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Where to base ourselves in central Italy?

Posted by (Bend, OR) on

My husband and I will be in Italy for 5 weeks beginning September 2014. Our itinerary is:

3 weeks in the Dolomites (hiking & climbing)
2 days / 1 night in Bolzano,
3 days / 4 nights in Venice,
2 days / 1 night in Ravenna,
7 days / 6 nights ? unsure,
5 days / 6 nights in Florence.

We fly into Verona and depart from Florence on 9 October.

We could use some ideas on what to do and where for that week before we go to Florence. We are interested in staying in central Italy (Tuscany / Umbria) but we don't have any idea as to where. We prefer to avoid wine tastings / tours. We enjoy history, art, architecture, geology and walking/hiking. Out intent is to rent a car for the week we are in the "countryside". I am thinking we might want to divide our time between two towns, e.g., Siena and _______. Where would you base us for the second town. What suggestions would you give for two tourists who enjoy the back door for those 7 days.

For the second town we could also use suggestions for accommodations in the 90-125E range. We already know about the "secret" place just outside of Siena and have plans to reserve there within the week.

Thanks for any insights, and happy travels in 2014.

Posted by
8371 posts

With 6 nights in Florence, you could easily spend 3 days there and then do day trips into the countryside to cities like Siena (by bus), San Gimignano, Volterra and many other places.

If I had an extra 6 days, I'd be on the way to Orvieto and Rome.

Posted by
3278 posts

Orvieto and Rome are good choices - also check out Verona and Bologna.

Posted by
2456 posts

All of the suggestions so far are excellent, but I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned Assisi in Umbria, a beautiful, very old, historic, and inspiring place to spend some time, with lots to see and explore and other interesting towns nearby.

Also, with the healthy amount of time you have available, you might consider not including any one night stops, unless you have special reasons to do that. I see you have one night each in Bolzano and Ravenna. Given travel time, those stops leave you very little time to explore those towns.

Posted by
11613 posts

I would add a night to Ravenna, and I second the recommendation for Assisi. In fact, you could visit several beautifhul towns in Umbria (Gubbio, Todi, Trevi). A couple of friends and I spent 11 nights based in Siena and Assisi (6-5) and did daytrips almost every day. We also visited Cortona, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Arezzo...

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