My Spontaneous Italian Adventure - Recommendations!

randomshenans

randomshenans

randomshenans

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Joined
11 Sep 2009
Posts
14,064
Location
France, Alsace
My wife was giving me ear for not planning anything over the forthcoming school holidays, and so I decided we'd have a driving holiday through Italy. I love Italy and haven't been to too many places, and my wife and kids have only been once.
So I commenced a bit of a mission to tour through a lot of the country and booked airbnbs along the way. My journey sees me taking this route:

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And passing by these places:
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We love food and wine, so we're passing through about 6/7 wine regions and will be sampling and picking up some wine to bring home. On top of that I wanted to do the Lamborghini museum, so we're doing that too.

I would love to try and pick up things that each area is known for along the journey, so modena we'll get some balsamic and we've got a mozzarella tasting planned down south, but does anyone know Italy well and where we're passing and can either recommend something to see, eat, drink, visit etc?

Thought I'd open it up to you guys, I'm searching online but GD is always a wealth of such valuable info! I leave next Tues AM, and will update as my trip goes... I'll use it as a bit of a log, if GD doesn't mind.
 
I love Italy and seen much of it over the years but one thing I’ve found is that the further south you get, the driving gets worse to the point of being ridiculous. I really wouldn’t want to drive in anything that you wouldn’t want dented, there’s a reason they all drive rot boxes with dents all over them
 
Bear said:
I love Italy and seen much of it over the years but one thing I’ve found is that the further south you get, the driving gets worse to the point of being ridiculous. I really wouldn’t want to drive in anything that you wouldn’t want dented, there’s a reason they all drive rot boxes with dents all over them
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Hiring a car for it... my wife has a C1 and I have a 2004 Audi S4 that's not stock and is greedy as anything on fuel (plus loud!) so hiring was the best option. I'm fully covered on anything I hire, so shouldn't be an issue... he says! Just praying the give me something decent!

Diddums said:
I'm looking forward to your write up, this has been pretty high on our list of want for ages now :)
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Thanks! I had one AirBnB place cancel on me, so just had to try and find another but hope that's now sorted. It's a logistical nightmare! :p
 
If you're going near San Marino it could be worth a visit. I couldn't give you great details as it was over 10 years ago and I was a 'yoof' so probably didn't appreciate it all that much but its a nice little town and you can go up to the castle type place at the top which has great views. There was also a market of sorts on. I don't know if that is on all the time or just one day, etc.
 
In Milan, I can highly recommend this Eritraen restaurant. It's not fine dining, but great atmosphere, the food is superb and unlike anything I've ever had before.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Rest...Savana_Ristorante_Eritreo-Milan_Lombardy.html

There's also this Chinese place which is a bit bizarre (seemingly dedicated to Chairman Mao, rather run down in terms of decor and we were the only non-asian people in there) but again, fantastic food and a real experience.
https://www.tripadvisor.com.mx/Rest...8677564-Reviews-Mao_Hunan-Milan_Lombardy.html

Other than that, there's lots of beautiful little medieval towns I've visited in the La Spezia region: as nice / nicer than Cinque Terre and not packed with tourists, I can't remember the names of any of them sadly :o
 
Florence is very touristy, if you go south of the river there's better places to eat. Having said that the market is a great spot for lunch. Also, Michaelangelo's David is well worth seeing, the queues wouldn't be too bad this time of year. We went in at the end of the day (5pm ish) and just strolled in. I'm no "fine art" fan but it's absolutely stunning to see in real life. I'd really recommend getting into the Uffizi as well if it's not too crazy. There's so many famous paintings that again, you don't think it'd be that exciting to see, but when you see them in the flesh it's pretty amazing. Good for some University Challenge swotting up too :p
 
Pompeii was pretty meh for me, but worth a visit I guess.

Rome you will need a few days in my experience.

Florence, a couple of days should do it (I love Florence)

Always wanted to do this as we love Italy.

Watch out for speed traps when driving is what I've been told in the past.
 
The Maserati museum (if you can call it that) is not far from the Lamborghini Museum. I remember doing it the same day we did the Lamborghini Museum and the Ferrari Museum.
 
You’re going through my home town of Lugano. Spend a few hours doing a tour of the lake by boat and pick up some chocolate in the town centre too.
 
ZG002 said:
Pompeii was pretty meh for me, but worth a visit I guess.

Rome you will need a few days in my experience.

Florence, a couple of days should do it (I love Florence)

Always wanted to do this as we love Italy.

Watch out for speed traps when driving is what I've been told in the past.
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Another +1 for Florence, there's just something about the city that's nice and different.

Rome is overrated in my opinion. It's good to go and see the typical tourist things, but that's pretty much about it. We found a really nice curry restaurant in Rome as we'd got pretty bored of Italian food.
 
Your route is taking you close to Matera which is a simply amazing village cut out of the hills in Southern Italy. Personally I favour Sienna over Florence and finally while the Amalfi coast is simply stunning, it is also has the potential to be one of the most stressful drives of your life. The main roads that snake through Positano and surrounding villages if you try it are barely wide enough for a horse and cart, let alone the tourist coaches you'll encounter!
 
I'd say alter your entry route slightly to take in Lake Garda and Verona, I enjoyed them both when I visited a few years back.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys! Just back from the UK and picked up my trips hire car, a nice Opel Zafira, which is actually perfect! Now need to unpack and repack...

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As soon as I'm packed I'll go through the posts properly and see what we can do! Start 6am tomorrow... will keep thread updated as we go!
 
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