shawna

Yes, after reading hundreds of postings I still have questions. <BR>Flying into Milan(Sunday) then on to Florence, picking up the car at the airport and on to the Hotel Savoy, or the Villa Cora. Sun. night and Mon. in Florence. <BR>Tue.- drive to Pisa through Lucca and back to Florence for the night. Wed.- drive to Siena through San G., Volterra and Colle Val d'Elsa. (lunch somewhere) Stay the night in Siena @ Plazzo Ravizza. Thurs. -in Siena then on to Cortona. Spend night in Cort. @ II Falconiere. Friday- drive up to Arezzo, Radda, Castelina, Greve and back to Florence. Drop off car and stay @ Hotel Savoy or Villa Cora. Sat.-Taxi to airport fly to Milan and then fly home. <BR>My questions are which hotel in Florence or any other exceptionaly ones? Is it going to be impossible to drive the car to the hotel in and out of Florence? Can I get into Siena to stay at my hotel with the car? And can I see most of these small villages with the time I have alloted, including drive time? Also if someone has better recomendations on wonderful places to stay and dine please let me know. Thank you so much for all of your help once again. I dont know how i would manage without help. <BR>Shawna <BR>

Diane

It is extremely difficult to drive in Florence. I would take a train to Florence, spend two nights, then pick up a car on the way out of town to visit Lucca and Pisa and stay somewhere around there for the night. Then you might drive to Siena stopping off to see San G, but Volterra may be out of the way so I'd suggest replacing it with Monteriggioni, which is an easy drive to Siena. If you stay outside the walls of Siena's centro, you can probably drive right to your hotel and park the car. Don't try to see too many towns per day. Figure that since everything closes (except for restaurants) between 12:30 and 3PM you won't get to do more than window shop and eat (or drive to the next town) during those hours. Much of the beauty is the countryside you'll be seeing. Take it easy and don't try to fit in too much. Be sure you've got a well-detailed map before you finalize your plans. And understand that just because the map looks like it will be a straight shot and easy to drive in to Florence, doesn't mean that it is! The most bewildering place I've ever been in my entire life.

Lexma90

Shawna - <BR> <BR>I, too, would encourage you not to try to drive in and out of Florence. Florence is not a fun place to drive in. And parking, even through your hotel, will be very expensive. Siena is also somewhat difficult to get in and out of as a touring hub, but it's a great city to stay overnight in. <BR> <BR>If you stayed in Lucca (a very nice little city), you could combine that with Pisa & driving through other towns in the area for a good day. <BR> <BR>I think you could do Volterra, San G. & Colle Val d'Elsa (I've visited the latter twice, and am not impressed), ending up in Siena, in one day, if you do your Siena sight-seeing the next day. Volterra has a nice Etruscan museum, if you like that sort of thing. Monteriggioni is a little gem, and if you can be there for lunch, there are several great garden-like restaurants there (there's not much else). San Gimignano is especially nice at night, when the day-visitors have left. I like Volterra, and spent quite a bit of time there, between the museum and the walking tour the local Tourist Office has mapped out. <BR> <BR>Cortona is an interesting, scenic place, but you might want to consider not going that far south, and spending more time in central Tuscany. That way you could fit in Pienza, Montepulciano, Montelcino, etc. <BR> <BR>I've never visited Arezzo, so I don't know how much time you'd likely spend there, but the other towns, in Chianti, won't a huge amount of time. They're worth visiting for beauty and wine, so you won't be spending hours visiting the cathedral, or anything like that.

Paula

Plazzo Ravizza has parking right outside the front door. Get detailed instructions on how to get to the hotel -- Siena is not as small as I had remembered it and there is a lot of traffic. It is a wonderful walking town.

shawna

Thank you all for your help. I had been debating about the car while in Florence. I think I will rent it on my way out. <BR>Also since my posting the Hotel Plazzo Ravizza has emailed me that they will be closed during that time. Any other recomendations for a very nice hotel around that area? <BR>Shawna

terry

Totally skip the car in Florence. <BR> <BR>Thumbs up on Volterra. I was in San G. in May and it was absolutely packed with tourists, be forewarned. Definitely try to fit in Montalcino (oh the Brunello!) and Pienza. If you go to Monteriggioni you can also take the road towards Castellina and stop in at Rocca della Macie or Tenuta di Lilliano for some wine tasting - they are on the same road.