Please give me your opinion on which site to visit with my wife and two teenagers.Along with Rome and Venice, I am wondering about either one of the Hill Towns or the Cinque Terre They both are tempting. Will the coast be any cooler?
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You don't say when you will be traveling. The hiking trails in the CT are definitely not fun during the rain. As for hilltowns, you could consider taking a train from Rome to Orvietto (1hr ride), renting a car and touring a few hilltowns and then drop the car off in Venice. You could begin with Orvietto itself - a great hilltown. Then, you could hit San Gimignano and Voterra in Tuscany. Then, you could head for Venice. I hope you don't plan to do all of this in one day.
Posted by
OP
Vancouver, WASHINGTON, USA
42 posts
Great ideas and thanks. We will be there in July. I know it gets hot.
Posted by
Atlanta
5279 posts
The coast will be cooler. I would vote for the Cinque Tere since they are five very different towns but all are easy to get to by a regular boat line or rail. You will lose very little time traveling between then. Not so with the hill towns. TC
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Although the CT towns are easy to travel between, they are not easy to get to. You'll have to allow a lot of time to get there from Rome or Venice. But they will definitely be cooler than Tuscany in July.
Posted by
Washington, DC
17 posts
I took my two teenage nieces to both CT and Volterra this past summer and they liked both but CT was the hands down favorite for them. Whenever I've taken people, CT always ranks high, even with the heat and tourists! There is not a museum in sight, just lovely scenery. I myself enjoyed Volterra for its alabaster workshops and the very interesting (but in need of an ) Etruscan museum. You can train to the villages of the CT easily but not so sure about Volterra as we drove there. I would look into that if you are considering it. If your children are Twilight fans, the book uses Volterra as a setting (although the film was not shot there) and the tourist info office has a handout if they want to find the sights mentioned in the book. My nieces were not huge fans but they did think it was kind of interesting to see the spot where Edward "sparkled"-- whatever that means!
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
If you stay in Tuscany or the Chianti region, you could stay at an Agriturismo that has a swimming pool. Of course, A/C would also help. If you need lodging recommendations with a pool, send me a PM.