jshaw

in June of 2004. What day trips would you recommend besides Florence and Pisa? We will have cars, can take the train (can you do Rome in a day going by train? Is there a stop in Grieve?), we are staying in an awesome castle (17 family members) so don't want to do overnights but want to see as much as we can. Any input is welcome.

ThomasG

Hey Jill,
you are going to be in Greve in Chianti (correcto?).
If that holds true, a day trip to Rome is not an option. Here are a couple of suggestion, that all are within reasonable distances for a day trip, allowing the family members to have a common vacation not to become expert drivers on Italian roads:
- go to the maremma coast and enjoy the beach together
- cities all worth a day if you prepare the visit: Siena, Lucca, Volterra, San Gimignano etc.
- visit to an Olive Oil or Wine Farm
- common hike in the Chianti hills
- little village tour: Radda, Greve, Castellina in Chianti (best pizze, btw)
- Isola d'Elba is great, not sure if you can 'do' it in a day though...

Hope that helps. Happy to help on specifics, if I can...
T.

jshaw

GRAZIE!!! Yes, I realized I had misspelled Greve after I posted - felt stupid, I always make fun of people who do that...Thank you for your recommendations - we are going to try and avoid traveling as a huge pack of people, but my part of the family wanted to have several day trips in our itinerary and I had no idea where to start. Would you suggest any particular guide book that would be of help? Since we have over a year until we travel, I hate taking advantage of your time if there are resources you would recommend adequate for me to do my own research. Is driving in Italy as bad as everyone makes it sound? Do you think we should do an overnight in Rome or save it for another trip when we can dedicate several days?
Thank you for your help - any opinions are welcome and appreciated.
Jill

MarkY

Jill, I leave for Italy tomorrow and will be staying in a villa in Greve for a week starting May 24th.

Here is a great web site about the towns around Greve. http://www.divinacucina.com/code/greve.html

BTW, I agree with ThomasG, a day trip to Rome isn't an option. This will be our second time staying in Greve and the sites Thomas mentions are well worth visiting. You'll need a car as there isn't train service to Greve.

Howver, I've never been to the Meremma coast. Thomas, can you tell me where about this place is? What does it offer and about how far a drive from Greve.

Loretta

Hi Jill,



[email protected])
Date: 05/14/2003, 04:29 pm
Message: TOUR GUIDE FOR GREVE AREA

Just got back from Tuscany. We hired a private guide in Florence named Alessandro Cammilli. He was wonderful. A native of Florence, he speaks good english, & knows some of the off the beated path sights. He's very reliable, & very reasonbly priced at $25 per hour for two, $35 per hour for four. He furnishes the transportion, & can take you to Pisa, to the wineries in Tuscany, to good restaurants, to and from the airport, etc. Alessandro is a good italian driver, just don't watch any of the cars when in Florence. Our trip would not have been the same without Alessandro's help. He can even reserve tickets to museums in advance.
You can reach him [email protected]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

jshaw

Thank you so much. I will definitely contact Alessandro; I was worried about trying to drive around Florence and Pisa. This is our first trip to Europe. I've given up on the idea of a day trip to Rome and we are now thinking of taking an early train out of Florence and staying overnight in Rome. I know even two full days won't be enough, but I don't know when we'll be back and hate to be that close to Rome without seeing it at all. Opinions? This is going to sound like we never go anywhere, but do we need to learn some Italian before we go? My father assures us that everyone speaks English (they've been several times) but I'm worried about getting lost as well as trying to communicate in some of the smaller towns. Thank you for your help.

Loretta

Jill,

Are you staying at Castello Vicchimagggio? This is where my husband & I stayed for a week in late March. In regards to speaaking italian, I recommend that you learn some general conversational Italian. This way the Italians seem to respect you more if you can even address them & greet them in their native language.

Blackhorse

Lucca for sure. If you drive by Massa Maratime on your journey, do take a look.

Elba is out of the question for a day trip, unfortunately.

ThomasG

Jill:
- Don't know about guidebooks I could recommend, sorry. I have relatives in the area and also have been race cycling a lot around there.

As far as the driving goes, I am trying to be fair, as different doesn't necessarily mean worse: no large and unfamiliar cities are 'relaxing' to drive in (NYC? Paris?), particularly when crowded or narrow and regulated by lots of one-ways and multiple-entrance roundabouts and the Italian cities are no exception to that.
On highways Italian driving is fast and sporty (slightly agressive) with lots of well-ment 'signalling' (flashing, honking, blinking, driving up, etc.).
Issues are however the difference in speeds between all the vehicles and the often curvy or tunneled highways with limited sight ahead. 2 tips: adapt the speed, so you can travel with comfort. Apreciate the helping signals you get from fellow drivers, but still evaluate what's best for you and don't lose your calm. On town roads, Italians like to overtake more often than other people, but let that be their problem, as long as you are not in danger...

Rome: If you can spare 3 full days, including travel, you might risk it. Bare in mind however, that Rome keeps enough things to see & do for weeks...so, better plan an extra vacation if that is an option, it is worth it!

Italian language: If you want the Italians to like and somewhat respect you, learn a couple of things to say, and if it is just to properly greet at least. Otherwise, I wouldn't be too worried, as long as you have some sort of minimal translation aid for backup.

MarkY: Maremma is the area around Grosseto, it is pretty wild (features national park) and I have to admit I know only the beaches, which are closest to Chianti.

Traveler2

Has anyone stayed at any place on the road S 429 just outside Castelina in Chianti? It would be my preference, however any in that area I would like to know about?
As far as driving in Italy we have done so on different trips and much prefer European's driving to Americans. We have found less road rage and more courteous than American drivers. However you must be aware of motorcyclist and on the autostrada (in all countries) the left lane is only used to pass vehicles!

Traveler2

Correction: it is Castellina in Chianti!

PMB

We stayed at a wonderful place just outside of Castellina in Chianti called Locanda Le Piazze. It is between Castellina and Poggibonsi. E-mail [email protected]. It is a very nice restored villa set in the middle of vineyards with a beautiful pool overlooking the Tuscan hills. It also has a great dining room! We really enjoyed our stay here. There are pictures on Karen Brown's website of Charming Inns in Italy.

Traveler2

Thanks PMB! I will try to do some research and see if I can come up with a web site for it.
We love the scenic drive from Castellina to Poggibonsi.
Update: I found the web site.

sgregory

I am also planning a trip to Chianti, will only be there for one day as we are on a cruise.Wondering if anyone that has been there has any favorite shops in Greve or Northern Chianti? Or between Livorno and Chianti. My friend would like to find some gold jewelry (and of course at a reasonable price). However our main focus is wine tasting and visiting castles, so we are not planning on visiting Florence or Lucca, where we have heard are the best places to buy gold (and Arezzo is too far).
Thanks

mitchdesj

thomas, your suggestions are right on the ball, what you wrote t is our trip we did last year in a nutshell and it was fabulous.

I would skip a daytrip to Pisa, we saw the tower from the autoroute, apparently the town is only the tower from up close, so would not waste time seeing that.

We went to a town market one morning, there is a schedule that tells you which town has it when, and that was fun.

You could also hire a chef to cook a dinner for you in your castle instead of going out to a fancy restaurant...

JeanneB

jshaw:

Are you only staying one week?

If so, I don't see how you can reasonably fit Rome into your schedule.
There's so much to see and do right there in Tuscany: Florence, Lucca, Volterra, San Gimingano, Siena, Cortona....

jshaw

My husband and I have been in Mexico for a while, so I had not checked back on the board. It now looks like we will be flying into Rome arriving on Friday, June 4th. We stay in Rome Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights and leave Monday morning for Castellare di Ugnana, which is where we are staying. Depending on flight schedules, we may spend one more night in Rome before we fly out, but we will be staying at the castle June 7th through 21st so we have two weeks. We are interested in "Hike and Eat" suggestions as well as little wineries, olive oil farms (?), anything quaint and pretty. We will definitely do Siena and Florence but will probably skip Pisa. Keep the suggestions coming - I appreciate your help!!