giadav

We are doing a 10 night cruise out of Venice. Having 3 nights pre cruise in Venice. We have already stayed in Venice 2 years ago, so I was thinking of taking the train and spending 2 nights somewhere. We would love to see Cinque Terre.....is this doable without a car?

Or if anyone has another suggestion, we are open. Also, we like to pick hotels that may have a pool so we can relax a bit during the day. When we stayed in Venice, we stayed at the Molino Stucky Hilton and it was fabulous, relaxed until mid day then headed out to explore.

tonfromleiden

Cinque Terre will involve a lot of travelling time from Venice and back. Why not nearby Bologna, only 1,5 hours away? Pleasant, interesting city, with other attractions like Ferrara, Ravenna, Modena and Parma around the corner and easily reached by train?

sandralist

Since you are open to other options, I would suggest skipping the very long train ride across Italy's widest stretch of landmass and instead picking someplace easier to get to by train.

But it is hard to make suggestions without knowing which days of the year you will be traveling. Some places like Bologna can be extremely hot in high summer, and unless you have a car, it is difficult to find a hotel with a pool except in the countryside. Or if you are not traveling in high summer, then maybe pools in the countryside won't be open, while high-end city hotels might have some.

Also, is your cruise taking you anyplace else in Italy? What are your travel interests beyond pools and cruising? Northeast Italy is crammed with travel variety and strong differences in food, architecture, local ambience. Places like Mantova (a great 2-night destination) are nothing at all like Milan (great swimming pools) or Ferrara (bikes and castles!).

flpab

It is beautiful but a long journey, you don't need a vehicle as the train will take you there and it stops at each village. How about Florence? Have you been there?

giadav

Ok great information. I don't think we want to do something that would involve "Long traveling". We arrive in Venice in the morning on 9/16. Was thinking of spending the day/night in Venice then see another area with a return to our departing cruise on 9/19........

Our cruise has a great itinerary with stops in Rome, Naples, Livorno, Sicily. then off to Croatia.

We did a cruise this past July in Italy and the downside to a cruise is that you are not in ports long enough and the travel time to get to the tourist destination in long. This year was an extreme heat wave, so by the time we got to Livorno, we were so tired that we ended up getting back on the ship because we had walked over 15 miles the day before!!!

What is the food like in Milan "Sandralist"?

PS Love everyones suggestions

neckervd

You obviously like scenic hikes, otherwise you wouldn't plan to go to 5Terre.
For good hiking, check Lake Garda area or the Trentino, much closer to Venice than 5Terre.

sandralist

Milan is one of the great underrated food destinations of Italy. Bologna might be even more to your liking if you are pasta hounds. Both are easy train trips from Venice. If you like old world ambience, then Bologna certainly gets the edge. If you like luxury hotels with swimming pools, modern Milan gets the edge - and you can take a day trip from Milan to Bologna, just an hour away, to see the morning markets and have a pasta lunch.

There are a few hotels right at the edge of Bologna that have swimming pools, I believe. From them, it is quite a short tram trip into the center of Bologna. If you like food and are spending 2 nights in Bologna, the morning market in Modena is beautiful. Many people staying in Bologna also book food tours that take them all through the region by private car and they visit producers of parmigiano-reggiano cheese, balsamic vinegar, cured meats, etc. I've never done it. People love them. Bologna also offers many pasta making classes.

giadav

Thank you so much for all this great information!!! Going to research hotels in both Bologna and Lake Garda and see what we come up with

giadav

"neckervd" I am in love with Lake Garda. Looks like we would be ok without having to rent a car. Do you have any hotel suggests?

I am thinking to maybe do 2 nights in Lake Garda and maybe 1 night in Bologna.......Do you have a hotel suggestion "sandralist".

Your information has helped me gather my thoughts....this is so overwhelming when you are not familiar with the Country.

sandralist

The best way to find a hotel in Bologna that appeals to you is to go to booking.com and use its search features. You can search for date, price, amenities (like swimming pool, wifi, air con). They also have a map that will show you the exact location of the hotel.

I cannot remember if there is a hotel in the center of Bologna that has a swimming pool. However, any hotel with a swimming pool at the periphery of Bologna is likely to have a shuttle to the city center, or a very easy tram connection.

Be aware that on Sunday mornings the Bologna markets are closed, and also Thursday afternoons. You might feel like you missed something if you went to Bologna and the markets were closed.

If you decide on visiting Lago di Garda and have never been to Verona, it would be MUCH easier and less time consuming travel by train if you went to Verona instead of Bologna for a night. It is a very pretty city and right in between Lago di Garda and Venice.

If you are really keen on food markets, the city of Padova -- 20 minutes from Venice by train -- has one of the most architecturally beautiful and largest historic food markets in all of Italy.

Finally, I wish you pleasant weather in Livorno, and I understand that typically people on a cruise dock at Livorno and make a bee-line for Florence, Lucca or Pisa. However, Livorno also has one of my favorite food markets in all of Italy and one of Italy's most spectacular food creations, the great fish "stew" called "cacciucco". So if once more it is just to hot to sightsee, don't head back to the ship, head to the covered market and then go have a great lunch.

http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allt...cco-fish-stew/

(Having said that, many cruise shippers now go from Livorno to le Cinque Terre as an excursion if I am not mistaken.)

giadav

THANK YOU "Sandralist" !!!!! Great, great info for us!! We love the heat, but it is more enjoyable swimming in the ocean, not walking around Rome and the Colosseum at 98 degrees and 100 % humidity. People were fainting everywhere. It was so hot this past July, so i figured Sept will be better and still warm that we can swim.

I will check out Verona, that sounds great.

When we were in Livorno, our plan was to do Cinque Terre excursion. I was so disappointed in how exhausted we felt and just gross because it was so humid. I wish I had more info on that port because we would have loved "cacciucco" fish stew.

jangita

Verona is a wonderful food/wine town. If you decide to go, don't miss the bakery Locanda Dolce on via catullo. Best pastries I've ever had in Italy!