summertime26

Going to Italy with my daughters (20 years old) and looking for hidden gems off the beaten path!
Will be going into Naples and out of Venice and will be using public transportation.

Places we are considering are: Capri, Sorrento, Pompeii, Tuscany, Florence, Ravenna, Venice .... but are open for any suggestions!! We will be there in May.

adrienne

It's going to be difficult to get off the beaten path using public transportation unless you're willing to do quite a bit of walking as well. Of the places you've listed, only the Tuscan countryside would give you off the beaten path destination and you would need a car to get to the small villages.

Have you been to Italy before and to these destinations? If not then perhaps you should focus on the highlights. How long is your trip? Do you have the month of May?

In Venice, if you look beyond the San Marco to Rialto area there are few tourists and beautiful sights. Sights like Ca' Rezzonico does not get the tourist traffic that the basilica does and is amazingly beautiful. Miracoli church is one of my favorites and see few visitors.

Capri is swamped with day trippers. You need an overnight or two there to explore the island without the throngs.

The pretty part of Sorrento is very small and has lots of tourists. The rest of the town is just another town; not very interesting or pretty.

bobthenavigator

I love May in Italy---how long do you have?

I think you may be 30 to 50 years late for hidden gems, especially without a car. Try not to miss Siena, perhaps as a day trip from Florence, but hardly a hidden gem.

tower

The Italian lake that many ignore....<b>Lake Orta</b>. Agree with Adrienne, car would be so much more convenient for you to find this and other lesser-known gems.

If you're flying into Milan, Orta is a short drive to the northwest.

We've also found that RSM (Republic of San Marino), to the northeast of Perugia and just west of the Adriatic, can be a fun day or two. We bumped into it at one of their twice-yearly Investiture Days (April 1st), when a new "president"(Deputy of Commisioners) is inducted. Colorful ceremonies, featuring the very small standing army, bands, etc.(There are batteries of elevators ready to whisk you up topside from the parking garage.

Another gem in Venice, the old ghetto featuring several very old (15-17th C.) sinagogas, a pleasant square and a respite from the tourist crowds along the Grand Canal.

The smaller towns of Umbria are all pleasant to visit. We used Perugia as a base and daytripping to these was enjoyable and easy. Montefalco was our favorite gem therein. On one corner of the square, there is an enoteca owned by a mother-daughter team that is most refreshing and friendly. Their local wine, olive oil and cheese samples are most generous. They had just bought a new prosciuto slicer, and we were the beneficiaries of several delicious slices wrpped in cheese.

Enjoy your holiday with the girls. (Yo, Adrienne, write!)

tower

Noticed you're flying into Naples...so Orta is out...Ravenna is close to RSM, though.

adrienne

Once again, Stu has made a great call - Lake Orta. I took a ride there from Lake Maggiore, where I was staying, and loved the town, Orta San Guilia. It's small but beautiful. The buildings have frescoed facades and the churches (both in the town and on the island) are beautiful. I stopped en route to visit the chapels to St. Francis which were interesting and had the most amazing view of the Orta San Guilia island from the chapel area.

oedipamaas

Hidden gem is relative. If one means "no other tourist in the town" then yes, that can be tough to find. But once one gets away from the most famous and popular destinations, then you can enjoy marvelous cities and towns without throngs of tourists around you.

I would take a look at Le Marche. I went to a beach town, Fano, in September and it was marvelous: historic and lively town, magnificent beach with only a few beachgoers, and no other single non-Italian tourist in sight. And this for a town right on the train line. Even Urbino, which initially worried with a couple of tour buses, did not feel crowded or harried.

I think as long as one is will to explore regions more in depth and take a chance on towns that might not be famous, you're likely to be rewarded in Italy.

summertime26

Thanks for all the replies!!! I have printed them for my folder! We will have 19 days (two of which will be travel days). I am thinking of taking the train from Florence to Siena and then renting a car. I think it would be fun to stay in a more authentic place somewhere in Tuscany (any suggestions?)...take a cooking lesson, visit an olive oil grove, maybe a winery (although we don't drink much, it might be fun), etc. Maybe rent scooters? Or a bike tour? I think that would be the only place we would get a car though.

adrienne

<< I am thinking of taking the train from Florence to Siena and then renting a car. >>

Are you going to Siena just to rent a car? It might be easier to rent at the Florence airport (and you may have more options).

I would suggest not renting scooters unless you're used to driving them and are used to narrow, winding roads with limited/no shoulders and cars driving fast and passing.

Don't forget to get an International Driving Permit, required in Italy. You can get one at AAA for under $25 including photos.

dulciusexasperis

Your title is in total conflict with the places you list you are thinking of. Not a 'hidden gem' in the bunch. So I'd start by scrapping all of them.

OR, just admit you like what everyone else likes and go to any of the places suggested above, all of which are not 'hidden gems' but well worth visiting nevertheless.

Here is everything you want in one package.
http://www.tuscany-cooking-class.com...ltural-program

Jean

If you're going to drive anywhere, make sure you understand and can identify the Limited Traffic Zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato or ZTL) that have been instituted in cities and towns of all sizes throughout Italy. (Both Florence and Siena have ZTLs.) If you violate a ZTL (even without knowing or meaning to), you'll likely get an expensive ticket in the mail after you get home. You can find ZTL maps for many towns on the internet, but you need to be on the lookout for the signs everywhere. Also note that Italy uses speed cameras.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drivin...s_speeding.htm

If you're moving from south to north, you can train to Orvieto (north of Rome) and pick up a rental car there. Tool around Tuscany for a few days and then return the car farther north (Siena near the train station, Florence airport is easy, or perhaps Lucca depending on your rental company).

isabel

All the places you mention are totally not hidden (although they are gems). They are also quite a ways apart and trying to do all of them in 17 days would not make for a good trip. But you said you were just considering them.

Since you are flying into Naples I would def. do at least a few days in the Sorrento/Amalfi area. I prefer to stay in Sorrento and do day trips to Pompeii, Amalfi, Positano, etc. You can also do Capri easily from Sorrento but it will be crowded. Minimum 3 nights.

Then if you want something less touristy you could go to Puglia - although you'd need a car for that, and it seems like close to a week (I am just planning a trip to that area for next summer, there are a few great trip reports on it if you search). Then you could drive up the east coast area to Venice - that's less 'touristy' than Tuscany.

There are some great towns that I wouldn't call 'hidden' but that are less well known than Siena, Florence and Tuscany area. Verona, Padua, Mantua, Ferrera, Modena, Bergamo. They are all doable by train if you don't want to rent a car. Unless you have specific places you want to see that require a car I've come to feel it's not worth it - the rental cost, gas, parking, tolls, speeding or ZLT fines. Not that I don't rent cars - rented one last summer for rural south of France, renting one next summer for Puglia. But if I don't have to I don't, trains are so nice in Italy, it's really much more relaxing.

Venice of course if the least hidden of everywhere you're considering. But it's such a gem that it's worth it.

Waldo

Naples gets a bad rap for being a poor place to visit. Having spent much time there, I think it beats Rome and Florence as a must see place. Using public transportation, you can see the best places in Napoli very easily. Here's a couple of suggestions- Starting from Piazza Garibaldi, take the number 32 bus and ask the driver to let you out at the Via Petrarc. Getting there is an adventure in itself, but when you get to Via Petrarc, after a few stops, get off the bus and just sit at one of the benches there and just admire the greatest view on earth. You will see, in person, the panorama that is often pictured in the photos of the Bay of Naples. It is astounding to view this scene real live. believe me, you will NEVER forget it. Every time I go there, it's like the first time. Another suggestion is to take the same number 32 bus and get off at the Galleria. There you will see the Galleria, the Opera House and the Castello Real. Each one is a treat by itself. Seeing all three in person is a feast. Be sure to have a coffee and a pastry at the Cafe Gambrinus while you are there. There are more, but my finger is getting tired from typing.

vincenzo32951

In Venice, take a stroll around the Jewish ghetto. You'll think you're in another city.

Florence to Siena: Take the express bus, not the train.

HappyTrvlr

And forget about renting scooters.

dfourh

Bike rentals: Lucca (splendid city; you can bike the entire city wall and not just the town itself, which is great - - total charm); Ferrara (everybody bikes there, it is flat, and has both elegance and medieval enchantment, there are virtually no tourists); also, yesterday I did Rome by bike, which was 100 times better than slogging around by foot.

PalenQ

Vicenza makes a great day trip from Venice - a Palladiun (sp?) architecture haven.

https://www.google.com/search?q=vice...=1600&bih=1075

Lake Garda may a sweet day trip as well - take a train to one of two railheads on the lake and buy a day boat pass and float around what to me is Italy's Lake District's loveliest lake - especially its fjord-like northern tip.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lake...=1600&bih=1075

cmeyer54

Isera - north of Lake Garda!! for a dinner to remember in Milan, cucina piccolo.

violetduck

Not hidden, but Orvieto. Lovely place.

sarge56

summertime- when I read "hidden gems", I was thinking hidden gems within any Italy destination (i.e. non-touristy things in Rome or Venice or Florence).

So, based on that...if this is your first trip to Italy, I would suggest you spend at least <i>some</i> time in Rome, Florence and Venice. But, that's just me.

In Rome, some less-touristed places to visit would include the fabulous Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj, the Pincio (Pincian Hill) and the Janiculum hill. I also loved the Capitoline Museums, St. John Lateran cathedral and St. Paul Outside the Wall Cathedral. The Jewish Synagogue also has a museum in the basement that houses some fascinating artifacts.

In Florence, take a walk through the Oltrarno up to San Miniati and past Galileo's house. Spend a glorious sunset in Piazzale Michelangelo.

In Venice, walk through the Cannaregio district (which includes the Jewish Ghetto); then head to the Castello to find 'La Donna Partigiana' on the Riva Dei Partigiana at Giardini (a memorial to all the women killed fighting in WW2, it is a bronze statue of a woman lying beneath the waters of the Bacino, only emerging at the water's edge at low tide.)

Wherever you go, you will find your own hidden gems.

I truly believe a good idea would be to stop by your local big book store and hit the travel section. Find an Italy guidebook that looks good to you (I love the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides- 3D images and lots of colors, maps, pictures). With that book in hand..you can browse with your daughters to find out where you'd really like to spend your time.

That being said, I would not try to cover more than 3 cities in the time you have. Maybe 4.. but you don't want to spend the bulk of your time traveling and checking in/out of hotels. Enjoy 3-4 places and plan a return trip!

Buon viaggio!

In