(the sweet life, here I come)
Okay! Well I’ve somehow managed to plan a 20 day tour of Italy in about 3 days :S!!
I bought the France-Italy Eurail pass valid for 10 days of travel within 2 months, which just arrived yesterday. I reserved most of the trains yesterday, but sadly June 2nd is a holiday in France and the train I really needed to get from Grenoble to Riomaggiore was completely booked…. Soooo, now I leave Grenoble tomorrow morning (June 2nd) at 6:30 am, arriving in Riomaggiore at 7:45 pm (same time zone) with about 6 transfers between trains …yikes.
The first village I saty in is Riomaggiore, part of Cinque Terre, in the region of Liguria. It is right on the Mediterranean sea and a hot spot for backpackers… I stay here for 3 nights. Then I leave June 5th for Roma! Here I stay 2 nights before heading to Positano (where they invented the bikini) on the Amalfi coast, for 2 nights, then I head to the island of Ischia for 1 night, before taking the train out of Napoli for Bassano del Grappa!
I arrive in Bassano Friday night, Paolo (relative) will pick me up and I will stay in Bassano from the 10th-17th. Day trips to Venice, Padua, Verona are all in that time frame too! Really excited to really get the full Italian family experience 🙂
I leave Friday, June 17th for Rimini (on the east coast), for 2 nights at some of the best discotecs around…not to mention gorgeous beaches. Then I leave Rimini, for a more cultural spot: Florence (Firenze) for 2 nights (daytripping to Pisa). I leave Florence on the 21st of June for Grenoble, arriving back in Gre at 21:30.
Once back in Grenoble, I still have 3 days left on my pass, and will visit Nice and Marseille (to see James) before coming back to Grenoble once more about the 27th. I leave back to Canada super early in the am on June 29th…
I don’t think I have any idea what I’ve gotten myself into…but it’s likely to be highly interesting at the very least!!
Italia awaits me!! Ciao !!