Easter in Tuscany

Old Sep 10th, 2016, 08:12 AM
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Easter in Tuscany

Hi all, just a quick background for us: we honeymooned in Italy five years ago. On our honeymoon we did not see any of Tuscany, closest we got to it was a few nights in Orvieto which we loved. We also spent a few nights in Rome and loved it as well. We're both looking forward to seeing Rome again and exploring new parts of Italy, wishing we had more time but making the best of what we have. We do like to stay busy and see a lot but we don't expect to see it all, nor do we want to try to.

Yesterday we snagged some cheap tickets to Italy for our 5-year anniversary and realized shortly thereafter that we will be in Italy over the Easter holidays as we will arrive Rome April 14 and depart Rome April 23. We were thinking to start our trip in Tuscany, staying 5-6 nights, and end our trip in Rome, staying 3-4 nights. We are open to basing ourselves in Florence, Siena, Pienza or another town (and possibly mixing two locations, like Florence and Pienza). Definitely open to a rental car. I would not normally have any concerns with planning this kind of trip as I love trip planning, but the holidays of Easter Sunday and Monday have me wondering where the best location might be to base ourselves during those holiday days?

The Florence festivities do sound fun but I'm wondering how much more crowded Florence will be than say the normal summer season? Another concern of mine is if it will be problematic to try to pick up a rental car Easter Monday, if we were to spend 3 nights in Florence at the beginning of our trip. I'm also wondering if anyone knows if the rental places will even be open...a brief search on Hertz made it look like the Sansovino location was not available but the airport location was?

Any insight to Easter in Tuscany would be greatly appreciated!

.
candj83 is offline  
Old Sep 10th, 2016, 01:40 PM
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I was in Florence this past Easter and no it was not anywhere near as crowded as it is in the summertime. It was a bit more crowded than it had been the week before but nothing like summer.
If you go to the Duomo to see the "explosion of the cart" it will be very crowded there but the rest of the city was perfectly manageable.

I found most stores/restaurants etc in the centre of the city were open on Easter weekend.

I would suggest picking up a rental car at the airport after your three nights in Florence, it costs 20 euro to take a taxi to the airport. Or I believe there is a bus to the airport from Santa Maria Novella train station.
raincitygirl is offline  
Old Sep 11th, 2016, 05:55 AM
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Thank you raincitygirl, it is good to hear that Florence will be busy but not summer busy -- I needed something to keep it relative to know what we would be encountering. Also good to know that the shops in the city centre will be open.

Do you know if we were to spend Easter Monday in the countryside if all the shops in the smaller towns like Pienza, Montepulciano, etc will be closed or open? We will probably spend the day driving and taking in the countryside, hopefully the weather will be good.

Sounds like picking up our rental car at the airport is the way to go.
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Old Sep 11th, 2016, 07:29 AM
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Easter Monday is called Pasquetta in Italy and it is a holiday, I think it is common for people to have picnics in the countryside, at least according to some of the staff at my hotel.

If you do a few Google searches it looks like some villages have markets and things going on during Pasquetta.

Sorry I can't help you further, that was the day I flew home.
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Old Sep 11th, 2016, 10:10 AM
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Well, I have never been to Florence in the Summer only in late fall and this year went on little Easter. I made a day trip from Bologna to see a friend. I couldn't move it was so crowded. So many American and Italian school trips there over the holiday break.

Also some of the "mom and pop"type restaurants were closed. We went to the Mercato Centrale which was overflowing with people. We had to wait on line to get in as it was filled to capacity.

I took the Freccia Rossa to SMN in the morning, but all the trains were booked going back to Bologna in the evening. I had a very nice ticket agent who routed me on the slow train to Prato and then on to Bologna.

If it's the only time of year you can go, by all means go. Just remember certain areas will be quite crowded. As I said above, I have never been in summer as I don't like the crowds and heat, so I can't compare.
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Old Sep 11th, 2016, 01:23 PM
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Summer in Florence is a gong show for crowds. So is early Autumn for that matter.
At Easter this year it was crowded around the Duomo and along the river close to the Ponte Vecchio, the usual popular spots, but still manageable. Florence at Easter weekend is popular with Italians as well as school groups.

If you don't like crowds just wander further from the Duomo and avoid the Mercato Centrale, there are plenty of places to eat and shop. I like Altrarno, across the river.
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