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Need input on itinerary and CT Accommodations Oct 2020

Posted by (Fort Wayne, IN) on

Looking for advice for our first trip to Italy. Have had to delay this trip a couple times and previously got lots of good advice from you all. Based on previous ideas and RS books, here's where we are.

First 2 weeks of October 2020

14 Nights, flying into FLR taking train immediately to CT for 3 nights.
Then back down to Florence 3 or 4 nights
Next pick up car from Siena and drive to agriturismo for 4 nights in Montepulciano
Drop car back to Siena then last 4 nights Rome

Have booked the farm in Tuscany, next is booking CT. Trying to glean from RS book regarding personalities of the different villages. Vernazza seems to be the desired place, but we are open. We are late 50's/early 60's in good shape, but not marathon runners. We will want to do some hiking between villages, but also want to people watch & appreciate the coastline with a glass of wine or two. Also intrigued with taking boat between the villages. Suggestions for which village to book room in?

Itinerary question - Should we do 4 nights Florence then get to Siena to pick up car and head into Tuscany immediately that day?....or 3 nights Florence & 1 night Siena before heading into Tuscany?

Am I correct that we can do this itinerary by train travel except for the car rental from Siena for our Tuscany experience?

We have booked the agriturismo but nothing else is set in stone at this point. Feel free to critique and improve!

Thank you!

Posted by
1586 posts

Laurie - Try search in Monterosso al mare for accommodations. It 's a beautiful CT town and has lesser crowds then the other villages. Do 3 nights in Florence, head to Siena for 1 night and pick up rental car. From there, drive to your agriturismo in Montepulciano.

Look into these accommodations for Monterosso:

https://www.portoroca.it/

https://www.hotelpasquale.it/

https://www.stelladellamarina.com/en-hotel.php

https://www.villasteno.com/

"Am I correct that we can do this itinerary by train travel except for the car rental from Siena for our Tuscany experience?"

Yes, you are correct!

Posted by
872 posts

"...Monterosso al Mare... It 's a beautiful CT town and has lesser crowds then the other villages."

That is absolutely not true. Monterosso, which is the largest of the five villages and the only one with a beach, competes with Vernazza for the worst crowds, especially when there are cruise ships in port:

http://crew-center.com/la-spezia-italy-cruise-ship-schedule-2020

Riomaggiore is the least impacted when there are ships [staying off trains between 10 and 4]; but it’s wise to not go there at all, better Levanto or further up the coast in Santa Margherita, Rapallo or Camogli.

As to the plan, there is a tremendous amount of wasted time due to backtracking. CT back and forth; renting a car in Siena instead of Florence; driving north an hour from Montepulciano to dump the car, waiting for the train, then almost 3.5 hours to Rome changing in Florence.

Do Florence first, train to the Ligurian Coast. If CT [ships every day] a train to La Spezia and a Hertz rental returned in Chiusi on Mon-Sat AM, first train to Rome at 10:54AM. On Sunday drive to Rome.

We arrange our cars by calling up the broker Autoeurope [for which we have a toll free number]; get zero- deductible collision, which covers any damage to the body of the vehicle. Read this about driving in Italy and restrictions involved [ZTLs]; do not leave anything of value in a car when parked:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com/

Posted by
22 posts

Thanks for this info to both. Is the suggestion to rent a car from La Spezia and drive to Montepulciano? I will look at the links for the Monterosso rooms.

Any other improvements or changes we should make to the itinerary?

Thanks!

Posted by
60 posts

Hello
My wife and I stayed in Manarola a few years ago and loved it. In fact, we will be returning this summer with my 2 teenage daughters. The place we stayed, and will stay again, is called Aria di Mare. It’s listed in the RS guidebook and I would highly recommend. The village is quite magical at night and in the mornings. The locals are out doing their things and only a few tourists around. The Aria rental is up the hill and above the main drag. I found that this location made for excellent afternoon hang outs, sipping wine or lemoncello with a view of the coastline! Good luck with your travel arrangements. If you chose to look further into Aria, the owners name is Maurizio and he is fantastic as well. The booking process is very casual via email and he speaks/writes in broken English. Often times, I will copy my email to google translate and paste the “Italian” version under the original English message. Not sure if that’s normal but I figure why not?

Either way, Sounds like you’re in for a great trip!

Posted by
97 posts

Tim, I am looking ay Manarola as well but Rick’s book says that Aria di Mare is quite a hike up to the top of town. Will this be an issue for two seniors (in decent shape) carrying our luggage?
Thanks
Laura

Posted by
872 posts

There will be cruise ships in port every day, Manarola highly impacted. Luckily Levanto was never in a RS book and hasn't ben destroyed.

Posted by
60 posts

Laura
This is a difficult question for me to answer for you. But based on what you describe about yourself in the original post; that you plan to hike between villages and that you’re in decent shape but not a marathon runner...then I would guess that Manarola would be okay. I’m in my 40s, decent shape and regularly jog 3-5 miles but I’ve never done even 1/2 marathon.
I’m assuming that you’ll be packing light, with carry-on plus personal bag maximum. If that’s not the case, then travel to any CT towns will be a chore. The walk up to Aria is a steady uphill walk, but isn’t any more difficult than the hiking trails. And once you’re up there, you really do escape the afternoon crowds.
Hope this helps...

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