Italy advice
First, I would like to thank all of you for your responses to my post last week. I am not ready to process all of that yet, but I will in good time. But it means a lot that you care that much. Anyway, I am 99% sure I'm going to Italy, and I don't have a lot of time to plan, so I need your wisdom. The dates are set, so I just have to buy a ticket and suck it up. Prize goes to Micifus Phil for pointing out the new Bing travel site. It has worked great so far. I will continue to check out the ones you all suggested. Thanks!
I am sprinkling in some pictures of a gorgeous example of humanity I spotted the last time I was in Venice a couple summers ago. Thank God for telephoto lenses, and Italian boys. Yum!
Here's the scenario: I have been to Italy at least 5 times, and I've seen most of the major touristy bits, some multiple times. Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona, Pisa, Sorrento/Capri, Sicily, Pompeii, the Amalfi Coast (oh, Ravello!) and some cute little towns like San Gimignano. So, I don't particularly care where we go, except that I've not been to the Cinque Terre. My travel companion, on the other hand, has not been outside the US, ever. So the real fun of the trip for me will be showing him the magic of Italy, giving him a taste for world travel, and basically showing him a good time. He doesn't have a lot of money, and I don't want to spend a lot. The reality is that I will probably subsidize some stuff that I really want to do that he can't afford, but that makes it all the more important to save money on things like trains and lodging.
It's not settled yet, but we may only have 5 days to travel together, but 7 at the most. So I need to put together a kick-ass 5 day itinerary, that could be easily extended to 7. It looks like we'll probably be flying roundtrip through Milan. (I know, eww. We won't spend much time there.)
I have never traveled with him, but my guess is that he's not going to be one of those travelers who just HAS to see XYZ because everybody says you have to see it. I suspect he will be content to skip the 3pm tour of the Uffizi if we're enjoying a good conversation over wine in the plaza. He's the type that remembers the sounds of a city more than the museums. He feels things rather than talks about them. So I'm thinking it's probably more important to find romantic vistas and a feast for the senses, rather than tick off a list of must-see sites. That being said, here are some thoughts off the top of my head to offer to him as options:
- Cinque Terre (pretty much a definite, because I want to go there.)
- Rome (primarily the forum and the Vatican (I don't particularly care about the Vatican, but he was raised Catholic, so he might.) I've been to Rome a couple times, but he probably should see it.)
- Florence (I honestly think it's kinda overrated, but I'm not sure we can miss it for his first trip. I need a new belt, anyway. The one I bought there last time is worn out.)
- I would like to go to a smaller, older town like Lucca or Sienna. If there's an "undiscovered" one, less touristy, that'd be good. Thoughts?
- It would be cool to stay in some quintessential Tuscan villa for a night and do wine tasting. He loves wine. Anybody know of a good place?
I would love to show him Pompeii and Ravello, two of my favorite parts of Italy, but I just don't think we have time to make it that far south. We need to concentrate with Rome as our southernmost destination, I'm afraid.
Ok, now, about getting around. My inclination is trains, because it's cheap-ish. But it's so limited by schedules, and we may see less just because we have to spend so much time at train stations. Is the cost of a rental car going to rape me? Does it make more sense to do a car since we'd have to buy two train tickets everywhere? What's the best/cheapest car rental in Italy? If I do trains, what's the best website for timetables and booking?Where should we stay? I'm planning this too late, and it's peak travel season, so I'm guessing all the good hostels are full. On the other hand, maybe Americans are so poor/scared of the recession that they won't come. We don't mind sharing a bed, so cheap dive motels might be ok. Is there a network of bed and breakfasts I should know about? Or is couchsurfing the best bet?
Anyway, ANY advice anybody has would be greatly appreciated. Best restaurants, best day trips, best hotels, whatever. I'm all ears.
Oh, and did you notice the colors of the smaller bracelet on his left wrist? :D
Thanks in advance for your help!
posted by Matt at 8:21 PM
27 Comments:
I'm envious. I wanna go to Italy and look at hot guys =I...I don't know much about Italy but I hope you have fun.
FMS
If you've never been to Cinque Terre I would go. I have not been personally, but my parents were there just last spring and the pictures were breath taking. They said it was their favorite part of their trip and are dying to go back.
Lucca is beautiful. Trains are cheap and easy and if you have to do a long journey get a sleeper and do it overnight. Enjoy!
The Cinque Terre is a definite must. But you must walk between the villages. That way you'll escape the tourists and savour the contryside. You can buy a Cinque Terre Pass in the tourism office of La Spezia train station (not the ticket office). The five towns are all veryt different. The hike is toughest at the Northern end, very easy at the southern end. The whole thing can be done in a day but you can always do bits of it.
Be sure to validate your train ticket before boarding trains. I got fined for not doing so.
Be careful reading train schedules to catch trains that only run on certain days.
Lucca is well worth visiting. Its cheaper than Pisa or Florence and just as charming.
Pietrasanta is a charming small town with a gorgeous cathedral and lots of sculptures. Worth a visit.
Torre del Lago is the gay resort on the Italian Riviera. There are bars, if you want. There's also Opera, if you are so inclined. The beach is nice and the eye candy almost overwhelming. It doesn't have the charm of the typical old Tuscan town, though. There are several gay B*B's there. I stayed in Las Dunas (http://www.lasdunasbeb.com/beb_en.php) and would recomemnd it. It's not old/traditional at all but the two guys who run it are very gracious hosts and there was a nice family (in the broadest sense of the word) feeling to staying there.
As a raised Catholic, I was totally unprepared for the sheer size of the Vatican. It is a must visit.
Matt, you seem to have done extraordinarily well on your graduation trip to the Balkans. Do it again!
Last winter a friend and I stayed at the Hotel Bahnhof in Zermatt, CH. It was like a hostel for adults. Much of the sleeping was dormitory style. The kitchen/living are was a social dynamo with opportinities to meet all sorts of interesting people. The cost was quite reasonable. I'm not sure how you will find such accomodations, though.
Try Orvieto if you want to get off the main tourist path. It's a beautiful walled medieval city. It was built that way as a fortress for the Pope. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orvieto
Gas prices in Europe are so high that I would advise car rental only if there are 4 of you traveling.
So, if you're using trains then http://trenitalia.it/homepage_en.html
although it's not very reliable to buy tickets on, it will give you the schedule for trains.
And you have to go to Venice.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/travel/07Tuscany.html?hp
Todd just beat me to it. That's a delightful article on the Tuscan coast and out of the way places. I also loved Orvieto, which is on the way up from Rome. But you'll only get to some of these places if you drive. True, the gas prices are steep but the cars get great mileage, distances aren't all that great, and you'll get to many places that are otherwise inaccessible if you go by train. Plus you'll save a ton of time. Fred
I'm surprised that the NYT didn't mention Torre del Lago in that article. The beach at Torre del Lago is continuous with the southern beach at Viareggio. The gay beach is slap bang between the two. The whole coastline north from Torre del Lago to Forte dei Marmi is one continuous sandy beach apart from the occasional harbour. The whole thing is a holiday resort with different clienteles inhabiting different bits.
I hope you have an amazing trip in Italy. It will be a lot of fun to show your friend a new place you are familiar with. I still haven't made it there yet but hope to someday.
On a side note...I'm slightly disturbed by the stalker like quality of the photos you took of the guy in this post. Am I the only one who feels this way?
I can't help at all in this entry because I've never been to Europe (but I'm going to Austria on July 10th), but I wanted to tell you that this sounds so fucking exciting that I wish I was goingggg. I hope you have an amazing time, you need it. <3
luckyyy have a great time! take lots of photos for us to see :)
ps: it looks like he was posing for you
I am sure that you will have a kickass time....especially if you keep spottig bois like there...yummm!
Judging from the logo on his shirt, I wonder if he is American.
You only have 5 days, and you want to do all those cities? I spent 11 days in Italy last year: 2 in Milan 3 in Florence 1 in Napoli (worst city on earth) and 4 in Rome, and I felt I was short on time. I think the best thing to do is to focus on one City, which is Rome. I did not really like Florence (as you have said - over rated), especially you have to travel by train. Hopping from one city to another is not fun on a train, with only 5 days.
I would like to add my vote that you should go to Lucca - not as touristy as other nearby cities but full of charm and one of my favorite trips while studying in Italy. It would also be fairly easy to get to from the Cinque Terre by train.
As for method of travel, you could easily travel on trains from Milan to the Cinque Terre, Lucca, Florence and Rome. However, it does take time. Would it be a lot more expensive to fly into Milan and out of Rome?
My friend's daughter was in Italy for Spring Break. Her and her girlfriends stayed in Florence and took the train everywhere including Rome. One place they went to along the way was a town called Civita - also known as the disappearing city, because residents are passing away from old age. The girls loved the town architectually and for the little cafes.
The smaller towns are nice in that you can do them in a day or less, so you get more out of the time invested. My vote is the Republic of San Marino, which is on the Adriatic coast, somewhat opposite Cinque Terre (both in location and geography). They make for a nice contrast without having to travel very far.
The Cinque Terre is going to be unbelievably tourist-choked. It was so crowded that it just wasn't fun for me. However, right next door is the charming riviera town of Porto Venere. If you must go to Cinque Terre, I recommend you stop here too.
In Rome there are a ton of good restaurants. My absolute favorite wine bar in the world -- Cul de Sac -- is located near the Piazza Navona. It's very affordable (wines from 2 euro per glass) and the food is traditional and well-priced.
Rome is also known for its coffee. You will have to go to Sant'Eustachio and Tazza d'Oro (both near the Pantheon) for coffee. Tazza d'Oro is also famous for its granita del caffe.
For a lunch in a real hole-in-the-wall, try Sora Margherita on the Piazza delle Cinque Scuole in the Jewish Ghetto. It doesn't even have a sign, but the fried artichokes and the pastas are to die for.
And the gelato! Rome has tons of gelato. There are two very famous places you'll probably find on google. but right near the Pantheon is a little gelateria called Cremeria, and they have incredible Semifreddo, which is a mousse-like gelato. Have fun.
daymn that guy looks hot.
i love italy and have been to san gimignano amongst many other places.
i recommend staying in hostels as they are cheap, you get to meet loads of friendly people from all over the world and some do breakfasts as well.
as for trains, my experience of them as been very good but some can be fairly expensive!
hope you have a really good trip!
I really don't agree with the remarks about Florence. You could spend a year there and only begin to scratch the surface of its rich culture and heritage. The attitude suggests thinking of Europe as a theme park.
nice, must be fun to visit italy in summer
so what's the story of the boy? just a random guy on the street? he's really cute
and kudos for watchin arrested development! best show ever
What was the result of your HIV test? Maybe you posted something that I did not see, or are you still awaiting results. Please post a note for those of us worrying.
Stalker, indeed!
But I would've taken all those pictures too!
LOL
-Dean
ok, it's late and you def have no time.
but a small town you could visit, between Venezia and Firenze is Bologna.
have a nice trip.
Massi
Assisi for a nice little town. It can be "touristy," but it has its own feel.
Tourists are far outnumbered by "Pilgrims" in Assisi.
Many of the tourists never get to the main Piazza del Commune.
OY! Beautiful town.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home