We have a rental car and are driving up from the south along the spine of Italy. We will be dropping the car off in Florence. I have accommodation booked outside of Spoleto. So the quandary is:
Head left towards Orvieto and wend my way up in that area to the west including San Gimiganano or.
Head right staying in Gubbio and then onwards to San Marino, driving from there to Florence via the Parco Nazionale delle Foreste Casentinesi.
Thoughts?
In how many days do you plan to make the trip from Spoleto to Florence?
Option 1 is probably the more logical choice if your last intended destination is Florence.
Regarding your option 2, if you care to take that route, I wouldn’t care to make the trip all the way to San Marino. That’s too far and a major detour on the way to Florence.
However along that route there are very historical places of interest, which are closer by, such as Spello, Assisi, Gubbio, Anghiari, Arezzo.
North of Arezzo, the Casentino valley has Poppi, Camaldoli, and La Verna (St. Francis), among others, in addition to the National Park of the Casentinesi Forests, the largest forest park in mainland Italy with 368sq.km (the largest in Italy is in the island of Sardinia).
The issue is time, however. If you plan to make the trip on a day, you have time for just a town or two to stop. And that is true no matter which route you take.
If you have an interest in forests and nature in general, the National Park is not something you can visit in one hour.
If you like cathedrals, you must see the one in Orvieto. When my husband saw my photos, he said "Wow".
Or, as the great bard, Yogi Berra, has advised, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”
Kayaker, Lake Taupo and surrounds or Queenstown and surrounds? I tend towards Queenstown.
Tuscany is magnificent and every tourist to Italy has been there. Usually as a first stop. As a first time visit this maybe easiest.
I tend towards Umbria. Away from the popular locations are genuine Italian folk with generations of family history. Todi and Norcia either side of Spoleto are worth consideration. In addition to Gubbio you may wish to look at Urbino, a little further north. Cannot offer on San Marino to Florence.
Condolences after the Tans-Tasman Trophy whitewash of the Black Caps.
Bro, whatever way you go, you will have a bonzer time.
Best wishes, Ron
I have the time to do either, and do not mind taking detours. There are few straight lines in my intinerary. I was planning on 3-4 days--Spoleto-Gubbia-San Marino-Nat Park-Florence.
By this point we will have traveled up from Puglia and on the spine. I have us camping in both Barrea and Gran Sasso.
San Marino is OK, but nothing amazing.
For me, I think Option 1 is the most unforgettable, but only if you branch out a bit from the most heavily touristed routes. Visit Civita di Bagnoregio and Pitigliano after Orvieto and then north.northwest.
