Any tips on Tuscany ? Planning to hit Pisa, Florence, cinqe terre and viareggio and have just over a week..
General Discussion: Official holiday thread
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11 Jun 2015 08:01
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posted 11 Jun 2015 12:18, edited 11 Jun 2015 12:18
posted 11 Jun 2015 13:04, edited 11 Jun 2015 13:04
11 Jun 2015 13:14
Going there very often - Wasn't that impressed with Pisa, Florence is nice though.
I really prefer the countryside most, loads of nice small villages as opposed to tourist hot spots. You do need a car for that though, but renting a car in Italy is quite cheap.
Not sure what budget range you're looking to stay? Going again in a couple of weeks, booked here - http://www.villalaborghetta.net/photos/, can also recommend Villa Olmi - http://www.villaolmifirenze.com/en/ or Relais Villa l'Olmo - http://www.relaisvillalolmo.com/
There's a very good outlet if you want to do some shopping - http://www.themall.it/en/outlet-italy/homepage.html, has Dior, Saint Laurent, Prada, Balenciaga, Tom Ford, Burberry, etc etc - there is also a giant Prada outlet called Space - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-PRADA-outlet/168441409851999
Shopping in Florence also quite good, for ultimate rascal Italy experience you need to go LuisaViaRoma and admire all the Dsquared in the world.
I have some good restaurants for Florence, just need to have a look through my e-mail archive as I can't recall the names - will let you know.
I really prefer the countryside most, loads of nice small villages as opposed to tourist hot spots. You do need a car for that though, but renting a car in Italy is quite cheap.
Not sure what budget range you're looking to stay? Going again in a couple of weeks, booked here - http://www.villalaborghetta.net/photos/, can also recommend Villa Olmi - http://www.villaolmifirenze.com/en/ or Relais Villa l'Olmo - http://www.relaisvillalolmo.com/
There's a very good outlet if you want to do some shopping - http://www.themall.it/en/outlet-italy/homepage.html, has Dior, Saint Laurent, Prada, Balenciaga, Tom Ford, Burberry, etc etc - there is also a giant Prada outlet called Space - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-PRADA-outlet/168441409851999
Shopping in Florence also quite good, for ultimate rascal Italy experience you need to go LuisaViaRoma and admire all the Dsquared in the world.
I have some good restaurants for Florence, just need to have a look through my e-mail archive as I can't recall the names - will let you know.
Same same, Pisa is worth going to just to see the tower if you haven't been before but the place itself isn't as picturesque as other places.
Florence is quite compact but you really need a couple of days there if you can. You could see the majority of the sights in a day though if you were pushed for time.
Florence is a great city just to wander around. A lot of the "must see" places are in the city centre which is pretty compact - the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, etc. On the other side of the river is the Palazzo Pitti and it's worth climbing the hill to Piazzale Michaelangelo as there's a fantastic view back across the city.
If you're interested in art then the Uffizi is a must. I found it a bit boring actually (after a few hours) but my girlfriend loved it.
Even if you're not interested in art go and see Michaelangelo's David. It really is amazing to see it in the flesh as it were (no homo).
Depending on how long you're there for Siena is a good day trip, it's around 2 hours away on the train.
Florence is quite compact but you really need a couple of days there if you can. You could see the majority of the sights in a day though if you were pushed for time.
Any Florence recommendations in terms of places to eat/stuff to see?
Florence is a great city just to wander around. A lot of the "must see" places are in the city centre which is pretty compact - the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio, etc. On the other side of the river is the Palazzo Pitti and it's worth climbing the hill to Piazzale Michaelangelo as there's a fantastic view back across the city.
If you're interested in art then the Uffizi is a must. I found it a bit boring actually (after a few hours) but my girlfriend loved it.
Even if you're not interested in art go and see Michaelangelo's David. It really is amazing to see it in the flesh as it were (no homo).
Depending on how long you're there for Siena is a good day trip, it's around 2 hours away on the train.
Flying into Pisa in the morn and getting a car there . Planning to just stay the afternoon in Pisa see the tower and have w wander as a few people have said it's pretty small and not loads to do. Then driving to Florence and staying for 2 night. Then heading to one of the places in cinque terre, staying 3 nights and planning on doing some hikes to get around the areas. Then off to viareggio for 3 nights and just chill by the beach ..
Thanks for recommendations so far, anyone have any for cinque terre ?
Thanks for recommendations so far, anyone have any for cinque terre ?
I would probably not bother about a car until you're done visiting Pisa & Florence - car will be kind of useless there. Getting from Pisa > Florence is super simple (same for Pisa airport into Pisa, very short distance). You can then rent the car from Florence when you leave the city.
Actually weirdly liked Pisa while I was there (only for a day or two) but Florence is so much better and as said the trains are really excellent.
I ended up going to Bologna to visit friends instead of doing more of Tuscany and would highly recommend it there though it's a different trip really (less than an hour on the train mind). Such a great city, the food is
I ended up going to Bologna to visit friends instead of doing more of Tuscany and would highly recommend it there though it's a different trip really (less than an hour on the train mind). Such a great city, the food is

When I went to the palazzo pitti there was a small gallery dedicated to newer acquisitions (not the 'modern' art gallery) made in the 20-21st century and it was quite sad how bad it was.
If you go to the palazzo pitti I recommend going to the palatine gallery and modern art galley. Maybe the boboli gardens.
My thoughts on the new acquisitions bit is the same of luisaviaroma. Who the fuck buys this shit!?
If you go to the palazzo pitti I recommend going to the palatine gallery and modern art galley. Maybe the boboli gardens.
My thoughts on the new acquisitions bit is the same of luisaviaroma. Who the fuck buys this shit!?
It doesn't hurt to scrub up on bible stories. Because you're expected to know what's going on just by the title of the artwork and almost every painting depicts something religious. The little plaques focus on the provenance of the artwork and sometimes aesthetic features.
Which is better than the French's complete mystifying bullshit "However, so-and-so's landscape is more lyrical" lol fuck off.
Which is better than the French's complete mystifying bullshit "However, so-and-so's landscape is more lyrical" lol fuck off.
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