Planning Northern Italy trip
 

Have appreciated help from you all before so am requesting help in planning a trip to Northern Italy next spring. Is there a town to have as base that is similar to Santa Marguerita Ligure or Tourettes-Sur-Loup or Goult, France. Am looking to rent a smnall house for a week and do day trips but would like a place with some charm, not real loud or overly touristy. Thanks for suggestions!

Kathryn - Are you looking for somewhere in Liguria? Levante or Ponente?

For the Levante you might want to consider Vernazza, Portovenere or Camogli.

For the Ponente among my favourite places are Noli and Finale Ligure.

All of these have charm ... but they're not 'undiscovered'. However, in spring they should be relatively quiet - bar Easter.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Steve, any suggestions in any of the Lakes areas---wide open as to Maggiore, Como, etc. Thanks.

For LAKE COMO I'd pick somewhere in the mid-lake area - Menaggio, Varenna or Bellagio. My favourite is Menaggio - which is also possibly the best for day-trips. Others will suggest Varenna or Bellagio. Really you can't go wrong.

For LAKE GARDA my favourite is Riva del Garda in the north - which is the most scenic part of the lake. Other delightful resorts IMO are Limone, Torre del Benaco and Malcesine. Any of them make a good base.

I'll leave others to suggest bases for LAKE MAGGIORE.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I think that when you are looking for a house to rent, you put the features of the house first, and the location second. A six bedroom house in the perfect location at $5000 a week in the perfect town is no match for a couple. Nor likewise, a two-bedroom bungalow, for a group/family of eight. Houses are almost always quite "perfectly priced" for a specific number of people; unless money is no object to you, then you will want to find the house priced accordingly, to suit two, three, five, seven or however-many people you are.

So, I think you need the right <i>agency</i> that has a good big inventory of properties to rent, so that you can match up the ones that &quot;fit&quot; you with the location you seek.

The website www.slowtrav.com is probably the most important repository for determining other travelers' previous experiences with agencies in general, and specific properties in particular.

I have good experiences with

www.domani-usa.com
www.regencyintapts.com

and

www.rentvillas.com


(though I must confess, I am remiss to having ever posted my own experience with these on slowtrav myself!)

Best wishes,

Rex