We plan on staying in the Hill town area for three nights. Would love some suggestions on which town(s) provide a charming environment, nice dinning, and good central location. We are looking at Arezzo as meeting those desires and a good location to make day trips from. Would love your thoughts.
Thanks you every one on these boards are just great for newbie travelers
Doug.
Look at Todi, Orvieto, San Gimignano, or Panzano. Pienza is also nice.
with a car? Or without a car?
For this part of the trip I think we will rent a car.
Thanks a bunch
doug
Arezzo is great, but I love Todi (easy with a car, challenging without one). Sansepolcro is near Arezzo.
One has to define the "Hill Town Area". That pretty much covers all of Italy from the Alps to Sicily. Most towns in Italy originated on a hill, as they were built around the castle, that in medieval times, was the residence of the Lord who controlled the surrounding area.
Based on a previous post of yours however, you seemed to be interested in about 3 nights in Turin plus you wanted to visit the Cinque Terre, Venice and the Lombardy lakes. All in 11 nights.
Now you are interested in Arezzo, which is down in Eastern Tuscany. Some have suggested the Siena province towns, others have even suggested Todi and Orvieto, which are even further south. I'm sure others will suggest the Marche region or even the Abruzzo. In any case I must presume, your previous plan to stay in Northern Italy is off and now we are going to Central Italy, instead. Or maybe you decided to prolong your trip a few more days.
Since there are approximately 68,400 towns and villages in Italy and the majority are sitting on a hill, I think the strategy you should use is to determine WHICH towns you want to visit during your 3 or 4 days while you have a car. Once you decide which towns, plot them on a map (you can use Google Maps), then select a strategically located central place, that will allow you to take day trips to the towns of your choice. The best would be a place with easy access to freeways, which will allow you to go farther faster.
Below are some websites with ideas about towns and villages that are famous for their history and beauty in Tuscany, Umbria and beyond. See what you are interested in seeing, then I can suggest a nice central place to use as base.
http://www.borghiditoscana.net/en/#
http://www.venere.com/it/blog/umbria-borghi-medievali-10537/
http://www.10cose.it/umbria/cosa-vedere-umbria.html
www.borghitalia.it
Thanks Robert for your post and yes we are extending our stay by 3 days. Planning changes daily 3 women easily over rule one guy, not even a close call. Itnerary now stands as 3 days Turin area drive 3 hrs to CT lunch then drive 2 hrs to Hill town for 3 days. Rest of trip not clarified still muddle of wants wishes and desires.
Hill Town Defined in Wicki as (see Rick Steves Travel guide).
Thanks
Doug
Doug,
If you're planning to rent a car, be sure that each driver has the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. An IDP is very easy to obtain for a small charge at AAA offices, and they're valid for one year.
You'll also have to be vigilant to avoid ZTL (limited traffic) areas, which are prevalent in many Italian towns and cities. Passing through these, even by mistake, will result in expensive tickets which you probably won't know about until several months after you return home.
Oh Roberto, SO MANY towns and villages in Italy, but so few days in any trip, and so few trips in any lifetime. 68,400 towns and villages, now there's a bucket list!
Arezzo has its charms but you realize it's not a hill top town, right? Anghiari is a tiny hilltop town near Arezzo that's pretty amazing.
As a Florentine of Aretino ancestry I disagree with Michael.
Arezzo, or at least its historical center, is on a hill. On top is the Duomo, Petrarch house, City Hall, the Province Palace,Il Prato park. To go up from the parking lot on the north side of the City walls there is an escalator that puts you right inside the Tourist Info office, next to the Duomo.
Anghiari is indeed beautiful, but it's in the high Tiber valley and not necessarily well placed as a base as it is somewhat remote from the rest of Tuscany. But it really depends on which towns and places you want to see. Arezzo is good as a base for: Arezzo, Cortona, Montepulciano, Poppi, Loro Ciuffenna, Anghiari, Castelfranco, Castiglion del lago, La Verna, etc.
Thanks to ke
Ken Thanks the "heads" up on getting IDPs much appreciated. Larry thanks for letting me know 1 life trip to Italy and only 68,499 villages to visit. And many thanks to Roberto for letting our group know that Arezzo may make a pretty good base for day trips.
Why does nobody mention Siena as a base? On the map it looks only a few miles from Arezzo and seems centrally located. What we are looking for is a medium size village or city that offers some night life, has the charm of Italy, and is centrally located for day trips to other surrounding hill top towns.
Thanks to everyone who has replied.
Doug
Also what time period are you going to be traveling in? Many hill towns have amazing festivals that you can see/partake in.
Hi Robert
Travel dates for Italy Are May 28th leave June 11.
Thanks Robert
Doug
Doug,
"Why does nobody mention Siena as a base?"
Siena would make a great home base for that area (IMHO). However, it's not as attractive for those with cars as parking is expensive and sometimes hard to find. If you can find a hotel slightly outside the town that provides free parking, that's certainly an option.
The best base for visiting BY CAR some of the MOST FAMOUS hill towns of Tuscany (e.g. San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra, Monteriggioni, Certaldo, Pienza, Chianti hill towns, etc.) is somewhere along the Florence/Siena freeway, such as around the area of Colle Val D'elsa/Poggibonsi, which is at the cross roads of the main highways that take you to all of the above.
Siena is good too, but Siena, like Florence, is not car friendly (the city center is forbidden to cars) and it's a much bigger town, therefore it has a "small city" feeling, more than a "village" or "small town" feeling.
Without a car, Siena would be one of the top choices for visiting Tuscany (after Florence). But with a car, I'd base myself a little outside of it in a smaller town or in a countryside hotel/villa/farmhouse.
Roberto, what I was trying to say about Arezzo is that it's probably not most tourists' idea of a hilltop town, even though it is indeed on a hill. I think most people picture something more like Assisi, Orvieto or Bergamo (none of which are in Tuscany, btw), with the old city center high up with lots of viewpoints to look out over a valley from the ancient walls. But maybe that's just me.
And Anghiari was meant as a suggested day trip. You're right that's it's way too tiny and inconvenient to use as a base.
Thanks Roberto Is a car a value or deficit n the Hill Town area? I looked at it as an American would convenience, shorter travel time, and flexibility. However, if that convience stops us from being able to visit or stay in villages than it becomes a impedance. So what town or village is large enough for nice restuants, charming atmosphere and suitable for parking a car overnight? Or should we just disregard the car idea.
Thanks for your time and input
Doug
I stayed at a hotel in Siena just outside one of the gates, with covered garage parking for a few euro per day. It's Hotel Minerva on via Garibaldi. Ten minute walk to The Campo. Great base for day trips. And Montalcino is not far away.
For most hill towns, there is public parking near the historic center or city gate, with local buses to take you into the town center.
The car is the best option for visiting the Tuscan or Umbrian hill top towns. Buses are infrequent and rail is often not even an option at all.
However ancient towns and cities were not built for cars, the streets are very narrow, parking is not available inside and most municipalities have posed traffic restrictions (called Zona Traffico Limitato or ZTL). They basically mean that you need to park in a parking lot outside the historical centers and walk inside the city towns from there. In most cases it's no more than a few hundred meters (yards) walk in small towns. In cities like Florence or Siena, it might be a bit more as they are bigger.
For these reasons you have to choose your accommodations carefully. Hotels or apartments in Siena or other towns may be inside the ZTL (i.e. inside the ancient core of a town), and if you choose one of them, you may not be able to drive to it with your car. You would then need to park away from it and then walk. But there are also plenty of options still in town, but outside the ZTL with plenty of parking in the premises of the hotel, or even outside of town altogether in the countryside (if you prefer that kind of accommodations). There are plenty of villas or old farmhouses (called agriturismo) out of town that have been converted into hotels.
That part of the search requires a bit of homework on your part. You need to search the hotel in various search engines (booking.com, venere.com, tripadvisor.com), then go to the hotel website and see what it looks like, and if it has parking. Also google maps will give you an idea of where it is located. If inside the core of town or at the edges or out in the countryside. Also you can see Google Maps in a certain area. Then enter in the search box: Hotels. It will show plenty of red dots where accommodations are.
For example this hotel here is in Monteriggioni, seconds from the freeway entrance and just minutes from Siena. It's inside the walled village but it looks like it might have parking. There are plenty of options like this, even at a much lower price. You just need to search and inquire if necessary.
http://hotelmonteriggioni.net/
The hotels here are in Siena. In town but outside the old city center, so certainly with car parking available:
http://www.gardenhotel.it/en/
http://www.villaliberty.it/en/
If you choose "out of town" accommodations, in villas or farmhouses, you will never have trouble parking. In town, it depends. You need to do some more homework.
In terms of restaurant options, they are everywhere, in town and out in the countryside. Obviously bigger towns like Siena will have more, but even the smallest villages will have restaurants. Italy lives on tourism. You won't starve, not even in the middle of the boondocks. Some of the best restaurants are in the middle of nowhere. You just need to ask the locals. I remember restaurants where you have to drive a mile on a dirt road driveway just to see where it is. Once you get there, when you lost all hope and you think you are totally lost, there is a hidden restaurant in a farmhouse with a parking lot with plenty of cars and buses full of Japanese tourists.
Those traveling to Italy, and not experienced traveling there, should carefully read and heed Roberto's advice.
Or not, but you might regret it, if you don't.
Hello Roberto,
My wife and her sisters desided to vote me off the trip leaving me to take care of the dog trip and addYou as traveling companion.Thanks for all your help.
LOL
Thanks
Doug
