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suggestions between Rome and Florence

Hello,
Wife and I are flying into Rome and out of Venice in mid-November. Spending 4 nights in Rome and 4 nights in Venice (leaving early in the morning after that 4th night). First time to Italy.

That leaves us with 11 currently unscheduled nights in between Rome and Venice.

The general thought is to rent a car in Rome and head more or less north, drop off the car when we get to Florence, stay there for x number of days and then take the train to Venice.

Our usual MO on driving sections is to wing it and stay where we think we might end up for the day in a town we like and spend a night or two or three depending on how we feel. Trying to make a reservation the morning or early afternoon of that night's stay. We have mainly done this in the U.S. and Canada but last year did it in Ireland and it worked out there. We don't always get our first choice hotel or B&B but have always found a decent place to stay.

If we stay three nights in Florence we would have eight nights somewhere in between Rome and Florence.

Some of the questions are:
Does three nights in Florence sound about right since we will be spending eight other nights in “big” cities (Rome and Venice)?

Given it is the off season can we get away with our usual MO of deciding where we stay the morning of when we might get there, or do we need to pre-book rooms now for the driving nights between Rome and Florence?

Do you have any suggestions of particular towns to stay in for the nights on the road? Some thoughts have been Viterbo, Gubbio, Siena, Luca and smaller towns in between. Don’t need or want to go in a straight line.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Posted by
245 posts

Go to Padua! I loved it there (was there for 4 days/5 nights), and it was wonderful........Good food, good energy, good sites to see. Some gorgeous art, architecture, and history. Not just the famous Scrovegni Chapel, but also the incredible Basilica di Sant'Antonio, and take a tour of Palazzo Bo, and visit the MUSME museum, and sit in one of many palazzo for a drink, and...... ! I'm in Florence now and I love it, but I loved Padua as much.

Posted by
1323 posts

I cannot give any experience based advice, but I would love to do the same as you describe.

Posted by
12 posts

Edited to change subject to between Rome and Florence rather than Venice.

Thanks Chiara.

Posted by
245 posts

Oh, between Rome and Florence, be sure to stop in Siena to see the Duomo.

Posted by
83 posts

Your timing couldn’t be better – I would suggest stopping for a few nights in Montepulciano. It’s about 2 hours from Rome and about 1.5 hours from Florence – a perfect mid-point.

From mid-November until the beginning of January, Montepulciano has an amazing Christmas Market. We were there in 2016 and hoped to be back this December, but our plans didn’t work out. We will be there next December!

The town is out of a fairytale full of lights, carolers, and the main piazza is a fantastic market. The main fortress in town is even turned into Santa’s castle. This place is amazing!

Montepulciano makes a great base to also explore many Tuscan and Umbrian town/cities. We based ourselves in a fantastic new B&B this past summer and did day trips to Siena, Assisi, Pienza, San Gimignano, etc…

If you decide it’s on your list, let me know and I’ll pass along restaurant and accommodation suggestions. We have been going to Montepulciano since 2014 and absolutely love this town.

Posted by
12 posts

TJ:
Thanks for the response . I'll take you up on the offer of restaurant suggestions.
At this point it looks like we will be going to Orvieto for a night, Gubbio for three nights, Greve in Chanti for three nights and then two nights on the road somewhere before three nights in Florence. We are planning on a day trip from Grieve to the Montepulciano area and the two unallocated nights might be in or toward Volterra / San Gimignano and then up toward Pisa and Luca. Will most likely get to Siena at some point too.
Assisi will be more or less on the way between Orvieto and Gubbio so I'm up for restaurant suggestions anywhere .

Also any thoughts for the two nights yet to be decided between Greve and Florence

Thanks again!

Posted by
83 posts

Anytime! Here are 3 of our favorite restaurants:

  • L'Altro Cantuccio (http://www.laltrocantuccio.it/) – this is an amazing restaurant that puts a modern twist on traditional recipes. Their food is art, but it is not pretentious at all.
  • Osteria Porta di Bacco – Again, another place that is in town. Completely renovated last winter and is beautiful while honoring the building’s historic architecture. Fantastic food and a hipper atmosphere – another place you can’t go wrong.
  • La Grotta (http://www.lagrottamontepulciano.it/intro.php) – this is probably the most elegant restaurant. It’s located at the base of San Biagio, the 500-year-old church at the base of town. While the first two restaurant are more laid back, this is a restaurant you should dress up to eat at. Wonderful food and wonderful service.

Enjoy your time in Italy!

Posted by
7331 posts

We found Viterbo a nice, practical half-day stop by car, but it’s not as much a must-see as Orvieto, which has enough to see for a full day. Orvieto also has massive, mall-like paid parking. Siena can’t be fully seen in a day, but is a must-see. You have dozens of tiny hill towns to choose from for your other stops. Check November sunset hours and rain days.

I prefer to book hotels in advance. And you can go different directions each day to permit mult-night stays, which we prefer. Note that the most famous wineries require advance reservation for tours and tastings. We made a decision to have our large meal at lunch, in formal restaurants at a few wineries. The only disappointment there was the Antinori, although their new tourist (and I do mean tourist!) facility looks like a James Bond villain’s lair.

Be sure to learn about ZTL and IDP, maybe with the Search box here.