Hawaii_Chick

Hi, I am looking for suggestions on how to best spend our time in this area. The trip is for my husband & I and 2 teen kids 16 &13yrs.

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Trip Sept 2014

arriving in from Rome and departing to Venice by train.

stoweflake

I've been planning my trip for 2 weeks in May 2014.

If this is your first trip, then Rome, Florence Venice is a great start. We were told that that Pienze area in Tuscany is one of the prettiest and easy to view the surrounding areas. From Florence you could go to Siena for a day and even Bolonga(great food). Check out also the Slow travel website and Rick Steves as well as Chowhound.com. Have fun.

Aramis

3 days in Florence and then, ideally, 3 days in a town in the Val dOrcia, like Montepulciano, or on an agriturismo, with a car so that you can tour the area and visit different towns.

You could consider renting a car when leaving Florence and then driving on to Venice and dropping the car there after Tuscany.

drjacobs

We traveled the opposite direction in 2012. Into Venice and out of Rome. Spent 6 nights in Greve in Chianti where we visited hill towns in Tuscany including a day trip to Florence to visit sites we missed on a previous trip.
We enjoyed Tuscany so much we are also planning a return this September.

bvlenci

Driving from Tuscany to Venice is a long and boring drive; I would turn in the car and take the train.

To give an example, driving from Montepulciano to Venice would take about 5 hours, and the cost of tolls and fuel would be about €68. You could drop the car in Arezzo at the station and take a train from there. The cost would be a little less, and so would the time, but the biggest benefit would be avoiding the drive, especially that horrid stretch of autostrada between Florence and Bologna.

Hawaii_Chick

Thanks for your ideas everyone. I think i like the idea Aramis came up with, still considering the driving part.

Do you think my kids will be bored in florence?? is it all just museums etc??

Love to hear your thoughts….

drjacobs

I agree with bvlenci. Dropping the car in Florence is very tricky. But, the train ride between Florence and Venice is very restful and a nice break from your time in Tuscany and give you time to prepare for your time in Venice.
An alternate station other than Florence is not a bad idea.

Aramis

I agree that the drive is very boring from Florence to Venice. I would only suggest doing it in the rental if it presented an advantage in cost and convenience. Driving to Arezzo and dropping off the car, then making your way to the train may be more of a detriment to just hitting the road and keeping on straight to Venice - depending on how convenient the drop-off to hotel connection is in Venice.

I think the cost of gas for that trip would compare favourably to 4 rail tickets - there would be no additional "day" charge for the car, so it is only a comparison of gas cost to train fares and the pain of connections and transfer of luggage at each end.

mama_mia

If you do only 3 nights in Florence, that is really only 2 full days. Not time enough to be bored.

There are great museums and churches, of course, but also many other things. Window shopping the designer stores, or strolling through Mercato Centrale or San Lorenzo markets. Cross over the Ponte Vecchio to the Oltrarno, then walk up to the Basilica of San Miniate al Monte, to see a beautiful church and a great view of Florence.

Or hike up into the dome of Florence's cathedral--but first read up on the building of the dome (suggest Ross King's "Brunelleschi's Dome").

Or take a food tour or participate in a cooking class.

Or take a bike tour of the town or out into the vineyards.

Or just sit in one of the cafe's on a main piazza and people watch.

Mimar

Three days of museums and churches in Florence is a lot. You could do a daytrip from Florence by train to Lucca and Pisa, Lucca in the morning when the shops are open (rent bikes and ride around the wall), Pisa and the tower in the afternoon. And/or bus to Siena for a day. (The bus leaves from across the street from the main train station, Santa Maria Novella, and drops you in the center of Siena, whereas the train station is outside the walls of Siena, less convenient for sight-seeing.

Hawaii_Chick

Thank you again for your ideas!

leslieq

You can check out my trip report for Florence, Tuscany and the Cinque Terre if you click on my name. There was a cool underground tour in Orvieto, and a walk over a pedestrian bridge to nearby Civita d'Bagnoregio (sp?) that looked like you were walking to a castle in Disneyland that your kids might like. Ortvieto was a short train ride from Rome if you come in that way.

Depends on what your kids like. Riding a bike on the walls at Lucca might intrigue them. It was pouring rain the day we visited.

raypffong

Having been there I would suggest that you buy your museum tickets online as it will save you hours of lining up. There is a free museum night every month. Go early to avoid long queue. Happy holiday.

Cjar

If your kids love museums, great architecture, and churches, I recommend the Firenze Card for Florence. You have to do a lot to make it pay off, but we loved the fact that reservations were unnecessary with that card. We didn't have to be anywhere by a certain time. We could change our minds about the order or day on which we saw things. It also allows you to circumvent the sometimes terribly long lines. Make sure to check the opening days/ hours for things you want to see.
We loved Il duomo , the Uffizi and seeing the tombs for Gallileo, Rossini etc. as well as walking through the Oltrarno district, lots of mom and pop artisan shops down the little side streets.

We stayed in Siena and that might be a good choice with kids, but if I had my druthers we would stay in Pienza next time, so charming.