Sasayra

Earlier this year I went to Italy for my brother's wedding, and now I think I'm addicted. I'm currently planning my "big birthday" gift to myself (which won't be due til March of 2003)... but starting to plan now is motivation to save money and maybe learn some Italian. <BR><BR>For those of you who've been a number of times and covered most of the country, if you had 9 days to spend, and were planning on using the trains rather than renting a car, where would you go? I promised my travel companion we'd go to Florence, but other than that, our itinerary is a great big blank canvas. (My brother and his wife will be living in Rome at that time so we'll have free room and board at each end post- and prior-flight.)<BR><BR>Any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance! <BR><BR>S.

Betsy

Sasayra, how many full days do you have? Nine or seven, if you count a day each for travel to/from Italy?

elaine

S<BR>And please say what sorts of things interest you: shopping, historical sites, big cities vs countryside,food and wine, Renaissance art, religious sites, etc.

Dean

i think that with 7 or 9 days only, and with no car, you should concentrate on some bigger cities. Otherwise you will be constantly transferring to and from hotels/train stations etc. In addition, i personally would only go to 2 places with that much time available. Here are a few of my favorites<BR><BR>If you like Roman history, go to Pompeii, Paestum, Herculano and Napoli. Napoli is home to the most amazing archological museum which gives context and perspective to a visit to Pompeii and herculano. Plus Naples is so well served via the Circumvesuviana. You could stay in Sorrento (somewhat noisy and touristy but really quite lovely) or Massa Lubrense (or S Agata due Gulfi) a little farther out the peninsula, but going past Sorrento makes the train/bus connections harder.<BR><BR>For Art, florence and Venice are amazing. Either one would be a great stop. Venice also has the advantage of no cars. Your pace of life is so slow and calm that I took a few days to really warm up to Venice on my first visit. But now I love it and it hurts to not see Venice on a visit. FLorence is a favorite city despite our usually not staying there. We stay in Chianti and drive in typically, but without a car the logistics are really ugly. Florence is simply amazing and filled with a vibrant energy despite all the tourists. You can easily get to less touristed areas like Santo Spirito and the area around San Marco (I said less touristed, not non-touristed) in Florence. In Venice, once you are past the Rialto and San Marco, the tourist quotient falls off rapidly. You also need to hang out in wine bars a lot to get the real feel of Veenice (dang, hard work but someone's got to do it!!!). <BR><BR>Rome is amazing but not very restful. I love it but I would go there first, not last. There is simply too much to do in Rome no matter how long you stay. Lots of great food. Expensive.<BR><BR>An offbeat choice is Modena. Easy train connections and a real city. Almost untouristed. You can see the amazing Duomo and campanielle, and the Museum of the Estense is filled with huge amounts of art. Great food. And I believe its an easy bus ride to the Fararri museum in Maranello (and if you keep going 5km along the same road, you get to Il Postillone one of my favorite restaurants). Parma, Bologna, Reggio nell'Emilia are all easy day trips from Modena via train.<BR><BR>For me, Venice and Florence would be my choice or Venice and Sorrento. If you do the latter, consider an airplane from Venice to Naples.

Sasayra

Woops! I meant to specificy... 9 fun days plus two days of traveling into/out of the country. <BR><BR>I am a huge fan of architecture, art, antiques, textiles - and food and wine, of course. <BR><BR>The friend I'm going with is an interior designer who spent much of her growing-up time in the middle east as her father was involved with oil. She's been to Italy twice, but only for the weekend (what a terrible life - going to Italy for a weekend!). She has many of the same interests.<BR><BR>Florence is a definite - because I fell in love with it and didn't have enough time there, and because she wants to see it for the first time. Which reminds me - I actually prefered the Oltrarno (sp) side of the river... does anyone have any hotel suggestions for the area? Otherwise, I'm thinking the Porta Rosa near the Ponte Vecchio...has anyone stayed there?<BR><BR>Thanks for taking the time to respond!<BR><BR>Sara aka Sasayra

Kay

I planned a 10 day trip for a friend arriving in Rome, then to Florence, Venice, Flying out of Milan. They used the trains.

Dean

I am going to top my Venice, Rome and Toscana suggestions. With 9 full days, I would do a 5 days in a small town in Toscana or in Firenze and the rest of the time in Venice. I would rent an apartment with a kitchen so I could cook. Enjoy your trip!