[Idyllchat] ? for tenured travelers

[Russ Crum]

Marcia,

If you go with the Tuscany Untour you will have a car to drive that  
area. However, I would not recommend driving into Florence or Rome.

I suggest that you grab a few good guidebooks about Italy (my  
favorites are Rick Steves and Lonely Planet). You will get a  
guidebook from Untours that will be for the Tuscany area also. Having  
not been on the Tuscany Untour, I don't know if they use the Cadogan  
guide like they do for Umbria or not. These will help you develop  
ideas as to what you want to see and how (important for tickets to  
some sites in Florence to avoid spending your day in lines).

I would suggest considering extra days before and after your Untour.  
Consider doing Florence and Rome area separate from your two week  
Untour. Since you have never been to Europe before, I suggest  
Florence first as I think it is easier to deal with than Rome for  
first timers. You could fly into Milan and take the train to  
Florence. Many good hotels and B&B's are a short distance from the  
train station there. Spend at least two or three days in Florence,  
then take the train to Rome where you can meet your Untours local  
host at the Rome airport. As I recall, you can easily get the train  
from Florence to Rome in the morning then to the airport in time to  
meet your Untours host about noon. At the end of your Untour, you  
can  take your rental car to Rome or leave it elsewhere and take the  
train back into Rome. Spend how ever many days you want in the Rome  
area, including seeing Mt. Vesuvius, etc. Then fly home from Rome.

The guidebooks can help you with local arrangements to see Mt.  
Vesuvius and Pompeii. As I recall, those are not easy to do as day  
trips from Rome so you will probably have to arrange an overnight  
elsewhere like Sorrento, which is a neat place in itself.

I hope that gives you some ideas. There are a lot of trip logs and  
ideas available from Untours people also that no doubt will get you  
more information than you ever wanted to hear!!

Russ Crum
rrcrum at sbcglobal.net

On Apr 7, 2007, at 12:33, Marcia Waffner wrote:

> Hi
> We've never been to Europe and are looking at the Tuscany South  
> Untour. We're interested in seeing Florence, Rome and seeing Mt.  
> Vesuvius .....have any of you done this and what means of  
> transportation is recommended?  Any general recommendations are  
> most appreciated.
> Thanks... Marcia
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