Italy Beyond the Obvious

A hike, a walk and a soak: Three underground favorites in Italy

Want to explore Italy where a flashlight or even hard hat is required? There are lots of options to go underground. Tuscany alone has 1,500 grottoes and 270 km of underground tunnels. Here are three of my favorite underground spots (only one requires a hard hat!), places I recommend often to clients, in no particular order....

 
 

1) Hike the Lagazuoi Tunnels in the Dolomite mountains (Northeastern Italy)

These tunnels were dug through the mountain by both Austrians and Italians during WWI and now provide an easy 1-2 hour hike in gorgeous scenery (photo above) near Cortina. Choose whether to walk through the tunnels going up or down, then take the cable car the other way. I recommend walking down unless it bothers your knees. Before starting the hike, rent helmets and flashlights next to the cable car station. Note: the restaurant at the top is excellent. Here's a great detailed account of the Lagazuoi hike.

 

2) Walk the Etruscan pathways of Pitigliano (Southern Tuscany)

For some reason I get along really well with Jewish people (though I don't usually find out they're Jewish until we've already gotten to know each other pretty well) which includes many of my clients. This means that I've spent quite a bit of time researching Jewish Italy (there's a lot there!), and I often end up recommending a visit to the Tuscan town of Pitigliano, also known as Little Jerusalem. 

Not only is this gorgeous town historically significant in more ways than one, it has some very interesting walkable Etruscan pathways. Some of the tunnels are completely covered, and are underneath the city. They're accessible on walking tours - ask the tourist office. Other pathways, the Via Cave, are in the area around Pitigliano. Also carved by the ancient Etruscans and up to a mile long, they're narrow with tall vertical walls, open at the top. They don't go anywhere in particular but are fun to walk through. This article lists the Etruscan pathways around Pitigliano and provides a good description from the traveler's perspective. Here's an interesting article speculating on why the Pitigliano pathways were built.

 

3) Soak (or dive!) in the thermal waters, or just inhale the therapeutic steam of Grotta Giusti (Northern Tuscany)

There are many natural thermal waters in Tuscany, but Grotta Giusti is at the top of my list. It's an actual cave and natural sauna, even equipped with lounge chairs, as you can see from the photo above. Kids under age 12 can't go into the grotto but can visit the swimming pool, which is also filled with the natural thermal waters and is at ground-level (as opposed to cave-level). SCUBA divers can even explore the cave underwater.

Do you have any favorite underground spots in Italy?

Photo of Lagazuoi by Marco Bellucci, Photo of Pitigliano by Arielarts used with permission, Photo of Grotta Giusti from Grotta Giusti Spa

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Should you rent a car in Italy? (Answer these 3 questions)

Having a car on your Italian vacation can be an expensive hassle, or it can be a means to more independence and a way to get off the beaten track. But which is it? The answer is, it depends. On whether you are visiting the countryside; on how light you are traveling; and on whether you are traveling on a budget. Bottom line: do not assume you need a car in Italy.

 

But first: The 3 questions below aren't even relevant to you unless you're comfortable driving in Italy. You are? Great, read on. You think you probably aren't? Read no further. Do not rent a car. The stress and hassle will not be worth it.

1) Are you visiting only cities or also venturing into the countryside?

Driving in Italian cities is a huge pain: plan to spend time stuck in traffic, getting lost, and circling for parking. Expect frustration when trying to interpret foreign road signs, avoid limited traffic zones, and navigate winding, narrow, and one-way roads. Conveniently, trains run frequently between all major and many smaller Italian cities, and it's easy to get around within a city by either taxi, public transportation, or in many cities, just plain walking. If your itinerary includes only cities, you do not need a car, and you do not need to read further. Take the train. 

However, visiting the countryside can be challenging without a car. Check on whether trains go to the towns you're planning to visit by plugging your cities into www.trenitalia.it. Even if trains do go to small towns, compare transit times, using www.viamichelin.com (I prefer it over Google maps) for driving times. If getting from A to B is five hours by train because you need to change trains three times, and driving is half that, then definitely consider renting a car.

If you're doing both cities and countryside, just rent a car for the countryside part.

 

2) How light are you traveling? 

There's no question about it: lugging suitcases on and off trains and to and from train stations is no fun. But if you're only visiting cities, I still recommend you don't rent a car. Just pack lighter. If you're visiting the countryside and have a lot of luggage, it may make sense to rent a car. Unless of course...

3) Are you traveling on a budget? 

If you need this trip to be as economical as possible, the train will probably cost less. To do a cost comparison, budget not only for the car rental, but also calculate gas, tolls, and parking. Compare that to the cost of the train by checking www.trenitalia.it to compare prices. A rule of thumb for road tolls is that 300 km (190 miles) = 15 Euros. Or to calculate road tolls for your exact trip, go to www.autostrade.it. I did the car vs. train cost comparison recently for I trip I planned for a family of 4 and the train was much cheaper. However the train would have been a big hassle, so the cost of the car rental turned out to be worth it.

Twisting road photo (St. Gotthard pass on Italy/Switzerland border) by Mikael Miettinen; Luggage photo by Geishaboy500

If this advice is too general for your specific trip, let Italy Beyond the Obvious plan your trip or coach you to do it yourself. If you like what you read, subscribe to this blog for free.

Planning a family trip to Europe

Thought I'd share the 1-page article below, which includes tips on flights, accommodation, how to organize the daily itinerary, plus a few resources. I wrote it for the quarterly newsletter of a Chicago parent organization I belong to called Neighborhood Parents Network, or NPN Parents. 

Planning a family trip to Europe

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