sawadee

Looking for ideas on where to base for 2-3 weeks this Spring. I had the good fortune of living in Europe for 9 years and was able to travel extensively throughout the continent. We have also been making 1-2 trips a year to Europe since then: France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany. In planning our next trip we would like to begin and end with a week to 10 days moving ariund, with the middle time spending 2-3 weeks in a base town or smaller city in Spain and Italy. The first week will probably be spent in the Garmisch Germany area. This will allow us to then go to Slovenia or the Dolomites for a few days before settling into the Italy base city. We then plan to move to a second base city, in Spain, and then finish the trip with 10 days in Ireland and the UK.Our needs for the base location are pretty simple - good restaurants/mercado, nice squares to people watch, good opportunities for long walks and surrounding area with scenic or cultural attractions (sounds like most places in Spain or Italy), and not overrun with tourists.

Your suggestions will be very much appreciated.

whitehall

Sounds like your European experience is as good or better than many posters here. Some vibrant places we like in Italy that are not terribly touristy: Bergamo, Balzano, Bologna, Parma, Lecce, Salerno.

PalenQ

Trains or cars? Trains if mainly cities as private cars are not permitted into many Italian city centers. If trains check these for lots of good planning tips on trains - www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.. Maybe mix in driving in say Tuscany or Dolomites, etc. Renting car in one country and returning to another can cost a lot - check on that when renting.

sawadee

Fully agree with the recommendation regarding mixing driving and trains. We do plan to do a mix of driving and trains. Last major driving trip in Italy was Puglia and Tuscany and while some of the winding roads in Puglia were a challenge, it was worth it. Hopefully, no train strikes when we are there.

The cities recommended all look excellent and I do not think we could lose picking any of them. We have not been south of the Amalfi Coast, so Salerno looks quite interesting.

Now to figure our Spains, We are thinking about driving from Barcelona to San Sebastian through the Pyrenees, a few days in San Sebastian, then another driving trip through Asturias. Grand finale will hopefully be an apartment in someplace that is new to us. Thank you for the suggestions

bvlenci

Is this for two weeks or two months? The title says two months, but in the body of the post, you say two or three weeks. Your plans sound awfully ambitious for two weeks.

I think Whitehall meant "Bolzano" rather than "Balzano".

sawadee

Two plus months, with stays of 2-3 weeks each in a city /town in Italy and SpainSpain, with short stays in between

ekscrunchy

Take a look at the small city of Sulmona, in Abruzzo. Few tourists, great walking and scenic driving nearby. Inexpensive restaurants. Nearby beaches.

In Spain: Cadiz? Valencia? Oviedo/Gijon? Ribadesella?

Getaria (not sure about their market).

whitehall

Yes and thanks for the reminder that I need some new reading glasses. My good friend in Bolzano would be laughing.

bvlenci

In Italy, I can suggest, in addition to the suggestions above, Ascoli Piceno, Gubbio, Urbino, and Todi. I also like ekscrunchy's suggestion of Sulmona, although it's maybe a bit too far off the beaten path. I also love Bologna, suggested by whitehall, but it's a pretty big city. Sermonetta, in Lazio, is a very pretty little town, but maybe too small for your taste.

For restaurants, it's hard to beat Senigallia, a small city on the Adriatic coast, which has an incredible density of good restaurants, headed by the Michelin 3-star Uliassi. In the summer, Senigallia's wide sandy beaches are crowded on weekends, but in the spring it's tranquil. Even in the summer, it's not overrun with tourists, as most of the beachgoers are locals. The thing I like about Senigallia is that it has a vibrant culture quite apart from the beach. There are also many charming hill towns in the immediate interior.

Here are a few albums that might give you an idea of some of these lesser-known cities.

Senigallia https://photos.app.goo.gl/XDgzp9ZRDrwdthoz2
Sermoneta and the nearby garden of Ninfa https://photos.app.goo.gl/wGGLtLVwFvLBcM7ZA
Ascoli Piceno https://photos.app.goo.gl/oyAMS9RH7mws1qpL8
Gola del Infernaccio, near Ascoli Piceno https://photos.app.goo.gl/aJG5Tb7aRyV3PQkTA

None of these are south of Amalfi, though.

sawadee

Wow, some great suggestions. Thank you
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