Last year, we went to Puglia and it was also pretty good. Bunch of towns, including Bari and Lecce. I think in November it'll be way too sleepy there, though.
Puglia is a great area for food.
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If you want to stay overnight in Tuscany (you should) I would suggest Cortona.
Lots of options.
Don't let people scare you away from going to Naples.
I think a full week is too much for just Rome, personally. There's plenty to see and do but IMO by day 4-5 you're going to be experiencing a "this again?" feeling.
There’s nothing for rent in Tuscany.
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If your kids are able to stay up late, do the night tour of the Colosseum. You're pretty much on your own and it includes the first floor, arena and underground.
If your kids are able to stay up late, do the night tour of the Colosseum. You're pretty much on your own and it includes the first floor, arena and underground.
This is very cool, but keep your kids close.
Those Gladiator bastards can get a bit handsy.
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We were there as a family (2 parents, 3 adult children) 2 years ago and stayed at an airbnb very close to the colosseum. I always recommend going shopping in Europe and getting non tourist prices. 1 euro bottle of wine? Yes please!
We used a tour guide in Rome for a couple of tours and she was an archaeologist which meant jumping the queue and getting personal knowledge of what was important. The other thing that we did was to go through open doors. There’s a church right beside the pantheon that was amazing but we knew nothing about it until we went inside. Time is a traveller’s ultimate commodity and I’ve just gotten to the point where I don’t want to waste time lining up for things so I try to get passes beforehand…cheaper too.
We did a pasta making session at a person’s home and the kids loved it, but it felt a bit weird to me.
The worst thing about travel is the disrespectful tourists. I’ve lived in a number of different countries as a foreigner and you get much better respect. On what planet is it acceptable to carve your name into the colosseum?
syd’s hat’s post was amazing and I wish I had that then!
Have a great trip!
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We were there as a family (2 parents, 3 adult children) 2 years ago and stayed at an airbnb very close to the colosseum. I always recommend going shopping in Europe and getting non tourist prices. 1 euro bottle of wine? Yes please!
We used a tour guide in Rome for a couple of tours and she was an archaeologist which meant jumping the queue and getting personal knowledge of what was important. The other thing that we did was to go through open doors. There’s a church right beside the pantheon that was amazing but we knew nothing about it until we went inside. Time is a traveller’s ultimate commodity and I’ve just gotten to the point where I don’t want to waste time lining up for things so I try to get passes beforehand…cheaper too.
We did a pasta making session at a person’s home and the kids loved it, but it felt a bit weird to me.
The worst thing about travel is the disrespectful tourists. I’ve lived in a number of different countries as a foreigner and you get much better respect. On what planet is it acceptable to carve your name into the colosseum?
syd’s hat’s post was amazing and I wish I had that then!
Have a great trip!
We also did that church! Started as a way to get into some AC and saw the open door so decided to walk on in. It was beautiful! Then had some beer and flatbread around the corner for 9 euro.
So I know I'm going to regret this, but I'm thinking about renting a car in Rome to head up to Tuscany for a few days (ie instead of taking a bus to Siena and renting there). Has anyone else done this? Is there a general location that's better to rent from? We're staying central in Rome first, so would rather not go back to the airport. I'm not total newb to driving in European streets (driven in Barcelona, Budapest, Amalfi etc), but just trying to minimize the dad stress.
Or best to just take the bus up to Siena and rent from there?
Italy isn't so bad, they'll only treat you like an idiot if you are timid. The honk means "####ing go, man!" not "#### you". They use it liberally. Train stations often have rental locations, find one near an expressway for a quick escape and easier return than having to drive through city traffic.
The best thing about the Autostrade are the Autogrills where you can down an espresso before your spouse is done in the restroom, and be back on the road in minutes.
Watch out for embarrassment in Siena, it's really easy to end up in the no driving area. I briefly did it myself, and saw many other shame faced tourists trying to get back out.
Yeah, I've driven in Italy before (even in Naples which may be worse than Rome?). Just trying to minimize the potential for stress...like that one time I drove into the wrong tollbooth lane in Barcelona and had to force like 10 cars behind me to back up.
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Yeah, I've driven in Italy before (even in Naples which may be worse than Rome?). Just trying to minimize the potential for stress...like that one time I drove into the wrong tollbooth lane in Barcelona and had to force like 10 cars behind me to back up.
In Naples you just dont stop or you may well be killed.
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I haven't rented a car in Rome, but I've driven there. Generally, the outskirts towards the ring road are easy enough to get in and out of by car. So if you're not packing too much stuff and want to minimize headaches, I'd just rent a car somewhere that's easy to access from the metro.
So places like EUR or out towards Cinecitta are 15-20 minute train rides from the center of the city and you can usually end up a few hundred meters from a car rental place. Then from there, it's usually only about 5 minutes drive to the freeway.
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So I know I'm going to regret this, but I'm thinking about renting a car in Rome to head up to Tuscany for a few days (ie instead of taking a bus to Siena and renting there). Has anyone else done this? Is there a general location that's better to rent from? We're staying central in Rome first, so would rather not go back to the airport. I'm not total newb to driving in European streets (driven in Barcelona, Budapest, Amalfi etc), but just trying to minimize the dad stress.
Or best to just take the bus up to Siena and rent from there?
What about taking a train to Florence (Santa Maria Novella) and renting a car from there? Lots of different car companies there.
The train from Rome to Florence will save you a ton of time versus car or bus (you can get there in less than half the time) but from Florence to Siena, driving is faster.
