I've never done it, and doubt I would for a trip that's only a week long Then again, when my wife and I go on vacation to Europe we tend to stay in one central area and don't travel all over the place. We're not big fans of the whole "if it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" way of sightseeing.
I was hoping you'd see this thread. And I totally agree with the above sentiment. We like to develop a sense of place when we travel. So my wife, this morning told me that as her present to me for finishing my dissertation, she's taking me to Italy for a week. She wants to spend half the time in a major city (she mentioned Venice, but would probably be up for other cities), and half the time on a Mediterranean/Adriatic island. This is happening in a month. Recommendations?
Venice is not really a "major city." It's thing is tourism. It is an absolutely stunning place, but I would never call it major. Personally, I'd recommend against splitting it up. If it was two weeks, I'd say a week in a city and a week on an island would be cool. But for just one week, I'd stay in one place. Have you been over there before? My favorite city that I've ever visted in Italy is Rome, but keep in mind that it's not for everyone. It's very metropolitan, but at the same time it's full of history. Maybe you could combine the island thing and the major city thing by heading down to Sicily, like Palermo, Catania or Messina. We've never been further south than the Amalfi Coast, which is south of Naples, though, so I can't give any recommendtions for Sicily. Also, have you considered the Amalfi Coast? Positano, Praiano, Salerno, Sorrento, Amalfi itself, Ravello, and most of the villages down there are incredible.
Nope, I've never been. She has. Now I'm going to pepper you with questions... What we're looking for (I think since I just found out about this trip this morning) is someplace culturally interesting with great food. We like to explore places just by wandering around with no set itinerary, or one where we have one thing to do and then wander around that site, so a city/region that encourages that is the ideal. I think she's attracted to Venice by the manageable scale of the city, but certainly not wedded to the idea. By major city, I guess I meant culturally interesting, living in NYC, we're not taking this trip to get a taste of city life, we just want a place with some good museums, great food, and relatively nice weather in late March. Right now I think the idea is to fly out Thursday night and return the following Saturday. Would it be reasonable to split the trip between Rome and the Amalfi Coast? Can you get around Amalfi without a car? What are the lodging options like? Thanks for any help.
Rome to the Amalfi Coast is just about 300 KM. You should be able to drive there in under 3 hours. You can get around the Amalfi coast without a car since the public bus service is very good. However, I'd probably want to have a car just in case I wanted to go somewhere the bus didn't. If you want nice weather in March, I would definitely rule Venice out. It can get pretty cold there. However, you'd be good to go with Rome and the Amalfi area. Another option could be Napoli (Naples) and Amalfi. Naples is the biggest city in Southern Italy (and, if I'm not mistaken, the second largest city in the entire country) and is chock full of museums. If you do go south, you absolutely have to visit Pompeii and Ercolano (Herculaneum) - both destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79 AD - and Paestum, which was a city that was founded by the Greeks but abandonded sometime in the 8th or 9th century AD due to infestations of malaria ridden mosquitos and invasions of Saracens. The food in the Naples area is incredible. And the best mozzarella cheese in the world is made in Paestum.
Florence is a city that's not to big but has plenty of culture and history, good food, and you can easily explore out into Tuscany, on day trips to Pisa, Siena, etc..
I did the ferry from Greece to Italy thing when I was studying in Europe for a year. I was on a long Spring break and had taken the train from Munich to Athens. I took the ferry to Naples and headed over to Pompeii and then to Florence and Rome. Pompeii is unbelievable. I don't recommend this kind of itinerary unless you've got lots of time, which I had.
Along with Florence, I would consider Siena. It's a small city, but spectacular; pretty touristy but shouldn't be overrun in March. It's also close to a lot of other interesting places like Florence, Pisa, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, etc. that I imagine could be day trips. If you're looking for an island, Elba isn't too far from there. I've never been, but it sounds really nice.
Add another vote for Florence, I found Rome too big (although I am not from NY so that probably would not be a problem for you) and I found Venice nice for a 1 or 2 day trip but not a whole lot more. Of all the cities I have visited (admittedly not that many) Florence was the most beautiful, a sentiments echoed by my Nonno who was stationed there briefly during the war.
Don't forget folks, they're going in March. Florence really is a fantastic city, but it can be a little cold there in the late winter/early spring. That's why I've been suggesting further south, where it's like summer all year round.
Well, we decided on splitting the trip between Rome and the Amalfi Coast. Thanks for all the advice, and any additional advice folks have (I've already dug out the old threads on Xmas in Roma and Tips about Italy, which are both gold mines). One quick question, Roma is playing at home the Saturday we're going, what would I pay for cheap tix outside of the Curva Sud? BTW, KLM has some really cheap tix right now, we paid $430 with all taxes included for JFK - Rome.
Cool, you're going to love it. If you want to have a great meal in Rome, check out Agate e Romeo. It's expensive, but worth every Eurocent. Match tickets for Roma should be between €15 to €25. And yeah, that's a great price airfare.
When you go back to Italy (and you will - once you go the first time, you will have a need to go back that will haunt you the rest of your life) go to Venice.
Like summer all year round is a bit too much if you are not from Iceland. Rome - seasonal averages http://www.wunderground.com/NORMS/DisplayIntlNORMS.asp?CityCode=16239&Units=english March is a bit unpredictable. You can get full spring or winter conditions depending on luck. For example March 2005 in Rome http://www.wunderground.com/history/station/16239/2005/3/1/MonthlyHistory.html ....................................Max............Avg............Low High temperature........ 68 °F........ 57 °F........ 42 °F average...................... 59 °F........ 49 °F........ 37 °F low.............................. 53 °F........ 41 °F........ 30 °F If you want to keep track of weather in italy http://www.wunderground.com/global/IY.html
That's why I put the in there. I'd say that Rome is more like Northern Florida, Naples is like Central Florida, and Sicily is like Southern Florida.
Sicily is certainly the warmest region in italy but it is no southern florida. Don't fool the readers because you want them to go there, they are going to enjoy the place even if it's not all year round beach season. If they are coming from, say, NE USA they will certainly feel the warmer air. Still, except in some extraordinary cases (like and opposite to when snow fall in the hills around Palermo like earlier this year), they won't be able to bath. Miami avg high/low in january are 75/59 Palermo avg high/low in january are 59/50 And Palermo low's are surprisingly warm for Sicily. Catania avg high/low in Jan. are 60/42 So Sicily is more like northern Florida/Georgia. If you take away the occasional cold spells (which central/eastern USA is more open to) and get the "normal" temperatures it goes even north than that. It's hard to make comparison Italy or W. Europe - US btw. Blizzards are rare in Italy, there are no huge differences warm/cold as in the USA. New York can get surprisingly warm and cold depending on the big atmoshpere currents. Milan or Turin usually never get that cold but they tend to be costantly cold. Relatively cold (around 32°F), of course. Milan-Turin are colder than London, despite being significantly south of London. That's because the po valley is protected by any kind of wind, it's a valley surrounded by high mountains (alps and appenines) and cold air is heavier and tends to deposit near the ground. Yesterday it was snowing in Turin despite the rest of italy enjoying spring-like weather. The western part of peninsular italy (west of the appenines) is protected by the appenines so there's a big difference between say Abruzzi's coast and lazio coast and this is more clear when cold air arrives. While Rome rarely sees snow, the adriatic coast at the same latitude sees it every year. And yes I am a (moderate) weather-meteorology fan.
Got back last night, thanks for all the advice. Mike, you were completely right about Pompeii, I couldn't have imagined it without going; it truly is a complete city preserved in time. The mosaics and the painting that survives within the houses is awe inspiring. "Ruins" does it no justice. Spent 4 nights in Positano on the Amalfi Coast, 4 nights in Rome. Got lucky with the weather, mid-60s and sunny almost every day and no rain at all. Both locations were great, if we had to do it over, we might have looked at staying in Ravello rather than Positano. We did have a nice terrace overlooking the sea, however, so no complaints. Roma, what can I say. I can't wait to go back. We must have walked at least 8 miles a day (especially since Linea A shut down at 9 and we were staying just north of Piazza san Pietro). The walking was probably needed to work off the pizza rustica, and the fried artichokes, and the carbonara, and the sfuitelle, and the gelato. What an amazing city. Riding back in the car to our apartment in Brooklyn last night, it was shocking to see the lack of people in public space that I'd gotten so used to.
And you managed to avoid Naples - good show! (I hate Naples. Its the Tijuana of Italy.) Sounds like you had fun - sorry I didn't see this thread before, I'd have added some thoughts.
We wanted to go in for the pizza, but everything I read and heard said that driving into Naples was sufficient cause to declare one legally insane. It actually looks kind of like a higher-rise Tijuana from the A3.
I think I was the one pimping Pompeii, but you're forgiven for getting confused. I really believe that I remember it as I'd been there yesterday and it's been nearly 30 years since I was there. A truly amazing place.