Hello all,
I am researching the possibility of a trip next June to Italy with my 16 year old son. As far as background, I have been to Italy but that experience dates back 20+ years. I have spent a week in Umbria in a villa near Panicale, and several days each in Rome,Livorno,Venice,Florence. My son has been with me to France for three seperate two week vacations and has loved that experience. Upon returning home form France this summer he commented to me that he would like to go back to France or Italy. So, since we’ve spent several vacations in France, Italy it is!!
I’ll try to be brief yet give you ideas of how we like to travel and what we like to do so your recommendations can the most helpful. We will go for two weeks in mid June, I prefer late September but school schedule dictates when we can go. We enjoy staying in villas/gites for a week at a time, typically in smaller towns/village and taking day trips from that location. I’m an ex chef and we really enjoy dining out at simple but authentic local restaurants, visiting markets, exploring villages, photographing landscapes some hiking possibilitie,”maybe” a bike/Vespa outing and he would love the opportunity to do some fishing. We fly fished for trout in the French Basque Country and he would enjoy being able to deep sea fish if it could be worked in to the schedule. He has enjoyed cooking along side me so a cooking class would be great. He also loves expensive European sports cars so a trip to one of the big Italian sport car manufacturers may be in the cards if it works into a schedule. We are not big museum goers/art aficionados however do enjoy the local architecture. If we venture into a city ie. Florence we would likely train in from a smaller town/village that we would be based in.
So, we are looking for two destinations to base ourselves for a week each. Renting a car and probably flying in/out of Florence. Italy is certainly much more touristed than when I was last there and for instance as much as I loved the few days I spent in Venice in the late fall 20+ years ago, from the reports I have read about the current level of tourism in Venice I would not want to make an effort to go there in mid June. Below I will list some ideas/requirements about where we might go.
Two areas with different feels
Being in or close to a small town/village so access to markets/restos/bakeries/cafes etc.. We eat dinner out a lot and a put a lot of effort into resarching great restaurants in advance and making reservations before we go. Like to either eat in the village or drive max 30 minutes one way to go out to eat at night. We just picnic for lunch.
Enough to see within a max drive of 1.5 hours ish each way for day trips. We don’t like to spend all of out time in the car. On the note of cars and driving, I have driven many times in France and a bit in Italy but as I get older am not fond of “white knuckle driving” situations. So, super windy, mountainous, tons of blind curves switchback driving is not for me. That will certainly rule out various destinations.
I’ll leave it here for now. Just to sum up, looking for two destinations with a different feel to each area. I have been thinking about a week again in Umbria and then a more coastal (although not necessarily having to be “on the coast” ) week in Le Marche which I have been reading good things about. Not sure if venturing to the far south for one week is in the cards if we fly in/out of Florence although the difference of the south compared to the more northernly area I have visited intrigues me. Where should I go that I haven’t been? Most of Italy!!! and what would be a great two week/two location introduction to Italy for my son? We’re open to all suggestions and comments, thanks in advance for any responses you may have.
Best regards,
wvdthree
PS. Buying an open jaw ticket may not be out of the question if it helps the cause.