Alright, my sweetie and I are taking a 10 day vacation to Italy. I have one logistical question concerning London and one “what to do question” concerning Northern Italy:
Logistics: Arrive from across the Atlantic into “Gatwick” on a Saturday evening… Have to fly out of “Stansted” the following morning at 7. What’s the best way to get between the two spots? Is there anywhere to say on the cheap really close to Stansted?
Northern Italy: Fly into Genowa Sunday morning… We basically have from Sunday to Wednesday to explore Nothern Italy (we have to be in Bellagio on the Wednesday) Any ideas? We’re thinking “Cinque Terra”… Any other suggestions for the area? We don’t want to stray too far south… Rome will be for another trip.
Thanks in advance. Any advice and/or online resources are much appreciated.
And I know you can book hotels near Standsted through Expedia/Travelocity etc.
The London Tool Kit is a great site with transfer info, by the way. Make sure you take at least a little time to have a beer or two (cask ales, please) at a pub in London and you can get great Thai and Indian virtually anywhere in the city. Let me know if I can provide any extra info.
Check the train schedules. Depending when you arrive on Saturday… you might miss the last train to Stansted that night. Which means, you’ll have to stay in London, where NOTHING is cheap! If you make it to Stansted I would sleep in the airport like the 1000 other people doing the same. It’s a bit uncomfortable, but your going cheap right? Otherwise your going to have a helluva time catching the first train to Stansted in the monring… can’t remember when it was. Luckily I was staying within walking distance of the train station in north london.
Your flying Ryanair I bet. Got a cheap deal? I flew that route of super cheap two years ago. Warning… Ryanair has tighter baggage limits than regular carriers… if you like to carry massive suitcases, you will pay dearly.
Cinque Terra is a good day trip for reasonably fit people. I ran the whole thing in under three hours. FUN! I started at the south end and ran to the north. Swam in the ocean at the end. Very worth it. Good food and wine along the way.
10 days… that’s a while… why no head over to Venice or something? I found trains quite affordable in Italy… you can pretty much get across the country in day. Or go north to south in two.
Hope that helps…
Forgot to add: Don’t know what you paid to fly to England, and THEN to Italy, but with the cost of everything in england and airport transfers/hotels, you might have saved money by flying direct to Italy.
That London tool kit is a great site… And yeah synchonicity we got a cheap ticket with Ryanair and have taken note about the uber strict dimensions… So we’re both thinking about back packing it!
Florence? I did Florence - Pisa - Cinque Terre - Genowa on the train in 2000. I think that it was six days in total, but spent more than necessary in Cinque Terre. Got off the train in Pisa, snapped a few photos, bought some gelato and then caught the next train. I loved Florence.