Europe is too big. Help me make a travel choice.

September 13, 2007 7:57 AM

Any recommendations for a place to spend 7 days in Italy?

My wife and I are both Americans who live in Cambridge, UK.

We want to go on a 7 day vacation, preferably to Northern Italy.

Figure October 12th-31st ish, 4-7 day stay

I'd prefer self catering or with a kitchen because I want to experience local ingredients.

We're less interested in tourist attractions than local culture, but my wife wants there to be things to see (She's vague about the specifics).

I do not want to rent a car, so public transportation accessible is a must.

Coastal Italy would be ideal.

Cinque Terre is appealing, but I'm wary of the tourist side of the whole thing.

Any recommendations? Any past experiences?

posted by Lord_Pall to Travel & Transportation (14 answers total)

I love Lucca, in Tuscany so you get the great fall food, close enough for a day trip to Florence, but there are not any major attractions there. I remember apples I ate there 10 years ago.
posted by shothotbot at 8:11 AM on September 13, 2007

Siena is gorgeous, walkable, and just a train ride from Florence.
posted by ambrosia at 8:29 AM on September 13, 2007

Although everyone should see it once, I think Venice is TOTALLY overrated. I enjoyed Verona and Florence but I really loved exploring Umbria & Perugia. Spent a wonderful week in Assisi that I'll never forget. I really just wanted to see the Giotto art in St. Francis' chapel & then ended up staying on for longer. I got hooked on the place after waking up the first morning to the sound of birds singing along to someone playing an accordion on the street. It was just really so relaxing and Italian, I really enjoyed it. If you go there & you have a chance to listen to the Nuns of Saint Clare during vespers, DO IT. It was really a religious experience for me, and I'm not religious, let alone Catholic. Anyhow, I was enjoying my stay so much that I wasn't about to leave the place. Not to mention: mmmm... black truffles! YUM! (Got there by train and then found someone to give us a lift up the hill to town.)
posted by miss lynnster at 8:34 AM on September 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've stayed in St. Ulrich in the Dolomites a few times and I love it. The Dolomites are one of my favorite places in the world. It's a cute little town -- there are lots of big hotels but we have always driven up into the hills and each time found a little guest house with a fantastic view of the mountains, hiking trails just behind the pension and reasonably good food cooked by the owner.
posted by bluesky43 at 8:37 AM on September 13, 2007

And I LOVE the Cinque Terra. In October it won't be as touristy as during the summer so don't worry about that, you're going during off season (the season is June-September). Very easy to get there by train. You just have to take the train to Levanto or La Spezia and transfer onto the regional train that goes to the CT. Here's a guide. Best advice I can give you is that thanks to Rick Steves, Vernazza books up first. He has some good advice on the region, but open your eyes to other things. We stayed in Monterossa because Vernazza was so overrun with Rick Steves readers, and we had an even more amazing time than we might've otherwise.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:43 AM on September 13, 2007

I can't recommend Tuscany enough. We stayed in a little place 20 minutes from the coast (about 45 minutes drive from Pisa airport) , next to a hill town, Volterra. Volterra is a gem, not at all touristy, georgeous alabaster work, a history from Estrucean times and really friendly locals. It was central for day trips to Pisa (wouldn't bother if I was you), Sienna (fantastic), Massa Maritima (lovely small town) and San Giminano or something like that, really touristy but amazing approach - looks like a medieval manhattan.
posted by twistedonion at 8:48 AM on September 13, 2007

Sorry, didn't see the bit about wanting public transport. You can get Busses to Volterra. Visiting Tuscany does require a car imho though... there's too much to miss otherwise!
posted by twistedonion at 8:55 AM on September 13, 2007

If wines your thing for goodness sake don't leave Italy without visiting Montalcino (their Brunello is just so amazing).
posted by twistedonion at 8:58 AM on September 13, 2007

Torino has opera, the Cinema Museum (most noted for it's amazing building), beautiful churches, a bus system, delicious chocolates and is fairly charming. I went the summer before the winter Olympics when there was much construction and cleaning. I've heard that the Torino pre-Olympics was pretty drab and boring but I found it pretty interesting.
posted by amanda at 9:00 AM on September 13, 2007

I second Torino, I studied there just before the Olympics came in. Beautiful city with good public transport, and you can take the train anywhere you need to, particularly Cinque Terre.
My ideal would be - Visit Torino's outdoor market. Biggest outdoor market I've ever seen. Visit Asti outside of Torino. Home of Asti Spumante. Visit Genoa for their foccacia. See Peter Reinhart's "American Pie: My Search for the Perfect Pizza" for ideas. Visit Cinque Terre and walk the trail through all five towns. Visit Aosta when the cable car opens up in November.
Email's in the profile if you want more, but Northern Italy's completely possible without a car.
posted by lilithim at 9:15 AM on September 13, 2007

My first trip to Italy I spent a week in Bologna. It's a wonderful city, with the second best food in Italy.* Easy day trips possible via train to Modena, Parma, Florence, Faenza, Verona, Venice and other places. Great city for walking, lots of stuff to see, and the oldest university in Europe. Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna, the agricultural center of Italy, and there is a great culture of gastronomy; think Parma ham (prosciutto), balsamic vinegar, tagliatelle/tortellini with Bolognese sauce (known locally as ragu), mortadella, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Few Americans visit Bologna so you will get a very warm reception.

*The best food in Italy is at your mother's house.
posted by Wet Spot at 9:19 AM on September 13, 2007

We spent a week here with Summers Leases thanks to this AskMe.
posted by brautigan at 10:59 AM on September 13, 2007

La Spezia is near Cinque Terre, but is not one of the cities. When we were there, for a wedding, we found it to be filled with Italians -- it seemed like a place that Itialians had second homes. It was beautiful, and it's close ot other things. We took the train, and then a cab, to get to our hotel. Googling around shows that there are homes for rent.
posted by dpx.mfx at 11:06 AM on September 13, 2007

Positano for sure.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:36 AM on September 13, 2007