Itinerary for Italy/France done: Ready for Inspection
 

I have posted questions here and there and have come up with an itinerary.

A short background before you give me feedback. We are going June 2009 and were able to get Business Class tickets with FF miles on Air France. We can make our return reservations next week, so want to make sure my # of days looks good.

This is the 4th trip to Italy for DH and I. It is the 1st trip for our friends who are flying in 4 days later. DH and I are repeating some favorite spots (and are thrilled to do so) and we have many new places that we are traveling. Having arthritis, I am a super planner, trying to get the most out of our travels without doing myself in. We have driven in Italy, so no problem there. My initial itinerary did not include a night in Lucca. Since we have never been there, and have never toured Pisa, this seemed like a good addition.

Orvieto is another City we have never been to, but would really like to visit this time. Any suggestions of how we can work it in? Day trip from Assisi or is that too far?

Fly Seattle - Milan
1 night in Milan taking train to Veranna the next day
3 nights in Veranna:: Hotel du Lac
train back to Milan to meet friends who are flying in and will continue trip with them
1 night in Milan:
train to Florence the next day
3 nights Florence: Hotel Casci
Pick up car in Florence and drive to Assisi
3 nights: Malvarina
3 nights: San Quirco: Palazzo del Capitano
visit Pienza, Bagno Vignoni and Sant'Antimo Abbey
1 night Lucca: Hotel outside the walls. Any ideas?
After checking into hotel to drop off luggage, drive to Pisa for a couple of hours, back to Lucca to drop off car and spend the night.
Train to CT:
3 nights in Monterosso al Mare: La Spiaggia
Train to Lyon, France
4 nights: Lyon (at a friend’s home)
Train to Paris
3 nights in Paris: Hotel Muguet
Home

What do you think?

If this is your friends' first trip to Italy, I am assuming you'll see the Duomo and Last Supper in Milan?

Actually, we have never been to Milan either. DH and I are thinking of seeing the Duomo when we 1st get there and save The Last Supper for when our friends arrive.

Much better---that should work. BTW, it is Varenna. In Lucca look at Villa Romantica, a nice B&B just outside the walls. Be sure to check out drop off times in Lucca. Good luck !

You'll need reservations for the Last Supper. Its closed on Mondays. LaScala should also be on the list as the Last Supper can only be viewed for 15 minutes by each group. Make your reservations at least 4 months in advance or more. You'll be there during high season and it does sell out.

For Lucca, I would want a hotel quite near the train station because (a) you're going to have to haul your bags there and (b) you might want use the morning of the day you go to Le Cinque Terre to see more of Lucca, or have lunch there before getting on the train. At that time of year, you'll have plenty of daylight.


I've not stayed in either of these hotels, but they might be worth checking out through TripAdvisor and other reviews:

http://en.venere.com/hotels_lucca/west/hotel_rex.html

http://www.sanlucapalace.com/lucca-tuscany/


Since you mention you have arthritis, be aware that access through the walls in Lucca sometimes involves tricky paths and steps, although once you are inside, Lucca is completely flat (as is walking atop the walls). It is very easy to pick up a cab to take you inside the walls, and i would recommend that if you can't take steep grades.

The place to try classic Lucchese cooking is Buca di Sant'Antonio. Highly recommended.

Hi T,

I would substitute Orvieto for the Lucca/Pisa portion.

((I))

I don't think Orvieto is too far a day trip from Assisi. especially as you apparently have seen Assisi before. People will howl at me, but I think visiting Orvieto simply to see the cathedral is fine.

I'm also with Ira in that I'd rather go to Orvieto than Lucca, but then I would just spend an extra night in Southern Tuscany, or drive only as far as Pisa when you leave Tuscany, and spend the night there (and drop off your car there.)

Thanks for all of the comments. I'll pass on the info. How far is Orvieto from Assisi? We got a tour guide through Claudio at Malvarina on our last trip, and it might be an option to have him go with us to Orvieto for a day trip. He was a definite highlight of our last trip.

You can use Via Michelin or Mappy to find out the mileage. My recollection is that the much of the road -- and perhaps all of it -- from Assisi to Orvieto is good and modern.

Having never met Claudio, I can't comment, but I have to say:

I planned to go to Orvieto from Montefalco and tour the town and have lunch, but en route, I pulled offf the road to take a picture of distant Todi in the sunlight, and got stuck the car stuck in mud and -- don't ask! Anyway, I ended up missing lunch and bombing into Orvieto at 3pm, whereupon I parked just below the cathedral, fed the parking meter, raced up to see the church facade -- was totally blown away -- ran to the ticket office and bought a ticket to go inside -- loved it -- ran back to my car before the meter expired, noting the touristy shops on the way -- and drove off to meet my friends as planned, in Southern Tuscany -- and caught a glimpse of the cathedral from the western roads heading to Pitigliano, and was floored again...

It was the worst kind of zoom travel, but I still felt it was incredibly rewarding to have seen the facade of that cathedral.

Most Italian hotels have a 24-hour cancellation policy. Don't feel committed to Lucca if you want to stay elsewhere. Take a daytrip to Orvieto from Assisi. If you want to return at the expense of Pisa or Lucca, do so. If a few hours was enough, move on.

Your train day from Monterosso to Lyon should take at least 10 hours of travel time - way too long for me to sit on trains.

I would either choose to fly instead to Paris from Genova or Pisa, or train from Monterosso to Nice (6 hours) instead of Lyon, and take TGV from Nice to Paris.

Also, if either of your Milan stays coincides with a big convention, rooms could be hard to come by, even a year in advance. The meeting schedule at the Milan Fiera is here:

http://www.fieramilanocongressi.it/C...Eventi_en.html

I would check your dates on a site like www.hotels.com to see about availability for your June dates in Milan.

lovisa,

It looks to me like travel52 is going to Lyon to see friends.

There are trains (routed through Torino) that make the journey in 7 to 9 hours.

I would definitely want a first class ticket and I would definitely pack some good eats, water and wine (and carry my own toilet paper).

About the only alternatives to getting to Lyon from Le Cinque Terre are driving (which would involve paying a stiff drop-off fee for taking the car into another country) or flying from Malpensa directly into Lyon. That would involve taking a train to Genova and then either a bus from there directly to Malpensa, or another train from Genova to Milan, and then a bus to Malpensa. You wouldn't really shave all that much off the transit time.

Thanks very much. I had NO idea the train trip would be so long. Flying would be the preference, but it sounds like the backtracking. transfers etc. wouldn't save time.

Thanks for the tip on Milan, I'll get on it !

your trip sounds wonderful. I like Orvieto and Lucca. Now Assisi was not my cup of tea. Great catherdral, but the rest can be missed. Orvieto and Lucca are different, but delightful. Have a fabulous time.

Yipper

You know, given your time frame, I'd be really tempted to make a side trip to see some lavender fields while you are in France... I've no idea if the Lyon area is known for that or not...

My friends and I just returned from a two week trip where we flew into Milano, picked up our rental car from Europcar, drove to Lake Como, the Cinque Terre, Nice and Provence, ending up in Lyon, where we flew out of. We were not charged a drop off fee for the car because Europcar in Milano gave us a car that was registered in France. We would not have known about this, but they offered and we were happy to accept!

great tip!