Just my two cents but if you haven’t seen the Amalfi Coast, you should NOT miss it!
A car in Florence…Yikes!!! We rented our car near the train station and somehow got ourselves going the wrong way on what I swear was the world’s longest oneway street. We did fine driving up the coast and then to Milan, but we changed our Milan car return location to just outside of the city and took a taxi to the hotel.
Do you still need an “international” license to drive in Italy?
We loved our stay in Como at the Palace Hotel - http://www.palacehotel.it/en
Also…in case you didn’t know, you can go to google maps and enter Rome Italy hotels, etc. I love how you can immediately gain an understanding of locations. But be aware that many times, this will bring you to an Expedia type website so you may still have to dig around for the “official” site.
We have stayed here: http://www.ilburchio.it/
Hotel Tenuta il Burchio – a little less than a 30 minute drive to Florence – nice people, great food, amazing views, refreshing pool – all outstanding – only stayed 2 nights as part of a longer vacation of Italy/Europe but would love to visit again.
You don’t need an international license to drive in Italy. A lot of countries might say you do, but we’ve never been asked during multiple visit. Your DL from the USA is fine.
I once drove a rental car alone and at night from Bologna airport to Florence, and when I got to Florence I found my downtown hotel. Confession: after driving several fruitless laps around and through Florence I had to stop into a McDonald’s (because someone there would be able to speak English) and ask them directions to the address of my hotel. Once I got to the hotel there was no place whatsoever to park or even stop in front of it. So I pulled up half on the sidewalk and went in to check in. The bellman took my keys and drove the car away and then brought it back for me the next day when it was time to leave.
Finding the hotel would probably be much easier today thanks to Google Maps App, which works pretty well in Europe. To this day I still have no idea where the bellman parked the car for the night.
Get a rental with GPS. Lots of parking garages in Florence but you don’t need a car in the city, only if you want to go exploring in the Tuscany countryside.
I highly recommend Lerici, on the Bay of Poets, south of the Cinque Terre and west of Lucca. It’s a lovely little beach town with lots of rental apartments and small hotels. A nice town inland south of Florence is Castellina in Chianti. Daughter and I stayed at The Palazzo Squarcialupi a 15th-century castle that is now a nice small hotel. We had a car, but took a local bus into Florence as we weren’t brave enough to drive!
If you are thinking about heading as far south as Sorrento, consider Ischia. It is an island in the Gulf of Naples, near Capri. It is larger than Capri, with large beaches, beautiful sights to visit, thermal waters due to its volcanic origin, and plenty to offer. It is not as expensive as Capri, and not as well known to Americans. If you saw the movie The Talented Mr. Ripley, many of the early scenes were filmed there. If you choose to go, you really must consider a day at Giardini Poseidon - it is like no place else. A thermal park with 21 different mineral pools, private beach, spa services, and a view that will give you memories for a lifetime!
I thought our itinerary was set and then I started this thread (which I now wish I had done much sooner). I will be spending the next couple of days checking the great links and suggestions. So much great info! Thanks!
My only concern is if you go south to Capri, Sorrento on this trip, you’ll spend precious time traveling rather than relaxing or doing.
Last summer in Sorrento, we stayed at Hotel Vesuvio. It’s up on the hill, but has convenient free shuttle service into town. The view of the Bay of Naples from the hotel was nice. The hotel interior is a bit dated, but everything was in good repair and spotlessly clean. We took suites on an upper floor: one for us and one for our pair of boys. The suite was long enough that we could separate their beds on either side of the bathroom, so they could have privacy. The view from our balconies was nice!
We would stay there again. It was a nice experience and a good value.
Sorrento is amazing! We stayed at this place and loved it last year. It is in the center of the old section, but bathrooms were totally updated. So east to walk to everything. No pool though. There are lots of nice places with pools, but they tend to be further out.
http://www.maisontofani.com/