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OT: Vacations

worm said:
going to Scotland in July - any recommendations?
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Whereabouts are you travelling there? I loved going around the north coast. If you like driving there is a very interesting(potentially dangerous) road called bealach na ba that goes to Applecross. We had a nice meal there after the high stress drive.
 
Neurospasm said:
Whereabouts are you travelling there? I loved going around the north coast. If you like driving there is a very interesting(potentially dangerous) road called bealach na ba that goes to Applecross. We had a nice meal there after the high stress drive.
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going to St Andrews (for the Open Championship) - nothing else planned - will have about a week (outside of the 4 days in Edinbrugh/St Andrews)

will have a mini human with us so not looking for a high stress drive lol
 
Ok in Edinborough I’m guessing you’ll probably end up at the castle there at some point. If possible I would start at the castle and make your way down the cobblestone streets of the Royal Mile. We went up the street and it sucked. Highly recommend Camera Obscura and world of illusions for your youngun.
 
Neurospasm said:
Ok in Edinborough I’m guessing you’ll probably end up at the castle there at some point. If possible I would start at the castle and make your way down the cobblestone streets of the Royal Mile. We went up the street and it sucked. Highly recommend Camera Obscura and world of illusions for your youngun.
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Thanks
 
mbow30 said:
I’m going to be in upstate ny for 24 hours in early June and you can bet your balls that im having dinner at Olive Garden.
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My old roommate for a summer was from Italy and was staying while here with some kids teaching program thing via I think was ManU (honestly don’t follow soccer so no idea wtf he was talking about). I told him to head to east side - wow he was fucken angry about that
 
Leafin' said:
Planning my honeymoon in Italy. unfortunately only have 2 weeks at the end of august. building my itinerary.

Probably landing in Venice. working my way down to Florence. Down to Naples where we'll drive the coasts of Amalfi, Capri, Sorrento, Positano. And then finishing off in Rome. Its a lot for 2 weeks.

Any help would be much appreciated.
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Bologna is pretty much between Venice and Florence. Not on the tetra-super-star level as those two, but it is arguably the gastronomic capital of Italy.

Two weeks is pretty tight, so it depends on what you like to do. You’re hitting some of the biggies on your itinerary… it’ll be good.
 
lecoqsportif said:
Bologna is pretty much between Venice and Florence. Not on the tetra-super-star level as those two, but it is arguably the gastronomic capital of Italy.

Two weeks is pretty tight, so it depends on what you like to do. You’re hitting some of the biggies on your itinerary… it’ll be good.
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2 weeks is gonna be rushed to cover all that. Venice/Florence/Rome/Naples alone probably should be more than 2 weeks, never mind adding in the coastal areas listed there. Some people can do it, sure, but you're always going to be on the move and won't get a chance to sit in a Cafe and stare out to the countryside.

Definitely makes me want to get back to Italy. So many really beautiful areas, amazing food, great scenery, just so nice all around. I've been there like 3 times for like 10 days each time and still have plenty of places still on the list to cover.
 
Another option is to pick one city as a base and do day trips to nearby sites. My daughter enjoys the art and history so spent two weeks based mostly in Rome and and a few days in Naples. She then did day trips out to Pompeii and other areas. She did a short day trip to Florence but hopes to go back someday and spend more time in Florence and surrounding area.
Having a couple days of no plans but to wander and relax can be important to avoid the trip just becoming a blur of memories.
 
Yeah resist the temptation to see everything because that could end up feeling more like a stressful chore and less like a vacation if you're constantly switching from city to city. Pick a few spots and explore them extensively. Anne has it right. Pick a base and have plans for day trips on some days, and if you end up wanting to stick to your base instead that day, you still have that option too. I find that keeping the itinerary loose and flexible is the way to go. It all looks nice on paper but once you're there you'll know what you want to do. Whatever you miss out on, do it next time.

For me personally, with a 2 week trip I wouldn't want to stay in more than 2 different cities, maybe 3. Packing up and going from hotel to hotel every day or 2 can ruin an experience for me. But I suppose it depends on you and your traveling style.
 
Preston said:
Yeah resist the temptation to see everything because that could end up feeling more like a stressful chore and less like a vacation if you're constantly switching from city to city. Pick a few spots and explore them extensively. Anne has it right. Pick a base and have plans for day trips on some days, and if you end up wanting to stick to your base instead that day, you still have that option too. I find that keeping the itinerary loose and flexible is the way to go. It all looks nice on paper but once you're there you'll know what you want to do. Whatever you miss out on, do it next time.

For me personally, with a 2 week trip I wouldn't want to stay in more than 2 different cities, maybe 3. Packing up and going from hotel to hotel every day or 2 can ruin an experience for me. But I suppose it depends on you and your traveling style.
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I usually do like 3-4 days per city, so 2 weeks I could easily handle maybe 3 base cities. Like you could do the northern loop with like Venice for a few days, Florence for a few days (and Florence is great for day trips to Bologna or Pisa or anywhere there), and then maybe either Rome (where you could do Pompei on a day trip if you want), or maybe do like Cinque Terre or Como if you want something a bit quieter. Or you do the central section which is more like Rome and Naples as bases, and probably adding in Sorrento and Capri along the way.

Whatever you do, you want to make sure you have a chance to go by some of the smaller towns like Sienna or Lucca or a million others. They've got a charm to them that you definitely will miss if you stick to the "name" cities.
 
UWHabs said:
I usually do like 3-4 days per city, so 2 weeks I could easily handle maybe 3 base cities. Like you could do the northern loop with like Venice for a few days, Florence for a few days (and Florence is great for day trips to Bologna or Pisa or anywhere there), and then maybe either Rome (where you could do Pompei on a day trip if you want), or maybe do like Cinque Terre or Como if you want something a bit quieter. Or you do the central section which is more like Rome and Naples as bases, and probably adding in Sorrento and Capri along the way.

Whatever you do, you want to make sure you have a chance to go by some of the smaller towns like Sienna or Lucca or a million others. They've got a charm to them that you definitely will miss if you stick to the "name" cities.
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Yup, that sounds about right. Getting to the Amalfi coast is a bit of a cunt though (and there's a lot to see) so if I'm exploring there in a 2 week trip I'd probably pick a base on the coast and do a whole week there. You can probably split the other week up between a couple of cities. Bologna is actually a decent, well-priced base to do day trips to the Florence's, Venice's, Parma's, Modena's, etc. And then maybe a couple days in Napoli before or after heading to the coast. Napoli is a bit rough but I sorta love it and think it's worth staying in even just for a couple days. But it's a pretty polarizing city.

Edit: oh I forgot Rome. Yeah shit it's a lot. If you prioritize Rome then I'd stick to Rome, Napoli and the Amalfi coast for a two week trip. Trying to sneak in anything else might get hectic. And even that is a lot.
 
I did 10 days, Florence as a base the last time and it was great. A few people told me 10 days was too long in Florence but honestly, I could do three weeks there next time. Prefer to really explore and find my favourite spots, did the “squeeze in as many cities as possible” when I was in my early 20s. Guess it depends on your preferred travel style.
 
First time I go to countries I tend to do the "spend 3-4 days per city thing, sometimes 2 days if it's small enough and more if it's a solid base city in the vicinity of all sorts of interesting day trip spots. Just to get a taste of each of them and it's sort of an audition for where I want to go next time. And then I return to the country and do a more localized trip primarily enjoying the 1-2 cities that I enjoyed more extensively.

But spending 10 days in Florence is easily fucking doable. Honestly I could spend months in almost any relatively large Italian city and never get bored. The only no-go for me is cramming in too much, too fast. Puts me in a crabby mood most of the time and you end up not really enjoying or appreciating anything.
 
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