My husband and I are planning a trip to

Debbie Image
05/28/2015 - 14:09

My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy for the month of October.  The places we would like to see include Nice, France,  Cinque Terre, Florence, and the Sorrento/Amalfi/Positant area.   Parma and Milan are optional side trips.  We will rent a car.  We have idea where to start.  To capture the west coast of Italy, which airport should be fly into?  Any advice on hotels vs. private residences?  Should we stay in one area and drive to the various locations?  Any areas we've missed that we should consider?  I love to cook and nothing would make me happier than knocking on a nonna's door and getting cooking lessons....the world can be full of surprises!   Any advice would be appreciated.

Topic

Comment

Hi Debbie, I holiday in the Cinque Terre area for at least 6 weeks every year. My recommendation is to stay in the delightful, friendly town of Levanto which is the next town north of Monterosso. Use Levanto as your base. As lovely as the Cinque Terre is, you will have a far more authentic experience if you stay here. The accomodation options are numerous. Restaurants are excellent, better value & more authentic, exceptional gelateria & the people are a joy. You must hire bikes (many hotels have them) & take the easy scenic ride through the magnificent old vaulted railway tunnels that open to the sea. The tunnels link Levanto, Bonasola & Framura. Hope this helps.

You don’t say where you are flying from, but assuming the UKWhy not fly to Nice and start from there?  Also – do you really need a car?  You could use trains for much of the trip – and they are much cheaper than in the UK.  For train times, I use http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&NICE - Spend a couple of days there – or more if you want to do Cannes and Antibes.  All can be visited by train, and it goes along the coast, giving great views.  Little need for a carThen catch a train to Levanto [or similar] from Nice – a great days sightseeing on the train. A pleasant day trip along the Ligurian Riviera, before going inland a bit.The Cinque Terre is best ‘done’ by a combination of the local trains and walking the coastal path.  Road access is ‘limited’.  There are 3 paths, the coastal one which is flat [and crowded with Americans “doing the 5 Cities”], a middle one, not too steep, less crowded, and reasonably easy to walk, and the upper path – steep in places, but empty of people, and with great views out to sea .[Once had a week’s walking holiday in the area – marvellous!]Then by train [again] to Naples, and on by local train to Sorrento [total about 7 hrs].  We stayed at Hotel Il Nido, just outside of Sorrento -   Lovely place and great views – try his home made Limoncello!!!!  When we were there [a few years ago now] the owner ran a minibus service for residents, so they could go to/from Sorrento free of charge.The Amalfi coast is well served by buses, and you can also walk the ‘Pathway of the Gods’, an old mule track on the top of the cliffs [hard work getting up to, and down from, it.]  I wouldn’t drive the coast road – you’ll be too busy watching the road and other drivers to appreciate the scenery.  A day trip to Capri is worth it – the pathway around the island is well worth doing That’s probably the best part of 2-3 weeks of your holiday sorted.  Then Naples to Florence is just over 2 hours by train – a car there would be a pain o park etc etc, but you could hire one to explore the countryside thereThen back to Nice by train

Thank you....we are flying from Canada.  Your ideas are wonderful and appreciated.  We considered the train but thought it might be a pain with luggage but so would trying to park a car in many spots.  I appreciate your feedback.  We're getting excited!