Italy or bust

June 14, 2009 2:23 PM

Traveling the Italian coast

This summer (end of July) my spouse and I are planning on driving the coast of Italy. We are taking the car train to Calais and from there driving down, little by little, to my families town of origin -- Castellammare di Stabia outside of Naples. We have been all over France so our stays along the way will simply be functional unless there is something "must see" that we may have missed.

We are planning to hit some of the major sites -- Vatican, Rome, yada yada. But we would love to have some "off the beaten track" experiences. And we love wine and food, so...

Here is map of the route without detours.

Any suggestions, anecdotes or warnings would be appreciated.

posted by sundri to Travel & Transportation around Italy (5 answers total)

You will no doubt get a few recommendations for Cinque Terre, which fits perfectly into the no detour route on that Google map. It is a collection of 5 magical little villages close to La Spezia. The internet, especially Rick Steves, can tell you a lot about it. It is hands down one of my favourite places in Europe, although I went in autumn when it wasn't too crowded - you'd have to book ahead for summer, and it'd be pretty packed.
posted by atmosphere at 2:39 PM on June 14, 2009

Cerveteri if you have any interest in Etruscans. Not that all that many people do. But it's on the way. Bomarzo if you want a slightish detour.

Genoa's cimitero di staglieno is something
posted by IndigoJones at 3:24 PM on June 14, 2009

Genoa is (in my opinion) awesome and way overlooked. Have trenette with pesto and fish in some shady place near the port.
In general, the coast is a bit of a zoo, especially between july and august, and the places to see, like the Cinque Terre, would be better seen during the low season (not to mention they tend to be ridicolously overpriced in high season), but however they deserve a visit (tip: leave the car in La Spezia, catch the small trains between the various hamlets that make the Cinque Terre).

Also, the Alpi Apuane (the mountain range behind Viareggio, Carrara, Pietrasanta etc.) are fantastic, those are the mountains where the white carrara marble is extracted, and you're dipping in the sea while you have this incredibly white mountains just in front of you. From there southwards the coast is mostly sandy and not particularly exciting save for a couple places - namely the rocky area south of Livorno and down until Orbetello.

I'd suggest a cut in the interior using some backroads, say leave the coast around Viareggio, take the highway to Lucca (it's 15 minutes) and cut south through Fucecchio, Empoli, Certaldo (Chianti!), Poggibonsi and then Siena. From Siena you have the SS2 Cassia until Rome which, especially between Siena and Viterbo, crosses some incredible landscape and beautiful towns and villages like San Quirico d'Orcia, Bagno Vignoni (visit. dip in the free thermal pools below the village), Montalcino (Brunello!); Montepulciano (Vino Nobile!) is just a 20 minutes drive from there, then Radicofani, Abbadia San Salvatore, and the lake area north of Rome.
posted by _dario at 3:50 PM on June 14, 2009

If you have time, detour to the lakes - Lake Maggiore is pretty special. So maybe drive further round and stay on the lake and then you can spend a day in Milano.

nthing the Cinque Terre. Get out and do the walk!! It takes a day - train to the end and walk back. 5 towns so you have 5 breaks for coffee/ice cream/lunch/swim. A beautiful day. Base yourself in Santa Margherita Ligure for for a few days to do the walk (you can catch a train from here to do the walk) and also walk round to Portofino which is worth a look and do the Cinque Terre walk. Also try the food here is pretty unique and regional - trofie pasta with pesto, and any pasta with langustini (a shrimp like thing.) The local red is nice.

Try 'un caffe' (an espresso) from any dodgey looking cafe.

Pop up Vesuvius and see Pompeii - rent/buy Pompeii: the last day to get a better feel for it.

Don't stop at Castellammare di Stabia - you need top pop round the corner to the Amalfi Coast - especially Positano and a ferry to Capri.

The bakery/cafe in the corner of St Marco's square (In Venice) near the church/basilica has the BEST hot chocolate in the world.
posted by lamby at 8:03 AM on June 15, 2009

Paestum is a wonderful place to visit. It's claim to fame are beautiful Greek temples and a museum that has lovely paintings from the Tomb of the Diver. It was very quiet when we visited, and we enjoyed the local restaurants which specialize in mozzarella di bufala which is a local specialty. I can't recommend the hotel we stayed at more highly. If you love wine and food this is the place to stay- dinner is homemade, local, organic when possible using recipes from the owner's late mother and his wife. He recommended wonderful local and regional wines (including a very tasty organic one from a vineyard he could point to!) and was just such a wonderful host. Plus the beach is really nice as well!

Anyway, I could rave on and on, but I will say that we'll probably never go anywhere in Italy again except Paestum. It was just that amazing.
posted by Mouse Army at 8:30 AM on June 15, 2009