GregY2

We are just starting to plan a trip to Italy for 2010 - maybe September, maybe June - and I am hoping for some help with our itinerary and where to stay.

The rough outline of the trip is:
- arrive MIlan, stay a couple of days, then pick up a car and head east,
- a week in a house/apartment around Vicenza, Verona, Padua, . .
- a week around Lucca, or thereabouts,
- a week around Siena,
- drop-off car and spend 3-4 days in Florence,
- train to Rome for 3-4 days then fly out.

We definitely want to stay in cottages or apartments for the most part and we are quite comfortable in making day trips from those bases. We are interested in architecture & art and beautiful old villages but we are also interested in scenery and will want to do some walking. Many self-catering properties accept short stays so we could possibly add another base and stay 5-5-5-6 days rather than 7-7-7.

Our thinking of a base around Vicenza was that it would allow us to visit towns such as Padua & Verona, as well as make trips into the Dolomites, and maybe to Venice, but I now fear that visiting the Dolomites would not be practical from there. Can anyone comment on that aspect? And maybe suggest a good base in the Dolomites?

We are keen to see the area around Pisa-Lucca-Carrara, and also around Sienna but I'm really struggling to identify what would be a good base in each area. It's tempting to stay in the heart of one of these lovely towns, but we will have a car so parking and access becomes an issue. Your thoughts on where we might stay and what we might visit from there will be appreciated.

If anyone has knowledge of well-located self-catering accommodation in Florence & Rome we'd love to hear about it but at the moment my focus is on working out a practical regional itinerary.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Dayle

Greg,

My biggest piece of advice is NOT to let the idea of "bases" limit you. Since you are mostly looking at smaller cities, towns, remember every time you drive to a "day trip" location, you must again drive back. Check your distances and roads very carefully before commiting to a week's worth of day trips. You may actually be wasting time. It could very well be more worthwhile to change lodging and just continue on in a resaonable and well planned progression.

Our experience of staying in Chianti in a tiny, tiny village and doing day trips to towns up to 1.5 hours drive (one way) was that the backtracking on the windy roads to the "base" got old after 2 days! Even as lovely as the base was.

That said, there are many areas where bases make a lot of sense, so you need to really know where you want to visit, why, and how long the drives can be expected to take. I wouldn't really be willing to do day trips to places that were more than 2 hours one way. I travel very light and can change lodging with no problem.

Parking in the small villages and towns shouldn't really be a problem. Check with your lodging specifically about parking situations, and ask those detailed questions right here.

Your trip sounds nice, but from the destinations, it seems this is not your first? More background needed.

yestravel

I agree that using Padua, Vicenza or Verona would not be a good base for visiting the Dolomites...too great a distance to get there. We stayed in Cortina when visiting the Dolomites, but we were there in offseason and therefore limited by what was open. If you do a search on this forum you'll see lots of recommendations for villages to base yourself in. There is a TR Live Trip report from the the Dolmites that has great info on the area. Cortina was fine for driving around, but didn't love the town itself.

U might want to think about taking the train instead of driving in these cities Verona, Vicenza & Padua. It's much easier. While a lot of people do base in one of these cities and then day trip to the others, we've enjoyed staying in each of the cities. I think u get a much better feel for a city when u spend the evenings there and don't have to get back to another location a couple hours away. U could base in Verona for a few days and go by train to visit Vicenza for a day trip, then train it to Padua from Verona and stay there visiting Venice. If u wanted more exploration then get your car after a day ot 2 in Padua and explore the area, Asolo, Bassana del Grappa and lots more charming villages/towns to be explored. Its a very destination rich area. I agree with the above poster, pack light and changing cities is no big deal.

GregY2

Thanks Dayle. We have travelled quite a lot, mainly in France and the UK, and have moved away from staying 1-2 nights at a time. We like being settled "in our own place" with the option of cooking rather than dining out every night, and we like not having our luggage in the car most days. Having said that, when we visited Italy in 2008 we stayed 3 nights, in each of Aosta, Stresa & Bellagio, in hotels.

I agree with you that 2 hours 'out' is enough for a day trip and your comment about coming & going from tiny villages is a good one.

Our preference is to see a local region well and hope to be able to return to see other regions in the future. We definitely want to visit the Dolomites, we definitely want to see the area from Lucca to Carrara, and we definitely want to see Siena and some of the the surrounding area & towns.

I know more information is always helpful but I must admit I thought that my question was positively encyclopaedic compared to many!

GregY2

Thanks Yestravel, that's a good idea to stay in, say Verona, and use the train. One option we have been thinking of is to take the train from Milan rather than driving across and that would fit in quite well with your idea.

travelphile

For your Siena 'base', I would absolutely suggest http://www.fagiolari.it/eng_index.htm

We stayed with Julietta and did the cooking class as well as paid to enjoy the meal a 2nd night. Fabolous. Enough to do there that a week is suitable, and plenty of easy daytrips from there. Funny thing, is we never made Siena like we planned, but loved the areas we did visit (Volterra, San G, Radda, Greve, Castellina...

I cannot say enough wonderful about the Fagiolari - for travelers who like to spend their time, this is the place to do it! Olive groves, pool, buildings to explore, and there's at least two'cottage-ish' rentals to allow you limited cooking facilities for yourselves. I haven't been on much, so email kmooney 36 @ yahoo.com without the spaces if you have questions. Ciao! KAMG

GregY2

Thank you travelphile, this place looks lovely. I'll contact them with a few questions.

cri80

I travelled around Italy lots of times, and Dolomites are my favourite destination. You should take a week or two in Dolomites, and if you don't want to spend most of the money on Cortina, there are some nice and cheaper hotles in San Vito di Cadore (or other villages in Cadore area), which is about 10 minutes of driving by Cortina D'Ampezzo. I saw the Dolomites every summer and I slept in Cadore area, it was easy to visit all the italian Dolomites. Staying in Verona and having to take the train to visit the Dolomites daily, will not be comfortable at all. First of all, Cortina d'Ampezzo (where you can visit so many things) doesn't even have a train station, you would arrive at Calalzo di Cadore and then will have to wait for the bus (35 km). Connections are better during the winter, when people go to ski, during the summer the transportation with bus is not very convenient. In order to see the famous "Tre Cime di Lavaredo" you would have to take another bus from Cortina d'Ampezzo. I suggest you to rent a car during your stay in Italy.As for the trains, most of the passengers are not tourists, if you except the one for Rome. Staying in Milano and going by train to see the Dolomites...you won't get to see much. Vincenza is nothing great to see and Padova the same, if you except St Anthony. If you want to see the Dolomites by traveling with the train from Milano every day, that would be exhausting (Cortina is at 432 km by Milan, and the trip from Venice so Calalzo di Cadore and then in bus to Cortina would take 3,5 hours.)Trains also have delays often during the summer. So, if you rent an apartment in Cadore area (which wouldn't be very expensive) or you would sleep in a little hotel (most are held by families and are not very expensive), you would have the chance to REALLY see the Dolomites. The roads are very good, and if you want to see the Dolomites in Bolzano area, the highway is very good.
As for the Tuscany area, rent an apartment for a week and then go around by car. If you also want to see Rome,I don't recommend you to drive there, the subway is very good and fast.
If you are in Italy for the first time, I would consider a week of Dolomites, a day of Venice (which can be seen in one day),a week in Tuscany, chosing a place that would be at the half distance of the places you want to see, and 2 or 3 days of Rome. More than Verona, I would recommend you Lago di Garda. You didn't mention if you have children, Gardaland would be a very nice place for them. As for Milan,as soon as you saw the Dome (although you will have the occasion to see the one of Florence,too) it's over, unless you don't go there for shoppings. Rome, Venice, Florence, are cities than take your breathe as a tourist first time you visit them. Milan is different, it is a big nice city, but for tourists I wouldn't put it between the first destinations....As a city for tourists, Ravenna would be much better than Vicenza and Padova.

yestravel

I disagree with cri80 -- I loved Vicenza, thought it a charming, small town with interesting sights. Really liked Padua and thought there was more to it than St. Anthony's, like the beautiful Scrovegni Chapel which is not to be missed. I couldn't imagine swapping Verona for Gardaland -- totally different places. Verona is beguiling outside the Romeo and Juliet stuff. While one could get a glimpse of Venice in 1 day, that would be about it. Wandering the alleyways and getting lost is part of the fun/charm of Venice. I do agree that Ravenna is a great place to visit. The mosaics are gorgeous, and if u can get there, I would go. I don't know much about the town since we trained it there from Bologona and really only saw the mosaics and had lunch.

This past Spring we arrived at MXP and took a train to Verona and then to Padua. Last year we had a car when we visited Vicenza and like I said training it to these places is much easier. We actually tried to drive into Padua and the traffic was so bad we skipped it last year and went this year by train.

If you're going to visit Venice u might think about flying an open jaw, into Venice and out of MXP or Rome.

cri80

I liked Padova too, yestravel, and I wouldn't skip Verone for Gardaland (I recommended it for the case they have children and want to spend some time around Lago di Garda- which is not bad at all). Vincenza may have some interesting places, but so do have many many other cities, if you look on a touristic guided tour of Italy, most of them won't include Vincenza and rarely Padova. We are talking about the fact they are going to Italy for the very first time, and while Dolomites, Venice and Rome are places they would never forget, they could as well see Ravenna, Orvietto or San Marino rather than Vincenza or Padova. I lived in Italy for couple years and I gp to visit Dolomites every year. People don't forget the image of the Dolomites at sunset or San Marco in Venice, but most of them woould forget what they saw in Vincenza after 5 years. How about Florence, Pisa? No offence, but not many people that saw Florence, Pisa, Ravenna and San Marino would prefere Vincenza and Padova, and no one would take the train from Milano daily to reach Dolomites.

Paul1950

As to seeing Venice in one day--I guess you can "see" any city in one day if you don't want to see very much. Or if you don't know what there is to see in a city.

cmeyer54

We did a circular tour of northern italy about 2 years ago in September. We started in Venice then drove to Cortina (had a very nice junior suite off season for about $120/nt), drove the great dolomite road to bolzano, spent a day in Merano, then drove down to Riva Del Garda, to Milan via Bellagio; from Milan to Verona and then back to Venice for our flight back. Total duration was just under 21 days total. You could do something similar using Milan as the start/end point and adding in tuscany as your second stopping point. Our 'day' trips consisted of Merano, Isera, and the piedmont region south of Milan for a day of wine tasting down there. We went hiking near Cortina and drove to some awesome smaller lakes and water falls north of Cortina and north of Riva.

yestravel

cri80 - I was focusing on the cities in N.Italy the OP mentioned, Verona, Vicenza, Padua & Venice. Of course there are 100's of wonderful places in Italy to visit...in the North alone there are way too many to mention.

aprillilacs

In Verona, we really enjoyed staying in the apartment Residenza Carducci (listed on a number of lodging websites). It was a lovely, large apartment with a well-equipped kitchen and big bedroom and living room. Lovely owners, and an outstanding breakfast provided in the mornings in their dining room (it's a B&B). Highly recommended! It's just across the bridge from the historic center, very convenient.

You might look at Asolo as a beautiful town and a base that would allow you to drive into the Dolomites and take advantage of other sites in the area. We loved our one-night stay there a few years ago and would have liked to have stayed longer.

And if you are interested in staying in the Dolomites, I can recommend Ciasa Montanara in La Villa, Alta Badia. Excellent inn with amazing views.

Good luck with your planning!

Dayle

Hi again Greg,

If you have visited before, then you know more what type of experience you want. I totally agree that there are places that make great bases, with easy drives and lots to see in a full week, or more!

Out of the places I've stayed so far, I could have easily spent a week in southern Tuscany, another full week in the Spello area of Umbria, and I have always wanted to return to the Dolomiti for a week of summer hiking. Winter skiing here was a fabulous experience. Not better than the Rockies, but just a different and wonderful time!

Sigh, so much to see and do, so little time and $!

GregY2

Thank you for taking the time to respond Cri80. The Dolomites look magnificent and we certainly want to spend some time there but we do also want to see some more of Italy so will probably have a maximum of 4-5 days there. I do take the point about needing to be closer so we will probably look for self-catering accomodation in the region.

We will certainly have a car but I am now thinking about taking the train to Verona or Padova, spending a few days there, then picking up the car, rather then driving from Milan.

I mentioned in responding to Dayle that we have travelled in Italy before and this trip probably represents an extension of that previous visit to Aosta, Maggiore & Como. We have also spent a weekend in Venice in 2003 (and loved it of course)and a day trip back there would be a little bonus on this trip. We have adult children and will be travelling as a couple.

GregY2

Thank you again Yestravel, from my reading so far I think that we would love Padova, Verona, and Vicenza, as we would Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara . . . . We want to set up an interary that will allow us to see as many lovely places as we can while still giving us some down-time and that means we will have to miss many places - and hope we get the chance to return another day. I'll be giving serious thought to your suggestion of taking the train from Milan. We will be locked into Milan &/or Rome for our flights as we want to take advantage of an upgrade deal with Thai Airlines.

Paul1950, thank to you as well. Venice would be a return visit for us and I think a full day there would be OK.

GregY2

cmeyer54 & aprillilacs, thank you for your responses. Our trip will start with a couple of days in Milan and I'm now thinking that we may then have around 5 days in the Dolomites, followed by 5 days in, or near Vicenza-Verona, then heading south-west towards Lucca. That probably means driving from Milan.

Looking at my map I suspect that Asolo would still be a bit far away to be a base for the Dolomites but it looks like a lovely town and well worth visiting. I'll do some research on self-catering places from Bolzano eastwards.

The Residenza Carducci looks good and I'll probably make contact with them when our plans get a bit more advanced. As you say, it's a B&B but has kitchen facilities - was breakfast included in the price? Or was it optional, on an extra cost basis?

yestravel

A second vote for Residenza Carducci -- we stayed there for 4 nights this past April -- loved the location being just a touch out of the main tourist area, but a quick walk across the bridge puts u right in the heart of things. As stated by aprillilacs, the owner is very helpful and the apt is comfortable with lots of space to relax in. They did not provide breakfast when we were there. There is a coffee maker and they leave coffee and other basic staples in the apt.

Also second a visit to Asolo -- it's a delightful hilltown, but agree that it would not make a good base for exploring the Dolomites. If you plan to visit any of the Palladian villas Asolo is quite right near Villa Barbaro in Masur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladi..._of_the_Veneto

Vttraveler

There are lots of threads on apartments in Rome. It may be hard to find one if you are not spending at least 4 nights. We had a very good experience renting through realrome.com