Italy?

[chazza]

We are thinking of going on holidays this summer and fancy somewhere unspoilt, with good food, scenery, and possibly a vineyard or two to visit. At the minute we fancy Italy/Tuscany, but as it's such a large region I don't know where to start looking!

Does anyone have any recommendations of areas and hotels? I'd been looking at places like Verona, but even searching that, it seems to be a large region, and although we will probably hire a car, we don't want to be miles away from anything worth seeing!

Thanks

[Playbill]

I went to lake Garda twice some years ago. Both times we rented apartments in Peschiera which is at the southern end. Terrific scenery around there - the lakes and surrounding mountains and dozens of towns all around the lake to explore. The lake is about 40 miles long and looks like an inland sea.
From there you can do day trips to Verona and Venice. We drove there and you need a car to get around the countryside.

[KARL]

For places to stay you could google Agriturismo where you will find lots of choices. These are certainly not generally the cheapest options but they are outside the larger urban areas if not actually well out in the countryside. Usually family run, you should find they offer a more local atmosphere than established hotels, not to mention the larger chains. Meals are not always on offer but you never have far to go to a good place to eat, and Italian food is always good (but not always cheap) - if you don't like Italian cooking, don't go to Italy. Usually the people at an agriturismo establishment will be very helpful regarding advice on all things local. Hiring a car is a wise decision - that sorted, don't tie yourselves down to too small a locality. Once within reach, you really should visit Florence/Firenze - to get access to the most popular art museums there such as the Uffizi you need to be prepared to queue from early in the morning. Arm yourselves with a guide book or two to narrow down what you might want to see. Beyond Tuscany, you might consider Umbria (the next-door region) where there are lots of things to see and you are still within easy reach of parts of Tuscany. In Umbria there is a nice agriturismo place called le Cincillegre with which I am familiar and can recommend although (again) it is not cheap.

[chazza]

Thanks, I'll google your suggestions and have a look!

[Whickerman]

I am going to share a place with you that i honestly a little piece of heaven. It's own vineyards producing the best chianti, an award winning restaurant downstairs (that will teach you Tuscan cookery if you want), an owner who knows how to treat people, suites for the price of a hotel room, and get this - a bus stop at the gates that will allow you pop into Florence (10miles) for pennies so if you want, car hire isn't necessary. The local village - Greve in Chianti - is your archtypal Italian market town and is heavenly.
I cannot praise this place highly enough; I have travelled the world and this is still the place my wife claims is her favourite stay ever:
http://www.vicchiomaggio.com/

[Whickerman]

to address one point Karl makes - you can indeed queue for hours to see the Uffizi etc.
Here's another well guarded point that although isn't a secret it isn't widely advertised. If you go into any tourist office in Tuscany, not just Florence, you can pre-buy your tickets to enter at a set time of your choosing. There's no extra charge and you simply turn up and use a different door - the looks of hatred on the overheated line of queueing tourists make this worth doing even if you don't appreciate the thousands of masterpieces on offer!

[Whickerman]

If you're thinking Verona, use Garda as a base. Verona is beautiful but Garda is bliss.

[stoofur]

A couple of years ago and friend and I went on a driving camping holiday. My girlfriend's family live near lake Como which is beautiful. We then drove all the way down to Bologna. Went to the Ferrari museum. Then across to Pisa (not that impressive). Then to Lucca which is lovely. Then down to San Gimignano which is beautiful, Siena which again is lovely but it was pretty busy. It was a lot of driving but a fantastic holiday.

If you are thinking of Verona then there is a main station in Verona where you can pretty easily get to Venice for a day, or even better stay the night in Venice. It is not as expensive as you may think if you look around on the internet. Walking around Venice at night is really romantic. Most of the tourists have gone and it almost feels like you have gone back in time. You can also get to the mountains pretty easily by train. I used to get the train from Verona to Trento which takes you though mountain passes and lakes. You could almost be in an Agatha Christy novel!

Before you ask. Yes I love Italy. It really is so beautiful and interesting. There is so much to see and do and eat. You will love it.