My husband and I will be traveling to Italy in late March early April 2016. We are thinking of picking three different regions to explore...a week in each region. We have done the Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa thing so wanted to try different towns. We are thinking of spending a week in Tuscany at the hill towns and Chianti Region (excluding Florence) and then a week on the Amalfi coast (exlporing the towns of Amalfi, Positano, Sorrento,Capri, etc). Any advice on a third region or area would be great. We thought about the Cinque Terra but are afraid the weather might not be great that time of year. Thanks!!!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
700 posts
At dinner last night, two different people were raving about Sicily and the very south of Italy.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
792 posts
my vote for Sicily as well
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Consider Puglia.
Posted by
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1233 posts
What about Bologna and Parma, if you are into food - Cheese, meats, balsamic vinegar. Lots of food tours, excursions into the country.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15193 posts
Since you are in Tuscany, I would add Umbria and maybe some of the Marche region (Urbino?). The Republic of San Marino (another country) and San Leo in the Romagna region are also not too far from Umbria.
Sicily is nice but it will require at least 10 days onto itself and getting there takes a lot of time if you drive to it with your rental car. By plane it's faster but that still requires the logistics of flying and renting another car there.
Puglia is not horribly far from Naples and I would rather drive there than all the way to Sicily. Still you need to evaluate whether you are dispersing your time into too many regions too far from one another. Distances are longer than you think in Italy, especially when you try to reach towns perched on secluded hills.
But if you like driving a lot consider also the Veneto region (Verona, Padua, lake Garda, Dolomites, Valpolicella wine area, etc.)
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thanks for all those suggestions! I will look into all those places! Keep the suggestions coming!!!
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
4 nights in Verona with excursions to ...
--Mantua
--Vicenza
--Padova
then 4 nights in Bologna with excursions to ...
--Ferrara
--Ravenna
--Parma+Modena
A week in a well located villa on Sicily or Sardinia would also appeal.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Emilia-Romagna, Umbria, or Puglia. Since you plan to be in Campania (Amalfi Coast), I would visit Matera (in Basilicata) and then Puglia.
I would save Sicilia for the next trip.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
All the suggestions look great... Emilia Romagna region looks great,Puglia looks interesting...Some of the lakes look beautiful too. This is hard to pick!
Posted by
6 posts
Hi, Visited Amalfi coast last September and LOVED it. We stayed in Ravello which was beautiful and away from the crowds. Highly recommend it. Enjoy!