My husband and I are taking an 11 day trip to Italy at the end of March and we want to travel through Tuscany and the Almafi coast. How many days do you recommend staying in Tuscany? We want to see the wineries and the beautful landscapes, so should we rent a car from Florence and drive ourselves? Regarding the Almalfi coast, we want to see as much as we can, but what towns do you recommend? Should we have a base, or rather stay in a town a night or two and switch to a different hotel/different town? Should we take a tour or wander on our own? Thanks so much! Thanks!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32386 posts
Colleen, With such a short trip, my initial thoughts are that it would probably be best to choose two "home bases", perhaps Siena and Sorrento in this case. Whether or not to rent a car will depend on a couple of factors: > What you want to see in Tuscany? Depending on the answer to that, you may be able to use a combination of public transit and local tours to cover the locations you want to visit. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the "issues" that can occur with driving in Italy including: - the compulsory I.D.P. (fines can result on the spot for failing to produce one) - ZTL areas especially in Florence which will also result in large fines > I wouldn't advise driving on the Amalfi coast, although in March it may not be too extreme. Sorrento is a good home base for visits to Capri, Pompeii & Herculaneum or Positano, all of which can be done using public transit. I'd suggest having a look at the Italy 2012 Guidebook (available now). Happy travels!
Posted by
Narragansett, RI
61 posts
Colleen, Is this your first visit? You are missing a couple of major stops between those two locations. I would not rule out Rome and Naples as stops in between. However, in the Amalfi Coast I stayed in Positano and could easily travel to Capri, Amalfi, Pompei and Sorrento from this great location. I would keep your base there or Sorrento and take day trips from there to the other sites. It is pretty easy to get around.
Posted by
Lansing, KS, United States
7 posts
If you are a nervous driver, you might consider staying in Sorrento and hiring a driver for the Amalfi Coast. Sorrento is a convenient location from which to make trips to Capri, Vesuvius, Pompeii, etc if they have finished with a lot of the road construction in the city.