First time to Italy

[kathybc4]

Next year my husband and I along with 2 friends want to plan our first trip to Italy. We are in our mid 60's and 70's. We want our home base to be Tuscany and already have our accomodations picked out as we are a part of the Hilton Grand Vacation system. We will be flying in from the US and renting a car. We plan to stay 7-10 days. Since our travel time is flexible we want to come during a time of the year that is not crowded, but the weather and scenery is still pleasant...we're thinking of mid October. Main goal is enjoying the scenery, food and wine. Want to site see, but don't care about the big cities. Please give advice on where to fly in, where to rent auto and possible itinerary. Thank you!

 

[DonnaDenise]

When to come to Tuscany

Buongiorno,

October is a lovely time of the year to visit Tuscany. Just think of the colors, the vineyards and great new flavors available (porcini, chestnuts, vino novello and so much more).

I also suggest that you look at mid to late May, which offers lots of great landscapes just beginning to blossom (my mom just loved the abundance of wild flowers everywhere). The added plus is that there arr more daylight hours so you can enjoy the scenery and traveling just a bit longer than in October. The weather is normally warm - from a light sweater to shorts would be appropriate, whereas in October you are bordering on cool to cold.

If you can fly into Florence, it would make your travelling easier - however, Rome and Pisa are good back-ups. There are no intercontinental flights into Florence, but when you book you can choose to go into Rome, Florence and Pisa. My experience is that there is a small cost difference to come all the way into Tuscany- but if I had to choose between picking up a car in Rome or in Florence/pisa - I would go with the smaller cities.

Having said that, if you do go into Rome, once you are outside of the ring road that connects the airport to the autostrada then it is an easy and fast trip to Tuscany. (Maybe even a detour to Orvieto...I love this little town)

Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise