Hi all,
I am needing a little advice with finalising our itinerary for a trip to France and Italy in April/May next year, I hope you don't mind me adding the France part here. We are 2 adults and one child. So far we have:
Paris - 6 nights... Amboise (on the way to Bordeaux - we only plan to do 1 x chateaux if we can) - 1 night (picking up lease car Paris-Orly)... Bordeaux/ Saint Emilion - 3 nights... St Remy de Provence - 3 nights... Antibes - 3 nights... Varenna - 3 nights... Venice - 4 nights... Montepulciano - 4 nights... Amalfi (somewhere) - 4 nights... Rome - 4 nights (then fly home next afternoon).
We have been once before in 2010 and did a similar trip over 7 weeks. This time we are going for 5 weeks, and with a 5 year old - crazy I know, but we are very excited for our daughter to see the world and her uncle in Paris!
We are choosing Amalfi Coast over Cinque Terre, we think, but would like some advice please. We thought we would drive to AC, as we will have a lease car, and planned to return it in Rome. We realise now that this may be a terrible idea. We could return it to Rome on the way to Amalfi, but I think this will cut a day from our AC time.
So, why Amalfi? We loved Cinque Terre last time, and stayed right in the square in Vernazza, so it was a perfect spot, and we drove there and parked the car for those days. But, we did find it incredibly touristy, which was a little off-putting. Many friends have mentioned AC, so it just feels like somewhere we would love to see, but can we do it with a small child, and will we feel the same way we did about CT? If we do AC, it would need to be close to the water, not loaaaads of steps, and so we thought Cetara would be a good spot as it is cheaper, or is it too difficult to then see other towns from here? Is it worth it? Are there other beachy areas that also have dramatic scenery, but easier to fit into trip?!
We reeeeally wanted to see Sicily, but realise it is not enough time for this... We hope to fit in one/two 'attractions' in a day, but don't have huge ambitions with a child. She will handle a fair bit of walking, but of course we don't want to exhaust her. We just want to get to the areas we choose, sleep fairly centrally in these places, and soak in the atmosphere really... But hubby and child LOVE the beach, so some coast time would be great. And yes, we know we will have a car (parked at Tronchetto I think) while we are in Venice... It seems to be the best option with a lease car.
I hope I have given all the useful info!
My best scenario at present for this area is: Drop car at Rome, from Montepulciano > one night in Naples > 3 nights AC, then up to Rome as planned... ??? Is Sorrento a better base than Cetara? Any advice/suggestions on altering the schedule (timing or location), to make AC work... Or other suggestions all welcome.
Thank you!!