Visiting Son in Aviano

I know someone who just arrived in Aviano from Oregon! I'm so jealous! Anyway.... I am not familiar with that immediate area, but I know it's near Venice. Consider staying at least one night in Venice to take in things like the dueling orchestras in Piazza San Marco in the evenings, and enjoying walking around as the crowd dies down (IE, goes back to the mainland for the evening). Pensione Guerrato is a nice place to stay. You could stay a night in the Cinque Terre and visit Pisa along the way (or way back). Lots of good stuff to see in Florence; I stayed at the modest Soggiorno Alessandra (no elevator, but fairly inexpensive) which was about a block from the Arno, and one bridge away from Ponte Vecchio. If you decide to spend time in Florence, read up on it in Rick's "Italy" guidebook to save time in lines at the Accademia, Uffizi, etc. And if you're not too claustrophobic, the view from atop the Duomo is awesome! (if you are claustrophobic, take in the view from Piazzale Michelangelo instead...) =-) Verona is a beautiful town worth at least a few hours; the Arena of Verona is amazing! I stayed in Verona a few nights because I have a friend there; we stayed at Albergo Arena which was OK; great breakfast, nice staff, good price, but kind of thin-walled...
Enjoy your trip!

You may want to have your son check on rooms in Billetting for you. Aviano has some nice rooms for cheap (45$ a night for 4 people). Right now with the Libya situation they're not accepting reservations but that may change by the time of your trip. Venice is about an hour away by car. You also have Padova, Vicenza, Ferrara, Bologna, San Marino, Ravenna in the area.

Hi Maureen So glad you are going to see your son! And now you get to plan a trip in addition for yourselves. Unless you will be able to see your son in the evenings, I would find another base for better day trips. Is there another reason you wanted to just do day trips? Where are you flying into and out of? How many days are you staying? Does it make any sense for your son to meet you at your arrival location or Florence to minimize back tracking? Will you consider rentlng a car? Hope your son has a chance to travel while he is in Italy! Please note that September is still high season in Italy and may be more difficult to arrange lodging on the day of arrival. Venice has a special music/art festival and previous posters are finding it impossiible to find anywhere to stay. It would be a shame not to go to Venice since it is so close, but do stay overnight on the island, if possible, since the daytrippers will be gone. Also Cinque Terre also has tight accommodations, since this is much more than a day trip. Perhaps you could do a quick check of the dates you might want to stay in the places you are considering. IMHO, Pisa would not be a stop on a 4 day weekend. It has basically 1 claim to fame. The Tower. Altho it is only an hour from Florence to Pisa, you have to add your hotel to station time and then train wait time to get to the true travel time. Please purchase RS guide on Italy for all of the basics and practical info you will ever need. Great resource! Bobbie

My daughter has been stationed at Aviano as an Army Captain for two years and loves it. We have spent a few weeks with her there and all over Italy. As nice an area as it is, I strongly suggest staying elsewhere. We traveled all over Italy by train and car. By all means look into their guest housing at the Mountain View Inn. But don't miss the chance to spend at least a couple of nights in Venice. The fast train from Venice to Rome is only 3.5 hours so it's easy to travel between the cities. You're going at a great time weather-wise as it should be starting to cool off a little then. We returned from our latest visit in June so feel free to write to me at [email protected] or send me a private message on this site. Your son can also look into getting you on the Welcome to Italy orientation tour that newcomers take. Relatives are welcome (unaccompanied) if there is room. We had a great time on our FREE daylong trip! You only pay for lunch, which is a great pre-arranged deal for 15 euros each. It is given on Fridays and takes you all over. It includes a free winery tasting tour as well!

don't feel like you have to travel all over Italy from top to bottom to have a wonderful experience. Fruili-Venezia Guilia and the Veneto has marvelous sites, scenery, food and wine, all within not too long driving distances. Or driving and train traveling. You are not too far from the start of the Prosecco road in Conegliano. the Dolomites are close as well.

I agree with Ron's 7/26 comment. You can burn a lot of time getting all the way to Tuscany and there is a lot to see in the northeast - Vicenza, Verona, Padova, Palladian Villas; and most of Friuli is undiscovered by American tourists. Maniago is a sweet little town less than 30 minutes east of Aviano. A car is handy for day trips and driving in northern and central Italy is easy (big cities excluded) and safe. We usually use Autoeurope.com, a US based broker for the major European auto rental firms. If you are overnighting in Venice, leave most of your belongings at your base, taking only what you will need there, and ride the train in from Pordenone or Treviso