I am traveling to Florence the first week in March to visit my daughter who is studying abroad. I will be spending 2 nights in Florence but have 5 other nights to travel anywhere. I have been to Florence, Rome, and Venice multiple times so would love to go somewhere else. In have also been to Lucerne and Zurich so ruling out Switzerland. Can anyone recommend must see places....we are willing to fly anywhere and stay anywhere. We were thinking the Almfi coast or Nice and the French Riviera but keep reading it isn't a great time of year to visit there. Was also thinking to fly to Paris or Amsterdam??? Help, I can't decide. We want great tours, great restaurants, wine tasting etc!
Posted by
3416 posts
We want great tours, great restaurants, wine tasting etc
That sounds like Provence to me. I would stay in Avignon. Various family members, including myself, have used this company for great tours:
https://www.provence-panorama.com/category/regular-tours-from-avignon/
Posted by
Reston VA
290 posts
The bike race Paris-Nice is generally run that first week or so of March and is dubbed "the race to the sun" - usually appropriately. You see the dreary weather up by Paris eventually change to more pleasant racing as the event approaches the final stage into Nice.
Nice might be quite nice and offers lots of side trips along the coast to see the soon-to-be bustling Riviera a bit less crowded.
Posted by
Washington DC
27701 posts
Provence is great, but I believe the mistral is a pretty significant risk at that time of year.
There are many interesting places in northern Italy that wouldn't require you to fly to a distant destination. With only five nights available, I'd take a hard look at how much transportation I was committing to. I don't believe you'll find any non-stop flights from Florence or Pisa to either Nice or Marseille, and a connecting flight is likely to chew up nearly an entire day when you consider the total time needed to get from hotel to hotel.
Wikipedia: Flights from Florence
Wikipedia: Flights from Pisa
I couldn't find any non-stops from Bologna on Skyscanner, either.
Posted by
Long Beach, Ca, usa
1168 posts
jgoldberg1510,
What about southern Italy (Sorrento, Naples, Amalfi coast, Pompeii), or Sicily? Five days won't cover all there is to see and do in Sicily, but you could still see a lot.
Posted by
TX, USA
4641 posts
I went to Google Flights and found the most direct flights from Pisa, which is an easy train trip from Florence: Paris, London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest…. and a few others. Of course, I used random March dates, so the choices might change by date.
I would definitely choose a city in March, in case of inclement weather. With 5 nights, why not try something completely different and head to Budapest? It definitely has great tours, great restaurants, and great wine.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
19654 posts
You are always welcome here...
Second choice, Istanbul.