Hi, I am flying to Florence Italy, and travelling to La Spezia to stay 3nts to visit Cinque Terre. We do not plan to rent a car and will need transportation from the airport. Should we hire a private transfer car?
We are also going to Tuscany and Rome.
Rome we are staying at Via Francesco Caracciolo, 25 int 7, Rome, Lazio 00192, Italy. Is this a safe area?
Why are you staying in La Spezia? You should consider staying IN CT.
If you can afford it, or have a pressing reason, then you can hire a car, but the train will get you there.
Agree with Valadelphia. Take the tram or taxi from the Florence Airport to the city, then the train. And why would you spend 3 nights in la Spezia instead of in one of the CT villages? Seriously consider changing that.
That Rome location looks fine
It’s behind Vatican City, I’m assuming the Prati district which is less touristy
When are you going? Be aware that CT has been way over touristed, especially by the cruise ships that disgorge thousands of people into CT. It's not the charming little area it was 20 years ago.
You can look at the cruise ship schedules and see how many cruise ships will be docking in the area when you plan to be there.
Thank you so much! I will take your recommendation and stay on CT. A travel agent suggested La Spezia for two nights but we thought we would take an extra day to have a rest after our flights.
We are traveling from 12-24 May. We are also going to Sorrento for 4nts. and plan to visit the Amalfi coast. Maybe we should skip CT.
Revised itinerary. I am not big on visiting Florence but maybe this will be good. Initially, we wanted to do Rome-Naples Sorrento, and Amalfi, and then thought we should experience Tuscany and CT. That's how we got to flying into Florence.
2 nt Florence
3 nt Tuscany (Merchant's Palace in Montepulciano)
3 nt Rome
4 nt Sorrento
Depart Naples
Hello, I would like to get your thoughts about a day tour from Rome to Pompeii on bus guided tour $$ or a fast train guided tour$$$.
Or wait to travel by private car transfer to Naples and stop for 3h Pompeii and then to Naples train station?
If you are staying in Sorrento for 4 nights then just do a day trip to Pompeii from there
So easy
Circumvesuviana train for a few euros each way
Or consider joining a Mondo tour
www.sharedtours.com
The options you have listed will cost a lot of time and $$$
So very helpful. Thank you so much!
Thoughts from Rome day trip to Tuscany Montepulciano wine tour and lunch??
A travel agent suggested La Spezia for two nights...
As an aside: I would regard any travel agent who suggested that with a great deal of skepticism. This strategy - going to the trouble and expense of sleeping just outside the CT towns, and doing day-trips into the towns themselves - suggests that this travel agent does not seem to understand really basic facts about today's tourist experience.
The CT towns are mobbed and overwhelmed by day-trippers every day, during the core daytime hours. The way to mitigate that is to spend the night IN the CT towns, not outside them: because before and after the day-trip crowds fill the streets, the towns retain some of their pre-overtourism charm. When crowds of tourists are clogging every square inch of the towns, it's just a battle of waving selfie sticks and jostling for the "picture spots" with not a lot of the original charm.
The basic strategy for dealing with places that have become too popular is to be there when the crowds thin out, and not to go there along with the rest of humanity, as mid-day day-trippers. Your travel agent is giving you advice that is the exact opposite of what most savvy travelers want. Staying in La Spezia means you still have to pay for a room nearby (it's not going to be a whole lot cheaper than staying in one of the towns itself), and as a day-tripper yourself, you then suffer the same overtouristy crowds. It's the worst possible combination.
Stay in one of the CT towns, get up early (very early) and enjoy the places before the cruise ships and trains deposit thousands of day-trippers. During mid-day, when the crowds are most intense, get out and go for a hike. Come back late afternoon, as the day-trippers drain away. Then enjoy a few hours in the evening when the worst of the crowds are gone. The opposite of what you would get following the advice of your "travel agent." Just one person's opinion.
Thoughts from Rome day trip to Tuscany Montepulciano wine tour and
lunch??
Are you thinking of changing your itinerary and not staying in Montepulciano?
If you stick with 3 nights in Tuscany you will need a car.
Montepulciano is a bit far for a day trip from Rome IMO - about a 2 hour drive each way.
If you want to day trip to a Tuscany hill town- do it from Florence- which is in Tuscany- there are many to choose from.
Understood. I felt that too about the agent. That is why I am seeking experience advisement.
Is there a recommendation for a convenient overnight stay in Naples to fly out?
Hi, yes my itinerary changed.
Rome (13- 18 May)
Sorrento (19- 24 May
Naples ( 24 May)
Depart Naples (May 25)
Ah!
Consider a day trip to Orvieto from Rome
Very easy - about an hour on train
It’s an Umbrian hill town beautiful with lots to see and do
There are many posts about Orvieto here on forum
For Naples- anywhere in the center is fine, it’s a quick 20 min taxi to the airport
Also, do you recommend I purchase the premium fast train tickets to Naples now?
Should I purchase a cell phone there? My husband is concerned about calling to the U.S. and locally within Italy.
Do you have a cell phone now?
Check with your service provider for their European plans
We just keep our phones on airplane mode and use free WiFi everywhere, we can text or use WhatsApp, etc
Verizon for example offers service to $10 a day but ONLY charged if you actually use it
We have never really needed to make local calls
Don’t buy any train tickets til you have your itinerary nailed down and then only buy from official train companies
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html
https://www.italotreno.it/en
