We are traveling to Rome in July. We will have spent 3 nights in Paris - heading then to South Africa and are stopping in Rome on the way home for 5 nights.
After reading the boards and speaking with my husband, we are thinking because we will be travel weary - we might want to go outside of the city -- we are traveling with our 2 daughters, ages 13 and 10 at time of travel.
What is within a few hours of Rome? We already have our return ticket to Los Angles - but I would be willing to try to change it for the "right" reason
Thanks in advance - we are looking for something a little less crowded, laid back.. we think.
Dawn

Orvieto, Amalfi Coast (Sorrento, etc. Capri), Perugia, Assisi, Cortona - all great train connections and great bases for short excursions.

Thanks PalenQ,
I was hoping that would be the case.. any suggestions on links to trains? I am reading through all the posts and am sure I will come up with some - but if you have any - it would be greatly apprecaited
Thanks again!
Dawn

Pompeii is nearby and definitely worth a visit.

I can't imagine a sweeter base than Sorrento from where you can take buses along the awesome Amalfi Coast and boats to Capri or Ischia or the tiny CircumVesuviana trains to Pompeii or Naples.

Train info for Rome airport-Naples: www.trenitalia.com but these trains are relatively cheap so i'd just buy tickets upon arrival at the airport train station. Two trains an hour to Naples where you change to the tiny CircumVesuviana train that ends at Sorrento.

Kids will enjoy Pompeii, the Amalfi bus rides, boats to Capri and the gelato in Sorrento!

July is a busy time down there - reserve a hotel early.

Thank you.. I will search for a hotel.. I know I am a little "late" on getting what might be our first choice - but this idea sounds good...

Hi Dawn,

It sounds like your lucky family is going on a wonderful trip! Can I come and carry the luggage???

My recommendation for 5 days outside of Rome would not be for the Amalfi Coast in July. Yes, the weather is wonderful, but the crowds are nuts!

I've visited the Amalfi Coast in March and in Sept. I was amazed at the number of tourists and the difficulty of getting around in Sept!

If you want to go to the area, just go and park yourselves in one location. Don't try to "sightsee" all the towns unless you can go by boat.

If it were me, I would head for the countryside. Find a farmhouse with a pool and relax.

Buon viaggio!

Hi Dayle,
We are pretty excited! Where in the country side would you recommend? After doing some further research and speaking with some people irl - they said Florence and Tuscany.. I am meeting with my cousin tomorrow who has gone to Italy many times (see: me green with envy!) but she travels on a high budget where mine is more middle of the road (example: she is a Four Seasons and I am a Marriott! LOL)...

Dawn,

If you would like to see southern Tuscany, train 1 hr + a few minutes to Chiusi and pick up a rental car. Stay somewhere around Montepulciano/Pienza/Montalcino. Lake Trasimeno is in this area too.

Further north somewhere in Chianti might be nice or further over by San Gimignano is very beautiful too.

If you would like to see a bit of Umbria - stay somewhere around Assisi. I absolutely loved tiny Spello.

These are just my experiences, there are many options and it's really hard to go wrong. All beautiful, delicious, scenic. If you would like to read the last 8 days of my trip report, search for "Dayle's Solo Trip to Italy" and it will come up. It may give you some more ideas.

Ciao

Easy access by train,lazy farmhouse holiday places with pool, interesting sites nearby including Etruscan necropoli, medieval cities, Renaissance gardens, for travel weary people check out the itineraries in n. Lazio and Tuscany on www.elegantetruria.com

Hi D,

>we are thinking because we will be travel weary - we might want to go outside of the city --

You want to skip Rome to go vegetate in some small town - where you will need a car to go anywhere?

You want to skip Rome to stay on the AC at the height of the tourist season - with the roads and buses jampacked with tourists.

You want to spend extra time, money and energy getting to/from some out-of-the-way place because you might be "travel weary"?

You can't spend a day just relaxing in Rome?

Unless all of the above are true, stay in Rome!



Or go to Venice.

Hi Ira,
We may very well end up staying in Rome as planned... esp. after reading your post LOL - I think that the idea of the hustle and bustle has left me a tad concerned.
I think I wish I had a month in Italy - not 5 days!
Dawn

Dawn... different than your scenario, but my husband and I decided not to split up our 6 nights in Rome in October, but instead to day-trip to Ostia Antica and Orvieto. The packing/travelling/unpacking sequence just seemed too much for a short stay.

Dawn... different than your scenario, but my husband and I decided not to split up our 6 nights in Rome in October, but instead to day-trip to Ostia Antica and Orvieto. The packing/travelling/unpacking sequence just seemed too much for a short stay.
---
Linda... My husband and I were just talking and we are really torn. I think we might save the countryside for another trip - I am sure we will be back - and stay in Rome. I just am concerned about all the hustle and bustle but at least the girls will not be "bored" in a day...
too many choices - too short of time!
I will look into the day trips...

Hi again Dawn,

I agree that it's a shame not to see Rome if you have never been. The problem for me in Rome is that there is SO MUCH of everything to do, see, experience! I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to relax much in Rome unless I had spent at least a month there!

again Dawn,

I agree that it's a shame not to see Rome if you have never been. The problem for me in Rome is that there is SO MUCH of everything to do, see, experience! I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to relax much in Rome unless I had spent at least a month there!

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Dayle,
I think my husband and I just need to decide. It is a tough call - and one we need to make... The boards are wonderful - and full of information - but we still need to decide. The frustration comes in at only having 5 days - but better then none ;0)

Obviously you're flying into Rome from South Africa, so if you decide to go to the coutryside and use a car to visit a few towns, don't bother to go into Rome to the train station just to leave: rent the car at FCO and return it there, so you don't have to change flight plans.

IF that's your choice, you can drive up to Orvieto, for instance, in a couple of hours, then spend your days taking in one town or another within an hour or two drive: Todi, Spoleto, Assisi etc. Or "do" southern Tuscany.

Tuscany and Umbria can be very hot in July. So can Rome, of course.

Here's an idea: go into Rome. Stay up on the AVentine at one of the San Anselmo Aventine hotels (there are 3, The San Anselmo, the San Pio and another) It's green, up high, a little cooler (they're AC'd anyway, I believe), widowns over treetops and villa rooftops, birdsong in the morning instead of buses and vespas ... ten or twenty minutes from most sights by foot, convenient to transportation and an easy cab ride anywhere. RElax in Rome and do only one major sight a day - if that. Eat well. Go to the shore one day, it's close. Skip Pompeii and do Ostia Antica. No rushing back to the airport on your last day, just an easy cab ride. Remember your last five days fondly as really sweet and relaxing.

Or fly out of Rome, go to Capri and be completely sybaritic. Then fly back, catch your US plane and arrive home with a tan.

Here's an idea: go into Rome. Stay up on the AVentine at one of the San Anselmo Aventine hotels (there are 3, The San Anselmo, the San Pio and another) It's green, up high, a little cooler (they're AC'd anyway, I believe), widowns over treetops and villa rooftops, birdsong in the morning instead of buses and vespas ... ten or twenty minutes from most sights by foot, convenient to transportation and an easy cab ride anywhere. RElax in Rome and do only one major sight a day - if that. Eat well. Go to the shore one day, it's close. Skip Pompeii and do Ostia Antica. No rushing back to the airport on your last day, just an easy cab ride. Remember your last five days fondly as really sweet and relaxing.
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I am going to check into this. One thing I realized as I read through the posts - is that I am not a "city" person in general. I can only spend a day or two in NYC, San Fran, Chicago..without frying...
As far as the tan.. I live in Southern Ca - pretty much always tan <grin>
Seriously I think this is a good suggestion and will further into it... thanks to you and everyone else for the time and input.

Rome in July will be a scorcher. But the city does offer some of the best gelato in the world...

Dawn,
if you do decide to stick with Rome, and in particular up on the Aventine, you'll find excellent local dining across the way in Testaccio and nearby Trastevere. You'll have Parco Severelli near at hand on the hill, the Janiculum not far away. Other things that would be pleasant in warm weather: The Domus Aurea, catacombs, the Scuderie del Quirinale - a quite modern art museum occupying a spot on the Piazza Del Quirinale, airconditioned, with a nice little cafe for a break from looking at the art. (Just checked their site and the current show closes in June, no mention what will be there in July ...)

And then there is the true pleasure of the siesta: going inside in the heat of midday to relax and nap, then enjoying the shadows of late afternoon and the cool of evening.