't help, because the buses would all be heading to the nearest city or large town.

I think it's the same the world over. If you live in the New York area, you'd find plenty of buses going into the city in the morning from White Plains and Greenwich, and back out in the evening. But you won't find buses that will take you from White Plains to Greenwich.

Where in Italy will you be going? If you are relying on public transportation, you have to pick your base carefully after doing research on transportation.

Bus service is usually organized by province, with not much service between provinces, and even less between regions.

Thanks bvlenci for the reply.

Since my November post, I have been starting gathering some info on the towns and the transport options. From the info I've gathered, I may pick Foligno as a base. The reason being because there is a rail line linking it with Fabriano, Matelica/Camerino, San Severino Marche and Tolentino in Marche, and Assisi and Perugia in Umbria. As for moving around, I understand that there are many electric bikes available for rent in Umbria. So, I may rent one and then take it on the train to Matelica or Tolentino to cycle around the countryside. Do you think it's workable?

As I will be in Foligno from 15 March 2015 to 19 March 2015, is this period a school holiday?

Meanwhile, I plan to stay 1 or 2 nights in Castelluccio di Norcia after Foligno. I will take the advantage of the Thursday-only bus to get to Castelluccio. But, on the return journey back to Norcia, I may need to take a taxi. Is taxi easily available in Castelluccio and how much will it cost to travel from Castelluccio to Norcia?

Thank you.

Most of the places you mention in Le Marche are not on rail lines. Where did you get your information.

I got the schedule from the trenitalia website. For instances,

Foligno

05:45
Fabriano

06:40

01:59


Travel with train change


Regionale
21672

Image

Price starting from

6. 45 €

Select

XXXXXXX

Fabriano

06:58

S. Severino Marche

07:44


Regionale
7092

Just back. I did cycling around the countryside in Abruzzo and Monferrato. Had a great time and the weather in March was perfect with flowering everywhere.

I have just uploaded my travel photos in the link below:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/travel...7651471035189/

Gorgeous photos Costa! Looks like you had a me great weather!

I missed the response with information on train connections in Le Marche. I was unaware of train connections to San Severino Marche and Tolentino. Camerino is on top of a fairly high hill, and the closest train station is in Castelraimondo a good 10 km (6 miles) downhill from Camerino.

It's probably too late for the information to be useful, though.

A place like Molise has some great landscape photo ops because of all the little hilltop towns and farms.

I ended up not visiting Le Marche due to time constraint. I will leave Le Marche and Molise to next time. Thank you.