Just back from Italy
Aug 1st, 2003, 06:10 AM
#2
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Yes, please. After three nights in Siena, my wife and I will head into southern Tuscany or Umbria for 3 nights. It is for this area to the south that I need a recommendation. It's our honeymoon, and will be looking for a nice place from which to explore hill towns. Many thanks.
Aug 1st, 2003, 07:42 AM
#3
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We just got back from southern Tuscany and stayed in Chiusi at Villa Il Patriarca. Good place to explore Tuscany and Umbria. A beautifil place with a great restaurant, recently got a Michelin star! They treated us very very well. I found it on www.Tuscany.net
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Aug 5th, 2003, 07:37 AM
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For kennethp:
We found Montalcino a great place to explore the hilltowns from. (see below) We stayed in a villa, and most of them are rented by the week, but there are several very nice hotels in town.
The woman who wrote "Vanilla Beans and Brodo" the story of Montalcino, has a website, through which you can rent the apartments she and her husband have in town, which are quite nice. The website is: http://www.montalcino-tuscany.com/co...montalcino.htm
Our favorite hilltowns were San Gimignano and Arezzo (where part of "Life is Beautiful" was filmed.) You can easily explore them from Montalcino within a day.
For JandaO:
The highlights were:
Rome:
Palazzo Olivia for lodging. We booked direct. Carla was extremely helpful in getting a taxi to pick us up at the airport, and for other local arrangements, and the owner, Stefano was a real delight. The location is wonderful for getting around and the property is very comfortable.
Navona Notte for mussels.
Da Bufeto for pizza.
San Crespino for gelato (despite the dour gelato Nazi who seems to hate customers)
Della Palma, our second choice for gelato.
Florence:
Residenza Strozzi for lodging, booked through Florenceby.com. Incredible property. You sleep in a former chapel with lovingly restored, painted ceilings. Owners are charming and helpful. We requested their typical Tuscan dinner, and my husband ended up getting a cooking class along with it, and the owner made us a CD-rom with some recipes to take home. I doubt we'll ever sleep under a more beautiful ceiling again.
Artesans Tour by Enoteca Giraldi. Expensive but very interesting.
Mime who hangs out outside the Uffizi. He kept our 6-year-old in stitches for hours.
Montalcino:
Il Palazzone for lodging. In a vineyard .8 kms. from town, a 10-minute walk. Spectacular views, impeccable property. Property Manager, Laura Fregoni was wonderful, and made many very useful suggestions. She's a wine expert and she and her husband own an exceptionally fine restaurant nearby.
Boccondivino for dining.
La Fortezza de Brunello (Laura's restaurant in nearby San Angelo en Colle, ask for the wine tasting dinner - really a treat.)
Barbi, Banfi and Altacino were the best wineries to visit.
Pompeii:
Hotel Forum was an unexpected gem, right in front of the amphitheatre entrance to the ruins. The hotel has just bought up a hotel next door and is upgrading. Their prices are still very reasonable and service is great.
Carlo Alberto restaurant on via Carlo Alberto. Pizza is very good, ask for the risotto on Sundays, or any seafood dish.
Traveling in Italy with kids:
I should also note that we traveled with two of our three children - a 13-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. They absolutely loved the trip. We limited the big art museums to the ones we couldn't miss, but filled in the rest of the days with smaller, less crowded museums (the Science Museum in Florence, Pinocchio village in Collodi, Time Elevator in Rome, for example) and with a slow schedule that allowed for lots of spontaneity.
We also relaxed the usual healthy food rules, which meant that every few days we let the little one eat gelato every time he wanted it, which was a big thrill.
He also got to go to two amusement parks (Borghese Gardens and one next to the ruins in Pompeii) and we visited the public swimming pool in Buenconvento, near Montalcino, three separate afternoons.
Our teenager was very engaged if she knew what she was looking at - we would read a little bit in the guidebooks about what we would be seeing the next day, so she could connect it to what she had been studying in her social studies class last semester.
But the biggest factor in the successful trip for her was making an effort to find an internet café every other day, so she could check in with her friends around the world. We limited her access to 15 minutes, which was just a couple of Euros. That - and shopping - bought us hours of cooperation, enthusiasm and good will.
I should mention that I am an avid walker, and walk very fast. My husband and daugher are both very lazy and absolute snails, and the 6-year-old goes back and forth. I had them walking 6-7 hours a day, often at a good clip, and they only complained when it was deathly hot and needed water. They were so interested in what they were seeing that they didn't mind the forced marches.
Both of them kept journals, which was also a good way to pass time in restaurants waiting for the food to come.
Art and Architecture tour:
We also ran into a very entertaining gentleman in Montalcino, Martin, who is a former British humanities professor, who organizes one-week art and architecture tours of Southern Tuscany twice a year (the next trip is Sept. 14-21.)
I wish we had signed up. He really puts heart and soul into his trips, which seem very well organized and entertaining, and at a very reasonable price. We'll definitely try to take one next time. He is based in Oxford, UK. His e-mail is [email protected]
We found Montalcino a great place to explore the hilltowns from. (see below) We stayed in a villa, and most of them are rented by the week, but there are several very nice hotels in town.
The woman who wrote "Vanilla Beans and Brodo" the story of Montalcino, has a website, through which you can rent the apartments she and her husband have in town, which are quite nice. The website is: http://www.montalcino-tuscany.com/co...montalcino.htm
Our favorite hilltowns were San Gimignano and Arezzo (where part of "Life is Beautiful" was filmed.) You can easily explore them from Montalcino within a day.
For JandaO:
The highlights were:
Rome:
Palazzo Olivia for lodging. We booked direct. Carla was extremely helpful in getting a taxi to pick us up at the airport, and for other local arrangements, and the owner, Stefano was a real delight. The location is wonderful for getting around and the property is very comfortable.
Navona Notte for mussels.
Da Bufeto for pizza.
San Crespino for gelato (despite the dour gelato Nazi who seems to hate customers)
Della Palma, our second choice for gelato.
Florence:
Residenza Strozzi for lodging, booked through Florenceby.com. Incredible property. You sleep in a former chapel with lovingly restored, painted ceilings. Owners are charming and helpful. We requested their typical Tuscan dinner, and my husband ended up getting a cooking class along with it, and the owner made us a CD-rom with some recipes to take home. I doubt we'll ever sleep under a more beautiful ceiling again.
Artesans Tour by Enoteca Giraldi. Expensive but very interesting.
Mime who hangs out outside the Uffizi. He kept our 6-year-old in stitches for hours.
Montalcino:
Il Palazzone for lodging. In a vineyard .8 kms. from town, a 10-minute walk. Spectacular views, impeccable property. Property Manager, Laura Fregoni was wonderful, and made many very useful suggestions. She's a wine expert and she and her husband own an exceptionally fine restaurant nearby.
Boccondivino for dining.
La Fortezza de Brunello (Laura's restaurant in nearby San Angelo en Colle, ask for the wine tasting dinner - really a treat.)
Barbi, Banfi and Altacino were the best wineries to visit.
Pompeii:
Hotel Forum was an unexpected gem, right in front of the amphitheatre entrance to the ruins. The hotel has just bought up a hotel next door and is upgrading. Their prices are still very reasonable and service is great.
Carlo Alberto restaurant on via Carlo Alberto. Pizza is very good, ask for the risotto on Sundays, or any seafood dish.
Traveling in Italy with kids:
I should also note that we traveled with two of our three children - a 13-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. They absolutely loved the trip. We limited the big art museums to the ones we couldn't miss, but filled in the rest of the days with smaller, less crowded museums (the Science Museum in Florence, Pinocchio village in Collodi, Time Elevator in Rome, for example) and with a slow schedule that allowed for lots of spontaneity.
We also relaxed the usual healthy food rules, which meant that every few days we let the little one eat gelato every time he wanted it, which was a big thrill.
He also got to go to two amusement parks (Borghese Gardens and one next to the ruins in Pompeii) and we visited the public swimming pool in Buenconvento, near Montalcino, three separate afternoons.
Our teenager was very engaged if she knew what she was looking at - we would read a little bit in the guidebooks about what we would be seeing the next day, so she could connect it to what she had been studying in her social studies class last semester.
But the biggest factor in the successful trip for her was making an effort to find an internet café every other day, so she could check in with her friends around the world. We limited her access to 15 minutes, which was just a couple of Euros. That - and shopping - bought us hours of cooperation, enthusiasm and good will.
I should mention that I am an avid walker, and walk very fast. My husband and daugher are both very lazy and absolute snails, and the 6-year-old goes back and forth. I had them walking 6-7 hours a day, often at a good clip, and they only complained when it was deathly hot and needed water. They were so interested in what they were seeing that they didn't mind the forced marches.
Both of them kept journals, which was also a good way to pass time in restaurants waiting for the food to come.
Art and Architecture tour:
We also ran into a very entertaining gentleman in Montalcino, Martin, who is a former British humanities professor, who organizes one-week art and architecture tours of Southern Tuscany twice a year (the next trip is Sept. 14-21.)
I wish we had signed up. He really puts heart and soul into his trips, which seem very well organized and entertaining, and at a very reasonable price. We'll definitely try to take one next time. He is based in Oxford, UK. His e-mail is [email protected]
Aug 5th, 2003, 09:12 AM
#8
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Thank you so much for elaborating! I am printing your suggestions out so I may use them next month in Italy. I had to laugh about your "forced marches." We're the same in our family, except that both DH and I march; the kids prefer revolt! We have an instant answer to our kids any time they ask why we're dragging them somewhere--"It's an FFO (forced family outing)."
Aug 5th, 2003, 09:25 AM
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llopez,
Thank you for the detailed trip report. I am so glad you were able to have such fun with your family. I do advocate traveling with older children. The education is invaluable.
You made me feel the thrill of travel and I cant wait to see alot of the places you saw when I go to Italy in Sept/Oct.
Thank you for the detailed trip report. I am so glad you were able to have such fun with your family. I do advocate traveling with older children. The education is invaluable.
You made me feel the thrill of travel and I cant wait to see alot of the places you saw when I go to Italy in Sept/Oct.
Aug 6th, 2003, 10:22 AM
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For Wren: Yes, we rented a car when we left Rome. AutoEurope was wonderful. They arranged for a Hertz rental, and we picked it up at the Hertz agency near the Borghese Gardens. We used the car for Florence (including a day trip to Pisa, Lucca and Collodi), for Tuscany and all of our travel there, and then we drove to Pompeii. We left the car at the hotel car park and took the train into Naples for the day. On our last day, we drove straight from Pompeii to the Rome airport and dropped the car off there.
Driving was not so bad, but then my husband is Mexican and drives like a madman anyway. I made it a point to avoid the Amalfi coast, which I'm sure would have made me crazy. In fact, we could have easily taken the train from Pompeii to Sorrento, if we had wanted to go farther south.
For Sally: Palazzo Olivia is roughly between Campo Fiori and the Piazza Navona, which is just about the best location in Rome. We walked to everything and had many restaurants, shops, fountains, delis and wine bars, not to mention historic sites, nearby.
So, from the Piazza Navona it was about a four or five-minute walk. From there, it is about another 10-15 minutes leisurely walk to the Pantheon.
The Palazzo Olivia's website is:http://www.palazzo-olivia.it/
Driving was not so bad, but then my husband is Mexican and drives like a madman anyway. I made it a point to avoid the Amalfi coast, which I'm sure would have made me crazy. In fact, we could have easily taken the train from Pompeii to Sorrento, if we had wanted to go farther south.
For Sally: Palazzo Olivia is roughly between Campo Fiori and the Piazza Navona, which is just about the best location in Rome. We walked to everything and had many restaurants, shops, fountains, delis and wine bars, not to mention historic sites, nearby.
So, from the Piazza Navona it was about a four or five-minute walk. From there, it is about another 10-15 minutes leisurely walk to the Pantheon.
The Palazzo Olivia's website is:http://www.palazzo-olivia.it/
Aug 6th, 2003, 11:13 AM
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Could you talk a little more about the wineries you visited? We are staying next month in Umbria and plan a daytrip to Siena (have car). The Banfi winery was recommended to me. Did you eat there? Buy any wine or vinegar? Thanks! (Or describe the others you went to, as well.)
Aug 6th, 2003, 01:30 PM
#14
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If you want a tour of the Banfi winery itself, you have to book in advance, but can do it on-line. If you just want to see the castle, glass museum and wine shop, you can just drop in. The tasting room there is quite nice.
There are two restaurants, both are quite expensive, but we didn't try them because we met some local "foodies" before who said they felt they were overrated.
We were lucky with Barbi - my husband was able to call and get us into a tour an hour later. But also, they recommend you call a few days in advance or book on-line. The tour is free, and the tasting room is at the end of the tour.
We bought lots of wine, even more olive oil, but "the best" really depends on what you like and your budget. We bought a few Super-Tuscans, and the olive oil we really wanted was sold out, so we spent some time in some wine shops and at wineries asking around for recommendations.
One basic orientation is the Wine Spectator. They cover Tuscan wines pretty well. If you stick to any rated 90 points and over, you aren't likely to be disappointed.
Keep in mind that the best Tuscan wineries tend to have very small productions, and they are pre-sold before they are on the market, so it may be difficult to find what you're looking for to buy and take home.
Another way is to wine taste at the enotecas (wine bars) and then buy what you like. The enotecas and wine shops tend to have the stock, but obviously, at a mark-up.
There are two restaurants, both are quite expensive, but we didn't try them because we met some local "foodies" before who said they felt they were overrated.
We were lucky with Barbi - my husband was able to call and get us into a tour an hour later. But also, they recommend you call a few days in advance or book on-line. The tour is free, and the tasting room is at the end of the tour.
We bought lots of wine, even more olive oil, but "the best" really depends on what you like and your budget. We bought a few Super-Tuscans, and the olive oil we really wanted was sold out, so we spent some time in some wine shops and at wineries asking around for recommendations.
One basic orientation is the Wine Spectator. They cover Tuscan wines pretty well. If you stick to any rated 90 points and over, you aren't likely to be disappointed.
Keep in mind that the best Tuscan wineries tend to have very small productions, and they are pre-sold before they are on the market, so it may be difficult to find what you're looking for to buy and take home.
Another way is to wine taste at the enotecas (wine bars) and then buy what you like. The enotecas and wine shops tend to have the stock, but obviously, at a mark-up.
