My family and I will be taking a long awaited vacation to Italy this summer and are looking for advise on destinations to visit. So far we will be visiting Florence and Cinque Terre for 4 days and then have 5 more days before I have to leave. My question is... Should we spend all 5 of these days in Rome or spend any of that time visiting Tuscany, Perugia, or the Amalfi Coast. We are definitely interested in spending at lease 2-3 days in Rome but wanted to know if an excursion to any of these places would be a good idea. To give some context we are definitely foodies! Thanks for the help!
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Vancouver, B.C., Canada
22 posts
First of all, to give justice to Florence, you need a good 3 days - there are just so many excellent museums and other fine sights. PS, if you are seeing more than 4 museums, get the Firenze Card. It is a bit pricey at 50 Euros each, but usually is worth the money. It also allows you to avoid the long lines at the Uffizi and the Accademia. Cinque Terre is also great, we spent 1 day there, and should have spent at least 2. For the other 5 days, that is a tough one...we recently spent 3 weeks in Italy, and our 9 days in Tuscany were not enough! We also spent 4 days in Rome and that only allows you to cover the main sights. While the Amalfi Coast is great, you're going to spend nearly a whole day getting there from Florence. Therefore, a better use of your time is one of these options: 1) All 5 days in Rome. Since you are foodies, I highly recommend "Cooking Classes" put on by Andrea Consoli (you can find his website by googling it, they are also highly rated on TripAdvisor). A 5 1/2 hour class was 65 Euros each (20 Euros more if you want the wine pairings). It was the highlight of our trip and gave us a better understanding of the huge culture and tradition behind Italian cooking. It included making pasta from scratch. 2) All 5 days in Tuscany. There are numerous medieval hill towns, some of them only a short trip from Florence (EG San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca). An hour south of Florence is Siena (allow 2 days). From Siena we rented a car and drove south into the Tuscan countryside (I will not drive in Italian cities, but the countryside was quite easy). Some great hill towns within a 1 hour drive of Siena are Montalcino, Montepulciano, and Pienza. We stayed at an Agriturismo (country B&B) near Pienza and it was great.
If you want more tips on Tuscany or Rome let me know & I can write some more. Greg.