Narnya

Looking for day trip ideas that start and end in Florence and that can be accomplished within about an 8-hr timeframe. We may travel by train or rental car; train travel could increase the day's timeframe to 10-11 hrs.

Our interests are beautiful scenery, small towns, good food. Places to pick up interesting souvenirs is a plus. (I know, I know, the entire country meets those interests!)

A few years ago, we rented a car and drove the Chianti region. We had a most wonderful adventure and while we could do that again (and may), we also want a new experience. That said, we need not see Sienna, Pisa or Viareggio on this trip.

We were thinking we could take a train to the Cinque Terra, since neither of us has been, but I think 1 day wouldn't be enough time to do it justice.

Thoughts and ideas welcomed please! (Though keep in mind that we will not change our start and end location; we already have excellent arrangements in Florence.)

Narnya

Forgot to mention that this day trip will occur in late Sept on a weekday.

annhig

hi narnya

I know that you have mentioned train or car, but the classic day trips from Florence are made by bus - to siena [one day] to san gim [another], both from the bus station next to the main train station, and Fiesole, for which you can pick up the bus from the piazza san marco at the top of via cavor.

There is also a car service [name forgotten] which is frequently recommended here - try searching the european forum as there have been other threads about this quite recently.

I agree that 1 day for the CT isn't enough; if you could spare a night from Florence, you could do it with an overnight there if you really wanted to.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

chadnycity

CT really wouldn't be much fun with 1 day. it's a beautiful place and worth at least a night. If you only have one day, you could go to Lucca. My wife and I went there and it's really nice. Travel by train is easy.

123charley

I agree with chadnycity--and annhig--on CT needing more time, but Lucca is a little small. If you haven't been to San Gim yet, that could be a good one.

Jean

Not a small town, but Bologna for great food and easy access by train.

Lucca is small, but you could combine it with Montecatini Terme on the same train line.

bitsy1

The historic Tower / Hill Town of ""San Gimignano"" is south of Florence, and as I remember, about 1/2 way between Florence and Siena, A few years ago we took the Bus out of Florence station to the town of Poggio???, and took a 2nd bus (stop was directly across the street from where we were dropped off) on to San Gimignano... We were dropped right at one of the city's gates.. Pick up was very nearby / ask driver before exiting... It's a lovely town, UNESCO protected, and very well / almost too well touristed. A photo bugs paradise, with wonderful view, a great cathedral.. we very much enjoyed it, and it can easily be done within 8 hours. We also visited the ''torture museum'' while there, near the town's famous sistern... Very worthwhile, as was our snack of pizza mid-day from a shop in the square around the sistern..
Another nearby town is ""Volterra"", which I remember as north-west-ish??? of Florence, which we reached from Florence via rental car on different trip to the area. It has great Roman Ruins, Cathedral, Town Square, etc... We spent 2 nights there, and wandered the town for a full day of leisure.

MaineGG

I have done two daytrips from the Florence area to the Cinque Terre. It's certainly doable if you could be happy to have a quick overview, a nice walk and a good lunch.

The first time we drove to La Spezia, parked the car, then took a quick train to Riomaggiore (8-10 minutes). From there it's an easy walk along the Via dell'Amore to the next town, Manarola. From there, another short train ride to Vernazza where we had a lovely lunch, then wandered around for an hour or so before catching a train back to La Spezia.

The second trip we actually drove on a fairly scary road all the way to Riomaggiore and parked in the parking garage there. The rest of the day was basically the same as before. These trips were in late September/early October and the boats had stopped running between the towns, but I think it would have been especially nice to have been able to go from town to town by boat.

As I mentioned, we drove from Florence to the CT area, but it could certainly be done by train. The drive time as estimated by mappy.it is 1h45. By train, it would be about 2h30.

Maybe someday I'll be able to go back for more than a day, but I'm certainly happy to have at least had those lovely daytrips there.

nytraveler

We have done day trips from florence (by car) to Siena, San Gim, Pisa, Assisi, Perugia - but there are a ton of other towns you can visit. Some can be reached by train and some by bus - but a car allows you to maximize your tim e- since you're not waiting for train/bus that may not run as often as you want. Plus you can stop and view the scenery - or see ay of the other cute tiny towns - that appeal s you drive. Just be aware that fo rmany towns you have to leave the car outside the walls and walk into the center.

bitsy1

I also agree, ""Lucca"" is worth seeing, a lovely walled town where we spent 2 nights on yet another trip. Good day trip, avail by train... Lovely.

julia_t

Last year I got a bus about 9am in Florence and went to Siena for the day. It was easy and a very pleasant day out.

The next day I took a train to Pisa arriving mid-morning, sight-saw in the afternoon and got another train to Lucca for the evening. (I stayed overnight in Pisa) However either town could be a good day trip from Florence.

charnees

Take the train through the mountains north of Florence to Bologna (1 hour), which is the culinary cspital of Italy. It interesting to see the central city because it's all covered with arcades, for shelter from the sun and rain, and where merchants used to lay out their wares.

LoveItaly

I so agree about Bologna, I love that city and their food!

Also, you could take the train (which goes to Rome) and visit Orvieto as it doesn't sound like you have been there, Narnya. If you do happen to do so and if you like wine do order the white Orvieto wine!

annw

Boy I do agree about Orvieto and hope to do something similar with Bologna on my next trip. I also like the Siena idea as a day trip that works for the time you want to take.

Here's a curve ball suggestion but I'll throw it out anyway; the olive festival occurs in Impruneta in late September and is reputed to be wonderful; I'm meeting up with friends there; they already got tix. It's about 9 miles from Florence and right on the bus line. There's a small and attractive but not remarkable town and it is much smaller than Lucca; so if Lucca is too small then this one is for sure, and I wouldn't mention it except for the festival. Greve is also lovely IMO but sounds like you've seen that area.

charnees

annw, what's the date of the olive festival? I'd love to know.

Myer

We were just in Florence for 10 days. We did daytrips and two overnighters.

On one we trained to Pisa (San Rossore station) and spent an hour around the Tower. Then we got back on the train at the same station and went to Lucca for the afternoon. After walking around for a while we rented bikes and rode around the town on the wall and stopped for a picnic snack.

Late in the afternoon we took the train to La Spezia where we had booked a hotel less than 100 yards from the train. After checking in we took the train to Riomaggiore in time to see an amazing sunset and have dinner outdoors facing the water.

The next day we hike between several towns and eventually took the boat to Portovenere. After wandering a while we bused back to La Spezia and took the train back to Florence.

A great 2 days!!!

PotenzaRon

Narnya. We, at least twice, and once again in late October have done what you are considering. The list of places we visited, mostly by train. are Lucca, Arezzo, Bologna, Cortona, Pisa, Parma, Orvieto and by bus to Fiesole, Siena and other Chianti towns.

We will probably revisit Bologna, Lucca, Arezzo and maybe Siena as these are our favorites. Want to save some time for enjoying our Florence favorites too.

jubilada

Verona is fascinating and relatively uncrowded.

sherr1

I would suggest the Best of Tuscany tour with:

http://www.walkaboutpass.com/nqconte...ytour_homepage

We did this at $80 Euro per person three weeks ago. It was by far the very best day touring we have had in our 20+ years of travel/tour. ave from train station in Florence at 8:15am and arrive back at 8:15pm. Have a guided tour of Sienna, wine tasting (3 kinds!!) and lunch outside of San Gimignano in the chianti countryside overlooking the vineyards and looking up to the towers of the city, then went to San Gim. and had plenty of time to explore, have the best gelato ever, plenty of shopping time... then back on the bus - countryside travel to Pisa, had an hour or so there (plenty) and then back to Florence. AMAZING. I think that this was the best day tour ever and for the money? Amazing value!!

LoveItaly

Just a reminder, the OP said that they are not interested in visiting Siena (note the spelling) or Pisa as they visited those cities on their last trip. I am just mentioning this so that any suggestions will fit in with what Naryna is requesting including that they return to Florence each evening.