Have been to Italy several times; however, now wish to remain for one month. Can't decide what towns are best choice insofar as centrally located as I don't want to drive. Wish to have a place with easy access to transportation (train) to other cities, other countries (airports) to make the most of my stay. I would prefer northern/central Italy - southern Italy being my second choice.
Only a single person, so an apartment, agriturismo (sp?) will do. Open to any and all suggestions.
I suggest Florence, good rail hub and an airport either there or in Pisa. I stayed in a nice apartment in Florence a few months ago that I found on AirBnB - Sunflower Florence Centre
The landlord was excellent, very quick to respond to questions and the apartment was in a great location. What fun to spend a month in Italy!
I second the suggestion to use Florence as your base. Bologna is another nearby airport with international flights.
Florence in Tuscany or Bologna in Emilia are probably the best hubs for their respective regions.
Milan is also a great spot for that corner of the country (Lombardy).
However if your month in any of those cities falls in the peak of summer (mid June to mid September) or winter (December to March) the weather will be less than ideal.
Edit: Oh! I see you are from Stockton!
Same shit.y weather then.
Cold and foggy in winter. Hot and miserable in summer. In Florence you’ll even have the benefit of mosquitoes, in case you miss the ones on the Delta near home.
I'd check the train times to Rome, Venice, Turin and Milan departing from Firenze and from Bologna.
Both cities have pros and cons. For instance, Staying in Florence you can search flights from two airports: Peretola and Pisa..
On the other hand Bologna's food is better, the city is less touristy and you'll be able to visit all the small cities surrounding it (Mantua, Ferrara, Modena etc.) by train. But... the seaside villages close to Florence are nicer than those near Bologna.
An agriturismo is an active farm, or a former farm in Tuscany that's been changed into an hotel and that pretends to be a farm to pay less taxes. In both cases you would need a car.
