# Other Places Around The World > Italy Travel Forum >  >  We're back from a month and a half  in Italy

## lmj

Well, what can I say?  Our trip was perfect, could not have been better, a truly amazing journey on all levels.  Weather was great (we used our umbrellas for 5 minutes in 46 days), the hotels were spectacular (even the one in Puglia that only cost 125 euros a night - check out the Villa Magnolia pix), travel was flawless (a total of 7 legs for our various destinations, we were late a total of 1 hour), the cars were excellent (a Toyota, a BMW, and a Mercedes), the roads were amazing (SO much better than in the U.S.), signage was excellent, as were my maps (we never got lost even once, and we put 2000 miles on our 3 cars).  And the food... just unbelievable.  And cheap!  We ate and drank in the best restaurants in Italy, amazing food and wine --- best we ever had --- and not nearly as expensive as SBH.  

We started in Venice for a week (Centurion Palace), then flew to Puglia for a week (Villa Magnolia), then flew to Milan and drove to Stresa on Lake Maggiore (5 nights, stayed at La Luna Nel Porto), then to Piemonte (Villa Beccaris in Monforte d'Alba) for 5 nights.  Then we were supposed to go to Lake Garda for 5 nights but rain was predicted for the whole time so we decided to go south.  We forfeited our 500 euro deposit and drove down to Santa Margherita Ligure, which we had loved 12 years ago.  Well, it was still beautiful and our favorite restaurant was still there (Cesarina, where we had an amazing meal) but we were surprised by the congestion and the noise.  Scooters everywhere, it just wasn't relaxing.  So after a couple of days we bolted and went down to Lucca, which we LOVED.  Then on to Poggio ai Santi near San Vincenzo, which was a beautiful place to stay, a very upscale agriturismo.  (We chose it as a good staging point for Elba and it's perfect for that, but there are also some great restaurants in the area.)  Next we took the car ferry over to Elba, where we spent a relaxing and fun "beach week".  We stayed right on the beach in an apartment/hotel in Marina di Campo, and had perfect weather - 80's, sunny, no humidity - the whole week.  We were I think the only Americans on the island; everybody was kind of surprised that we were there.  It's a very Italian vacation spot, with a few Germans and a few other Europeans.  We loved it!  After Elba we moved to the Maremma for a few days, just to try out two hotels we had always wanted to stay at:  L'Andana and Il Pellicano.  Both superb, stunning, perfect in every way.  I'd have to give the edge to il Pellicano for the gorgeous oceanfront setting, but l'Andana is also beautiful.  Then we drove to Rome to fly to Sardinia.  

Sardinia was amazing!  Really beyond our expectations.  The scale of it was way beyond what we expected, the dramatic landscape was just not something you can capture with a camera.  Food was beyond incredible, from little seaside trattorias to agriturismi to the finest Michelin-starred restaurants, it was all fantastic.  We loved the Porto Cervo/Costa Smerelda area and will definitely return.  We stayed at the Cervo Hotel which was great, right on the Piazzetta, very charming, amazing staff.  We were there for 5 nights then moved south to Cala Gonone and then to the shore near Oristano.  Finally we flew to Munich for one night and then back home.  

That's the short version... if you're interested in seeing pix to fill in the blanks, here are a few of the thousand that I took:
Venezia, Puglia, Stresa, Piemonte pix 
Liguria 
Lucca 
Maremma 
Elba 
Sardinia
The Food (with apologies to Amy, who is much better at this) 
The Hotels 

That's about it, folks!  I would be happy to give more details to anybody interested.  I did a ton of research and it definitely paid off, and I'd be happy to share it with anyone headed over there.

Ciao for now,
Lynn & Paul

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## Petri

I can read between the lines that you had a great trip!

How was Stresa now with more into the season?  Too busy already or manageable?  The roads didn't look like they could accommodate too much traffic..

Did you enjoy Piemonte, Monforte d'Alba and Villa Beccaris?  Friends just returned from a vacation in Serralunga d'Alba, right next door.

Friends rent a villa south of Lucca last June, near Chianni.  All that region is so beautiful, just to chill, drive around, eat the great food (can't go wrong with bistecca alla fiorentina) and drink the great wines.  Do nothing.  We preferred Toscany over Piemonte in general, the latter is so much smaller and there are more industrial areas while in Tuscany it's more agriculture.  A field will always look better than a factory building.





> We were I think the only Americans on the island; everybody was kind of surprised that we were there.  It's a very Italian vacation spot, with a few Germans and a few other Europeans.



The island is a german hot spot in august.  It gets really busy and full of people.

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## smason3

What stunning photos. Thank you so much for sharing!

I'm glad to see someone else loves sparkling wine as much as I do.

AND yes, I agree, it is time for the rolling chocolate dessert bar!!

The next time we go to Italy (which maybe sooner now that I've seen your photos!), I will definitely be in touch.

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## phil62

We are housebound today so much torrential rain, and that your sunny Italy travels just brightened the day

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## lmj

Venice video 

Okay, so here's my attempt at a YouTube video... this isn't a very good editing or audio job, it's my first attempt, very amateurish... anyway, this is the view from our balcony on the Grand Canal.  We had a junior suite that was just magnifico - and sitting on the balcony became one of our favorite ways to spend some time.

And yes, Petri, we really loved Villa Beccaris specifically and Piemonte in general.  We've been to Tuscany many times and frankly, I appreciated the lack of tourists in Piemonte, the simplicity of the place and the openness of the people.  Also we loved the food and thought it was better than Tuscany, although we have yet to have a bad meal in Italy (but we do a lot of research).  We also liked Stresa, it was EMPTY, no problems there, very quiet (early June).  Easy to get around although we only drove once, when we took a little trip up to Switzerland.  The only thing about Stresa was that there was a mist over the lake for the entire week that we were there, although the sun was shining we couldn't get may good photos of the views.  If you remember, from La Luna the mountains behind the lake were huge and gorgeous, but we just couldn't capture them on film, they were just behind the mist and visible to the eye but not the lens... a shame.  We would definitely go back to both Stresa and Piemonte, we thought both were beautiful, and both very neglected by Americans.

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## andynap

I am jealous but doing what you did in 2001 assuages my feelings somewhat. Our next trip will be south- Capri, Positano, Modena, et al

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## smason3

Andy-I'm envious. Pete and I were talking tonight about where to go for a quick trip to Italy (thanks Lynn for planting the seed). I said without a doubt Ravello, which as you know is so close to Positano and Capri.

On our last trip we stayed in Doglio, just outside Lucca. While it was quite difficult to buy meat, we found wonderful restaurants and a wonderful local store. The owner, who was always upstairs and we had to ring the bell for him to open the store for us, was more than a perfect host. His daughter invited us to a World Cup game that Italy was playing. Unfortunately, it was much too late for us (we had small children), but we could hear the party from our villa up in the hills.

During one of our visits with Mario, who spoke no English and my husband no Italian, our boys played Monopoly with his grandchildren, while we drank beers on ice (the refrigeration was quite poor) and I translated. Our boys still talk about it.

Lynn, looking at all the friendly people with whom you ate, I completely understand. Again, what a wonderful trip and lovely visual diary.

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## andynap

Lucca is such a great place. The wall and walkway around, the food, olive oil, and people are wonderful.

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## lmj

Andy, we had a great trip to Ravello, Capri, and Ischia 3 or 4 years ago, if you are interested in any hotel suggestions let me know... We particularly loved Hotel Minerva in Capri and, from a trip many years ago, the Palazzo Murat.

Also I know you didn't mean Modena, which is up near Bologna and which we visited 2 years ago... so where else besides Capri and Positano?

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## andynap

I meant Ravello- the city of music.

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## lmj

yeah, we loved Ravello!  We stayed at the Hotel Caruso, gorgeous place!

BTW, our next trip will be to Capri/Ravello too... we love it there.

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## LindaP

Lynn, beautiful photos.....our daughter went to Elba once, small, right? How was Sardinia? From your pics, it looks awesome!!!! What a great trip!
     Andy, we have been twice to Capri....Hotel Luna is good too, easy walk into town. And, we stayed at Casa Angelina in Praino, outside Positano, not as busy, and was one of the best hotels ever!
   Our next trip is Portugal, in about 8 weeks! Love it there, reminds me of Capri.

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## lmj

Linda, I gave a friend the contact info for Casa Angelina, I've seen it but not stayed there, she had a great time.  I'm glad to hear that you did too, we'll look into it for our next trip for sure.  Have fun in Portugal!!!  I've never been... we keep going back to Italy and France, I guess it's time for a change but we love both and haven't seen all of either of them.  Safe travels!

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