Italy Trip in July for 2-3 weeks

Hi folks,

I am planning to do a Honeymoon in mid July in Italy and would like some
pointers on where to go. Currently, we both want to hit Venice, Florence,
and Rome. I also have some interest in the hill towns of Umbria.

We generally like art, beautiful country sides, and good food. We generally
don't like sitting on a beach (I can't sit still and she burns too easily).
We also don't shop very much either on trips, preferring the spend the
money on the experience and food.

Here's the current idea.

1. Start in Venice (since it's right after the wedding, it will be the most
romantic area).
2. Go to Florence.
3. End at Rome.

What we haven't figure out is what to do in between. So far, a friend of my
Finacee recommended Lucca. Spello sounds interesting. Rick Steven
recommends Civita, but that sounds more like a tourist area (with only 14
resident, how authentic can it be?). Possible destination inbetween
includes:

Lucca
Sienna
Assisi
Spello

With only 2-3 weeks, I don't really want to go to too many places and
rather spend some time taking in the town. Since Assisi and Spello seemed
to be in the same general vicinity, I was wondering if I could use one of
them as a base to explore other towns in the Umbria region if they are
close by.

As for budget, as cheap as possible but above Hostels. I like to spend more
of the money on accomodiation in Venice, and less in other places. I was
wondering if I should consider renting a car in Umbria since I have been
told that transportation is so-so in that area.

What would you folks suggest as a iternary?

Thanks.

Paul

"Paul Siu" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
Hi folks,

I am planning to do a Honeymoon in mid July in Italy and would like some
pointers on where to go. Currently, we both want to hit Venice, Florence,
and Rome. I also have some interest in the hill towns of Umbria.

We generally like art, beautiful country sides, and good food. We
generally
don't like sitting on a beach (I can't sit still and she burns too
easily).
We also don't shop very much either on trips, preferring the spend the
money on the experience and food.

Here's the current idea.

1. Start in Venice (since it's right after the wedding, it will be the
most
romantic area).
2. Go to Florence.
3. End at Rome.

What we haven't figure out is what to do in between. So far, a friend of
my
Finacee recommended Lucca. Spello sounds interesting. Rick Steven
recommends Civita, but that sounds more like a tourist area (with only 14
resident, how authentic can it be?). Possible destination inbetween
includes:

Lucca
Sienna
Assisi
Spello

With only 2-3 weeks, I don't really want to go to too many places and
rather spend some time taking in the town. Since Assisi and Spello seemed
to be in the same general vicinity, I was wondering if I could use one of
them as a base to explore other towns in the Umbria region if they are
close by.

As for budget, as cheap as possible but above Hostels. I like to spend
more
of the money on accomodiation in Venice, and less in other places. I was
wondering if I should consider renting a car in Umbria since I have been
told that transportation is so-so in that area.

What would you folks suggest as a iternary?

Thanks.

Paul

well. from Venice

Padova ( only a few kms )

Verona ( since it is yr honeymoon a visit to thte town of Giulietta &
Romeo should be yr must )
Mantova
Ferrara
Bologna
Ravenna
Urbino
Gubbio
Assisi
Firenze
Siena
Pisa
Lucca
Volterra
and so on..
Civita di Bagnoregio is a dead town..
it is just a curiosity
of course people live in the new town, a few hundreds metres away


But in two weeks.. I would limit myself to
Venezia
Firenze
Roma
Napoli ( eventually with Capri and Pompei )

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:42:06 GMT, Paul Siu
wrote:

Hi folks,

I am planning to do a Honeymoon in mid July in Italy and would like some
pointers on where to go. Currently, we both want to hit Venice, Florence,
and Rome. I also have some interest in the hill towns of Umbria.

We generally like art, beautiful country sides, and good food. We generally
don't like sitting on a beach (I can't sit still and she burns too easily).
We also don't shop very much either on trips, preferring the spend the
money on the experience and food.

Here's the current idea.

1. Start in Venice (since it's right after the wedding, it will be the most
romantic area).
2. Go to Florence.
3. End at Rome.

What we haven't figure out is what to do in between. So far, a friend of my
Finacee recommended Lucca. Spello sounds interesting. Rick Steven
recommends Civita, but that sounds more like a tourist area (with only 14
resident, how authentic can it be?). Possible destination inbetween
includes:

Lucca
Sienna
Assisi
Spello

Lucca and Siena are both in Tuscany, and are rather sizeable cities.
Siena is on a hill, but Lucca is not. You're right about Civita; it
may have been interesting once, but it's been ovedone by the tourist
madness. Lucca and Siena are both pleasant and attractive cities, and
both have impressive city walls.

If you really want to visit hill towns, the following are all
interesting:

In Tuscany:

Montalcino
Montepulciano
Pienza

In Umbria:

Orvieto
Todi
Gubbio
Assisi
Spello

The hill towns in Tuscany will have many more tourists in July than
the towns in Umbria. Of the three I mention in Tuscany, Pienza is the
least crowded with tourists, but it's also very tiny.

Just for the record, wild horses couldn't drag me to Florence in the
summer. The crowds are just beyond my tolerance level. Rome and Venice
also have tons of tourists, but they absorb them better. In Venice,
you can easily escape to a little street along a quiet canal, and in
Rome, there is a lot to see that the average tourist doesn't bother
with.

Spello is very near to Assisi. In fact, they're on adjacent hills and
easily visible the one to the other. Spello is a little jewel, maybe
the prettiest little town I've ever seen. I don't know how crowded it
is in July; I've only been there once, in June. There is regular bus
service from Spello to Assisi. Perugia is also not far away; it's a
city, not a town, but has plenty of art and is very attractive. I
think you could easily spend several days in this area.

With only 2-3 weeks, I don't really want to go to too many places and
rather spend some time taking in the town. Since Assisi and Spello seemed
to be in the same general vicinity, I was wondering if I could use one of
them as a base to explore other towns in the Umbria region if they are
close by.

You could use either Assisi, Spello or Perugia as a base to visit the
other Umbrian towns. How much time will you have to spend in the area?

As for budget, as cheap as possible but above Hostels. I like to spend more
of the money on accomodiation in Venice, and less in other places. I was
wondering if I should consider renting a car in Umbria since I have been
told that transportation is so-so in that area.

Actually, Venice has a lot of hotel bargains, maybe more than Rome.
They're all near the train station, which is within walking distance
of St. Mark's Plaza. However, maybe you were thinking of something
more elegant for the first part of your honeymoon.

For inexpensive hotels in Italy, Let's Go Italy is a very reliable
resource. The descriptions of the hotels are reliable, and they tell
the bad and the good about the lodgings they cover. I live in Italy
and rely on them frequently when travelling around. They don't have
very good coverage of small towns.

www.venere.it also is a good resource for hotels in Italy, but Let's
Go covers a lot of smaller places that don't have a web presence.
Another good resource is www.fodors.com . Again, they don't cover the
small towns as well as the cities.

What would you folks suggest as a iternary?

I would start in Venice, stay there a few days, then go to Umbria and
spend maybe four days there. Assisi, Spello and Perugia are fairly
well connected by bus service, which may be a bit spotty at times, but
manageable. There is also bus service, even spottier, to Gubbio and
Todi. Orvieto, Perugia and Assisi are also accessible by train. I
would spend the rest of the time in Rome, skipping Florence
altogether, or maybe making it a day trip from Rome or Perugia. I know
you want to see all the art there, but go back for your 5th
anniversary, and go in February.

Renting a car is not a bad idea. If you do, make sure you get a hotel
that has parking, because these little hill towns often have limited
parking. You could stay in a hotel along one of the highways, but
these are not terribly romantic. Perugia is a good transportation hub,
but I would lean toward staying in Spello. If you get a car, get a
Michelin map of central Italy (available in good book stores
everywhere) and head out to explore the little roads marked in green.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

"B Vaughan" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:42:06 GMT, Paul Siu
wrote:

Hi folks,

I am planning to do a Honeymoon in mid July in Italy and would like some
pointers on where to go. Currently, we both want to hit Venice, Florence,
and Rome. I also have some interest in the hill towns of Umbria.

We generally like art, beautiful country sides, and good food. We
generally
don't like sitting on a beach (I can't sit still and she burns too
easily).
We also don't shop very much either on trips, preferring the spend the
money on the experience and food.

Here's the current idea.

1. Start in Venice (since it's right after the wedding, it will be the
most
romantic area).
2. Go to Florence.
3. End at Rome.

What we haven't figure out is what to do in between. So far, a friend of
my
Finacee recommended Lucca. Spello sounds interesting. Rick Steven
recommends Civita, but that sounds more like a tourist area (with only 14
resident, how authentic can it be?). Possible destination inbetween
includes:

Lucca
Sienna
Assisi
Spello

Lucca and Siena are both in Tuscany, and are rather sizeable cities.
Siena is on a hill, but Lucca is not. You're right about Civita; it
may have been interesting once, but it's been ovedone by the tourist
madness. Lucca and Siena are both pleasant and attractive cities, and
both have impressive city walls.

If you really want to visit hill towns, the following are all
interesting:

In Tuscany:

Montalcino
Montepulciano
Pienza

In Umbria:

Orvieto
Todi
Gubbio
Assisi
Spello

The hill towns in Tuscany will have many more tourists in July than
the towns in Umbria. Of the three I mention in Tuscany, Pienza is the
least crowded with tourists, but it's also very tiny.

Just for the record, wild horses couldn't drag me to Florence in the
summer. The crowds are just beyond my tolerance level. Rome and Venice
also have tons of tourists, but they absorb them better. In Venice,
you can easily escape to a little street along a quiet canal, and in
Rome, there is a lot to see that the average tourist doesn't bother
with.

Spello is very near to Assisi. In fact, they're on adjacent hills and
easily visible the one to the other. Spello is a little jewel, maybe
the prettiest little town I've ever seen. I don't know how crowded it
is in July; I've only been there once, in June. There is regular bus
service from Spello to Assisi. Perugia is also not far away; it's a
city, not a town, but has plenty of art and is very attractive. I
think you could easily spend several days in this area.

With only 2-3 weeks, I don't really want to go to too many places and
rather spend some time taking in the town. Since Assisi and Spello seemed
to be in the same general vicinity, I was wondering if I could use one of
them as a base to explore other towns in the Umbria region if they are
close by.

You could use either Assisi, Spello or Perugia as a base to visit the
other Umbrian towns. How much time will you have to spend in the area?

As for budget, as cheap as possible but above Hostels. I like to spend
more
of the money on accomodiation in Venice, and less in other places. I was
wondering if I should consider renting a car in Umbria since I have been
told that transportation is so-so in that area.

Actually, Venice has a lot of hotel bargains, maybe more than Rome.
They're all near the train station, which is within walking distance
of St. Mark's Plaza. However, maybe you were thinking of something
more elegant for the first part of your honeymoon.

For inexpensive hotels in Italy, Let's Go Italy is a very reliable
resource. The descriptions of the hotels are reliable, and they tell
the bad and the good about the lodgings they cover. I live in Italy
and rely on them frequently when travelling around. They don't have
very good coverage of small towns.

www.venere.it also is a good resource for hotels in Italy, but Let's
Go covers a lot of smaller places that don't have a web presence.
Another good resource is www.fodors.com . Again, they don't cover the
small towns as well as the cities.

What would you folks suggest as a iternary?

I would start in Venice, stay there a few days, then go to Umbria and
spend maybe four days there. Assisi, Spello and Perugia are fairly
well connected by bus service, which may be a bit spotty at times, but
manageable. There is also bus service, even spottier, to Gubbio and
Todi. Orvieto, Perugia and Assisi are also accessible by train. I
would spend the rest of the time in Rome, skipping Florence
altogether, or maybe making it a day trip from Rome or Perugia. I know
you want to see all the art there, but go back for your 5th
anniversary, and go in February.

Renting a car is not a bad idea. If you do, make sure you get a hotel
that has parking, because these little hill towns often have limited
parking. You could stay in a hotel along one of the highways, but
these are not terribly romantic. Perugia is a good transportation hub,
but I would lean toward staying in Spello. If you get a car, get a
Michelin map of central Italy (available in good book stores
everywhere) and head out to explore the little roads marked in green.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot
it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

a small correction..
Assisis cannot be reached by train.
the nearest train station being
santa maria degli angeli train station
then you will have to take a bus

the same applies to Gubbio

the next and nearest train station is
Fossato di Vico
and again you will have to take a bus

"Paul Siu" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I am planning to do a Honeymoon in mid July in Italy and would like some
pointers on where to go. Currently, we both want to hit Venice, Florence,
and Rome. I also have some interest in the hill towns of Umbria.

We generally like art, beautiful country sides, and good food. We
generally
don't like sitting on a beach (I can't sit still and she burns too
easily).
We also don't shop very much either on trips, preferring the spend the
money on the experience and food.

Here's the current idea.

1. Start in Venice (since it's right after the wedding, it will be the
most
romantic area).
2. Go to Florence.
3. End at Rome.

What we haven't figure out is what to do in between. So far, a friend of
my
Finacee recommended Lucca. Spello sounds interesting. Rick Steven
recommends Civita, but that sounds more like a tourist area (with only 14
resident, how authentic can it be?). Possible destination inbetween
includes:

Lucca
Sienna
Assisi
Spello

With only 2-3 weeks, I don't really want to go to too many places and
rather spend some time taking in the town. Since Assisi and Spello seemed
to be in the same general vicinity, I was wondering if I could use one of
them as a base to explore other towns in the Umbria region if they are
close by.

As for budget, as cheap as possible but above Hostels. I like to spend
more
of the money on accomodiation in Venice, and less in other places. I was
wondering if I should consider renting a car in Umbria since I have been
told that transportation is so-so in that area.


You have received good advice so far. If budget is an issue, have you looked
at the cost of renting a car? You are required to buy insurance when renting
in Italy. Like Barbara, I'm not a great fan of Florence, but it is a good
transportation hub. You can take day trips by bus to Siena and by train to
Lucca. Both towns are well-worth your time. And also to Pisa if you must.

Mid-July is high season; you need to make plans now. Umbria is a little
slower and might be easier to book now. I will even tell you my favorite
town, Bevagna. But I haven't been to Spello yet. And Todi's supposed to be
nice. So there's plenty to see in Umbria.

Do allow several days in Venice. You will be tired from your wedding and the
flight.

Buon viaggio!

Marianne

"tile" wrote in message
...

Responding to Barbara Vaughan's message:

Assisi, Spello and Perugia are fairly
well connected by bus service, which may be a bit spotty at times, but
manageable. There is also bus service, even spottier, to Gubbio and
Todi. Orvieto, Perugia and Assisi are also accessible by train.

Tile:
a small correction..
Assisis cannot be reached by train.
the nearest train station being
santa maria degli angeli train station
then you will have to take a bus

But the station at SM degli Angeli is called Assisi, and I don't think it's
significantly further from the city centre than that at Perugia, although in
the latter case the intervening area is built up.


the same applies to Gubbio

But Barbara specifically says there is a bus service to Gubbio. She doesn't
mention a train there.

Alan Harrison

I was wondering about parking in these Hill Towns. Is there lots just may
be near the outside of the city. Basically, all I need is to get from one
major location to another. Walking is no issue.

I guess I thought of getting a car because it would give me the freedom to
travel around. What I didn't want was to get stranded in the middle of
nowhere because I missed the last bus (I don't suppose there are taxi
services?).

In fact, I rather not drive at all. When we visited the Dales in England,
we loved sitting in the bus and chatting with the driver and looking out
the window. But if I had to drive in those crazy narrow roads, I would
enjoy it less.

Paul

"ALAN HARRISON" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

"tile" wrote in message
...

Responding to Barbara Vaughan's message:

Assisi, Spello and Perugia are fairly
well connected by bus service, which may be a bit spotty at times, but
manageable. There is also bus service, even spottier, to Gubbio and
Todi. Orvieto, Perugia and Assisi are also accessible by train.

Tile:
a small correction..
Assisis cannot be reached by train.
the nearest train station being
santa maria degli angeli train station
then you will have to take a bus

But the station at SM degli Angeli is called Assisi, and I don't think
it's significantly further from the city centre than that at Perugia,
although in the latter case the intervening area is built up.


the same applies to Gubbio

But Barbara specifically says there is a bus service to Gubbio. She
doesn't mention a train there.

Alan Harrison


if you have ever been to Santa Maria degli Angeli you know it is not
Assisi.. Santa maria is at the bottom of a hill.. while Assisi is on the
hilltop. Two different towns or villages.

as to Fossato di Vico to Gubbio..
it is only about 20 kms. by bus I mean.
the train line is the main line Roma Falconara (ancona )

both in Assisi and Gubbio normally there are plenty of parking places. ( all
of them require a payment though )

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:39:16 GMT, Paul Siu
wrote:

I was wondering about parking in these Hill Towns. Is there lots just may
be near the outside of the city. Basically, all I need is to get from one
major location to another. Walking is no issue.

Most of the towns that get lots of tourist have parking lots on the
periphery, but they may not be sufficient to the demand. We were
turned away on the road entering San Gimignano (Tuscany) once in April
because there was no parking anywhere near the town. We parked outside
of town and walked in. Another problem with very touristed hill towns
is that access is often by a long narrow curving road which may be
clogged with traffic at busy times of the year.

We stayed in Montalcino on that same trip in April, in a small hotel
on the edge of town, with public parking adjacent. We never had
trouble finding a spot, although sometimes it took a little driving
around. However, I imagine it might be much worse in the summer.
Sometimes we wished we had found a hotel in the valley, because the
drive up and down did get a little tedious at times.

We live not far from Assisi and have been there summer and winter and
never have had a problem finding a place to park. Assisi is probably
the most visited town in Umbria. However, the level of crowding
anywhere in Umbria is less than in Tuscany.






I guess I thought of getting a car because it would give me the freedom to
travel around. What I didn't want was to get stranded in the middle of
nowhere because I missed the last bus (I don't suppose there are taxi
services?).

In fact, I rather not drive at all. When we visited the Dales in England,
we loved sitting in the bus and chatting with the driver and looking out
the window. But if I had to drive in those crazy narrow roads, I would
enjoy it less.

Paul

--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

On Sun, 25 Feb 2007 16:36:21 GMT, "tile" wrote:

a small correction..
Assisis cannot be reached by train.
the nearest train station being
santa maria degli angeli train station
then you will have to take a bus

According to trenitalia, there is train service to Assisi. I know that
you have to take a shuttle bus, but it's a very short distance and the
busses wait for the trains. My criterion is that if the railroad says
they have service to a town, I consider that town to have a train
station.

the same applies to Gubbio

the next and nearest train station is
Fossato di Vico
and again you will have to take a bus

I said that Gubbio was connected to Perugia by bus. Fossato di Vico is
much farther from Gubbio than Assisi's train station is from Assisi,
and trenitalia doesn't claim to serve Gubbio.
--
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup