Italy - Travel advice/planning - 3 weeks

Sounds great. I've been to Italy a couple of times and what struck me most is that even street food is good! Heck even the cafeteria food at the airport is delicious! It's nice you want to have a personal chef but don't you want to get lost in the medieval streets of Assisi or Firenze and stumble into a trattoria or two? Don't you want to walk around eating gelato all day long? Touristy stuff I understand (I don't like group vacations either) but good food is everywhere in Italy, you don't have to look far and wide for it. You come back and tell us what's good.

I normally stay in a friend's villa in the country near Florence. We eat in local trattoria and enjoy every mouthful! The local couple who look after the villa and the grounds are great and Lucia will make anything we fancy for dinner! Her husband is a dab hand with a grill, too!

The San Lorenzo area of Firenze has a lot of restaurants, bistro type tratorrias and even pizza places which are all worthy of a visit. There are also a number of good restaurants near the Pitti Palace.

I love Assisi and Pisa, but we usually get the train from Florence to those destinations - it is quick, efficient and means you can drink a bottle or two of Barolo whilst eating - without fearing the drive back, late in the evening.

three weeks is likely harder to plan than three days! Italy is chock full of fascinating places - so your interests will dictate most of where you go and what you do. one tip - most of the "ruins" / sights offer only limited access to "walk thru the door buy a ticket" tourists. for $30-$50 per "joint" you can get officially licensed tour guides than have much more 'thorough' access to many more areas, plus you get to learn what it is your looking at.

hiring out a villa and a private chef probably doesn't qualify as "tourist" - but it's certain on the high end of isolation. my own styles is more like "Heh, the guy's digging potatoes, let's go talk to him!" but everyone has their own thing to be done.

the best meals I've had in Italy is where Momm's covered in flour in the back and the cats are begging at your table, and you sit there wondering if the car's gonna' get sideswiped.

I take a car, don't bother with reservations, and go wandering. you will need reservations for the big places - Rome, Venice, etc., especially in high season. oh, take the collision/etc insurance on the car - if you think northern/NJ=NYkers drive crazy, you've not seen nuttin.

(hotel venice Orion 041-52-230-53 - right off St Marks Sq - two star hotel, five star people)

I'd fly to Munich, rent a car, drive thru the Dolomites - Venice - <bunches of close places> - south to Bari
cross the spine, up to Pompeii, thence Rome (Rome - can take a full week),
thence west to Torino/Aosti/Piedmont, over the Alp high road into Switzerland and back to Munich to fly out.

there are issues with full dependence on air in and out of Italy. somebody gets mad, there's a strike.

also, never return a rental car in Italy. the return location(s) have a habit of changing your contract, usually involving multiple hundreds of dollars in mysteriously new and unannounced / undisclosed "fees"

I've gotten great advice (and met some nice people) at Slow Travel Talk - Slow Travel Community. My husband and I met Judy (Italian Cooking School in Florence Italy Italian Cooking Schools in Italy)- she's a wonderful resource. (She's a CIA-trained pastry chef who's lived in Italy for about 25 years.)

Good luck! I'm envious. We enjoyed our two weeks there in '02.

Hm, if you REALLY want a Personal Chef, let me know, there are some APPCA members in Italy.

if you go Rome - Venice by train, don't miss (an easy) stop over in Ravenna.

have been to Italy twice- first time with a small group, eight if I remember right. I do like the small group with a company I trust. I like to learn and a good guide saves me lots of homework.

second time was on my own after being in Turkey and Greece. just went to Rome, down to Naples, Pompeii, and a short visit to Florence to catch up with things I had felt needed more time after first visit.

The group thing gave us some free time each day and meals on our own to explore.
I agree with the poster above, street food and tiny places are amazing.

As one lovely woman with the group said "Italy never dissappoints"! it is so true, she and hubby had been like five times.

next trip will probably be on my own and want to check out more of Tuscany and the Cinque Terre.

you will have a wonderful time,
Nan

Dang.....I'm jealous. Do you need a food and wine taster? luggage carrier? Shoe shine boy? Heck I'd even act as a translator unfortunately I only know enough to get our azzez kicked. :look:

Have family in Calabria or atleast I did as of 1980....the last time any one from the family made it back there. The DW and I have talked about making the trip for years. Doesn't look like anytime soon, especially since we can't even get out to Tucson to visit family there.:suprise:

Keep us informed on how things go.

RPMcMurphy, the Slow Travel website has TONS of rentals and reviews for various parts of Italy. Have a look there- you'll be amazed!

Here you go: Slow Travel Italy - Vacation rentals, villas, reviews, hotels, restaurants, travel information

Mezz

No advice for Italy, but this site has travel down pat.

Leisure and Business Travel Packing List - Travel Light with One Bag! It's how Rick Steves does it too. You might borrow some of his videos from the library for some ideas of places to go.

Make a stop in Florence, very city-like feel to it. Beautiful. I liked Venice but only for a day. I wouldn't choose to stay there more than that. Tuscany is outrageously pretty. And the food....never ending. The street food is delicious as well, sometimes better than the restaurants. The best is to wander around and take it all in.

The Tuscan Farm Rental you booked, I stayed at that exact same location when I went. Absolutely beautiful. The countryside is unbelievable. There's a wine vineyard that's a must go to. It's paradise there.

If possible, try and get up to Northern Italy near the border. I found the more North I went the greater the food and service got. Not that there is anything wrong with South end, but North to me was better. Also make sure you go to Capri on the ferry, and Pisa to see the tower, and Pompei. If you can try and eat in mom and pop trattorias as the food was great in most. Have a safe trip.

Oh lordy RPM....you know how to make a person jealous....and hungry!!!

Love the pics of the hanging hams and standing ribs too - not sure how you could categorise it.

Meats
Pizzas
Pastas
Seafood
desserts
salads
drinks/coffee

.....maybe something like a cook book?

Pictures

Just send me that pizza.........seriously, after seeing that picture I just made some dough for pizza tomorrow night. That picture looks seriously delicious.

Now tell the truth, isn't the pizza in Italy the most heavenly food you've ever eaten? Unlike anything that could be made here. Just post the pics, we'll know what they are even if they're not organized well.

I've traveled through Umbria, from Rome to Assisi and the pizza I had along the way was amazing... consider though that I'm not a big fan of pizza, I refuse to eat "pizza by the slice" like they do here in NY therefore unless I make it myself I don't touch the stuff. It's sooo sweet and the idea of reheating it the way they do really doesn't impress me much. I love the thin crust myself, especially when it bubbles up and is cookie thin. Can't get mine that thin yet but I'm trying... till then I only have memories of when I was in Italy. I remember eating great pizza in Sicily and Naples but it was too long ago to remember where.

People's tastes in pizza has a lot to do with their upbringing it seems. I know people in NY who swear that this or that place is the only place to get good pizza and then I taste it.... disappointment everytime. I mean really, how can anyone claim it's a good pizza if there's canned mushrooms and yellow cheese on it?