Looking for a holiday in Italy...advice needed!

SideWinder

SideWinder

SideWinder

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Hey,

I'm looking to go on a weeks holiday with my girlfriend to Italy at the end of August or somewhere around that time. We want a city holiday with lots to explore BUT most importantly, a beach. :cool:

We've been looking on Expedia and found a few places but would appreciate some advice...what is Sicily like? Tuscany? Calabria? :)

Thanks in advance.
 
I've just come back from a week in Italy, flew to Rome and made our way down to Palermo for the flight back, absolutely beautiful country.

Rome is by a long way the most interesting city in Italy from my experience, one of the most interesting cities in the world if you appreciate a bit of history.

Naples is relatively uninspiring but is close to some of the Mediterranean's most spectacular coastline (Sorrento around to Amalfi). The island's of Capri and Ischia are also very easy to get to from there. Very busy in the summer months though...

I used to work in Sicily, based in Catania and (briefly) Palermo. Neither of them have the appeal of mainland Italy's cities and they don't really have the beaches you'd hope for. That said, there's plenty to see and do in Sicily if you've got a car. Getting up Etna is unforgettable.

Tuscany's beautiful, Calabria is probably the easiest region to forget from the list of places you mentioned.

I can't really say that any single place completely fits the bill (city & beach) but if you were prepared to get a car (it cost me £116 for a week) then you could spend a few days in Rome and the get down to the Amalfi coast in a few hours for the rest of the week. That'd be my recommendation.

Good luck!
 
Very helpful, thankyou! :) Not sure the OH appreciated me waking her up at 3.30am just so i could read something off a forum to her.... :o

Any other comments/advice?
 
I had a whistlestop tour of Italy for my honeymoon. Venice->Naples->Ravello (in the hills above Amalfi)

From there we thought we'd finish the holiday off in a quaint, unspoilt fishing village called Tropea - right down in the toe. Nice and relaxing with apparaently a glorious beach. Turns out that between the old guide book we used being printed and us turning up there, Tropea had been discovered by Rome's equivalent of Club 18-30. The old main street had been overrun by Fat Willy's Surf Shack type shops and the beach was heaving with perma-tanned Italian youth screaming and vomitting everywhere. We managed to stick one night and then headed back to Ravello to pay through the nose for the only vacant room. :(

Thoroughly recommend Venice and Ravello though. Capri is worth a trip. Naples was OK, as long as you knew where to avoid!
 
SideWinder said:
Not sure the OH appreciated me waking her up at 3.30am just so i could read something off a forum to her.... :o
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That's a distinct lack of gratitude, does she not appreciate the effort you're putting into her holiday? :D

As Rich_L said, Sardinia looks lovely. I've never spent much time there but I hear good things. There won't be much to satisfy the city aspect of your holiday there though.

I'd stress what I said about Naples, it's just got nothing to offer compared to so many other cities in Italy. It is, however, surrounded by beautiful coastline. If you want to drop me an email via trust, I'll send you a few pics that'll seal the deal for you!

Interested in what Flying Gribble said about Tropea. I'd never been there until last week. Admittedly it was out of season but I was very impressed. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic - http://www.villaanticatropea.it/ We had been up a mountain during the day and filled a plastic bag with snow and a couple of large beers. A few hours later, we watched the sun go down over the volcanic island of Stromboli from the relatively warm beach of Tropea with ice cold beers. Lovely!
 
chrismox said:
Interested in what Flying Gribble said about Tropea. I'd never been there until last week. Admittedly it was out of season but I was very impressed. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic - http://www.villaanticatropea.it/ We had been up a mountain during the day and filled a plastic bag with snow and a couple of large beers. A few hours later, we watched the sun go down over the volcanic island of Stromboli from the relatively warm beach of Tropea with ice cold beers. Lovely!
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That sounds just about perfect :). Think ill have to get back to Italy after my holiday this year.
 
ZG002 said:
Forget the beach and goto Rome. I was there last sept and it is an amazing city :). Also has good rail/bus links to other places like naples, pompeii if you are looking for the coast.
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This. Went to Rome in 2007 for 5 days, one of which we spent by getting a train to Naples then onto Pompeii. It was absolutely fantastic, and not to be missed. My only regret is I didn't go for longer. I intend to go back one day.
 
chrismox said:
I've just come back from a week in Italy, flew to Rome and made our way down to Palermo for the flight back, absolutely beautiful country.

Good luck!
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I've driven all the way to Sicily from here in a car and Rome to Sicily was by far the worst part :p

So bad that we got a 24 hour ferry from Catania to Genoa on the way back.

Im half Italian, most of my family live in Sicily. Mainly little villages not any of the touristy areas.


My favourite place though has to be Taormina, Sicily. It really is a beautiful place. Hire a car and you can see lots of the Island! Definately check out Taormina though on a few website or something. Jay-Kay even has a villa there along with quite a few other celebs.
 
chrismox said:
Interested in what Flying Gribble said about Tropea. I'd never been there until last week. Admittedly it was out of season but I was very impressed. The hotel we stayed in was fantastic - http://www.villaanticatropea.it/ We had been up a mountain during the day and filled a plastic bag with snow and a couple of large beers. A few hours later, we watched the sun go down over the volcanic island of Stromboli from the relatively warm beach of Tropea with ice cold beers. Lovely!
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Sigh, that's what we were hoping for! This was 15 years ago during July/August, so it may have been a phase the place was going through or just a peak time phenomenon. That hotel looks great, but the site suggests that it was quite newly converted. Certainly didn't exist when we were there!
 
I went to Sorento a few years ago for my sisters wedding, been back three more times since including for my Honeymoon, an amazing place with lots to see and do, you can do the Amalfi coast run, or go the other direction to see Pompei, Naples or Rome.
The people are very friendly and the shops will keep the missus happy, well recomended :)
 
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