Tuscany/Chianti Region of Italy??

[Dodger]

Off there next July for a mates wedding and looking for some inside info/ideas/tips.

We are being put up by him for 2 nights in a Tuscan villa like hotel that is hosting the wedding and we are looking at what we can do to make a holiday of it.

Ideally we may fly into Pisa but we may plum for Milan and drive down.If we land in Pisa we are looking for a couple of towns/villages to stay in around the 2 nights of the wedding and if we land in Milan we are looking at what we could do likewise.......split the trip up into a wee tour of this part of Italy.

I have never been to Italy so I am lost as to places that may be interesting to stay!

 

[birdieman]

Spent 2 weeks there in 2005 in October - July would be too hot for me but Florence is worth a look, the countryside, medieval towns and vineyards of Chianti are very charming, you need a hire car to get round the wee villages. San Gimangiano is touristy but worth a look.

It's pretty sedentary to be honest - visit some medieval towns, long lunches with plenty vino, very very slow pace of life - really is a good spot to unwind.

The reason it's so popular is because it's been untouched by modern life so its a throwback to life centuries ago. That can work against you if you're some kind of adrenalin fuelled party animal!

Place to go wth the Mrs rather than your mates I'd say.

 

[Dodger]

Spent 2 weeks there in 2005 in October - July would be too hot for me but Florence is worth a look, the countryside, medieval towns and vineyards of Chianti are very charming, you need a hire car to get round the wee villages. San Gimangiano is touristy but worth a look.

It's pretty sedentary to be honest - visit some medieval towns, long lunches with plenty vino, very very slow pace of life - really is a good spot to unwind.

The reason it's so popular is because it's been untouched by modern life so its a throwback to life centuries ago. That can work against you if you're some kind of adrenalin fuelled party animal!

Place to go wth the Mrs rather than your mates I'd say.

Perfect,that is exactly what I am doing.........slow life will do for me,anything to get away from the pish I put up with day to day!

I'll take a look at those suggestions BM and keep any other suggestions coming folks!

 

[forefortheday]

I go every year to Italy Dodger.

In regards to Pisa, you can do it in half a day and would avoid like the plague on an evening it's one of the must run down cities in Italy and not pleasant at night.

Florence is great and well worth a visit, if you can I would go to Venice over Milan (they are about the same distance from Florence).

Try every regional delicacy you can! (execpt Limoncella it's foul!)

 

[chrisd]

I flew to Pisa and picked up a rental car, drove to a villa near Siena and loved every day of the holiday. Tuscanny is just the most special place in my favourite country!

You'll love it!

Chris

 

[Aztecs27]

Can't add much to the above really.

Florence is absolutely lovely and Venice is nice if you're not in a rush. We spent half a day just wandering around the various side streets getting lost. It was magic.

I would definitely agree that Pisa isn't somewhere you'd want to stay for any length of time. See the tower, bugger off. It's full of tourists and pretty grimey.

Siena was a nice surprise for us. Very quiet town, but very charming and the Duomo there is pretty awesome. You can get some good views of the whole town climbing on top of the ruins they have next to the Duomo too.

It's not really anywhere near where you're going, but I'm a HUGE fan of Rome. It's obviously very touristy, but the Colosseum, Roman Ruins etc...are breath taking and I love the grandure of the whole city, it's awesome. Especially if you've never been. It's not somewhere I could return to every year (unlike Florence, I never tire of that place and it has the best restaurant I've ever eaten at) but it has to be experienced at least once IMHO.

 

[Midnight]

I have family who live in Verona, lovely town to walk around also about a 30 min drive from Lake Garda and about 1.5 hours on the train to Venice. I love Italy esp the ice cream....

Cheers

Midnight....