We are heading to Italy in late Sept. The last time we went we visited the "big" sights: Rome, Florence, Venice, Lake Como. This time we want to stay in Northern Italy, venture out into Tuscany and see some coastline. Feeling a little overwhelmed... Any suggestions from any of you on a good basic itinerary? We will be coming in from Paris so can start anywhere but have to fly home out of Florence. Thank you! Elizabeth
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32202 posts
Elizabeth, To begin with, you might want to have a look at the Italy Guidebook to get some idea on which locations will be of most interest to you. With that information, it should be fairly easy to develop a 12-day Itinerary. As you mentioned "coastline", the first thought that came to mind is the Cinque Terre. Is that a location that may interest you? There are LOTS of possibilities in Tuscany, including Siena. You might also consider locations in Umbria as well. Orvieto is a beautiful hill town with an interesting history. The Duomo there is incredible (especially the Frescoes on the ceiling). While in that area, you could also visit the small village of Civita di Bagnoregio, which you may have seen on Rick's TV shows. In order to keep the travel times at a reasonable level, you might consider stopping at Stresa for at least one night on the way from Paris. The travel time is ~7H:15M, with at least one change at Basel. If you travel from Paris to the C.T., the travel time will be considerably longer. Another option would be to stop in Switzerland for at least one night. Travel time from Paris to Lucerne is a very reasonable 4H:41M, usually with one change in Basel. There are all kinds of possibilities, but it would help to have a bit more information on what your preferences are? Happy travels!
Posted by
Catadupa Alamere, CA
515 posts
Rick Steves put a lot (all?) of his shows on Hulu so you can browse them to see what you might want to further research to build an itinerary. There a lot of folks (not me) on this Board who are experts and they are at their best when questions are narrowed down to specifics
Posted by
Caruthers, CA, USA
244 posts
We just returned from a three week trip. We stayed in Bagni Di Lucca for three days after a disappointing five days in Florence. We loved it. We vowed that the next time we go to Italy we would rent an apartment in Bagni Di Lucca, Barga or Castelnuovo and venture out from there. PM me to discuss or post more questions.
Posted by
OP
San Francisco, California, USA
12 posts
Thank you to all of you for your suggestions - I am going to pick up a (current!) guidebook and check out Hulu.