Travel Answers

Castellina in Chianti

Could you advise where to eat for Dinner. There are 11 adults wanting an evening meal that is reasonably priced.

Can you recommend a company that will provide a small van and driver in Siena, to help explore the hill towns of Southern Tuscany?

I need to find a small fan in Florence italy. Can you tell me a store that might have one?

What are the transportation facilities from Palaia to Pisa,
Florence and borgo di coleolli ? We will be visiting these places and would like to know about buses and trains

I try to find the best place for the first week of october for our group of 7. 2 couples are about 30 y.o., me and my husband 53 y.o. and our 13 y.o. son. Me exepting they are all fanatic mountain bikers and will bring their own bikes. We do not need all inclusive but would like to have breakfast and nearby restaurants for dinner. Sea view would be fantastic, a beach where my son could do some windsurfing, public bus nearby, appartments for the youngers and hotel for us, a big house with enough rooms? Any idea?

how to get inside towers?

After a week on Isola d’Elba we will go by Grimaldi ferry from Livorno to Barcelona. We will have to leave the hotel in the morning but the ferry only leaves at 23.30. I already asked Grimaldi Lines about the earliest hour to embark but didn’t get an answer. We will travel by train and bus from Piombino Port to Livorno and won’t have a lot of luggage. How can we spend the day at Livorno and how can we get from Livorno Centrale to the Port? Does the bus to Piazza Grande leave at Central Station?

Has anyone used Viator on a tour of Pisa from Firenze? We are not using the train because there are 2 pregnant women, an infant, and a man who walks with a cane.
Do you know if they use seat belts on their vehicles to transport?

Any other suggestions for our visit to Pisa on a June Sunday?

Thank you in advance.

What is the tipping rule for taxis, restaurants, hotels, etc? We will be mostly in Florence, Grosseto, and Rome.

Thank you in advance.

Can someone tell me in which contrada the Hotel Athena is? I am staying here for the Palio in August. I would like to attend one of the blessing of the horses - any info is appreciated.

Hi there,
Can anyone recommend a rooftop restaurant we could visit in Florence, as part of our honeymoon celebrations?? We are also visiting Venice & Sorrento, if anyone has any suggestions for that somewhere special or a hidden gem :)

The subject line says it all. Too many confusing choices to one unfamiliar with the city. Some good VT traveler recommendations? Thanks.

We are staying in Florence for three nights in July. As part of our trip we'd love to venture out into 'wine country'. Is it fairly easy to find & arrange day trips to Chianti (or similar) at a reasonable price, going from Florence??

hi we will be travelling to Florence for the 1st time and we are looking for places of interest in florence, lucca, pisa etc. We might also go for a day in Rome...how is the best way to travel to Rome ? another thing our kids are 15 and 10. Are there any attractions for them or else a waterpark somewhere near so as to entertain them ?

My family and I will be in Pisa for a few days in July. Obviously we realize it is high season in Tuscany and we are prepared for that. One day outside of Pisa will be focused on 2 'touristy' cities but we'd like another day to be spent in 1 or 2 cities that are more so 'off the beaten path'. The most we'd want to drive is 2 hours from Pisa. Any recommendations for a fun out of the way hilltop village that isn't spoiled by us pesky tourists? :)

Trip Advisor's FlipKey has several apartments that could work for our family of 4 adults in Florence.
I have never used FlipKey, and have only rented vacation homes in the US.
Would this be a challenging situation in a country where we don't speak the language (no hotel concierge, etc)?
We are pretty good with our smart phones and apps for touring...
Prices look very good assuming it is for all 4 of us in one apt per night. I'm thinking we want to stay very close to if not by the historic city center area, as we only have 2 nights and don't want to be walking our entire stay.
thanks

Hello! I've been using wonderful advice from forum members here to put together a pretty solid Italy itinerary -- the only worrisome bit of it is the three days we'll be driving a car (as I may have intimated in other posts, I have zero European driving experience). So here's my problem - we are departing Siena on Sunday, which appears to be a tough time to give companies their cars back. There's one small rental agency brokered through Auto Europe or Kemwel or whatever that's quite a ways out of town, and it's the only place that accepts after hours dropoffs. We can bus in and out of town from there, etc, but that makes catching trains and whatnot that much more difficult.

Both Hertz and Avis offer comparably priced rentals that I can pick up in Siena and drop off at the Florence airport -- those offices are fully staffed on Sundays. I have heard that it's pretty easy to drive into the airport area for driving novices in Florence.

SO - do I stick with a local rental agency and hoof it in and out of town to pick up and drop off, then rush to an early train to Florence at the Siena station -- or do I leave the agriturismo at my leisure on Sunday morning and risk driving into the big city to drop off the car in Florence and simply take the bus into the city to our lodging? I'm all for driving, but I'm pretty nervous about getting caught in strange foreign streets.

On a side note, I also have no idea how gas stations work over there, and I understand there are toll booths between Siena and Florence which, as a Montana boy, I have also never dealt with in my life... any thoughts?

How easy is it to live near Siena?
Can I move there with well-behaved dogs?
Can a senior have special services?

Are there interesting places to see in Florence that we need to book ahead of time? Some of the places/things we'd like to see are: Uffizi, Pitti Palace, the David, and Museo di San Marco.

Thank you in advance.

if we fly into Florence, and we travel by train, what are the two best towns to stay in? we would like to explore as much as possible, and not stay in the countryside.

Please tell me about the Artfast card that allows entrances without waiting in line. I would like to use it to visit the Duomo. How do I buy it online?

Thank you in advance.

Arriving on Noordam September 22nd, 2013 (Sunday), we would like to rent a car for the day, Please advise which companies have offices dock side and if they are open on Sunday. Any information appreciated.

thanks

ScotAsuCan
Vancouver, B.C.