Hi,
We'll be driving from:
LE CASE GIALLE COUNTRY RESIDENCE
Via Sant'Anna,10 - 06035 Gualdo Cattaneo - Perugia

to: Bolzano on a weekday. Need ideas on where to stop for lunch/snacks or just rest stops along the way or any interesting "Not to miss" spots I'm more than likely not aware of.

Thanks in advance

I was just going to ask you if you were visiting the Archeological Museum (or perhaps it is the Natural History Museum?) in Bolzano to see the Iceman when I read where you will be driving from. I stayed at Le Case Gialle in 2005 with friends and we loved our week there.

Driving to Bolzano was on an earlier trip and fairly directly from Verona, so not much help on stops along your route, though - sorry!

Annabelle2:
Yes, I hope we have time to see the Iceman. I think we'll get to Bolzano in the early afternoon. I see by one of your other posts you have also stayed at Nicolas Inn in Rome? We are staying there for 5 nights before we go to Le Case Gialle.
How did you do your day trips from LCG? Did you stay gone for the entire day and come back after dinner? I've been wondering about the logistics of it all but guess it will all work out. What about breakfasts? Did you buy groceries or eat out? Thanks for your input if you see this.

The Iceman is interesting, as is the whole museum, so I hope you can see him!

I stayed at the Nicolas Inn and at Le Case Gialle on a trip in 2005. We took the train from Rome to Perugia where we picked up our rental cars (there were 5 of us and we opted for two small cars for more flexibility) at the Perugia train station. We didn't get them in Foligno for some reason I can't recall now (they may have not had the cars we needed?); anyway, some of the group had not seen Perugia, and so we had part of a day there before we headed off to Le Case Gialle.

At LCG, we did different things on different days. At least one day we hung out and relaxed, enjoyed the pool, and did a day hike. We usually went in to Bevagna to buy food for dinner. We bought most of our groceries there, at the various small shops (ask Silvana about the pasta shop). There is a Co-op in Foligno, but we seemed to always get lost in that town, so stuck to Bevagna!

As for day trips, we usually went for the entire day and either came back and made dinner together, or stayed out for dinner. There didn't seem to be anyplace really close to LCG to eat, but driving to Bevagna for dinner was not bad, and there are some good restaurants there.

Some of our daytrips were close - Spello and Assisi, for example. Montefalco we just went to one day for lunch. Yummy pasta with saffron cheese. One day some went to Florence and others went wine tasting (Mauro set this up) and pottery shopping in Deruta.

We even did a really long daytrip to Sant' Antimo, Montalcino and Siena, since Siena was the one place none of us had seen.

We bought breakfast food for the week; fresh bread is left for you each day, but frankly none of us liked the unsalted (read: tasteless) bread. Try it and see what you think!

I guess we are way off the subject of Bolzano now, but I hope this helps.

ttt

Take you rest stops and lunch at the Autogrills. I doubt if you have time for Verona or Trento, but those are my suggestions if you want to divert.

What are Autogrills? Pardon my ignorance. I'm assuming they're common places to stop along the highways for food & gas? (Gas for the car, I mean LOL!)

Yes, and the food is often good.

I love Bolzano, so I would get there asap. I agree with bob. Autogrills. Food is good, and they make an interesting rest stop with the mix of tourists and local folks.

One of our great delights in driving on the autostradas is stopping at an Autogrill--the restaurant and service station complexes. Frequently they have basic shopping supplies and always good coffee and panini--nice breaks w/o leaving the autostrada.

RECG There aren't any really close restaurants to LCG--thus you learn to use the kitchen facilities you have paid for. When we stayed there last September, we ate dinners in the majority of the time after long extended daytrips. The local products available made the choices for our own meals delightful. But there are plenty of dining options available as well. L'Alchemista in Montefalco was a very pleasant experience. Don't miss out on the opportunity to visit the local wineries and sample Sagrantino.

Breakfasts were always special at LCG--early morning "farm sounds" and activity, fresh bread (just add salt if you want) and english language newspaper which can be enjoyed while sitting outside on your terrace or patio--wish I was there! What a pleasant view while planning for another day of exploration---Assisi, Perugia, Deruta, Orvieto, Spello, Gubbio, Spoleto, Montefalco, Bevagna, Castelluccia, Norcia--what next?! Enjoy, Paul