If looking for some hidden gem villages that are listed as some of the more beautiful in Italy you can search for by region @ Coming soon | I Borghi più Belli d'Italia.
Will be heading back (after 40 years) for a couple of weeks to meet up with daughter @ semester end in Florence and thinking of Cinque Terre for a day trip along with some other cities in north (Venice/Milan) daughter wants to visit (I have spent time in many tourist areas (Venice, Maggiore, Padua, San Marino, Trieste, Pisa, Florence, so defer to her).
She also wants to head to Germany (Berlin/Munich) for a few days but does not seem to be any quick train to get there (high speed ends @ Venice), any suggestions or is flight best option?
Also need to head back to ancestral village in mountains of Abruzzo for 3-4 days to visit family & hike, before heading to Rome for a couple of days. Does Pompeii/Capri/MonteCassino worth it (have not been there since a toddler so don’t recall much)? No time for deep South.
Easy direct flights from Milan and Venice to Munich via Air Dolomiti (1 hr. duration). Berlin also has non-stops flights, very cheap if you are willing to fly EasyJet/RyanAir and maybe use secondary airports.
With many sincere thanks for the great input I have received thus far, here is the current plan, with all hotels booked! With special thanks to Richard Ritter (and Antonio Galloni), we’ll start off at what sounds like the amazing Hotel Castello di Sinio to be close to both Barolo and Barbaresco producers. From there, we will head to Portovenere (in between Genoa and Cinque Terre, and mentioned by Ian Sutton) and stay on the harbor, from where we can take either a ferry or train for day trips to Cinque Terre, and enjoy the town as well. Then to Florence, then Bologna, then Venice, then Verona (where we will take a wine tour or two as suggested by Susan K), and then on to Lake Garda, as suggested by K N Haque. From there, back to the airport at Milan. We will stay 5 nights pretty much everywhere. I am finally becoming excited now that the sleeping arrangements have been made. ![[thankyou.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/df165fe9c1593d19166ae7e1ffe5e272089cc07b.gif "thankyou"){kind=small}
Next, where to eat? We know Venice and Verona fairly well, but have never been in Piemonte or Portovere, and have not been in Florence or Bologna in quite a while. Favorite places? ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Not sure where you’ll be on Lake Garda, but if you are anywhere near Gardone Riviera on the west shore, then Lido 84 is a fantastic restaurant with one michelin star. If the weather cooperates and you can sit outside on the terrace directly on the lake, it is hard to find a more beautiful spot combined with such cuisine (and if inside is very nice, too, should the weather not be great).
Good to know, thank you! We’ll be at the Grand Hotel Fasano, in Gardone Riviera, so this is very useful!
Try to get the first train of the day to the Cinque Terre. It is much nicer without the crowds. My wife and I got to see Vernazza wake up, complete with the bread guy delivering to all of the restaurants. We also spent 1/2 day helping a farmer terrace his vineyards, via an organization called Save Vernazza.
In Piedmont, I still think about the meals we had at:
- Trattoria Antica Torre (Barbaresco)
- Il Centro (Priocca)
- Bovio (La Morra); ask to tour their cellar
(This was in 2016; I haven’t followed to see if there are any chef changes but all of them are still open as far as I can tell.)
Also, look up the local wine communes before you go. I attended a nice tasting at the cantina in La Morra just by noticing it on their Facebook page. There’s one in Barbaresco as well. Speaking of Barbaresco, in May they have an event called Barbaresco a Tavola (Covid-permitting). You book a table at one of several restaurants and blind taste about 20 Barbarescos over dinner. Worth checking out if your dates line up.
Near Bologna is the town of Modena. Well worth a day trip. Tour the Lamborghini factory (res req’d), visit a balsamic vinegar producer (Acetaia Giusti), learn about parmesan cheese (Quattro Madonne), drink Lambrusco.
Have a great trip!
Just a quick check that Portovenere is right for you… It will be quieter than the Cinque Terre villages, so would work really well if you fancy something chilled and relaxing, especially returning from walking some of the Cinque Terre paths. It also avoids the slightly surreal sound of the trains in the Cinque Terre, something you get used to after a few days, but it’s a little striking at first hearing them shatter the silence. If you want somewhere a little bigger, and probably a little more lively in the evening, then Riomaggiore worked well for us, and if going for those very early starts, I reckon being based in the villages would make that much easier. Nonetheless I really like the idea of staying in Portovenere, and especially if you don’t like to feel crowded out by other tourists.
From memory the train requires a change at La Spezia (the place I mentioned for an evening passeggiata), so having the train schedules prepared in advance would be useful but do check this on trenitalia.com. The ferries may be a more practical option for visiting the Cinque Terre, as IIRC these go to/from Portovenere to each of the villages en route, so no change required.
This is a small wine bar right across from the Pitti Palace that has an outrageous cellar and pretty good food. The last time I was there they were pouring the 1980 Selvapiana Bucerchiale by the glass at the bar
Drank this there in 2019
On the Cinque Terre leg of your tour: Porto Venere sounds lovely (I’ve never been) but my experience of the “5 Lands” is much as others describe them - very very crowded. These are teensy towns! And the paths between them are oddly crowded!
So, from the slightly unusual ideas department: If you’re at all handy with boats, rent a little motor boat and drive yourself on the water from town to town. You can stop in each, anchor 100 feet off the town, get a €5 ‘taxi’ to take you in. Wander, enjoy, taxi back to your motor boat and then off to the next one. You’ll see each town from the water, as the locals saw them (of course historically these were fishing villages). You’ll avoid the crowds. You’ll have the pleasure of boating. If the weather is warm you can stop anywhere along the way and jump in the water. If you’re not comfortable driving a boat of course you could hire someone to do that for you and you could just relax.
I did this a few years ago and it was utterly fantastic. Only way to ‘fly’ in Cinque Terre. We didn’t even eat in Vernazza itself. Just bought some bread, cheese, and meats and had a ‘picnic’ in the peace and quiet of our boat while enjoying the view.
This was kind of funny to read - we’ll also be at Castello di Sinio (for four nights) in late April. We were scheduled to go in September 2020 and Denise very nicely applied our deposit from then to the current trip. You’ll love it - we were there in 2016 and it’s a really nice property that’s convenient to most places you want to go. Maybe we’ll see you there.
We head from there to Chianti for five nights before flying home from Rome, after starting with two days in Lisbon. To all of those who will note we’re missing many wonderful parts of Italy, yes, we know but we’ve been there many times before and this is a more focused trip to just get back into international travel.
I really liked the 3 nights we stayed in Mararola in the Cinque Terre. I would highly recommend dinner at Trattoria Billy in Manara for the incredible view.
Following for updates, as we’re headed over in late May/June. Only fixed part of the agenda is a few days in the Naples area.
Laughed audibly at the note on Malpensa. I have flown in/out of it four or five times and something painful has always happened (flight cancellation, waiting two hours to pay extra baggage fees, etc). Too funny. That said, the train is a straight shot from the airport into Milan and couldn’t be more convenient.
Would wholeheartedly agree with the above. Highly recommended.
Given the amount of time you have, if you are a real foodie it’s hard to pass on Emilia Romagna region. A day or two in Parma to do a foodie tour and hit a couple of fantastic restaurants is something worth considering. If driving, you can also visit Modena, Turin, etc. So many options.
i posted it in some other italy thread here but if you’re still looking for a cinque terre town to stay in while aiming to avoid tourists, camogli is it and hotel cenobio dei dogi is your best option. june should be beach weather. their private beach is super rocky but perfect.
i actually had a mixed experience with genoa. id love to return with friends who know the town but i felt it was a little uncomfortable and sketchy for my taste (not what i want when i vacation).
for milano, senato hotel milano is our favorite hotel in town.
Hi Jean-Pierre
Comogli certainly of great appeal for setting and walking, yet still on the train line between Genova and La Spezia, so day trips to the former and Cinque Terre villages are both very viable.
I’m guessing your discomfort in Genova would have been in the old town, on the walk from the centre down to the harbour/port? If so, I recognise that discomfort, even though for us it didn’t materialise into any issues at all, but it just did feel a little edgy (and my partner is rather sensitive to this).
Regards
Ian
Exactly my experience with Genoa. I grew up in Brooklyn but had a pack of 6-7 guys follow us around. Didn’t help that my wife was sporting a nice bag and ring but just wasn’t mentally prepared for it. The port felt a little too white washed with an eataly there but further in, just felt a little vulnerable.
Once again, I’m sure I’d love it with friends as there seems like a lot of hidden gems in that town.
Andrew Gelb, please report back.
In the past you wrote some of the best travel reports, and we have missed them.
Restaurant recommendations: I often use the Slow Food app called Osterie d’Italia, and find it very reliable. It covers the more local places, rather than the Michelin-starred places. It’s updated every year.
If Bibenda Wine (was duemilavini) is still going, I’d also recommend that. It was run by the Italian sommeliers association, so was focused as much on the wines as the food, and it did turn up some good suggestions. Last time I checked, they’d stopped the print edition (a big fat slab of an annual guide) and moved online / app only.