Hmmm, I’m taking a cruise form Barcelona to Venice in a couple of weeks. I’ll wave at the cars.
Not as much as the Texans.
I have a few very good restaurant recommendations in Barcelona - not as good (or as pricey) as elBulli, but for that you should have placed reservations last year.
I’ve never been to any major city without prostitutes in certain parts. Stay away from those parts, if it bothers you.
Talking of Barcelona, then the south end of The Rambla (where our hotel was incidently) is where the very in your face African prostitutes hang out. Also many pickpockets. But there’s lots of people and police, so you shouldn’t fear for your life… just your wallet. It’s still a great city.
What Nellie said about Monte Carlo goes somewhat for Cannes too - the surroundings are really nice, though (and green if you share fRomats rigid sense of aesthetics) the town also has some very nice small restaurants and hotels that aren’t that expensive.
Incidently I’ve been to the Sahara and while very repetitive it was one of the most stunningly beautifull places I’ve seen. Also flying over it for four hours makes you realize what a fucking huge place it is. I also like Southern Spain. I prefer Northern Spain (around San Sebastian is really stunning) but found the middle and Madrid too dry for my taste - but that had more to do with my wellbeing than visuals. Madrid itself is a nice city to visit also… but out of your way, so this is just an aside.
Too bad this is a bit further North than your route (barcelona - Paris):
But yeah, a real eysore as is the landscape surrounding it.
I’ve been to Italy many times, and I can strongly recommend not spending a large amount of time in Venice. Of all the Italian cities, it’s by far my least favorite; it’s dirty, overrun with tourists (to a degree other cities are not), and the people are incredibly unfriendly. And this is coming from someone who generally loves Italy (it is my heritage).
If I were you, I’d spend time in Tuscany…specifically Florence, and then perhaps some of the Tuscan towns such as Siena, or Lucca. Florence is just a truly amazing city.
I’ve only been to Italy three times, but Venice is by far my (new, having never made it north of Roma in previous trips) favorite. The architecture is spectacular, water everywhere adds endless appeal, and the (literally) Byzantine layout allows you to wander aimlessly without ever being at a loss for something new and interesting to discover. On the other hand, it is ridiculously expensive—expect to pay double for basically everything—and very crowded. And the food is even worse than in other places in Italy, plus you can’t even retreat to pizza since wood fired ovens are banned. Stay at Al Ponte Antico Hotel, which almost deserves all the gushing on tripadvisor, and tell Matteo the Canadian professors say hi.
Avoid the water taxis at all costs. Well, not all costs, just if you want to avoid paying 55 euro for a five minute ride. Take the water buses, and use them to tour. Take the #1 around the grand canal, the #41 around the city and the near islands, and the NL to go out to the relatively far-flung fishing village islands. Ridiculously inexpensive by Venetian standards and very cool.
I found Florence disappointing, although perhaps my expectations were just too high. My fiance loves it. It’s a pretty town, though, particularly when viewed from the surrounding hills. Michelangelo’s David is truly impressive. I would suggest staying somewhere just out of town, in the hills, rather than right in the heart of things, which is what we will do next time.
The food: endlessly disappointing. Don’t even attempt fine dining, even if you make the effort to research places which tourists won’t usually find. Eat cheap simple stuff at hole in the all trattorias. It won’t be great, but at least you won’t be looking at a 100 euro a head meal that Olive Garden would be ashamed to serve. (Notable exception: every risotto I have ever ordered in Italy has been excellent.) Although one must admire the dedication to meals as leisurely events to be enjoyed:
My advice is to spend more time in France and less in Italy. I just plain love France.
On a random note, Spain apparently wasn’t always a bleak desert. This is a relatively recent occurrence within the past 700 years or so, as it was deforested to make way for cash crops (which obviously didn’t last very long), and sheep (which only helped the interior become a barren wasteland).
Ah, my favorite vacation destinations… Some years ago, I drove from Algarve to Genoa and back in about two weeks, with long stops in Barcelona and Paris. Last year, I took a 3.5 week, counter-clockwise around the Alps, starting and finishing in Nice. Between those two drives, I’ve taken the same route you plan on taking. Extremely enjoyable, painfully expensive, but totally worth it. It’s almost impossible not to have a great trip.
First of all, have you already made arrangements for your ride? Three weeks is the minimum length of time for which a lease (Renault Eurodrive or Peugeot Open Europe) becomes economical. The upside of a lease is getting a brand-new car of your choice. Want a diesel-engined, automatic convertible with an in-dash GPS? With leases it’s… very possible! (If a model is unavailable, you’ll know long before you sign the agreement.) Plus, full roadside assistance in every country you’ll be visiting. At two weeks, though, you may find a straight rental (I recommend AutoEurope) to be a couple hundred dollars cheaper. Watch out for killer one-way drop fees, though.
Barcelona-Venice is a great route for places to visit and amazing scenery, though the roads are boring autoroutes for pretty much the whole way. If you want recommendations for fun, twisty driving routes, just ask, though I’ll understand if you just want to get to the next hotel as quickly as possible. Personally, I would prefer doing Venice to Barcelona. They’re both spectacular cities, but the energy is completely different. Venice is a decaying city that’s choked with tourists you thought you left behind. It also smells funny in mid-summer. Barcelona, on the other hand, is clean, vibrant, and feels young. Lots of tourists there, too, but there’s space to swing your arms. More things to see and do, too, in my opinion.
Here are some suggestions for places to see between B and V: Take a left at Narbonne and it’s a few hours to Carcassonne. You’ve played the board game, now visit the castle! It’s more of a 19th century Disneyland than an authentic medieval experience, but that doesn’t diminish the first time you see those walls lit up at night. There are several hotels (and an HI Hostel, if you’re cheap) within the castle, if you want an extra special experience.
Further up Languedoc, you can stop at either Nimes or Avignon, which both have plenty of Roman ruins and craggy scenery. Watch Ronin to see if you’re into that. Nimes is also a terminus of the TGV, so you can schedule a quick trip to Paris if you feel saucy. Once you hit the Cote d’Azur, most tourists would dither between staying at either Cannes or Nice. (You can probably skip Marseille.) They’re certainly worth a visit, but I recommend Menton, which is right on the French-Italian border. To me, it’s what Monaco might have looked in the 1920s, before high-rise apartments blighted the topography. Less crowded, more serene, cheaper, and just plain relaxing.
This is becoming a long post, but I’m committed! Once into Italy, don’t bother with Genoa. There are a couple of neat things to see, like the striped Duomo, but it’s generally an ugly, industrialized, port city. Do plan a day or two to visit Cinque Terre on the Ligurian Coast, and try to hike through all five villages if you can. Vernazza at sunset is one of the most beautiful sights you’ll see in Italy (see below). From there, it’s a few hours to Pisa. All the important sights are clustered around the Tower, so it’s easy to check off your list and definitely worth seeing. Lucca is also pleasant, though you may be overdosing on tiny medieval towns by now. (Google “Devil’s Bridge Lucca” and see how that grabs you.)
Florence cannot be missed, so plan on spending a couple of days, at minimum. Trust me: Try to see everything. I stayed at a lakeside B&B (found through Logis de France–a great resource) about an hour to the south, in Cavriglia. This put me in a good spot to make day trips to the medieval skyscrapers of San Gimignano, and spectacular Siena, which rivals Florence in unmissable sights and overall beauty. I’ve never attended the Palio horse race, but remember these dates: July 2 and August 16. If there was any city where I wish I could have spent more time last year, it was Siena.
You may notice I skipped Milan on my trip. Based on my research and feedback from friends who’ve been, I’m OK with that. I did spend a few days at Lake Como (but not with George Clooney), which is just as stunning as you’ve been led to believe. Lake Garda is a good alternative if you’re taking a northern route to Venice. Me, I stopped at Maranello on my way out of Florence so I could see the Ferrari Museum. Ripoff, even to devoted tifosi, and the place can’t hold a candle to the German ubermuseums to the north. Padua was my final stop before Venice. It doesn’t compare to the richness of Siena or Florence, but there are a few quiet spots that are affectingly pretty e.g. Prato della Valle. Visiting the remains of St. Anthony was also a personal highlight.
Are you planning on staying at Venice proper? It’s very expensive and, as I mentioned earlier, my awe of the city’s sights was tempered by a feeling of unpleasantness. I could not imagine staying there overnight, but your own reaction and budget may vary. My hotel (‘Antico Moro’) was a 30-minute bus ride away, in Zelarino. It cost about EUR 60, and was one of the nicest places I stayed at.
So… that’s it! If you want to keep heading east, there’s great stuff to see in Trieste and then Slovenia. Otherwise, you’ve just seen many of the best sights of Europe, and of the world. Please feel free to ask about anything, and I will cheerfully bore you. Finally, here’s a couple of old threads I enjoyed.
Milan really isn’t worth seeing unless you’re interested in the fashion world, or want to do some clothes shopping (or, I should say, if your wife wants to do those things). It’s just a very modern city…
Siena is amazing; definitely worth a visit. We stayed a week one year outside of Lucca, which is a beautiful, an old walled medieval city. Lucca converted the town walls to a park, so the best part is strolling about the walls, looking in on the city.
Finally, in addition to Lake Como or Lake Garda, there is also Lago Maggiore; all three are old glacial lakes that sit perched on the edge of the mountains. Truly breathtaking.
You’re the first person I’ve ever heard of that thinks the food in Italy is disappointing. I’ve rarely had a bad meal in Italy; and I’ve had plenty. However, I also generally avoid eating at the eateries that line the major tourist destinations (i.e., Piazzo San Marco), as those places exist solely to soak tourists for money in exchange for mediocre food. As you actually compared the food in Italy to the Olive Garden, I suspect you’ve only eaten at places such as those…
The food: endlessly disappointing. Don’t even attempt fine dining, even if you make the effort to research places which tourists won’t usually find. Eat cheap simple stuff at hole in the all trattorias. It won’t be great, but at least you won’t be looking at a 100 euro a head meal that Olive Garden would be ashamed to serve. (Notable exception: every risotto I have ever ordered in Italy has been excellent.) Although one must admire the dedication to meals as leisurely events to be enjoyed:
This is crazy talk. Or fightin’ words. I can’t choose. The food is the best damn part of visiting Italy. I haven’t spent any time north of Rome, but Rome and Naples are lousy with places I loved. Out of desperation, we ate at a few miserable tourist traps, the kind Eightball describes, and they are awful. Osterias and trattorias are WONDERFUL, and I would return to some of the higher end places we went to in a heartbeat.
I loved French food, too. It’s not better, though, it’s just different.
No, we didn’t eat anywhere like that, and as I said I spent effort researching places far from areas overrun with tourists. Olive Garden was exaggeration, I admit, but I have never been served anything in Italy which clearly dominated what I am regularly served in quality Italian restaurants in North America. Which is quite unlike France.
This is not an uncommon view. Try reading egullet, for example.
I just returned from a week in Rome, and would agree with Marged - some of the small trattorras and hosterias my wife and I ate at blow away any comprable Italian cuisine in fine U.S. establishments; having the same family passionately cook the same food for many, many decades just cannot be replicated.
In addition to many recommendations from friends and relatives, I cannot recommend highly enough The Terroir Guides:
http://littlebookroom.com/terroir.html
It looks like there are only a few books for various cities and regions, but the Rome guide was just spot on for finding top notch, authentic Roman cooking.
I haven’t been enough times in Italy to offer anything but anecdotes, but my experience in Rome equals Margeds and Drais - plenty of good eating at nice low prices (to us, we’ve had this discussion before and it’s probably not cheap for an American).
My brother the gourmet chef who spends every summer in Italy agrees.
We went to one high end gourmet place and that was great too.
Reading the Rome recommendation thread on egullet seems to mirror this (I just browsed, I’m not a regular there).
Strange, I’ve always enjoyed the food in Italy, except when I’ve been forced to eat in touristy areas without having the time to research first. With good recommendations the restaurants in Italy are easily the best eating I’ve had anywhere in the world. I think I’ve eaten pizza in every one of the ~30 countries I’ve visited so far, including the US, and nothing touches a good pizzeria in Italy.
OK, our plans are now set. We fly to Barcelona on 6/28, stay for five nights at Hotel El Jardi. Then we fly to Florence for five nights, catch a train to Venice, then stay at an apartment we found through VRBO.com for six nights, not far from San Marco square. There will be three of us, my wife, my older (just graduated from high school and UCLA bound) daughter and me.
Then we return on 7/15, pick up my younger daughter from her summer camp / school, then spend a couple of days decompressing at my mother-in-law’s place on a lake in upstate New York before heading home on 7/21.
I’m really looking forward to this.
What was the upscale place which impressed you, Hanzii? If you’re in the States, try eating at, say, Spiaggia, and then tell me where I can get comparable, much less dramatically better, cuisine in Italy and I’ll try it next time I’m there. We were going to eat at Cracco to celebrate our engagement, but read enough scathing reviews to avoid dropping four figures on a place which may or may not be up to the price.
I certainly agree that if you’re looking to eat pizza, nothing is even comparable to Italy.
http://www.ristoranteilpagliaccio.it/
And while I haven’t tried nearly enough upscale Italian restaurants outside Italy, I wouldn’t be surprised if they easily outcompete a lot of equal fare in Italy. Our own Era Ora is certainly better than anything I’ve tried in Italy - but the average cheap hidden away family restaurants we ate at in Rome was all excellent, while not Guide Michelin material, especially for the price (especially compared to here, where eating out isn’t cheap)
You are in for one hell of a nice trip. I haven’t driven the coast but I’ve been in most of the coastal ports from Spain to Italy. I’m so fucking jealous right now. Please, please, please take some awesome pics for us along the way.
Alas, we eliminated the driving. Instead, we’re flying from Barcelona to Florence, then taking the rail from Florence to Venice.
Rental cars are ridiculously expensive in Europe.
When you get to Venice, don’t forget to go in an EXTR3ME GONDOLA!!!
(giant billboard in St. Mark’s square.)
Also note that the Italians are quite sexist in that there are penises, penises everywhere, but lady bits are forbidden.