Trip with family to Cortona/Tuscany and Florence
Mar 6th, 2022, 01:27 PM
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Trip with family to Cortona/Tuscany and Florence
I am taking my adult chrildren and thei significant others and my boyfriend to celebrate my 65th birthday in 2 weeks. I rented a villa in Cortona and are plannong a day trip to Floremce. We love to eat, shop, and sightsee. iWe plan to take day trips for a week. We rented a car in the Rome airport and will be driving to the villa I have already scheduled some activitiies. I would love recommendattons for fun activites, places to go, restaurants. wineries, shopping...
I appreciate any recommendattions!!
I appreciate any recommendattions!!
Last edited by debs57; Mar 6th, 2022 at 02:21 PM.
Mar 6th, 2022, 02:55 PM
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https://www.autoeurope.ca/italy-ztl-zones/
Read up about ZTLs. Basically most cities and towns in Italy have these zones which are limited to residents only. You will get a fine if you drive into a restricted area, there are cameras everywhere and the ticket will be mailed to you at home, and yes, you are expected to pay it. So it's good to do some research beforehand. Florence is definitely not a place to drive into but there are parking places on the outskirts of the city or you can take the train.
Cortona has the ZTL as well, but your villa landlord should be able to advise you on that, maybe they will have a temporary permit for you or they can tell you where to park on the outskirts.
I wouldn't assume the car will come with GPS but it's easy enough to find out from the rental agency or you can use Google maps on your phone.
How many people are you in total? If you are all going to be in one car that likely means a very large vehicle which is not easy in Italy where parking tends to be tight and some roads are narrow.
What sort of shopping are you wanting to do? Florence has some great shops and there is a good luxury discount mall outside of Florence if that interests you. If you say what type of shopping I may be able to recommend. I had lunch at a fantastic restaurant in Cortona last time, let me see if I can find the name of the place.
There are loads of great wineries, in Italy you need to make an appointment in advance usually rather than just turning up like you do in North America.
Read up about ZTLs. Basically most cities and towns in Italy have these zones which are limited to residents only. You will get a fine if you drive into a restricted area, there are cameras everywhere and the ticket will be mailed to you at home, and yes, you are expected to pay it. So it's good to do some research beforehand. Florence is definitely not a place to drive into but there are parking places on the outskirts of the city or you can take the train.
Cortona has the ZTL as well, but your villa landlord should be able to advise you on that, maybe they will have a temporary permit for you or they can tell you where to park on the outskirts.
I wouldn't assume the car will come with GPS but it's easy enough to find out from the rental agency or you can use Google maps on your phone.
How many people are you in total? If you are all going to be in one car that likely means a very large vehicle which is not easy in Italy where parking tends to be tight and some roads are narrow.
What sort of shopping are you wanting to do? Florence has some great shops and there is a good luxury discount mall outside of Florence if that interests you. If you say what type of shopping I may be able to recommend. I had lunch at a fantastic restaurant in Cortona last time, let me see if I can find the name of the place.
There are loads of great wineries, in Italy you need to make an appointment in advance usually rather than just turning up like you do in North America.
Mar 8th, 2022, 08:13 AM
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All 6 of us are in the same car and yes it will be a van. We already arranged to take the train to and from Florence as the concierge at the villa indicated it would be difficult to park there
I suppose we want leather goods in Florence. Do you know of any great places?
I suppose we want leather goods in Florence. Do you know of any great places?
Mar 8th, 2022, 08:52 AM
#6
Some good info on buying leather goods in Florence:
https://www.italymagazine.com/featur...ather-florence
https://www.italymagazine.com/featur...ather-florence
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Mar 8th, 2022, 03:51 PM
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That's a good link Jean gave you.
I would be very wary of buying leather goods in either of the markets, it is easy to get ripped off by leather that looks good when the sales guy is giving his pitch but nowadays a lot of it is made in China or it's the kind of leather they shave very thin and glue to a backing. Stick to the leather school or various retail stores. Furla is an Italian brand that make nice handbags, good quality and not Gucci prices. If you want Gucci of course there is a Gucci store in the centre of Florence with an interesting museum attached and now, just opened, a cocktail bar. Also there is The Mall not far from Florence which has all the big name luxury discount stores, there is a shuttle from Florence.
A store I love to visit in Oltrarno is Casini Firenze by Jennifer Tattanelli. It's across from the Pitti Palace. Not cheap, quite expensive, but top quality bags, shoes, boots and clothes.
Oltrarno (across the river from the historical centre is worth a wander over to because it has some amazing little artisan shops like the paper goods bilboburgler mentioned, jewellery, clothing, shoes, all sorts, at least I hope they are still there given the pandemic.
Madova, which is mentioned in Jean's link has fabulous leather gloves in every colour imaginable, an old family owned business, very good quality.
I would be very wary of buying leather goods in either of the markets, it is easy to get ripped off by leather that looks good when the sales guy is giving his pitch but nowadays a lot of it is made in China or it's the kind of leather they shave very thin and glue to a backing. Stick to the leather school or various retail stores. Furla is an Italian brand that make nice handbags, good quality and not Gucci prices. If you want Gucci of course there is a Gucci store in the centre of Florence with an interesting museum attached and now, just opened, a cocktail bar. Also there is The Mall not far from Florence which has all the big name luxury discount stores, there is a shuttle from Florence.
A store I love to visit in Oltrarno is Casini Firenze by Jennifer Tattanelli. It's across from the Pitti Palace. Not cheap, quite expensive, but top quality bags, shoes, boots and clothes.
Oltrarno (across the river from the historical centre is worth a wander over to because it has some amazing little artisan shops like the paper goods bilboburgler mentioned, jewellery, clothing, shoes, all sorts, at least I hope they are still there given the pandemic.
Madova, which is mentioned in Jean's link has fabulous leather gloves in every colour imaginable, an old family owned business, very good quality.
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