Three or four week road trip in Italy in September - ideas welcome

[OhOneOhTwoOhThree]

DH and I are planning a road trip to Italy in September. We have plans in Palermo on 12/13 September but apart from that our time is our own.

We're previously visited Florence, Verona, Venice and most recently Naples, using advice from other MN threads.

We're keen to take in Milan, Siena and Rome (I've only spent an afternoon in Rome as part of a work trip) but would love any recommendations for more off the beaten track places. We'd like to eat good food, drink good wine and take our time, stopping as and when we feel like it rather than a strict itinerary.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

For food head to Bologna , it’s amazing!

Taormina, Syracuse and agrigento on Sicily are good for 2 nights each

Will you travel down through France and enter Italy via the A8. I love that route to the sun from Calais - A26, A5, A6, A7 and then along the coast to Italy. I find Imperia and Liguria quite interesting - San Remo and the coastal towns, and up to visit Dolce Aqua, a remarkable fortress, the Tiormina caves. Beautiful coastline.
Then onto Cinque Terry.

I echo Bologna. I went to Padova (Padua), charming little city, so underrated, thirty minutes or so from Venice by train. Did a boat trip on the Brenta Canal from Venice to Padua, a hidden gem, all those fabulous Palladian mansions lining the canal, amazing. From there went to Bologna and Ravenna. Bologna is mad, food is beyond the beyond, and Ravenna is charming with the San Vitale mosaics. Then Siena, Rome and Naples. Skipped Florence and Pisa/Lucca had been already.

You don't need me to tell you about Siena, Rome or Naples. But I would recommend staying in the beach town of Ostia Lido outside Rome. Fantastic place, train direct into Rome in half an hour, and the Roman city of Ostia Antica ten minutes away. It's far better than Pompeii IMV. You could actually see the place, no crowds.

Then from Naples (skipped Amalfi coast, not into the twee stuff full of coaches etc. but I'm sure it's gorgeous), and straight to Salerno from Naples. Had been to Pompeii and Herculaneum before so that box was ticked already. Not a patch on Ostia though! From Salerno went to Paestum for the Greek temples, then to Caserta for the amazing Royal Palace, truly stunning. Lots of Roman sites too many to mention in the whole area.

That's as far as I got on that trip which was for a little over 3 weeks. It was in October so was not too busy and could walk fast as it wasn't roasting. Did it all by train and the occasional bus, but you appear to be driving which does give more choice and freedom.

There are so many hidden gems in Italy. Your trip sounds amazing. Tell us more about the Sicily end of it. That's next on my list...I want to get the train on the boat across the Strait of Messina!

Eastern Sicily (syracuse, Taormina, ortigia)

Puglia and the heel Of the boot

Some fab ideas and great advice - thank you all so much! A friend of mine has just come back from Sicily so I am picking her brains too.

@fantamol thank you for the great pointers. We have opera tickets on 12 September in Palermo and were originally planning to fly in/out and just spend a few days in Sicily, but on reflection thought we could make a proper trip of it.

@rightoguvnor - yes, we think we'll head down through France and head along the coast while quoting lines from the original Day of the Jackal film. We might come back through Switzerland but haven't thought that far.

Lake Orta

Yes, that’s beautiful. We spent a week there a few years ago with friends who have a house nearby.

Turin is also good for food. Home of the slow food movement. I have a trip next year including Bologna so I'll be able to compare 😋

If you are at all into cars, the following might be worth including:

• Alfa Romeo museum outside Milan - probably the best lit and exhibited car museum we have been to.
• Turin - there’s a hotel in the old Fiat car factory - which is an amazing modernist building with a test track on the roof (now a garden). We also went to a great meal in the Michelin starred restaurant in the Green Pea building nearby (Casa Vicina, IIRC - Piedmontese family recipes elevated - remember a great rabbit dish there). The national motor museum is also nearby.

For either the way down or back, in France, would also recommend:

• The Jura - great food, cheese and wine - well worth a look at this region.
• Alsace - again great food and wine. Colmar is particularly lovely. Recommend the wine bar, Le Cercle des Arômes - had about 100 Alsatian wines by the glass and a similar number from elsewhere in France.

Were you able to stand after having 100 glasses of Alsace wine lol. 😊

While not particularly car fans we are film fans - considering Turin and the Fiat factory so we can quote The Italian Job at each other all day 😄. A Michelin starred restaurant a further bonus!

The Gargano peninsula- which is the Achilles heel on the Adriatic

Definitely two or three days in Bologna there’s so much to see and it’s less commercial and touristy than some of the other cities

A friend of mine goes to Tropea every year and loves it. I plan to go there this year!

I'll second Liguria...mountains, rocky coastline and endless pastel coloured hill villages. If you want a city, I love Genova. Maybe stay at somewhere pretty on the outskirts like Nervi and catch the train in? Food is pesto, focaccia, fresh pasta...

Then there are endless pretty hill towns in Tuscany/ Umbria/ Lazio. Urbino, Perugia, Assisi, Rieti, Terni etc etc. And on the plain I highly recommend Lucca, and Pistoia.

How about staying south of Rome in the Colli Romani- small towns around volcanic lakes with suburban train links into Rome? Places like Frascati, Castelgandolfo etc.

I think you can visit the Cinecitta studios in Rome. And maybe you need to make a pilgrimage to the beaches and umbrella pines around Ostia on the Roman coast in honour of Fellini (and the Trevi fountain in the middle of the night of course!)

I would do Orvieto, Assisi, Urbino and Perugia but I love Renaissance Art so …

Oh, but these towns are all stunningly beautiful even if you're a total philistine!

(If I only had to pick one it would be Urbino).

Also add that I think that the 2 palaces in Mantua are amazing and the frescos ( Giants) are quite something. We virtually had both places to ourselves. Mantua works well with Verona or Padua etc.

Oh, regarding medieval hill towns- unless you're driving an original Fiat 500 (or Mini 😉) I'd park somewhere outside the old walls and walk in!!

Not all in the same visit!
The great thing was they had bottles by the glass that had some real bottle age - which are hard(er) to find
in the UK.

We did this last year and covered a lot of the puglia region just beautiful. Went off the beaten track and found it less expensive. A lot of the places we visited I found on tik tok would you believe.
italy is truly stunning we did do the amalfi coast too which is far better seen by boat!!

Another vote for Lucca. It was nine years ago and I still remember everything I ate!