Italy Itinerary (Revised: Como, Liguria, Umbria)
 

Thanks for the help on my first post. Here is my revised itinerary (took me a while because I was juggling a teething baby plus reading the hundreds of messages on this site!)

Day 1: Arrive in Milan
-Transportation: Hire driver to Lake Como
-Hotel: Belvedere. I hestitated to book here because I wanted to be closer to the ferry/town with baby and all. However, Hotel Florence did not have any rooms with views and I didn't think it was worth it to stay in town without a view of the lake. T or F?
Day 2-4: Bellagio, visit Varenna (Albergo Milano was also fully booked, double darn!)
Day 5: Lerici or Portovenere
-Transportation: Train and bus (what is a good website to figure out the transportation? from Bellagio to Lerici?
Day 6-9: 1 day trip to CT (not really planning on doing much hiking since I will be traveling with 1 year old baby), 1 day in Lerici, 1 day in Portovenere, 1 free day - maybe SML or Sestri Levante?
-Originally, I planned on skipping CT and doing Camogli (love the idea of staying in an old fishing village - imagine all the great seafood one can eat!). But since Cenobio dei Dogi was booked, I backed out. :(.
-Still trying to decide between Lerici and Portovenere - I read Lerici has a nice flat place to stroll next to the beach and playgrounds - maybe leaning towards that.
Hotels in Lerici: Doria Park or Hotel Florida
Hotels in Portovenere: Gran Hotel Portovenere or Hotel Belvedere
-Still looking for something closer to Cenobio dei Dogi type of hotel with nice views. Any thoughts?
Day 9: Leave for Tuscany
Tranportation: Car
Hotel: Should I book a hotel here to break up the driving and make day trips shorter than from Cortona?
Day 10-12: Tuscany (towns planning on visiting, Montalcino, Assisi)
Day 12: Leave for Cortona
Hotel: Cortona
Day 13-16: Spello, Bevagna, Oriveto (train to Rome)
Day 17: Rome (leave Italy)
I have an early morning flight - may have to stay in a hotel near airport overnight.

I think you were right to get a view of the lake.

As for figuring out the transportation to whatever hotel you pick in Lerice or Portonvenere, ask on the Slow Travel website because there is a poster there named Megan who lives in Lerici and she can give you bus, train and boat schedules down to the minute. You should also ask her about stroller-friendly places, baby supply stores, etc.

You'll eat great seafood in Portovenere and all over that area. They still fish in CT, by the way.

Hi Jay,

If I remember from your first post, you were planning to stay in Corona for a week? I don't think Cortona is very centrally located for seeing the towns you mention (spaning from Montalcino to Assisi).

I know you have a baby and equipment to lug, but personally I would rather spend that week at 2 locations (including a move) rather than drive back and forth so much.

I drove from Montalcino to Cortona, scenic route and it was about 1 1/2 hours.

Maybe stay at a southern Tuscany location to see Montalcino/Pienza/Montepulciano, then an Umbrian location to see Cortona, Assisi, Spello, Bevegna?

My towns were Montalcino (3 nights), Gubbio (supposed to be 2 nights, but no sleep at hotel due to church bells ALL NIGHT, every 15 minutes), on to unplanned Assisi (1 night), then to Spello (2 nights, and would have loved a 3rd).

Your trip sounds great so far! Buon viaggio!

Nessundorma - thanks again for the very helpful suggestions. I will be sure to post there and ask Megan. Also on the other posts I'm looking into. What I may do on the Canogli front is spend 2 days in Casmona and 2 days in Cenobio if that terrace room is available!
-Dayle - were you the one that suggested Hotel Milano? I can't remember, this late night planning/reserach sessions are getting to me. Anyways, I would have loved to stay there but they were booked. :(
I have to stay in Cortona, we are going to a wedding! I agree with you on the having a second location - so my husband is not driving so much from town to town. I like your itinerary - I also found a fantastic spot near towards Chianti that I might stay at. Oh dear. Researching a place to stay in Tuscany/Umbria has proven to be even more nightmarish than planning the whole itinerary in the wee hours of the morning. There are so many gorgeous places to stay! I can spend hours looking up villas and vineyards but can't seem to motivate myself to figure out the logistics.

Jay,

I left you a response about Portovenere on your other post...missed seeing this one...

Jaykay,

As usual with Italy, try not to agonize over choices between perfect spots. There are more nice places to be in Italy than there is time for any of us to be in all of them.

I keep forgetting to tell you that Sestri Levante is almost all flat if at some point you begin to think that's very important since you've got the baby and you can't find a suitable arrangement in Camogli.

Re: Camogli, we stayed in a terrace room at the Hotel Casmona. Big nice room, huge terrace, great view over the entire sea front. However, Camogli is built on a steep hillside. From the main street you walk down a staircase to get into the Casmona. It might be difficult to juggle luggage and a baby. (Now I have a mental image of you throwing baby and bags in the air.)

The Belvedere in Bellaggio is just a step out of town (but up hill again). I wish we'd stayed there instead of the Florence with no view.

I love Portovenere. We stayed at the Royal Sporting. It has a pool and is about a 10 minute (beautiful) walk to town. http://www.royalsporting.com/Home.asp

I don't think I would change hotels on the coast. Can't you stay in one place and day trip. Depending on the time of year you can take ferries from town to town.

We also stayed at the Miramare in SML http://www.grandhotelmiramare.it/popup/biglietto.htm They has a beautiful pool and the town is great.