# Looking for perfect location for vacation next summer



## Kaye-and-Alex (Jul 17, 2017)

I am new to this forum, but so thankful I found it! Next summer, my family and I are wanting to take a 4-6 week vacation to Italy. We have never visited, so we are at a loss of where to start looking for a vacation rental. Your help would be greatly appreciated! We would want to stay somewhere where we could still get to most of the "must see tourist spots" within a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, we want to stay where we have that small town/village feel. I would love to see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and also the green rolling hills. We've considered staying in one location half of the trip and staying in different area the second half. Ideas, suggestions, and opinions welcome. Thanks in advance!


----------



## KenzoXIV (Nov 13, 2013)

Kaye-and-Alex said:


> I am new to this forum, but so thankful I found it! Next summer, my family and I are wanting to take a 4-6 week vacation to Italy. We have never visited, so we are at a loss of where to start looking for a vacation rental. Your help would be greatly appreciated! We would want to stay somewhere where we could still get to most of the "must see tourist spots" within a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, we want to stay where we have that small town/village feel. I would love to see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and also the green rolling hills. We've considered staying in one location half of the trip and staying in different area the second half. Ideas, suggestions, and opinions welcome. Thanks in advance!


Hi,

4-6 weeks is a long time so I would reccomend moving around abit. Italy is very different between north, south and the Islands so I would say a good way of exploring Italy could be a week in Sicily, A week in Sardinia and then 2-4 weeks for the Mainland. 

I can offer quite detailed advise about Sicily and would recommend you stay in Cefalu for the small town feel and easy access to the transport links to get to other tourist spots. Up north we hired a car for a week and travelled around between Venice and Siena stopping off at Florence, Pisa, Monteriggioni (I am an Assassins creed fan) and Bologna. We were going to do Rome too but decided it would be a bit ambitious in a small space of time so wanted to do it seperately.

This the sort of thing your looking for?

Kenzo


----------



## GeordieBorn (Jul 15, 2016)

A big ask for a very exciting time! A lot depends on the type of thinks you like. A quick search for "things to do in Italy" came up with this link quite high up (of course Tripadvisor was at the top...). 
Personally I would be absolutely daunted doing Kenzo’s trip let alone these top 20 things to see (I’ve actually done quite a few of them). I think you need to narrow down your requirements and do as you are doing in researching. Look more in general about Italy to see what things you would like to see as opposed to other people “must see”. Have you decided where you will fly into, will you have a car hire, have you looked at rail travel, is it a once in a life time trip, are there young kids in the family? There is a lot to consider and I think the more planning the better the trip, although too much can spoil the fun – but planning can also be part of the build up!


----------



## KenzoXIV (Nov 13, 2013)

Hehe just to clarify my trip was daunting because it was a lot of driving... Especially when I could only afford to hire a fiat 500! But we did it because I love driving so the driving was a part of the holiday and my wife had not explored much of Italy despite being Italian.... Turns out my Wife did not like car travel as much as me.... Oops!

We really focused on obvious landmarks, snap a photo (pointless because I lost my phone on that trip at the end) and move on. Some people may find it a bit fast paced but the intention was always to go back and visit places in more detail once we had decided what we liked. We didn't want to commit to a week in Venice if it turned out we didn't like it. Venice for example is lovely, but I wouldn't want a whole week there myself, a nice day out though.

As Geordieborn said It really does depend on what you want from your trip. Give us all some more details about what you like and your travelling companion(s) and we will be able to offer much better advice.

Kenzo


----------



## Dylan2aT (Nov 16, 2016)

Kaye-and-Alex said:


> I am new to this forum, but so thankful I found it! Next summer, my family and I are wanting to take a 4-6 week vacation to Italy. We have never visited, so we are at a loss of where to start looking for a vacation rental. Your help would be greatly appreciated! We would want to stay somewhere where we could still get to most of the "must see tourist spots" within a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, we want to stay where we have that small town/village feel. I would love to see the beautiful Mediterranean Sea and also the green rolling hills. We've considered staying in one location half of the trip and staying in different area the second half. Ideas, suggestions, and opinions welcome. Thanks in advance!


My wife and I stay for one week at a time in each location, using an apartment rental service such as AirBnB or Homelidays, so that one can check the reviews of the facilities, sites and conveniences of a particular locale. This has worked out well and is most cost effective. Buona fortuna in Italia!


----------



## Kaye-and-Alex (Jul 17, 2017)

All great replies! This has given me some ideas with what to work with. At the moment, I'm a bit overwhelmed, thinking of it all. I look at most vacations as a possibility of being a once in a lifetime experience, just in case it is. I have all intentions of making several trips to Italy, but if the chance never arrives, I don't want to have any regrets of not seeing/experiencing something. 

Looking at all the pictures I see, I love it all! Possibly a week in each location would be best then. We will be traveling with 2 of our children, ages 16 and 12. As far as the transportation, I assumed we would rent a car. (IS THAT THE SAME AS HIRING A CAR?) 

Lots to do..... thanks, everyone! Cannot wait to make this trip. Hoping to love it as much as I imagine I will and to make this trip several times in my lifetime!


----------



## KenzoXIV (Nov 13, 2013)

Kaye-and-Alex said:


> All great replies! This has given me some ideas with what to work with. At the moment, I'm a bit overwhelmed, thinking of it all. I look at most vacations as a possibility of being a once in a lifetime experience, just in case it is. I have all intentions of making several trips to Italy, but if the chance never arrives, I don't want to have any regrets of not seeing/experiencing something.
> 
> Looking at all the pictures I see, I love it all! Possibly a week in each location would be best then. We will be traveling with 2 of our children, ages 16 and 12. As far as the transportation, I assumed we would rent a car. (IS THAT THE SAME AS HIRING A CAR?)
> 
> Lots to do..... thanks, everyone! Cannot wait to make this trip. Hoping to love it as much as I imagine I will and to make this trip several times in my lifetime!


Yeah renting and hiring is the same thing. Just be sure you have a credit card with a minimum $1000 limit free on it. Some places wont need it but again do your research.

Italy like every other country varies depending on region. Visiting Las Vegas is not like visiting Detroit but on both occasions I have visited the USA. You really need to focus on what you want to experience. If you want good pizza, Napoli, if you want good wine, Tuscany. Sun sea and sand, Sicily. For example. You could visit the valley of the temples in Agrigento or the Duomo in Milan. It really is diverse so be sure to do some research, ask your travelling companions what they want from the holiday and all will be good.

Kenzo


----------



## Kaye-and-Alex (Jul 17, 2017)

Thank you ALL for your input. Looks like I have a lot of research to do! I don't know WHAT I am wanting to experience on this extended vacation.... I really want it ALL! We may have to a week here, a week there, a few days here.... Then our next trip over I will have a better idea of where I want to settle down. 

But please... any input is still welcome. Love this forum!


----------



## KenzoXIV (Nov 13, 2013)

Kaye-and-Alex said:


> Thank you ALL for your input. Looks like I have a lot of research to do! I don't know WHAT I am wanting to experience on this extended vacation.... I really want it ALL! We may have to a week here, a week there, a few days here.... Then our next trip over I will have a better idea of where I want to settle down.
> 
> But please... any input is still welcome. Love this forum!


'ALL' is a big ask. There are big cities and small villages, mountain towns and ports. I would break it down into which regions have the most of what you want to see and spend a little time in each. Another little pro tip is to rent a car in the north, and then rent a car in the south. The north tends to get nervous if you tell them your planning on taking the car south.

My particular car hire company said if we were going any further south than Rome we would have to pay a premium.

Kenzo


----------



## divian082 (Aug 9, 2017)

*Sardegna*

I would like to recommend that you can stay in sardinia(englidh name),
italian name is sardegna. one of best mediterian beach you can see.
just googling 'sardegna' after you could be inspired this beautiful island and emeralda coasta. cheers! i live in castelsardo,sardegna from Hawaii,US.:music:


----------



## divian082 (Aug 9, 2017)

Sunny Day! Even Hot!!!


----------

