Hello,
My wife and I will be going to Italy for the first time this September. Ideally, we would like to see Rome. Once we have seen Rome, we would like to indulge our wine interest and spend a few days in the wine region of Tuscany. We are thinking 8 days of time (excluding travel time).
Could anyone suggest the best way to do this? Should we start in Rome or Tuscany?
What would be a good number of days in each place?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!
Luis,
Eight days is a very short time for travel in Italy. Is there any possibility of increasing the time by a few days?
You'll lose the first day in flight times and time zone changes and the last day will be spent on the trip home. There's a lot to see in Rome, so I'd suggest allocating at least four days for touring there.
For your visit to Tuscany, you could (for example) base in Siena and take day trips to check out the local wineries.
For the trip home, you could either return to Rome or move north from Tuscany and depart from Milan / MXP. There are lots of possibilities on the way you could structure the trip.
Cheers!
Hi Luis. I agree with Ken...if there's anyway to extend your trip by a few days, it would be great! Do keep in mind that you might be jet-lagged, so usually the first day in Italy is a wash.
I would also suggest a minimum of 4-5 days in Rome. There is a lot to do there & you could even do some nice day trips out of Rome; Orvieto is a fabulous day trip from Rome. I would then allocate another 4-5 days for Tuscany. Find a central base (i.e. Siena) & then rent a car & take day trips to the various wineries that you're interested in. We stayed in an agriturismo in Siena (which was a wonderful experience) and had a rental car & drove to various towns each day. We had a great time. Some suggestions for towns to visit in Tuscany are Montepulciano, Pienza, Volterra, San Gimignano, etc. As Ken stated, you can fly out of Milan/Malpensa or Rome. Have a great trip.
Luis, i think the previous posters missed the part about 8 days EXCLUDING travel time. I take this to mean you will be there for 10 days minus your arrival day and minus your departure day. In that case 8 days is enough time.
I assume you are flying in and out of Rome. If you arrive in the morning then I would head straight to Florence. For first time travelers to Italy, I think Rome and Florence are a must. Spend a day or two in Florence and then go stay in Siena. Siena is a good home base to explore Tuscany. From there you can take a bus tour of a winery or rent a car and spend a day or two exploring the area for yourself.
After two nights in Siena, head to Rome to finish off your trip. You should spend at least 4 full days in Rome. My suggestion would look like this.
Arrival Day - go straight to Florence
Day 1 - Florence
Day 2 - Siena
Day 3 - Siena
Day 4 - Travel to Rome (you could also spend another night in Tuscany, your choice)
Day 5 - Rome
Day 6 - Rome
Day 7 - Rome
Day 8 - Rome
Departure Day
I agree with Scott's proposal. Head straight for Florence and finish up in Rome. If you don't want to rent a car (and whatever you do, do NOT!! drive in Florence proper), look into signing up for a wine tour or similar.
If you want to spend the travel day between Tuscany and Rome outside of Rome, I would suggest Orvieto which is technically in Umbria but is a gorgeous little hill town.
Hi Luis - All the input on here will probably confuse BUT, after about 30 years in Italy and being Italian I would do it this way - Fly into Florence and out of Rome(Fiumicino)
In Florence I would rent a car and go to -
http://www.casolarelibbiano.it/
My friends Berta and her husband Andrea own a Beautiful B&B , just outside of San Gimignano and close to Siena as wel as Volterra. Please check out their website!
After four days in Tuscany I would drop the car back in Florence and train it to Roma where I would stay at -
http://www.hotelforte.com/en/index.htm
Located Directly at The Spanish Steps it is easy walking to The Via Veneto, Roman Forum, and Trevi Fountain. On Via Veneto you can pick up an open air bus that will allow you to tour a lot of the main sights of Roma , getting off and back on as often as you like. My friends Emanuel and Emanuella run the front desk and are very helpful in making suggestions as to what to do and see. Also a lot of very cool Cafes on the side streets by The Steps.
8 days will do it - Of course , if you have more - wonderful!!
Ciao, Greg
The Spanish Steps are nice but you will pay a premium for lodging around there and food. I would stay elsewhere. There are plenty of nice B&B in and around Rome. Check out Rick's book and tripadvisor.
Hello everyone!! Thank you for all the AWESOME replies! This is great information that we will use! Thank you!
I have another question. Would we be better off (temperature wise) to go in late September than early September?
in the wine region your choices will be largely car rental or buying space on tours. You can't get around the wine region by train, and the bus schedules are going to be difficult to figure out unless you are comfortable speaking italian. If you drive, bring a GPS!!
Given your interest in wines, I'd suggest 4 days in each region, or even 5 in the wine region.
