Itinerary Advice Needed!
 

Hello there! You all have been so helpful to others-I hope you can do the same for me!<BR><BR>My husband and I have just purchased flights on Ryanair from Frankfurt-Hahn to Milan-Bergamo for ?15 each way!! We arrive 9:30pm on Thurs. 28 March and leave 8:30am Friday 5 April. We are renting a car for the trip. This is what i'm thinking:<BR><BR>Day 1 - arrive Bergamo 9:30pm, stay in/near Bergamo<BR>Day 2 - drive to Milan, sightsee, stay in/near Milan<BR>Day 3 - drive to Genoa, sightsee, stay in/near Genoa<BR>Day 4 - drive to Cinque Terre, sightsee, stay in/near Cinque Terre<BR>Day 5 - drive to Parma, sightsee, stay in/near Parma<BR>Day 6 - drive to Bologna, sightsee, stay in/near Bologna<BR>Day 7 - drive to Verona, sightsee, stay in/near Verona<BR>Day 8 - drive to Lake Garda, sightsee, stay in/near Lake Garda<BR>Day 9 - depart Bergamo 8:30 am<BR><BR>I know that your first thoughts are "not enough time," "too much driving," "too much checking in and out of hotels." SO...how can I make this trip as easy as possible without missing any of these cities? We are going for a food/wine vacation, so seeing every little historical thing in each city is not so important. Is there a central location someone can recommend where we can stay and take day-trips? Are any of these places not worth the time? We also would like to maybe get in a vineyard tour and/or cooking class. Any suggestions?<BR><BR>Your help is very much needed and appreciated!!

Since you already know that you've overdone it by creating a "if-this-is-Tuesday-this-must-be-Belgium"-type itninerary, I have no further comments on it.<BR><BR>But I wlil warn you that Ryanair has very strict weight limits and you should check up on them so you don't end up ruining your airfare bargain by paying an arm and a leg for overweight luggage. From their web site FAQ:<BR><BR>"Ryanair permits 15 kilograms of checked baggage per passenger and one small piece of hand baggage, which must not weigh more than 7kg and be less than 20x14x9ins in dimensions." 7 kg is only 15 pounds or so; 15 kg is 33 pounds. So be careful what you pack, especially if you're planning to bring some wine home with you!

Hi Ellen. I've flown Ryanair 4 times already so i'm pretty good about packing light. We've been living in Europe for a year already and have done most of your trips this high-paced and survived! Do you have any hotel recommendations or anything though?

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Heather---<BR>Even as much as I enjoy driving in Europe and seeing the sights, I must say that what you are planning does not sound very practical. Couple of points:<BR>You could probably sightsee without stopping in some of those places; look at your itinerary and decide where you can spend only 2-3 hours before moving on. Frankly, I'd skip Genoa altogether; it's too hard to get into the city to see it and then leave without using up most of a day. Obviously, all of these places deserve more time; but if you want to see them all, just pick out a couple of them to see as stops on the way to an overnight. Also, to go from the Garda area to Bergamo to catch an 8:30 am plane means you will probably have to leave the lake area around 5:00 am at the latest; not bad, but it doesn't leave room for problems. Good luck.

You say you are going on a "food/wine" vacation" not sightseeing...well, don't you think any of these places has more than one or two worthwhile palces to eat? <BR><BR>

Hi Wayne and Hiho (?)<BR><BR>I admit that I need lots of help in paring down this itinerary!! Do you have any recommendations for eating, drinking, sleeping etc? Nothing is set in stone for me, the itinerary above is more like a "wish list"<BR><BR>Thanks!

Dear Heather,<BR><BR>This sure seems like a case for Bob the Navigator. For your sake, I hope he's out there for you.<BR><BR>With only seven days, you have to cut out half of those stops.<BR><BR>Best wishes (As Rex would say)<BR>

Heather, This itinerary is very compact and is really only 3 destinations---a max of 4. save yourself some hassle and stay in:<BR>Milan area [ I would stay in Como]<BR>Santa Margherita<BR>Parma/Bologna<BR>Garda/Verona [ Stay in Sirmione]<BR><BR>You pick the location but they are all so close you do not need to change hotels so often. Good luck !

Heather--In your own words, you wanted to "make this trip as easy as possible without missing any of these cities." Then in a later response, you say this is only a tentative itinerary, not fixed in concrete. Maybe you really need to say what's most important to you; if seeing all those cities isn't, then please say what is. My impression is that you could probably stay in only one or two more or less centrally located places, then venture out into the countryside to visit vineyards, quaint villages, and the like. If that approach satisifies your plans, then my suggestion is to take a taxi into the old town of Bergamo when you arrive, then stay there overnight. Next day, rent your car (maybe you go by taxi back to the airport, or you can probably rent in town) and head along the following itinerary:<BR>Drive to Levanto or Sestri Levante for 2 nights. From there, you can take a train that gets to the Cinque Terre in less than 20 minutes. You can explore the CT for a couple of days, which is plenty.<BR>Drive to a town in Chianti, maybe Castellina in Chianti, a lovely village, and enjoy the wine and food for 2-3 nights. Get your hotel to set up a vineyard tour. Remember that grapes aren't harvested until fall, though.<BR>Drive to Sirmione on the south end of Lake Garda, or on up to my favorite little town Torbole on the north end. However, as a base for driving elsewhere, you'd be better off staying south of the lake, perhaps in Desenzano. Stay there for 3-4 nights. From there, explore around the lake, Verona, Venice, Vicenza, Padova, Parma, and other spots.<BR>This is just a start, but I think it makes a better trip. You'll need to work hard on hotels, so hurry. Good luck.

Hi BOB THE NAVIGATOR.<BR><BR>Do you have any hotel recommendations?<BR><BR>Will it be easy to "day trip" from the locations you specified?<BR><BR>Thanks!

First things first--set your itinerary.<BR>Forget the wish list--it is just that.<BR>I would pick 3 destinations, and Wayne has some great input. It would seem that two are probably set--the Ligurian coast and Lake Garda--you pick the third. I would forget all of the big cites with a car. I like the Tuscany option, perhaps near Lucca.

Bob and Wayne-<BR><BR>We are going back to Italy 2 more times this year - once for a week in the Tuscany region, and once for a week in the south. Also, we have already visited Rome and Venice. So this trip is more of a Central-Northern focus. <BR><BR>Sorry if I contradicted myself before...we are trying to do too much as usual. I am very willing to sacrfice the big city tours for a more relaxed wine/food trip through the region. Thank you both so much for your input so far. I think I have decided to stay in the 3 areas you mentioned and do side trips from there.<BR><BR>I still have two lingering questions though! 1st - acommodation recommendations? and 2nd - favorite restaurants/wineries?<BR><BR>Grazi!

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Can anyone else out there help me? Rex, are you out there?

Flattered that you asked. Already I get accused of trying to answer every question. I have never stayed overnight in Bergamo; only whizzed across the bridge in Genoa, never been to Cinque Terre, nor Parma, and I have crossed Bologna several times without stopping.<BR><BR>How's that for not qualified to answer your question. And besides, you sounded very confident about knowing that this was the kind of trip you wanted.<BR><BR>But since you asked - - stay in Bergamo two nights - - you can make an expedition to see the Last supper (you need a reservation) and the Duomo from there.<BR><BR>And stay in Verona or, as Bob says in Sirmione. No problem day tripping from one place to the other there.<BR><BR>Food and wine? My god, it's all good everywhere, especially Bologna and Parma, or so I hear. I think I have posted a NYTimes "Choice Tables" or one or the other, or both - - maybe a year or two ago.<BR><BR>Personally, I think that a visit to a vineyard/winery is over-rated. You only get to sample THEIR stuff! Much better to soend an hour or two (in more than city) in an enoteca with a knowledgeable and friendly proprietor. Buy a bottle from what he has open, let him help you with the process of discovering and describing what you like and why. Then buy another bottle blindly based on his recommendations alone. It can be a very symbiotic relationship. And don't leave without buying double (or triple) bottles of whatever you liked.<BR><BR>I love the wine snobbery of being able to serve wine at home and say "here's one I've been cultivating a taste for!" LOL! Seriously though, you can never remember enough about a wine if you buy single bottles of it.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Thanks Rex for your honest reply! You're right, after reading Wayne & Bob's postings I am fairly confident in the trip i'd like to make. Any idea though, why no one wants to give me any hotel or restaurant info???

I just topped at least one hotel recommendation for you for Bologna.<BR><BR>And here are the NYTimes items - - one on Parma and Modena, and two related - - in nearby Mantua and Padua. they're all three a little dated (1999) - - so be sweet to us and bring back your updated impressions!<BR><BR>http://www.nytimes.com/library/travel/europe/ct990718.html<BR><BR>July 18, 1999<BR><BR>CHOICE TABLES / By MAUREEN B. FANT <BR>Black and Gold Beauties of Emilia <BR><BR>http://www.nytimes.com/library/travel/europe/ct990131.html<BR><BR>January 31, 1999<BR><BR>CHOICE TABLES / By MAUREEN B. FANT<BR>In the City of Virgil, Food Is Poetry <BR><BR>and<BR><BR>http://www.nytimes.com/library/travel/europe/ft991128.html<BR><BR>November 28, 1999<BR><BR>FRUGAL TRAVELER / By DAISANN McLANE<BR>Soaking Up All That Padua Has to Offer <BR><BR>Buon appetito...<BR><BR>e<BR><BR>Auguri...<BR><BR>Rex<B R>

Heather, For Sirmione, try the Hotel Eden or the Hotel Sirmione.<BR>For the coast, it depends where you stay. I think that SML is hard to beat early in the season. I would pick Hotel Jolanda for a 3 star and Hotel Continental for a 4 star--both are good.<BR>I do not know your other choice for a destination. And, I do not know the Bologna/Parma area at all. Bergamo citta alta can be done in 2 hours--why stay there? I have never been called " Bob the Gourmet" so you do not want my food choices. I prefer a local trattoria

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Hi again.<BR><BR>Does anyone know if most things will be closed for the Easter holidays (Friday, Sunday and Monday 29, 31 March, and 1 April) ???

Skip Genoa!!! On our last trip to Europe, we ended up spending 5 hours there and it was the worst 5 hours of the trip. Very depressing place. Cinque Terra is gorgeous, but very difficult to find parking...we ended up paying almost $50 to park by our hotel in Portifino. Bergamo, like most of Italy, is enchanting. Hope this helps. Have a great trip.

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