Spring trip planning: Corsica, Sardegna, or ????

Having trouble putting together a cohesive itinerary for our upcoming trip. Thinking about a jump over to Corsica or Sardegna - but maybe that’s taking me too far out for the short time we have.

Current itinerary:
Fly into FCO
2 nights in Maremma
6 nights open
2 nights in Roma

We’ll have a car until we get to Roma - so thinking maybe a car ferry to Corsica from Livorno?? The ferry from Piombino doesn’t appear to be operating while we’re there. Still a four hour ferry ride? Sardegna by ferry appears too long for us - but from Corsica to Sardegna it may be worth it. Or bag the islands and go somewhere else on the mainland?

We’ve been to most of the “big” places in Italy, except Ravenna. Doesn’t have to be wine related - we love art, architecture, opera, history, etc. Beach or countryside is ok with us.

Thoughts?

Hi Lori
Plenty of options if the aim isn’t to go too far out of the way between Maremma and Roma.

Of you wanted a smaller island hop, would Elba appeal? It looks like there are ferries from Piombino (e.g. Moby Lines). The advantage might be in taking it as a day trip, you could let the weather dictate which day. It also means travelling without your full luggage, which should make it much more enjoyable.

Sardegna certainly sounds interesting and if all 6 days were committed to it, plus the travel, it makes sense, though the travel will take a hefty chunk out.

Some friends enjoyed Perugia recently, and if the trip is in a cooler month, then this might make sense (with Assisi nearby if that appeals). They also like Umbria for being like Toscana, but not as heavily weighed down with English speaking tourists. Montepulciano has its charms if you’ve not been there before.

One option that might appeal to me (though my partner wouldn’t like the uncertainty/disruption) would be to just ‘road trip’ it down from Maremma, through Umbria, into Lazio and then Roma. Aiming not for famous places, but just exploring small towns/villages, perhaps staying in agriturismo and enjoying the great meals there. All the time enjoying the surprised looks that a tourist has come to their little village. I’ve never noticed it before, but looking at the map, the almost island at Orbatello looks intriguing, and gives you an island visit without leaving the road! Might be a cool option for an overnight stay on that road trip.

Loads more options, though sadly I have no personal experience south of Montepulciano (until Campania that is)

Regards
Ian

p.s. if still drawing a blank, I can recommend SlowEurope as a useful forum to post such questions on and get informed opinions, albeit with a generally slow travel outlook.

Sardinia is awesome and flights are pretty cheap to Rome IIRC

Still in the running - just debating whether we want to go through the hassle of returning car and taking another flight.

Thanks Ian. Yes we love The Orbetello Peninsula and have booked the Maremma portion of our stay - returning to a place we stayed nearly 22 years ago. The ferries from Piombino I think would be doable, but I’m having trouble finding any that operate in early-mid May.

Playing around with a Lucca - Ravenna - Perugia itinerary. I’d love to see the mosaics but wondering if it throws us too far out of the way. We were in Umbria years ago and probably need a return trip. But a cohesive plan hasn’t come together for me yet. Sardegna still sounds interesting so we may try to make it work. I’ll keep working on it.

Thanks for the insight!
Lori

Hi Lori
We just spent a single day in Ravenna, but there is enough to see / it’s spread out enough, that 3-4 days would be feasible if it really appeals. A surprisingly normal city, which I assumed would suffer from too much tourism, but remarkably didn’t. I guess they spend most of their time visiting the buildings housing the mosaics.

It is a bit out of the way from the Maremma though, with Roma to follow.

Lucca certainly justifiably popular and Enoteca Vanni still well worth a visit.

Have you ever stayed in Pisa? I usually describe it as the worst excesses of tourist tat and an under the radar gem. The city itself was very surprisingly good, with some very good food and remarkably not over-touristy considering the appalling area around the field of miracles and the rip-off / dirty area between the two stations and the field of miracles. We stayed in a cool apartment, with lounge/kitchen/diner off the typical enclosed courtyard, with stairs up and across to a reading / quiet room, which then led on to shower room and a bedroom. Quite sprawling, but the space was lovely. http://www.relaissassetti.it Note this was the larger apartment, the smaller one is tiny and I wouldn’t recommend it. As an aside, the only time I’ve played table tennis in a room with a good number of bottles of old barolo lining the wall!

Regards
Ian

It took me awhile but we finally settled on an itinerary. Now hitting Maremma, Umbria, Abruzzo, and Rome. Decided to make the pilgrimage to Reale. Thanks for the help!