Toscana/Umbria - only five days
 

Am traveling to Italy next week, and this time around wish to visit small towns I haven't yet been to in Toscana & Umbria --I know, very little time, lots to see, AND will be using public transportation. I plan to stay in Milano until the 21 with friends before and after going South, but was wondering:<BR>1) Should I make hotel reservations for April 22-26 (was told 25th is a holiday)? I had planned to travel around and decide where to stay once I got there, but am wondering about this.<BR>2) Train or bus reservations once I'm there? Or can I also just show up at the train/bus and buy my ticket? Easy conections between S Gimignano, Cortona, Todi, Orvieto, for example?<BR>Thanks!

I'll also be in Italy, probably last week in May and first of June, and am looking for similar information regarding trains and buses - I recommend you search this forum, where I found the following useful web site with a map of Italian train routes:<BR>http://uk.geocities.com/goitaly2000/trainmap2.html<BR><BR>Don't know about hotel reservations, though - was wondering about that too. Some friends have told me I might be better off if I did, but others said I can find excellent places to stay in the hill towns without having to make reservations beforehand, just deciding where to stay while on the road, and choosing the hotel once I arrive in Siena or other such places. <BR><BR><BR>

1. Do get a reservation.<BR>2. Pick a single city to use as a base, thought Siena was a good idea.<BR>3. Rent a bike for days trips in the region.<BR>4. Depending on trains and busses will waste too much time.

1 -Agree with Vera, get reservations, it might not always be necessary, but you'll be glad you did.<BR><BR>I found some hotels were fully booked, others weren't but you won't know until you get there, so plan ahead.<BR><BR>2 -Rented a car, so don't know about public transportation in the region.

Was there last November and had no reservations for hotels, but we rented a car, so at the only place we were told they had no room, we just moved on. <BR><BR>Except for that one hotel in Lucca (there was some meeting going on, we were told), we were able to stay exactly where we chose.<BR><BR>Why don' you write or fax the hotels you're interested in and get some feedback from them about vacancies for those five days? That way, you'll get a feel for what things are like regarding reservations.<BR><BR>As to conections by bus and train, I recall two or three people we met while traveling complaining to us about having to wait a long time at bus stations, so make sure you have train and bus schedules with you.