cotton and rparis74 and anyone else...i need your help.

i'm beginning to mull over plans for a trip to italy. it's looking like around the dates of october 6-16. here's what i got so far:

fly into florence. spend a couple days there. head up to cinque terra. spend a couple days there. fly out of florence.

so, florence: 3 nights sufficient there? any suggestions on certain areas or neighborhoods to stay in? i'm also looking at spending a couple days somewhere outside of florence, and having just started researching...siena looks very cool. any other suggestions in the somewhat immediate area?

cinque terra: should i plan on staying in more than one of the 5 towns, or is it easy enough to stay in one and vist the other 4 by foot? any of the 5 towns highly recommended over the others as far as the "one" to stay in?

i'm currently doing a ton of research on the internet, and plan on getting a book (or two)...but i knew that at least 2 of you have been to these places, so thought i'd pick your brains.

thanks obnish!

jason

I spent two days in Rome and one day in Venice long, long ago. I wish I'd spent more time, and had seen more of the country.

I realize this doesn't help you much.

i'm running out the door to a ballgame, but i'll supply some more descriptive info later tonight.

Florence is TINY you should have plenty of time. Cinque Terra you will not want to leave EVER.

I've been to Italy twice, and once to Florence. It might have been my favorite place, and I unfortuantely did not spend enough time. Only one day.

For the most part I find that no amount of days is sufficient any where in Italy. You could probably spend weeks in just one city, and still feel like there is stuff to see. I spent a week in the very untourist spot of Trieste (my mom's hometown), and I could of stayed just a month there.

I don't know much about cinque terra. I do know a little about Rome, Amalfi, Sorrento, Venice, Florence, Pompeii, and Trieste.

I have three countries I desperately want to go to(or back to): Italy, France and Greece.

Venice is my number 1 city that I'd love to visit. But I'd go anywhere in Italy. Ohhh I'm so envious right now.

Italy is the only country overseas I have any interest in visiting right now....Well, maybe Spain or Greece too.

I'll say that Venice was probably the most disappointing city. Once I got over the its-a-city-in-the-water thing you realize that it's vastly overrated. It/s extremely dirty and it stinks very bad. I also got sick there which might be why I didn't like it as much. However Venice is like a Beatles album. Even a bad one of theirs is still one of the greatest albums ever.

thanks cotton. i look forward to whatever insight you can give me on cinque terra.

I actually had the opposite reaction to Venice, maybe it is different in the spring before it's hot but I liked Venice alot - one of the best places in my opinion.

I also liked Florence, Amalfi, Assisi (in Umbria). I think 3 days in Florence should be fine, I did 2 which wasn't quite enough but I still feel like I saw a lot. I didn't go to Cinque Terra at all.

I have a couple books I could send you that cost like 25 bucks for a small price.

I went in the spring both times. but I'll send 20 bucks to anyone who goes and jumps in the water. Could be the most disgusting water I have ever seen.

I went to Italy on my honeymoon.
Only Rome, and parts south though (Lecce, Otranto).
But if you make it to Rome, I have a great restaurant for you!!!

it didn't look that dirty or smell at all when I was there

no need to go through the trouble...i do appreciate the offer though.

where did you stay in florence? would you recommend it?

maybe they've cleaned up since I went. But they had trash in the water and I probably saw at least 10 people dump something into it while I was there.

the place I stayed wasn't all that special, just adequate- it was called the Hotel Ricasoli or something like that - pretty close to the Academia.

Cinque Terre - I forget which town we stayed in, but it's easy to walk the trail from town to town, so no need to stay in more than one. I think we stayed in the first town the train stops in, but I could be wrong.

We mostly (if not all) stayed in places recommended in Rick Steves' Italy book. All were relatively nice (nothing fancy, but clean and good enough for me) and reasonably priced (probably between $70- 100 per night). I'd go with Rick's places again, and probably will next spring when we go.

Siena is worth a night on its own, and it's also a nice jumping off point for other places in Tuscany. I think we stayed 3 or 4 nights there. And I think we took two daytrips - one to San Gimingano (sp?) (cool little town up on a hill with 21 guard towers - really neat) and one to lucca (small town with a nice central square). I doubt you can really go wrong with a daytrip almost anywhere in Tuscany.

cinque terra is awesome...
venice is beautiful but boring after one day...
Rome RULES
Florence is beautful too
Milan, meh, very industrial.

The first time I went to Europe I had somehow absorbed this ethnocentrist notion that Germany was clean and organized, quaint castles and shiny technology, efficient trains and deep thinking phenomenologists. And that Italy was cluttered, noisy, disorganized, shallow... the swarthy med mentality.

I remember being in Munich, walking through wet and cold streets, fat greasy germans falling out of taverns, throwing up beer, bratwurst-death food, rude and poorly dressed people, people yelling and not looking at you, cold and dark industrial buildings.... got on the overnight train to Firenze and suddenly in the morning I had literally emerged from a dark barbarism to civilization. Beautiful people in beautiful clothes, brilliant architecture catching a warming sun, spectacular food, deep conversations overheard on the street about love, sex, and politics, people meeting your gaze with interest and balance... Florence is the cradle of gracious living, of western art.... it is tiny in geography, but infinite in potential for love and life.

I envy you.

damn, harry...i want to go NOW!!!

okay, here we go. I stayed in Riomaggiore, which is the smallest and furthest from the central rail (La Spezia line) of the 5 towns. It looks like this:


there are little houses you can rent a room out of on the cheap (though i've been told it's slightly more expensive since i've been), which is definitely a way to meet total strangers and get drunk with them. They're not the most lavish accomadations, but it's easy to get you're own room and you really don't spend that much time there anyway. If this is a romantic trip, though, you might wanna shell out some more money for a hotel room, and it's wise to book those way in advance.
the town is small, a dozen or so shops, an internet cafe, and like 3 restaurants, all of which will knock you on your ass. Cinque Terra serves more seafood than anything ( what being an ocean town and all) so while there's still some great examples of what we think of as "Italian" food there, you'd be a fool not to try the fresh fish every night. Also, there is a specific white wine that is grown and harvested right in the villages that you should probably try. i don't like white wine so i stuck with red, but you get my point.
there isn't the largest of nightlifes in Riomaggiore, or any of the other towns for that matter. Everything closes down more or less by 11PM if not earlier. This is kinda nice because the massive church bells all over the town will wake you the fuck up early in the morning. Also, most of the travellers (being the young adventurous drunks that they are) usually load up on wine during the evening and then head to the beach a few hours after sundown. This was a lot of fun, and a great way to unwind and meet some random people.
the hike itself takes like 3-5 hours, so it's not very hard to cruise in a day, stopping for lunch or whatever in all the towns, check out the wu-tang graffiti in the tunnels, and take the train back to wherever you're staying. It's kinda of exhausting, and in october the orchards will probably be overflowing with something or another, but still worth the trek.

i could've stayed there for another whole week, i mean it really is gorgeous and people are absurdly friendly. For some reason they're nuts about tom cruise there, buit otherwise they're a sweet and rational people who are more than willing to tell you what they're thinking and invite you to eat at their table. Granted, I went in september and while the tourist season was still very much on (germans EVERYWHERE), I can't honestly say what it's like in october. If you're looking more to party I don't know how much of it you'll find in Riomaggiore, but i'm sure there's always some sort of crowd there.

this is all i'm thinking of right now, but if you have any questions don't be shy with 'em, because i'm sure i'm forgetting alot of it.

this link is a nice little idea of the joint.

as far as the other places,
Rome can be a blast, but it really depends on who you're with, where you go, and how you feel about men on scooters with flourescent yellow backpacks.
Venice is MUY overrated. Great historical sites, but little else. the gondola rides are fucking stupid unless you're a complete retard and in love with another one. I didn't like Milan too much, but i was only there 2 days. I didn't get a chance to tour florence, regretably. These all paled to the smaller towns IMO. Orvieto and Lake Garda were places I fell in love with right away and everyone i know that's been there says the ssame. Those and Cinque Terra are easily my favorite places in Italy, though to be fair it's still Italy and you're probably gonna love it no matter where you end up.

right on cotton...thanks a lot for this.
it will be an anniversary trip, so no need for huge partying. cinque terra sounds perfect.

it was my pleaseure. actually typing all that out reminded me of how much fun i had. Also I was told a great deal about Siena toay and it is now a serious goal of mine to make the Palio horse races at some point in my life.

"Welcome ta It-lee."

I went there.

It was great.

Except for all the wops.