Here are the big lines of our trip to Italy, what we visited and where we stayed. I hope people will be able to get good ideas from this.
I know this folrum is about Tuscany, but I figured I might as well include info on the other places we visited, Venice, Bologna and Rome. Hey, maybe even the Tuscans here will be able to use it!
We stayed for 2 weeks in september, starting in Venice, then driving down to Bologna, Tuscany, and finally Rome.
Warning this will be long!
Venice:
We landed in Venice and stayed for 3 nights. We got a mix of good and bad weather. Venice is a very special city, very unique and deserves to be explored. I'd say 3 nights is a minimum if you want to see most of the big sights, but you would be able to see everything in 4-5 days I think.
Venice is easy to visit on foot, but I think the Vaporetto (water-bus) pass is pretty much mandatory to get around. One very important thing, get a map, even the locals get lost...
We stayed at B&B Leonardo which is near Campo S. Barnaba in Dorsudoro. I highly recommend the place, it has nice rooms, it is well situated near the more residential area and the university. There are less tourists, less crowd, better and cheaper restaurants. Breakfast was included in the price and Leonardo is great. (110E a night, but might get better price talking to the owner directly instead of booking through venere.com)
Without going in too many details, here are the highlights of our trip to Venice:
Burano, a little island about 40 minutes by Vaporetto (Water-taxi). Beautifull town of clean colored little houses. We were there on a sunday and it was lively with people and quite genuine. I highly recommend the trip even if you only have 2 days in Venice, it's the most beautifull part of the city.
My other recommandation in the Secret Itinerary at the Doge Palace. It's a guided tour of areas of the palace where you normally cannot visit. Very interesting and very instructive. They show you Casanova's cell, the torture chambers and where the secret archives were kept. We got there early on a monday and got the first tour without reservations. That might not be true for higher season.
Another highlight, culinary this time, is the gelateria named GROM on Campo S. Barnaba. I don't think words can describe it...
The restaurant on the campo, Onagi (I think...) was also excellent.
The one big let down we had was San Marco Basilica. It's nice on the outside, but the inside is dark and gloomy and full of toursit. Not worth the wait and the aggravating security guard who doesn't let people with a small camera backpack but will let in a woman with a huge bag/purse...
Next, Driving to Bologna.
I know this folrum is about Tuscany, but I figured I might as well include info on the other places we visited, Venice, Bologna and Rome. Hey, maybe even the Tuscans here will be able to use it!
We stayed for 2 weeks in september, starting in Venice, then driving down to Bologna, Tuscany, and finally Rome.
Warning this will be long!
Venice:
We landed in Venice and stayed for 3 nights. We got a mix of good and bad weather. Venice is a very special city, very unique and deserves to be explored. I'd say 3 nights is a minimum if you want to see most of the big sights, but you would be able to see everything in 4-5 days I think.
Venice is easy to visit on foot, but I think the Vaporetto (water-bus) pass is pretty much mandatory to get around. One very important thing, get a map, even the locals get lost...
We stayed at B&B Leonardo which is near Campo S. Barnaba in Dorsudoro. I highly recommend the place, it has nice rooms, it is well situated near the more residential area and the university. There are less tourists, less crowd, better and cheaper restaurants. Breakfast was included in the price and Leonardo is great. (110E a night, but might get better price talking to the owner directly instead of booking through venere.com)
Without going in too many details, here are the highlights of our trip to Venice:
Burano, a little island about 40 minutes by Vaporetto (Water-taxi). Beautifull town of clean colored little houses. We were there on a sunday and it was lively with people and quite genuine. I highly recommend the trip even if you only have 2 days in Venice, it's the most beautifull part of the city.
My other recommandation in the Secret Itinerary at the Doge Palace. It's a guided tour of areas of the palace where you normally cannot visit. Very interesting and very instructive. They show you Casanova's cell, the torture chambers and where the secret archives were kept. We got there early on a monday and got the first tour without reservations. That might not be true for higher season.
Another highlight, culinary this time, is the gelateria named GROM on Campo S. Barnaba. I don't think words can describe it...
The restaurant on the campo, Onagi (I think...) was also excellent.
The one big let down we had was San Marco Basilica. It's nice on the outside, but the inside is dark and gloomy and full of toursit. Not worth the wait and the aggravating security guard who doesn't let people with a small camera backpack but will let in a woman with a huge bag/purse...
Next, Driving to Bologna.