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OT: Vacations

hockeylover said:
Going to Florence in June. Will be there 11 days. Any advice?
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Awesome. I Was there a few years ago. 11 days in Florence is way too long though. We went to all major museums and ate great food for a couple of days and felt ready to see another city. Jumped on a train and went to Rome. Note that we did not explore the area outside of the city. Lots to see there I'm sure.

Two particular restaurants that are must visits IMO. Names escape me but I'll post them here for you when I get home and look through my pics.

I have a man crush on David. As a lady make sure you are prepared when you see it lol. For some reason it's fascinating.

For accommodation I'm not sure what you are planning but I'll send you the Airbnb listing I stayed at. Wonderful family in a beautiful and large apartment in a great location. They were really nice to us and the cost was really reasonable.
 
I too am going abroad for a couple of weeks in March. Planning for Spain , Sweden and the UK. I am currently on assignment in the US so that executive order hopefully doesn't bar me from reentry (I'm in the same boat as Leafman. Canadian citizen but born in a banned country). Called British airways they can't guarantee me getting on board even though PM's office have said we are good.

Now if I do risk it, I have one full day in London without plans. Was thinking of hopping on a plane and going to another city. Any suggestions?
 
CTheBigPicture said:
Awesome. I Was there a few years ago. 11 days in Florence is way too long though. We went to all major museums and ate great food for a couple of days and felt ready to see another city. Jumped on a train and went to Rome. Note that we did not explore the area outside of the city. Lots to see there I'm sure.

Two particular restaurants that are must visits IMO. Names escape me but I'll post them here for you when I get home and look through my pics.

I have a man crush on David. As a lady make sure you are prepared when you see it lol. For some reason it's fascinating.

For accommodation I'm not sure what you are planning but I'll send you the Airbnb listing I stayed at. Wonderful family in a beautiful and large apartment in a great location. They were really nice to us and the cost was really reasonable.
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I've done a massive Europe trip where you cram a shitload of countries in a couple times before and wanted something a bit less hectic so we're flying into Florence and going to explore the rest of Tuscany.

We have an Airbnb.
 
hockeylover said:
I've done a massive Europe trip where you cram a shitload of countries in a couple times before and wanted something a bit less hectic so we're flying into Florence and going to explore the rest of Tuscany.

We have an Airbnb.
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Florence was fun, although definitely I would spend most of that part outside of the city. You can probably see everything there is to see in the city itself in 3 days. All' Antico Vinaio sandwich shop is a must to stop in for. Long lineup, but worth the wait.

I did a day-long bus trip that stopped in at Sienna, San Gignimango, and Pisa. Not cheap, but well worth it, despite Pisa being such a tourist trap. It stopped at a vineyard for a lunch, and oh, the wine there was so damn good. And at like 8 euro for a bottle of organic wine, I came so close to ordering a crate for home. If you do want to get away, everyone raves about Cinque Terre - I didn't make it there on my trip, but you can easily spend a handful of days there, and I think it's certainly a more relaxing spot than Rome.

But for what it's worth, my 11 days in Italy was basically 4 days in Rome, and then 3 each in Naples and Florence (with some travel time in between), and while I was rushing parts, it really wasn't as hectic as trips could be. Lots of down time to enjoy restaurants, drink wine, take a boat trip to Capri, etc... Although if you just want to take it easy, there's a lot of little towns in Tuscany that are each worth a visit, so you can definitely take a tour around to visit them all and take a relaxed time in the region.
 
Here is what we did last time in Tuscany but it requires car
Airbnb house close to Viareggio, but not close to avoid high prices, got nice 3 bed house in Camaiore on the top of the hill.
Daily routine is following :
Morning till noonish hours - beach in Viareggio
Lunch
Road trips, Pisa, Sienna etc
Dinner at location or at home

After few days moved to B&B south of Florence, explored villages/little towns/lots of back roads (superfun)
Sure did Florence day trip but IMO Sienna was more interesting.

red these
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/travel-tips-and-articles/italys-six-best-road-trips
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/cinque-terre

PS I'm more of road trip guy over spending days exploring one city, I like adventures :)
 
CTheBigPicture said:
Awesome. I Was there a few years ago. 11 days in Florence is way too long though. We went to all major museums and ate great food for a couple of days and felt ready to see another city. Jumped on a train and went to Rome. Note that we did not explore the area outside of the city. Lots to see there I'm sure.

Two particular restaurants that are must visits IMO. Names escape me but I'll post them here for you when I get home and look through my pics.

I have a man crush on David. As a lady make sure you are prepared when you see it lol. For some reason it's fascinating.

For accommodation I'm not sure what you are planning but I'll send you the Airbnb listing I stayed at. Wonderful family in a beautiful and large apartment in a great location. They were really nice to us and the cost was really reasonable.
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Haha

I saw it in 2010 and my son was only six. He turned to me and said "dad why does that man have hair on his penis". It was a cute comment from a six year old.
 
UWHabs said:
Florence was fun, although definitely I would spend most of that part outside of the city. You can probably see everything there is to see in the city itself in 3 days. All' Antico Vinaio sandwich shop is a must to stop in for. Long lineup, but worth the wait.

I did a day-long bus trip that stopped in at Sienna, San Gignimango, and Pisa. Not cheap, but well worth it, despite Pisa being such a tourist trap. It stopped at a vineyard for a lunch, and oh, the wine there was so damn good. And at like 8 euro for a bottle of organic wine, I came so close to ordering a crate for home. If you do want to get away, everyone raves about Cinque Terre - I didn't make it there on my trip, but you can easily spend a handful of days there, and I think it's certainly a more relaxing spot than Rome.

But for what it's worth, my 11 days in Italy was basically 4 days in Rome, and then 3 each in Naples and Florence (with some travel time in between), and while I was rushing parts, it really wasn't as hectic as trips could be. Lots of down time to enjoy restaurants, drink wine, take a boat trip to Capri, etc... Although if you just want to take it easy, there's a lot of little towns in Tuscany that are each worth a visit, so you can definitely take a tour around to visit them all and take a relaxed time in the region.
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Pisa and San Gignimiano are well worth it. I like Assisi as well.
 
I didn't think Pisa was all that special.

Sienna is amazing. Beautiful Medieval city.

I wouldn't do too many of those cities because they get redundant (duomo, piazza, cobblestone shopping lanes, etc)

Do a one day 4-5 hour walking tour in the country side. Get lost in the vineyards and olive groves. You'll inevitably stumble on a restaurant that picked their tomatoes and basil hours before you eat them.

The local Fiorentini eat in Fiesole. 30 min bus ride away from the crowds. Up on a hill, so you get amazing views of Florence.

A little further away, Orvieto is very unique with volcanic caves and gothic architecture
 
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CH1 said:
I didn't think Pisa was all that special.

Sienna is amazing. Beautiful Medieval city.

I wouldn't do too many of those cities because they get redundant (duomo, piazza, cobblestone shopping lanes, etc)

Do a one day 4-5 hour walking tour in the country side. Get lost in the vineyards and olive groves. You'll inevitably stumble on a restaurant that picked their tomatoes and basil hours before you eat them.

The local Fiorentini eat in Fiesole. 30 min bus ride away from the crowds. Up on a hill, so you get amazing views of Florence.

A little further away, Orvieto is very unique with volcanic caves and gothic architecture
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Pisa had cool Africans trying to sell me stuff as my tour bus arrived. I thought that was cool.

I haven't been to Siena though.
 
TheCountofMonteCristo said:
Pisa had cool Africans trying to sell me stuff as my tour bus arrived. I thought that was cool.

I haven't been to Siena though.
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Pisa is this and this only.

pisatower11.jpg


I did like Florence though.

I like Italy overall, but you really need to keep your head up around places like Naples.
 
Lucca is a lovely town in the area as well. Once stayed in an apartment there for a week and traveled around to many of the places already described.
 
JohnnyHolmes said:
Pisa is this and this only.

pisatower11.jpg


I did like Florence though.

I like Italy overall, but you really need to keep your head up around places like Naples.
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Yeah, Pisa doesn't have anything really other than the tower, but the tower is still cool to see in person. Maybe not worth the extra to walk the inside, but worth a daytrip to go see it, especially if you can see other towns like Lucca, Sienna, San Gimignano, or just spending some time in the Tuscan countryside on the way there.
 
Aberdeen said:
Lucca is a lovely town in the area as well. Once stayed in an apartment there for a week and traveled around to many of the places already described.
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Good call re: Lucca. Very nice.

We did some hiking in the countryside around Florence. Rewarded ourselves with crostini and some vino in a village.
 
mbow30 said:
i'm off to colombia in a few weeks. anybody been?
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Very briefly when I was younger. Was volunteering in Ecuador and made a short trip to visit a friend in his hometown, Bucaramanga. From what I saw, country is stunning, with maybe the best looking women on the continent.

Had friends go more recently and they raved about the natural beauty too.

Don't really have any substantive recommendations or advice though, but pretty sure its the type of country where you can't really go wrong.
 
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