A week in Italy - suggestions?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Dear Dopers,

My partner and I were thinking of taking a week-long trip to Italy around about the beginning of April and I was looking for the inside scoop on some of the best places to go, best things to do, and best places to stay. Rome was my partner’s first choice because of the hustle and bustle of the capital and the wealth of interesting sights. I’m less enthusiastic about it because I think it will be crowded, noisy, overpriced and choked with traffic and exhaust fumes. NOT my idea of a fun getaway.

I’d prefer something a bit quieter and more picturesque, like Sienna or some other quaint Tuscan town. I want beautiful piazzas, winding streets, stunning architecture and mindblowing food. I want to be able to stroll around at a leisurely pace and just enjoy a slower pace of life. We’re on a budget so accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis will be fine, as I don’t see us having much trouble finding something cheap and yummy to eat for lunch and dinner every day. I might even consider self-catering.

So any suggestions?

2

Como.

Beautiful to the Nth degree if you don’t mind skipping on the piazzas, it’s kind of short on piazzas. The problem it has is that getting in and out of Como itself is a beeyatch, but still, since you’ll be able to avoid the hours of worse traffic, you should be able to spend some days in town and around the lake (just there you’ve got enough material for 4-5 days easy) and the others visiting places nearby. One of my favorite tactics when I was in Italy was to grab the map, drive away in a not-very-determined direction, stop to look at whatever called my attention, and not open the map until it was time to start thinking about going back.

There’s a pile of smaller villages in the road leading to Como where hotels may be cheaper than in Como itself.
Another option: Venice. April is sort of on the “late” limit for Venice visitability; if it’s not too hot it shouldn’t, ah, have too much eau-de-Vénice. Never go to Venice in the summer, never go to Venice in Carnaval unless you have an invitation from a local, a lot of money, or preferably both.

Wherever you are, the Italians will be louder than you’re used to. I’ve been in tiny villages and they were noisier at 3am than Philadelphia at 5pm. It’s just a cultural thing :smiley: (the only exception is Assissi, but I don’t want your partner to murder you)
If the place you choose doesn’t directly have an airport, you could start by visiting the town where you leave the plane and then go to the other one. Be careful to find out where the airport really is, though: one of Milano’s airports is one hour away!
Also, you may want to skip driving and take advantage of the train. When I was staying in a village near Saronno and Milano for work reasons, I’d take the train to go to anywhere I could take it. Avoiding rush hour if possible, a trainful of students is one of those situations where you find yourself thinking “gee, I’m glad we all showered.” I’ve been in trains where one of the doors couldn’t close from how many people were there.

3

I would never go to Europe for less than three weeks. However, if you’re set on it, try Sicily - my dad, who travelled a lot, loved Sicily best. Me, I love Capri and the Italian Riviera. However you should take your tastes into account - clearly if you want to do arty things, Florence would be a good bet.

I’m seeing your partner wants one thing and you’re asking for something quite different. Any chance on compromising? Venice has a lot to see and you won’t have to worry about exhaust fumes.

4

Pompei was amazing.

You can find ruins all around the world, but that I’ve yet seen, Pompei is the only place where you have a full town’s worth of ruins–usually you just find a building or two.

Being able to walk through it all and not see modern buildings out the windows is just darn impressive.

I also really liked Venice. The glass blowers’ island is worth seeing, as is the architecture.

5

If you’re looking to go to Tuscany, I would suggest San Gimignano which is near Sienna (also a good choice). The town is known for its towers that the various families built to illustrate their wealth and status prior to the arrival of the plague which effectively prevented the town from further growth. Two problems arise, though. First there is no train station and thus would probably require a car rental, and second the town has become very popular and gets very crowded on weekends. Still, for my money, its beauty is unsurpassed.

If you want to go north, I’d suggest Asti or Pavia. Both are smaller cities and therefore offer fewer cultural opportunities but they’re nonetheless beautiful and vibrant. Even though April is not truffle season, Asti is in the Piedmont which offers fabulous and varied cuisine – not that you’re going to find food lacking anywhere you go in Italy. Both cities have the added benefit of being on major rail lines which offer quick and efficient (it’s true) access to Milan, Genoa and Turin where there are plenty of things to do and see.

Should you want to venture very far off the beaten track, make sure you know when the various local and national holidays are. It doesn’t matter much in the bigger cities – there are always restaurants and hotels open there – but some smaller towns seem to completely shut down and finding a meal or a place to stay can be difficult. In springtime holidays seem to come every third day, too.

Especially in springtime, Rome can be very pleasant and I wouldn’t let traffic and crowds necessarily dissuade you. There are parts of the city that are quieter. I like to stay in Trastevere which is nice if you’re not afraid of a bit of a hike. But then Rome is a city for wandering around.

6

With only a week I’d pick one or at most two cities and divide my time accordingly. For me that would mean Rome, and maybe Florence.

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Since Como and Florence were mentioned, I liked Duermo. It was pretty quiet when I went and kinda dark, but the cathedrals were so beautiful to look at. I’m not religious but I still found all of the religious aspects of the city very breathtaking.

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I’d spend at least one day in a small un-touristy hill town, basically doing nothing and trying to absorb the place at a very relaxed pace. I’d suggest Pienza.

9

Minor hijack; has anyone any thought on Trieste?

I was thinking it might be a nice place to go for a few days…

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I was only in Trieste for a few hours but I remember distinctly that it had a very different ‘feel’ than other places in Italy. It was much more Eastern European (even Soviet) in character. Again, this is based on a very limited experience. I was probably responding to the architecture more than anything.

I’ll also mention that from Trieste it is only a short train ride to Ljubliana, which is one of the great undiscovered cities of the world.

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Trieste has changed hands a few times over the centuries! I was there during the civil war in the former Yugoslavia and it struck me (in the two days I was there) as being a hotbed of intrigue and a clash of influences. Perhaps it was just my fevered imagination, but certainly different from the rest of Italy that I’ve seen.

As to the OP, I can’t imagine going to Italy for the first time and not seeing Rome. It’s an amazing city in so many ways.

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We are off to Ljubljana for a week’s holiday in April. From what I have read it is a gem of a city, described as a miniature Prague . We will also be using it as a base to explore the rest of Slovenia. Might even take a train trip to Trieste .

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My tastes run closer to yours, and my top three picks for a trip to Italy are:

  1. The Amalfi Coast
  2. Cinque Terre
  3. Venice

I lived in Venice for a while and have traveled a fair amount in Italy. Although none of these are probably great for a very long stay (someplace like Rome or Milan has more amenities and is more livable from an American point of view), I think these three are all unique, wonderful, must-see places.

Florence and Rome are definitely worth seeing, but they didn’t have as much emotional impact for me as these smaller towns. And your guess about tons of exhaust fumes, loud cars, etc. is correct.

Venice does not allow land vehicles of any type on the main island, not even bicycles, so the sounds of the city are stunningly different from those of almost any other city… it merits its old title, La Serenissima: just voices, splashing water, the creaking and clanking of water buses against the piers, a few boat horns, the church bells ringing out an almighty racket every hour or half-hour. (oh, and horrible Eurotrash techno piped out of shop windows or boom boxes here and there). But it’s an amazing place to just wander and get lost in. There’s no bad, or even ugly or boring part of town to stumble into–the whole city, give or take a very few modern buildings, looks as it did hundreds of years ago; sometimes you see a building from the 19th century and are surprised at how new it is.

So my top recommendation is to spend a few days in Venice, with a day trip to Burano, a tiny island in the lagoon known for its colorful houses and traditional lace; also the glassblower’s island, Murano, although it’s overrated, IMHO.

Wander around, see some museums (the Doge’s Palace, the Guggenheim), go up the Campanile and feed some pigeons in St. Mark’s Square if you’re not squeamish. Then get away from St. Mark’s Square and wander around lesser-known corners of the city, stop in at random tiny restaurants for a meal or pick up a slice of pizza and some gelato, get hopelessly lost in hundreds of twisty little alleyways. Go see the Rialto fruit and vegetable market and the fish market. Ride the vaporetto (water bus) up and down the grand canal. It’s a huge ripoff, something like 6 Euros a head for tourists… If you want to be in a gondola for just a few minutes, just so you can have the experience briefly, board one of the traghetti, which are gondola ferries that just go back and forth across the Grand Canal, and cost less than a dollar. (Or you can shell out for the full-on 60+ Euro gondola ride if you want to be on the gondola for more than five minutes.)

If I were you, I would stay away from getting a hotel room facing a canal. Sure, it’s romantic, but there is STENCH coming out of those canals sometimes and there’s no way to be sure if your room faces a good canal or a bad one until you get there.

Go to Campo Santa Margherita after dark for “nightlife.” Or do a bar crawl and eat cicchetti, eat as many fried sea creatures as you can stand.

I loved Pompeii, but as a day trip from the Amalfi coast–I’m not sure it’s worth spending more time in.

Sicily was great, too, but is an entirely different experience than Northern Italy, and I’d recommend saving it for a second or third trip.

14

Everyone has made nice suggestions, but one of my favorite spots is the Maremma.
Sovana, Pitigliano, the hot springs at Saturnia–the tufa towns are very picturesque.

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I had my heart set on Siena - utterly beautiful and with excellent food and architecture yet compact and easy enough to explore entirely on foot. However it looks like the whole Italy trip is off and that we may actually end up in Istanbul instead. Rather than hijack my own thread, I may start another one asking for tips and advice about Istanbul. Thanks very much for all the suggestions here, though!

16

Ah, shame!

In case anyone else comes searchin’ though… I’d recommend Lucca in Tuscany for a few days, lovely walled city and you can hire a tandem bicycle to tour the city walls.

Rome is great for 3-4 days, but any more gets too much.

And the Amalfi coast is simply lovely for sightseeing and seafood.