My fiance and I are getting married in Lucca May 15 and will be spending 15 days after that travelling around Tuscany, Umbria, Venice and Liguria. We are on a rather limited budget. Please comment on the itinerary and the hotels - info on particularly romantic experiences, restaurants and so on in the area is also very welcome. Would also like to hear what to expect from the weather in that period.<BR><BR>May 10: flying to Nice (very good offer on the tickets) - staying on farm in Lucca-area with guests<BR>May 16: driving to Elba, staying at Villa Ottone<BR>May 19: driving to Montalcino, staying at Il Giglio<BR>May 22: driving to Umbria, staying at Il Poggio degli Olivi about 10 kms from Assisi<BR>May 26: driving to Venice, staying at Locanda Leon Bianco<BR>May 28: driving to Santa Margherita Ligure, staying at Villa Gnocchi<BR>May 31: flying home from Nice<BR><BR>Thanks in advance for any help!

lucca - how was you stay in Villa Gnocchi? i.e. the food, view, ease of driving to it? - my husband &amp; I will be there in a few weeks.

Amypbo, we had a reservation at Villa Gnocchi for our trip to SML last July. It is very difficult to find and down a steep, narrow road on the hillside. We had a very frustrating experience trying to get to down the road - we had to back all the way up to let another guest out. Cannot imagine negotiating this road at night! When we finally got to the Villa, our welcome was not quite as courteous or hospitable as some people describe. We took a quick look around, followed by the owner, and were not pleased with what we saw. We did not see the beautiful views of the Mediterranean - in fact, all we could see were green hillsides - nice, but not the Mediteranean views described here if you do a search or as described an pictured on Karen Brown's website. We decide to stay elsewhere and were very glad we did. We stayed at the Hotel Laurin - fabulous accommodations, view and proximity to the town.

Perhaps you will have better luck than we did at Villa Gnocchi.

I agree--it is a good place to eat, but there are many better places to stay.
I will be staying at Il Giglio in Oct.

Hello bobthenavigator, are you staying at the Il Giglio in Montalcino? Do they have a website which shows the accommodations, grounds, etc.? Thanks.

Yes--it is in the heart of town and very authentic--the real thing. Take a look at www.hotelgiglio.tin.it -I think?
We had lunch there once but have not stayed yet.

Sorry, try this one--not much but you get the idea:
www.terrsdivaldorcia.it
You will love Montalcino.

lucca: How was your trip? In particular, how was &quot;Il Poggio degli Olivi&quot;?

I am curious about Hotel ll Giglio in Montalcino and cannot seem to get it on the web www.terrsdivaldorcia.it. I was wondering the difference in Hotel ll Giglio and Hotel Vecchia Oliviera??

About 75E/nite, and Il Giglio is in town.

Sorry for the typo--should be &quot;terra&quot; not terrs in the URL.

Marianna - just got back from our trip &amp; we stayed at villa gnocchi - i forgot that the property didn't have TV or A/c but we survived! Thankfully, the nights were cooler than any other city we stayed in. I did sacrifice some blood to the mosquitoes but the views made up for it! You must not have gone to the dinner terrace which had a beautiful view of the town &amp; water. We didn't have a balcoy off our room but from our window we could see the water. The windy driveway was steep &amp; narrow -luckily we had a small car. Roberto was very knowledgeable about the area &amp; met with each of his guests at breakfast to answer questions before we headed out for the day.

I have had nothing but great experinces at Villa Gnocchi. You must reserve very early if you want the balcony rooms with the great view.
Roberto is a great guy and speaks fluent English. We are like family when we go.

lucca-

It sounds like you had a wonderful honeymoon! Congrats on the marriage.

My fiance and I will be spending 5 days on Elba and are debating between Villa Ottone and the Hotel Hermitage. How was your stay on Elba, would you recommend Villa Ottone, and if so did you stay in the villas or the &quot;new hotel&quot;?

Thanks for your help!