Alunn

First trip to Italy

We're booked from 9/21 to 10/5 Fly into Venice and out of Pisa.
6 people age range is 50-79

We want to visit places and see what makes them special, get the feel and vibe of the place,

We enjoy good food and wine, but would not consider us Foodies, do like to visit wineries and taste.

Not really an artsy crowd don't want to fill the trip with Museums, churches , palaces. If its really special and a must see we're all in

and of course the ladies like to shop, nice stuff on a budget not looking for Versace

Any Recommended Tours , or personal tour guides?

Venice from 9/21-9/24
We've an apartment near the San Zaccaria ACTV stop

Looking for Restaurant Rec's
Is San Marco Basilica / Doges palace worth the visit?
Other rec's

9/24 back to Marco Polo to pick up two rental cars Drive to Bagni di Lucca
We've rented a house in this small village north of Lucca, that we're using as a base for day trips, my wife's grand parents are from this town.

Places we're thinking of but we are not limited to these,and we like small cute villages with shops, food , enoteca, wineries

Florence (Academmia Galleria, Mercato Centrale)
Lucca (The wall)
Pisa (The Field)
Cinc Terre (not sure at all we're not hikers, is the coastal drive OK , is there parking)
Rome one day there and back on Trenitalia for Vatican and anything else


Looking for Ideas / Things to see and do shopping and restaurant and winery rec's.


Thanks in advance for all of the advice I'll be filing a trip report when i get back ciao al

massimop

There is no coastal road in le Cinque Terre. One travels between the villages by train, foot or boat after parking one's car, & parking is extremely limited.

It is extremely difficult to go from Bagni di Lucca to the Vatican & back in a single day. I think it will be especially hard on the person who is 79.

It's not clear to me how long ou will be in Bagni di Lucca. While I would not call the following towns "cute", the nearby small towns of Pistoia, Montecatini Alto, Pietrasanta, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana all have beautiful sights. Forte dei Marmi has extensive shopping. The nearest wine of any distinction is Bolgheri.

Be careful driving in historic towns. Most have areas where tourists are not allowed to drive their cars on the streets, only residents, and there is video surveillance. If your license plate is photographed violating the law, police will track down your name & address through the rental company & send you a huge fine.

Jean

"Is San Marco Basilica / Doges palace worth the visit?"

IMO, yes. But you should do some research on the sights of Venice. You only have two full days, and there is a lot to see. Ditto for your one day in Florence. In both cities, make entry reservations for things you want to see that offer them (Basilica San Marco, Florence Accademia, etc.). You also need a timed reservation to climb the Leaning Tower if that's something you want to do.

Bagni di Lucca to Vatican City by train would be about 10 hours of round-trip train travel for about 4 hours in Rome. Not difficult so much as the waste of a good full day of local sightseeing. JMO.

You need to learn about ZTLs (zona traffico limitato), and I assume you know the two drivers will need International Driver's Permits. I would take the train to Florence, Lucca and Pisa.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.co...with-ztl-zones

Don't underestimate how much time it takes to move 6 people from place to place (esp. in two cars), eat a restaurant meal, wander a town, etc.

massimop

What makes going to the Vatican from Bagni di Lucca difficult is not just the train travel but how much of your time at the Vatican will be consumed by waiting on security lines & moving slowly through enormous crowds. Even if you cut some of the line-waiting by booking a private tour, hard to see how you could accomplish more than 2 hours sightseeing -- and it is really extremely difficult to get through the Vatican in 2 hours & see the highlights.

Alunn

Thanks For the Feedback guys anyone have any restaurant recommendations.

bilboburgler

One of the benefits of the Italian business rates system is that very small businesses generally avoid these charges so you will find tiny artizan hand-craft shops in the backstreets of many cities but especially Florence. If you want to shop for say leather or paperworks (marbling, book making, etc) then window shop on the Ponte Vecchio or around the Duomo but actually shop in the area between the river and the Porta Romana (logically enough, to the south). You need to be up early or out after 7pm to get to find these shops as they often shutter up for midday and as much as the staff want there after. But as long as you don't want a "brand" you will find the best value and the best quality here.


While you are down here you may also want to spend a fair bit of time in the Boboli gardens but that is easy to research. The churches in this area are not to be sniffed at, watch out for Urban buses and the narrow pavements, who knew you could build such narrow vehicles.

I've not found a similar area in Rome (I lack the time or interest) but I'm sure they exist, perhaps some of our Italian experts can identify it.