Italian Dreams -- Best Ideas??

OK Lisa, you may get dozens of ideas, but try these for a first stab, either:
1. Base yourself in or very near Orvieto (Umbria) and Siena (Tuscany). You might even stay at an agriturismo (with excellent cuisine) near one or both. If you are up for some tourism, you could make day trips into Rome from Orvieto and Florence from Siena; or
2. Go to Sicily and base yourself in Erice (one of my very favorite ancient small hill towns, near the northwest corner of the island) and Taormina (near the northeast corner). Or maybe one base in or near Ragusa in southeast Sicily, although I myself have never been there, yet,
I too love smaller cities, towns and villages, and will look forward to seeing others' ideas.

Have you had a chance to read the RS Italy book? He also has several videos on Italy that are informative. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show. That might be a good place to start your research. As for when- any time but summer! Summer (June thru Sept) are brutal in Italy, for temperatures and crowds. Go in shoulder season if you can.

As for where, it really depends on what interests you besides food and wine. Many first timers want to see the big 3: Venice, Florence, and Rome. And they're great cities, no doubt about it. But there's nothing quite like exploring the small towns of Umbria and Tuscany as day trips from a central town. Or relaxing in Sorrento or on the Amalfi coast with day trips to Capri or Pompeii. Or heading up North to the beautiful lakes.

There really are as many 'dream trips' as there are are people. Read a few good guide books and see what sparks your imagination.

One could easily spend years in Italy without running out of lovely things to see, but keep in mind that Italian food is highly regional. If your husband loves southern food specifically, you'll probably want to include some time in that part of the country. And Sicilian food is rather different from what you'll find around Naples.

Lisa,

You might get some good ideas on where to visit by having a look at some of Rick's videos.....

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rick+steves+italy

With only a very short two week time frame, you'll have to avoid the temptation to fit too many places into the Itinerary. Keep in mind that each change of location has a cost in both time and money. You'll also have to deduct two days for your two flight days.

There are some potentially expensive caveats to be aware of when using both public transit and rental cars in Italy, so it will be important to get up to speed on those.

Given your location, you have an excellent resource to start your planning. How easy is it for you to get into Sacramento? Have a look at this - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/sacramento-travel-group-meeting-saturday-august-19-10-00-a-m

Could you elaborate on what type of "southern Italian food" your husband likes?

Thanks for the ideas so far. I started with the RS books and digging through this forum, but I found it overwhelming to start there; the responses so far are helpful in narrow things down. Another thing people responding may want to consider is that neither my husband nor I "need" to see the places everyone sees in order to cross it off of some bucket list. So the "Big 3" as someone said are not necessarily places we want to try to fit into this or any trip to Italy.

My husband mentioned Abruzzo last night (he knows nothing about geography and never looks at a map) and he has mentioned Sicily as a destination. I think because of the Italian Americans he knew growing up and their cooking, so maybe that's what he means by Southern Italian cooking.

Thanks for reminding me about the the Sacramento group meeting -- it's fairly close to me.

Sicily for two weeks would seem to fit you. It is a nice amount of time for the island. Perhaps pick three bases: West, East, and Southeast.

If "everybody" go to some places, there are reasons. It's usually because they are either
1-more beautiful
2-They have more importance in history

So yes I would do the bucket list of Italy which include places like
-The amalfi coast with Amalfi, Ravello, Positano, Sorrento, Capri. Go on top of the Vesuvio nearby, visit the ruins of Pompei and or Herculanum. Naples for a slice of southern italy. All of this could take at least a week. Or you cut with what you feel you prefer when reading.
-Rome to see this unbelievable city. At least 3-4 days
-Umbria and Tuscany for fantastic landscapes, beautiful and historical villages such as Orvieto, Assisi, Perugia in Umbria(a few examples) or Siena, San Gimignano, Montepulciano, Volterra, Pisa, Lucca, Montalcino in Tuscany as well as fantastic food and wine.another week easy. :-)
-Venice, unique city 2-3 nights at least
-Florence 2-3 days
-Cinqueterre for these unique 5 villages, 2-3 days.

These would be the first places that come to mind. Of course, we can say Sicily(which is a whole holiday by itself), the dolomites in the alps, the lake region with como lake, maggiore or Garda.

These would be the first places I would look, then narrow it depending on how much time you have.
So you know, my first trip to Italy I did Amalfi coast 6 nights, Tuscany 6 nights and Rome 3 nights and I still think it was a perfect first trip for my personal tastes. Made me want to go back
I went back 4 other times... :-)

If you want to go south, go south.

Start in Rome, and look down for there. I'm sorry Tuscany, Liguria, Veneto, Umbria, etc, but you are north, not south.

I dunno nothing about the south, but I can look at a map and tell you Orvieto, Florence and 5Terre aren't Lazio, Campania, Calabrese, Abruzzo, Sicilia, Molise, Apulla or Basilicata.

I think you have a good start--you know what you want to do. You really just need a good guide book, not a poll. I've been to Italy six times without setting foot in the "big three"--no regrets!

Get a map and make him look at it! This article on Southern Italy might be useful. Note that some maps include Rome (Lazio region) in Southern Italy.

This link and others you find might give him a hint at the size Italy compared to CA. If he won't do this research himself, each time he comes up with the name of a place of interest, you need to look it up. For example, Abruzzo is a region of Italy, like Tuscany, not a town. Please forgive me if y'all already knew that, but many people seem to confuse region names with town names.

You have a very short time for your trip. Don't spread yourself too thin.

Beyond geography, if this is your first trip to Europe, you have a lot more to learn. Exploring the RS books and this website will be invaluable in your planning.

Keep in mind that two weeks gives you twelve nites on the ground.

Flying multi city, for example, into Naples (NAP) and out of Florence (FLR) may initially cost a bit more, but when you figure your travel time, train tickets and lodging it's usually a wash.
So unless you get a super cheap airfare it's really not worth it.

To see Tuscany, you need a car. Familiarize yourselves with the rules of the road, signs, traffic tutors, and ZTL's.

Wine in Italy is much like food. It too is regional, just depends on the soil and virital. In 14 trips have only had a few I didn't like.

You have a good start and you'll have a great trip. Keep the questions coming.

Lisa,

Thanks for the additional information. It might be worthwhile to also spend some time in the north, as there's a lot to see there. As others have suggested, Sicily would also be a good choice.

One point to consider is that travel in the south and to some extent in Sicily is a bit more challenging, as public transit isn't as well developed.

One easy way to see Sicily would be to take a RS tour as you'll see a lot of the island, learn about the history and you'll get to enjoy a lot of fantastic food.

Even more than a guidebook, your husband may want to start with a food book. One that should be very helpful is Italy For The Gourmet Traveler by Fred Plotkin. https://www.amazon.com/Italy-Gourmet-Traveler-Fred-Plotkin/dp/1909487163 He can be a bit "too too" at times, but he does a very good job of explaining the specialties of each region, then of each town in the region. This way, you and (even more) your husband can see what each place would have to offer in terms of food, and can decide what places to prioritize. I agree that you will need to be brutally selective, and that you should go to the places that interest you rather than places other people tell you are "must sees" but that don't interest you as much.

One thing you'll learn very quickly is that Italian food in Italy is often quite different from Italian-American food, and yes, that includes food made by actual Italian-Americans. For instance, spaghetti with meat sauce is served only in some regions, and spaghetti with meatballs is not served in Italy at all. That's why it's important to know what is served where, to avoid disappointment.

We love Sicily and the south of Italy, but we have found that at least a bit of Italian language is needed in the south more than in the more northerly areas. You will have a wonderful trip no matter where you decide to go.

Tell me when you want to go and I'll come up with ideas. Are you limited to a specific period? Is cost an important factor? Different parts of the country are better at different times of the year. Are you willing to drive? There are places that are better visited by car, especially smaller less "touristy" towns.

In the meantime, I'd say start by flying into Venice (or Milan and then train to Venice). Venice is unique and I think everyone should visit. It's low key, so a good place to start a trip, stay 3 nights and soak up the atmosphere while getting over jetlag. Without driving, Bologna is an excellent place to base - great food and lots of day trips to other towns by train. And there are great places to visit in the south, especially if you can fly home from Naples.

One of our regulars, Zoe, spends a couple months in Italy every summer and writes wonderful descriptions of her experiences. Read her posts on the Italy forum for the last few years to get lots of ideas.

Two bases, two weeks, southern Italy?

Although I (and many on this board) would ordinarily recommend not doing Sicily in a limited period of time, with your husband enjoying good (and I hope varied) Italian food, I would pick either Sorrento or Salerno as Base 1, and Palermo or Taormina as Base 2.

Base 1: Sorrento itself is very underrated in quality and value of its cuisine, same with Salerno. Both are great bases for daytrips to the Amalfi Coast, Pompei, Paestum, Capri, Ercolano, Naples, in an area where it's normally not that easy to get around.

Base 2: Palermo is the hub of Sicily, beautiful and gritty, while Taormina is the turn-of-the-century jetsetter's paradise, some say overpriced and touristy but all I saw was beauty and extremely inventive cuisine with Greek, German, Arab and Spanish influences.

Enjoy your planning!

We just returned from a 17-day trip and loved the diversity of cuisines from one area to the other. If food is a focus, perhaps begin following Italian-based food bloggers like Elizabeth Minchelli. To get a feel for different areas, watch some of the Rick Steves videos on this site and download the Rick Steves Audio Europe app. We listened to these on morning walks while planning our trip and loved hearing the local tour guides describe various places. There are lots of resources to absorb so dive in and you'll discover what intrigues you the most.

I would also second the recommendation to fly into one city and out of another to maximize your time.

FWIW, the food in Tuscany, in particular Florence, was our favorite of the trip!

While I love Fred Plotkin, follow his edible and operatic adventures on social media, his Italy for the Gourmet Traveler latest edition has some problems. First, for some reason he has not seen fit to add web addresses for any of the restaurants, even the larger ones. Second, so many have closed, moved, changed names, changed ownership, even since the previous edition, it's kind of ridiculous for a book that's only 3 years old. The 7 year old version is really bad.

As I said, I love Mr. Plotkin, and enjoy the book, and agree with the "too too" description of him, I can't see steering someone to the book now.

Max--most of my memorable meals in my three trips to Italy have been at completely non-publicized places. Rosso Peperoncino in Taormina, Ristorante Toto in Florence, Elle Effe in Rome. And some postage-stamp no-menu place in Orvieto that only served spaghetti with cinghiale (wild boar) and can't for the life of me find the name online!

I listen to/read articles from guys like Fred Plotkin but prefer to find gems on my own. Easy to do in Italy!

Lisa,
Our first trip to Italy was Feb last year, we just returned from trip 2. It is a great place and one trip may be all you need to find reasons to go again. I agree with Siena and Orvieto. We just returned from a trip that started in Venice in late April Siena followed and the Val d'Orcia, Pienza and Montpulciano(early May) were our favorite, over Venice which is crowded and beautiful but hit and miss in the food area unless you do your research.

Timing due to weather and crowds would be important too. I would take Florence in February with occasional rain over the crowds I saw in early May or summer. But we had just light occasional rain, similar temps to the bay area. Unfortuantely I have become addicted to the Florence leather school handbags and Cellerini for same(both online) and scarves from Massimo Ravinale..

Love the thread, helping to plan trip 3 next year. Where to after Verona, Venice, Ravenna(great mosaics)Florence, Volterra, Siena and Rome? Haven't been south of Rome.

Based on your interests I would recommend a stay in Tuscany as well.
Plenty to see and do so your plans can be laid back or filled with daily activities without leaving the region.
if you don't want to rush or move far I don't think any other one region can offer as much to do in a 2 week span without much movement or be as enjoyable if you truly don't want to move at all for 2 weeks.

Spend a week in Florence with some planned day trips and than a week at an agritrisimo or inside a small walled city south of Florence with a rental car.

The highlight for me and I think most of this area are the small walled cities (Siena being the largest but there are dozens of them so you can pick a few to visit or pick one that appeals to you to stay in)
Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, Orvieto, Volterra, San Gimingano, Cortona, Aresso, Greve in Chianti ; those are 10 popular options to get you started.
Great food, wine and weather are just side benefits not the main draw of this region.
You can rent a car for the week in Tuscany (don't need or want it for Florence). I think many people drawn to the idea of staying at an agriturismo would be happier staying inside on of the small walled villages (less isolation and reliance on the car all of the time) that are near the agristirismo but will leave that up to you to decide what experience you would prefer.

I would not recommend Sicily for your first trip to Italy even if you like Sicilian food better.

As another posted before me wisely posted, don't discount a main tourist location just cause you don't like crowds ; while there may be some that are overcrowded and relying only on history to stay popular most of them are just more beautiful than other lesser known places so they remain touristy for this reason. Best to be open to anything while researching and then make an informed decision.

Siena, Siena, Siena! The PERFECT first night (and second night) in Italy, is in SIENA!!! Not only is it impressively intact as a medieval city, incredibly WALKABLE, and rich in STREET CULTURE, it has TUSCAN FOOOOOD!!! Go there FIRST!

Also, if you have Amazon Prime, or if you're willing to pay, you could check out episodes from When Patrick Met Kylie: A Love of Food Story - Season 1. It's all about food and Italy and there are a couple of episodes featuring Southern parts of Italy. WARNING: Super-swanky enthusiasm ahead! It's sort of like watching the Crocodile Hunter until you get used to it. Kylie is shockingly energetic and you may need to self-medicate with wine for the first few episodes. Lol. However, they do a great job of covering the beauty, culture, and the culinary specialties of each location. Plenty of "foodie dream vacation to Italy " material here.

https://www.amazon.com/Matera/dp/B01BZQPLSI/ref=sr_1_1?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1502463986&sr=1-1&keywords=patrick+met+kylie

Jen, can't be any more over the top than Phil Rosenthal's "I'll have what Phil's Having", but I have to admit his show on Florence was quite good.