Interesting about Res. Carducci not providing breakfast in April--it was included in the price we paid (95 euros per night). Perhaps you could get it for less if you declined the breakfast (which was very good, however!). And I agree with yestravel that Asolo wouldn't make a good base for 4-5 days in the Dolomites. It's possible to get to the Dolomites from there for a daytrip, but if you want to spend more time in those beautiful mountains I would definitely stay in Alta Badia or the Val Gardena, as others have recommended.

Well, after quite a bit of research we have finally settled our itinerary for September-October 2010 - flights, accomodationa nd car all booked. The only way we could fit in what we wanted to see was to add a week so we now have 5 weeks. In case those who commneted earlier are interested, this is how the itinerary ended up.

Arrive Milan Malpensa early morning Saturday 4th September. We'll pick up our rental car amd drive to Desenzano, on Lake Garda. WE've booked the Hotel Villa Erme, midway between Desenzano and Sirmione for 2 nights.
http://www.mistralhotels.it/admiral.htm

We will then drive up the western side of Lake Garda to Ortesei, where we have booked 5 nights at this apartment.
http://www.ester.bz.it/eng/index.html

Then we drive down the western side of Lake Garda to Verona, where we have a full week to explore the town and the region, inlcuding a dat trip bt train to Venice. This is the apartment we chose.
http://www.vrbo.com/221119

Then on to Bologna, just for 3 nights, to see that town and to visit Ravenna. We will be staying here:
http://www.homelidays.co.uk/bologna/...-180033en1.htm

After Bologna, we drive south to Montepulciano for 4 nights at this apartment;
http://www.politian.com/

From Montepulciano we travel west and north to Lucca where we have another full week:
http://www.luccaholidayhomes.it/f-in...p=rentsale.php

Then we drive to Florence to drop off the car and to stay 4 nights in this apartment;
http://www.homelidays.co.uk/firenze/...-136292en1.htm

We then plan to take the train to Rome where, after looking at literally hundreds of apartments in many areas, we eventually booked 5 nights in Trastevere.
http://www.vrbo.com/157018

We will then fly out of Rome for Australia on the 11th October after 5 weeks and 2 days - should be great.

If anyone knows any on these apartments and had a bad experience - best not to tell me now!

Great trip--you did your homework.

have fun !

I agree with Bob--great looking trip! As a bit of encouragement:

RErtisei--perfect time of the year to get on top of the mountains and hike. Don't be afraid to hike "hut to hut" and you'll be amazed at the views and the people who have also "found" their way up there.

Re: Ravenna--spectacular and well worth the effort.

Re: The Politian apts.-Giacomo has a great location (after the stairs!) and we are frequent visitors. Had some cozy fires in the fireplace just this last Dec.--don't miss Julian's bistecca fiorentina at Aquacheta just down the street. And the sunrises from the apt. are worth getting up early!

You'll be in Tuscany during the impending grape harvest--a special time with lots of anticipation in the vineyards with ripe clusters hanging and growers waiting to the last moment before the weather turns. Have fun--Paul.

Greg,

This sounds like a fabulous trip! Thanks for getting back and letting us know your itinerary, so few people do that.

Buon viaggio!

Sounds like a great trip planned. If u drive from Bologna to Ravenna, u might check out Dozza. Dozza is on the way from Bologna to Ravenna, maybe 20 miles southeast of Bologona. They do a contest every other year and artists are selected to draw murals on the walls of the houses and the winning entry remains on the wall. They have a castle and there are great views of the surrounding countryside. So you walk thru the hilly streets and see all these really neat paintings with the panorama in the background. Great meal there also

Sounds a great trip and I'm sure you'll have a fantastic time.

We love Lucca, though I must admit we got a bit lost when driving around the city trying to find the B&B we were staying at! A lovely city to walk around though.

We like to head out of Lucca up to Bagni di Lucca and the hill villages all around there - plus Barga is a fabulous place to visit. We've been there in July for the jazz and have had some really great evenings.

Just a word of caution though when it comes to hire cars and parking in large towns. A couple of years ago having just arrived at Pisa Airport, we parked in a pay and display car park very near the Leaning Tower and Duomo in Pisa for a couple of hours. We came back to find that our hire car had been burgled, all our luggage had gone and we were left with what we were wearing - fortunately I had all our passports, tickets, credit cards, money etc in my handbag. It was very obvious which cars were hire cars because their registration numbers started with certain letters - so that does make them easy targets.

This looks like such a great itinerary, you are sure to have a lovely time.

I have been fiddling with an itinerary for many of the same places so thanks.

Thanks everyone for your encouragement & suggestions. We'll be happy to have any more tips on things to see & do along our route, good places to eat etc. I'm sure we will have a great time - the hard bit now is to wait the 8 months before we can go.

hi greg,

trust me, you have done the hardest thing now by choosing all your accommodation - they all look great BTW.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

I would have no difficulty enjoying that trip. This September I did a 2 week trip that covered Milan, Parma, Cinque Terre, Bologna, and Tuscany by train and car and bicycle. Maybe I'll post a trip report if anyone is interested, but I just joined this group today and if I posted a report on all my past trips it would take a long time.

My most urgent warning is not to underestimate the time it takes to get around on Italian roads, especially if you avoid the toll roads. I expected Parma to Volterra would be an easy day trip with lots of time to see Lucca on the way. Obviously that wasn't realistic. On winding, hilly roads (the only kind in most of Italy), you average 30 MPH at best and it's hard work just following the road. Even without the frequent "deviazioni" or detours, it's easy to get off track now and then. I ended up spending just 3 hours in Lucca which was barely enough to qualify as a "taste". I really have to get back there someday soon. Don't underestimate the difficulty getting around Lucca by car at rush hour. Yes, the walled part of the city has little traffic because it's closed to non-residents, but all around the walled zone is a traffic nightmare. I read Italian fluently but it took me an hour and a half just to find my way out of the city and by then it was dark, as it gets dark early in the fall.

What was supposed to be an enjoyable saunter through Tuscany to my B&B near Volterra turned out to be a mad dash on unlit mountain roads with hard-to-read signs. It was almost amazing that I arrived as early as I did, 5 hours behind schedule, and after midnight. All I'm saying is to be realistic and allow plenty of time, and don't try to do too much sightseeing along the way and expect to cover more than 300 miles.

Just a word of caution though when it comes to hire cars and parking in large towns. A couple of years ago having just arrived at Pisa Airport, we parked in a pay and display car park very near the Leaning Tower and Duomo in Pisa for a couple of hours. We came back to find that our hire car had been burgled, all our luggage had gone and we were left with what we were wearing - fortunately I had all our passports, tickets, credit cards, money etc in my handbag. It was very obvious which cars were hire cars because their registration numbers started with certain letters - so that does make them easy targets>>

so sorry about your experience, Nicki. Something that we have found useful is to park with the boot [aka trunk] hard up against a wall or tree, making it impossible to open. it won't keep out the most determined thief, but it does make it more difficult. of course it only works if you put everything out of view in the boot!

euro explorer - welcome. your Tuscany trip in september sounds just like the sort of thing the fodorites like to read, especially if it includes things going wrong! your advice about the length of time it can take to drive in italy [indeed in europe] is spot on - it can sometimes be difficult to get across to people from North America the length of time that some trips they are contemplating are likely to take.

regards, ann

Once again, thank you everyone for your comments & suggestions, and we'll follow up on as many as we can. We will certainly be looking to get in some hiking in the Dolomites - really inspired by the 'live' trip report from Mr & Ms_Go and daughter from back in July-August. http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...o-daughter.cfm

Thanks also for the comments about driving times. Our longest scheduled drives will be when we change acommodation; the longest is about 250km and we will probably use major roads those days so I'm hopeful we'll be fine. Worth thinking about when we plan day trips though.

We have also backed the car up against the wall in carparks, to make it a bit harder to break into the luggage compartment. This is one of the reasons we prefer to use apartments where we can so that most days we are travelling without our luggage. I also like the way rental cars (at least in France) have a little "diesel" sticker on the filler flap - I guess it's shorter than saying "rental car, please break in and have a look around". Having said that, we've had many rental cars in the UK, France, Spain & Italy and never had one broken into.

Thanks again for your interest, Greg