Need Advice: September Trip to SW France or Umbria/Le Marche?
 

After much indecision, I think we are making a trip to Europe this year (yes!) It would be in late September. Flights not booked yet; number of days probably 12-14 (including travel time).

DH and I have visited Europe, particularly France and Italy, a number of times. It will be 10yo DD's first time.

I'd appreciate help in deciding between our two possibilities, particularly with respect to possible rainy weather. I've checked weather websites, and it looks generally like the weather in Umbria/Le Marche might be slightly better then, but I'm not sure.

One concern is travelling to a region that's less fun in the rain (i.e., Paris in the rain, you still have many indoor activities).

DH and I like good food, history, culture, a mixture of big cities, small towns & the countryside. DD wants a mixture (less into big cities), but she's active and likes old buildings (for example, she LOVED Newport, RI when she was 8yo) and wants to visit old castles & would like caves, too. Castles that we can walk/hike to would be great, but not so great in the rain. She likes art, but doesn't love it, yet.

So, thoughts are (1) Visit the Languedoc, as we haven't spent much time there, maybe the Dordogne, and ending in Paris for a few days. Or (2) Start in Venice (which we've visited a lot, but is one place DD mentioned specifically), then northern Umbria (many castles in the Montefeltro) and maybe Le Marche, which I'd LOVE to visit, ending with 2 nights in Florence.

Suggestions?

What about Venice combined with Puglia?

This is a vote for Venice & Le Marche. Much as I love Umbria, more and more people are discovering it, and it's not as tourist-free as it used to be 15 or 20 years ago. If you do Venice, you are in a city that is (justly, of course) a major tourist destination; if you do Le Marche afterwards, it'd make a pretty contrast: Le Marche are still as calm and undiscovered as Umbria was, as I said, 20 years ago... and in particular in northern Marche, there are many, many castles, even of utmost architectonical interest (do some research for Giorgio Martini - perhaps the most neglected of the important Renaissance architects, and responsible for a bunch of Marchigian castles).

Hard choice! SW France is high on my list. We've been to Le Marche & Umbria and loved it. We visited Urbino in May and it was cold and foggy but completely, totally magical.

Thanks for the info so far. In terms of Italy, I checked my (pages and pages of) notes, and I guess I'm thinking northern and/or southern Marche - Montefeltro is in the Marche, not Umbria.

Any more information (especially from Franco) re the weather that time of year? What if we planned to visit the Monte Sibillini area? Will it be past the tourist season, and/or too cold, then?

We'll probably visit Puglia someday, but right now, if we visit Italy, I'm fixated on Le Marche (well, and I'd love to visit Bologna again, if we have time).

Here is an article on Le Marche that I had in my files; it is a few years old and I am sure we can find others that might be of interest. I also have the region on my (very long) list of future trip possibilities:


http://travel.nytimes.com/2005/05/22...22tuscany.html

For food of the region, see this book; the author was until recently, a chef here in NYC:

http://www.amazon.com/Cucina-Marche-.../dp/0060741627

I'm afraid the weather discussion doesn't help much since in late September, weather will be fine to excellent in all regions in question. Least so in Paris, of course, that's why I would - in the "French" case - start in Paris and end in Dordogne. (Which is a beautiful region, as well. But not quite the same as Le Marche nor Umbria. Food is great in all three of those regions.)

Ah yes, the Monti Sibillini. Well, there's still not much of a tourist season to speak of; but if there are some days when it gets relatively crowded, this is in June (when the flowers on Piano Grande are in full blossom) and July or August weekends (when the hang-gliders are coming to Castelluccio). The rest of the year is tranquil, and September will have nice weather there, as well. (Though nice, even in midsummer, still means pretty chilly there - we're talking about an altitude of 1500 metres.)

Add my vote to Italy.

If the weather is great, SW France could be wonderful. I loved the ruined castles of Queribus and Peyrepertuse, and Carcassonne would be lots of fun. Narbonne was pretty and pleasant as well. But ... if the weather is bad, you surely won't want to hike up to the castles (and I think they don't <i>let</i> you go up to Peyrepertuse if it's raining), and I've been in Carcassonne in the rain and it wasn't a good time.

I think Venice would be an excellent choice, and although it's a city, it doesn't really feel like one. I bet your daughter will love it. I agree with Franco that Venice and Le Marche are very appealing choices, along with being a good contrast to each other.

All of the Languedoc-Rousillion region stays very nice in the month of September. In fact, a drive all of the way down to Barcelona isn't difficult. And, of course the food is great everywhere along this part of France.

Blackduff

Thanks for the reassurance on the weather, though it doesn't make the decision any easier!

I'm imagining hiking in the Monte Sibillini area may be similar in temperature to hiking where we live, in the Rocky Mountains. (In the Rockies, September is perfect for hiking, because we don't get our late-afternoon thunderstorms.)

A drive between Barcelona and the Languedoc/Dordogne is exactly the trip we took 2 years ago, with our son (who's staying home for this trip). It was a great trip, but I'd like to spend more time in the Languedoc if we choose that destination.

Oh, I love this part of trip planning - really. Lucky us, we've been to Venice twice in the last 3 years (once for a business trip), so we could skip it for more time in Bologna (my favorite), but I do look forward to showing it to my daughter.

ekscrunchy - I've used your notes on Bologna, and you're going to Piemonte sometime soon, which is where we visited in the fall of 2007. We must like the same thing. I've been collecting notes on Le Marche for a while now, too.

We loved Languedoc, its hills, wines and wide sandy beaches but have to say that for undiscovered rugged beauty, rolling hills, rich cultural heritage, great food and wines and top hiking you'd be hard pressed beating Le Marche and agree with Franco and others sentiments about the area around the Sibillini National Park.

The area is full of farmers, hunters and artisans continuing to produce things by hand the way their grandparents did in September we have found it Sunny and warm and spot on for hikes into the national park, the parks authority http://www.parks.it/parco.nazionale....lini/Eiti.html has predefined itineraries and theirs a great map of the park and another of the smaller foothills that surround the mountains.

There are a number of medieval villages in this part of Le Marche that are named amongst Italy's most beautiful see http://www.borghitalia.it/html/borghi_centro_en.php Sarnano is probably best placed as its within good striking distance of Tolentino, Macerata, Camerino and lovely Ascoli Piceno (make sure you have a drink at art nouveaux cafe meletti), there are amazing castles nearby and the roman ruins and 12thC Cistercian Abbey at Urbisaglia. Sarnano is a spa town, with a ski resort, many restaurants and delcatessans and a number of marked circular walks. You can walk from the village into the montains and in September you can still make use of the refuges at around 1500-1800m where you can eat a slap up meal with wine for about €13.

If you wanted to do a twin centred holiday its only an hour from Umbria, Perugia, Spoleto & Assisi or 2.5 hours Rome or Bologna

Whatever happens it sounds like you're a kid in a candy store

Reading typicalgirls’ description of Le Marche took me back to a wonderful holiday spent there in late September/early October 2008. The weather was perfect – sunny and warm during the day but very chilly during the evenings. We used Sarnano as our base - and if you’d like a recommendation for an excellent place to stay (with magnificent views of the the Sibillini Mountains) then try Villa San Raffaello www.villasanraffaello.com . The English owners are very knowledgeable about the area and were able to provide us with itineraries for walks and to give advice on places to visit, including the best cantinas! As non-Italian speakers ourselves, we definitely benefited from their help and guidance.

Le Marche seems to have everything you’re looking for – I’m sure you’ll love it.

Thanks for the additional responses and the links. Yes, we've decided on a trip that includes Le Marche, and added some time to our trip, too. Due to a family obligation, mid-Sept. is no longer an option, so we're now trying to decide between starting in early September or early October.

Our trip now will include "the big 3," and will either be Florence - Venice - Le Marche - Rome or Venice - Florence - Le Marche - Rome. Short-ish visits in the cities; we've visited them all before, and enjoy them, but think our daughter would get tired of too much time in the cities. She can always return for more when she's older!

Anyway, any input on what the Mount Sibillini area is likely to be like in early October? Too cold? And whether travelling that early in September would mean restaurant owners are still returning from August vacations?

And, probably we'll have 2 Marche bases, (1) Urbino and (2) either Macerata or Ascoli Piceno. Any suggestions on deciding between those two?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Le Marche weather is usually warm and sunny in September and October, but there's more chance of a shower in October. In the Sibillini mountains it's the ideal time for hiking and bking and the refuges are still open at weekends for a great meal at low prices. There's the added attraction of the vendemmia or grape harvest and the cooking of Vino Cotto, a local fortified wine. Both Macerata and Ascoli are wonderful, Macerata is a typical fortified medieval town set in rolling hills covered in olive groves, whereas Ascoli is low lying with tall towers, it has the most amazing piazza and the whole town is dissected by a river. Both have great piazzas and a small number of good ristorante. The terrain near Ascoli is more mountainous.
Maybe somewhere within reach of the 2 places, that way you could also visit the university town of Camerino, the roman ruins at Urbisaglia/ and the abbey Abbadia di Fiastra, Tolentino- home to St Nicholas, one of Italy's best preserved castles at Caldarola, Europes biggest underground caves at Frassasi and the abundance of great hill towns such as Montefortino, Monetmonaco, Amandola, Sarnano, San Ginesio, Treia, Potenza Picena.
Following on from the recommendation above this page has abundant info on places for kids in Le Marche http://www.villasanraffaello.com/fre...le-marche.html

I neglected to respond to the last post - thanks so much for the comparison; it helps a lot. And due to yet ANOTHER change in family plans, we are now going (using FF miles!!) mid to end of September. So all we have to do is decide where to stay and go.

Just as a followup, we did make our trip in late September of 2009. We spent a week in La Marche, splitting our time between Urbino and Macerata. It was a very enjoyable trip, and our daughter loved it as well!