We stayed at Casa d’Era in Lajatico at one of their villas with 3 rooms and can sleep up to 6 people. The place was centrally located and takes about 40/45 minutes’ drive from Pisa airport. If you can contact them directly as opposed to booking through platform, there could be a chance that you could get it at a discounted cost.
Lajatico is the home town of Andrea Bocelli, he is beloved amongst all the townspeople.
Travelling around
We hired our car from OK Mobility, via Opodo booking platform. I didn’t take the insurance that they offer and it is not mandatory. Though I am not endorsing that you do not do this. If you don’t, just ensure that you take a detailed video of your car for any marks and bumps. The ladies at the desk were so super helpful and we had a laugh chatting with them. The car rental station is about a 10/15 minute walk from the airport (depending on how much you are lugging about), though there is a supposed bus to the place, but it never turned up so we just walked it. As you come out of the airport, facing the road, turn right and follow the path, that will lead you to the car rental place.
Petrol stations, if you happen to come on a Sunday to fill up your tank, be prepared to try and work out how to put petrol in your car! There is one machine that you pay from on a prepaid basis for the petrol stands in the station. Up to this point, I still haven’t fully worked out how to use it. If you do, please give me a shout, I’d love to know!
Toll booths – be mindful that there are booths for cars that have been prepaid for and then ones for cash. We ended up in the prepaid one and could not back out, lucky for us, the attendant on the phone was happy enough with the reason “We are tourists, I am lost” hahaha … phewy!
Also buses/trams must be prepaid, they do not have contactless or they do but you’d need to buy the card or download the app on your phone. You will need to buy them from a corner shop. We are not entirely sure where they are, supposedly close to the bus tops but we never found it and again luckily enough – we are tourists, got us on for free … oh dear! It has become a habit.
To get to the five Islands (Cinque Terre – Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza & Monterosso) you will need to take a train from La Spezia station, you cannot drive to the Islands. You will need to park your car in and around La Spezia. We only had one day, so we only managed to get from Riomaggiore to Manarola. I would recommend spending a day or two at least for each Islands. If you come across the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola, just be prepared for the steep walk up and descent.
The beautiful Restaurante Pizzeria called Antico Molino (a family run restaurant) that we went to is just on the other side of the highway from Casa d’Era but a further drive in of about 10 minutes. It will look like you are going nowhere and then a beautiful drive in will appear before you. There is a not so wide bridge with no barriers on each side on your way there, so if you are driving to there at night, you would need to be extra mindful. Remember, Italians eat dinner from 8/9pm onwards. You will need to make reservations to eat here or come 6pm like we did! And you can have a private party instead!!
The bar that we discovered is called Bar Tratorria de Nella which is a 5 minute drive from the villa. Say hello and give our love to everyone from us please. Especially Barbara.
Siena is a beautiful town and the little plaza off the Cathedral is a lovely place to sit and just admire the music around you. This is also the place where we found Nino & Friends (Sweet & Savoury shop) and the BIG pizza shop, unfortunately, I didn’t get the name but it is just a few yards from Nino & Friends.
Lucca, I wish we had more of a chance to explore this town full of history, I would say it is a place for us to visit again.
That is it folks, short and sweet I hope!
I don’t intend for you to follow the same ways, your path of discovery is best done off your own way, but I think the travelling around tips might be helpful.
Enjoy your experiences!
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