My wife and I are traveling for our honeymoon starting next week. We're doing a week in Paris, France then flying into Venice, Italy on May 24th. We're flying in early so we should be at our hotel by 11:00am. We're staying on the Grand Canal at a B&B - Gio & Gio - until May 26th. This is where we need a little help. Currently the plan is to take the 8:30 train to Florence. Spend the 26th in Florence, sleep. Then rent a car (possibly the night before - open to suggestions) to head out for Tuscany. We're not really sure where to set up a home base. We've been looking around Cortono area. We would like to be outside of the city and really get lost in the area. We really enjoy wine and food - thinking of scheduling a cooking class. Our thoughts were to stay in Tuscany - explore - from 5/27 to 5/30 - then leave early drive up to La Spezia - park our car and take a train to Vernazz, Cinque Terre. We were going to stay in Vernazza until 5/31 (leave around 3pm) to train/drive to Lerici where we will be spending time with an Italian friend. Questions: Where should we set up home base in Tuscany? Any suggestions on city/area or actual places would be appreciated. Places to visit while exploring, cooking class recommendations? Thoughts on the itinerary? Obviously we need to make some decisions in the next few days. Thanks for the help!
Pete
Posted by
Wichita
831 posts
Pete,
This might help http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16234 posts
First of all Florence is in Tuscany. Don't rent the car the day you plan to sleep in Florence. You'll have a hard time finding parking at your hotel, if you stay in the city center. Rent the day you intend to leave the city and head out of town. Cortona is not a good base for Tuscany, it is kind of decentralized to the East. Cortona is more appropriate if you want to include Umbria in your travels. If you have a car, the best base for day trips would be in some farmhouse or small town in the Alta Val D'Elsa (Upper Elsa Valley). That would be around the area of Colle Val D'Elsa. From there you can reach anyplace in Tuscany in less than 90 min drive. But anywhere along the freeway corridor from around San Casciano to Siena is great, from the logistic point of view. Try to stay not too far from that freeway though. It's also the most expensive area for farmhouse accommodations, together with the Chianti, which is right there also.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
Roberto's a native son of Florence, and his information about Italy is always right on the money. Try NOT to rent a car is at the airport, as they have surcharges and taxes added. The major rental car operations also have city locations, and they'll furnish you with easy directions out of town.
We rented through AutoEurope.com and got a Hertz car for less money than renting directly from Hertz. But if you're a member of their frequent renter programs, you'll get some discounts.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32402 posts
Pete, Roberto provided excellent information regarding locations, but I have a few other comments..... Regarding driving in Italy, note that EACH driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. Failure to produce an I.D.P. if requested can result in fines on the spot! You can obtain I.D.P.'s at any CAA / AAA office for a small fee. You'll also need to be aware of the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas, which are becoming increasingly prevalent in Italy ( especially in Florence). Passing through these zones will result in expensive fines, which you won't know about until several months after you've returned home. Recent posts here would seem to indicate that authorities in Italy are becoming more aggressive in collecting the fines from foreign drivers, and there may also be charges from the rental car firm for providing renter information to law enforcement. Regarding your stay in Vernazza, have you already booked accommodations? It could be a bit difficult at this time of year to get something on short notice. Finally, are you familiar withe the "rules" for travelling on trains in Italy? There are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. If you need more information, post another note. Congratulations on your honeymoon, and hope you have a wonderful trip to Italy!
Posted by
phoenix
52 posts
If you have a half day free in Florence make sure to take a cooking class with Manuela at Cook Eat Italian. The classes are either in Florence or out on a farm in the countryside (full day option). This was definitely one of the highlights of our Italian trip.
The website Cook Eat Italian
Posted by
OP
St. Louis, MO, USA
11 posts
Thank you all for your responses. We are planning on taking the train from Venice to Florence. What expensive caveats shall I expect?
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1658 posts
In 2011 we rented a farmhouse outside of Cortona for a week and found it a great place to home base. We really enjoyed coming back to the house, taking a dip in the pool and having a glass of wine. Most evenings we went into Cortona for dinner. Our day trips were: 1) Day in Cortona to explore. 2) Train to/from Florence for a soccer match 3) Cooking class in Cortona (PM me if interested) 4) Day trip to Sienna (about 45 minutes) 5) Train to/from Florence to sightsee for the day (1 1/2 hours) 6) Day trip to Montalpuciano (great place for your wine interest) 30 minute drive
7) Drive up Chianti region on the way to the airport for our evening flight. (too far to drive for a day trip from Cortona, but you could take this route on your way to La Spezia. Our most recent trip, we rented a car in la Spezia, drove to Montalcino, and spent 3 nights. One day exploring the town and doing a lot of wine tasting. The second day we visited 3 wineries. There's over 200 wineries to visit in the area. We are into wine, so were totally in our element there. You could drive through Chianti region from Florence, then on your way to La Spezia, stop in San Gigminano and Volterra. (we did this in reverse).
Posted by
Castellina, FI, Italy
15 posts
A good homebase is Greve in Chianti, right in the centre of Chianti Classico. All the activities you're interested in are readily available there. They also have a very informative website: http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/ Don't try driving within Florence. It's too easy to inadvertently enter a ZTL: http://www.bella-toscana.com/traffic_violations_italy.htm It's best to rent your car at the airport (easily reached by bus) and drive from there directly into the Tuscan countryside.