Tuscany with 13 and 19 year old girls

Old Apr 18th, 2014, 07:23 PM
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Tuscany with 13 and 19 year old girls

Trying to figure out where to stay in central or southern tuscany . Daughters into shopping , eating , people watching . Parents into food , wine , scenery . My husband does not want to rent a car but would prefer private drivers and or private/small group tours to get around . We all like resort activities as well . Ideally I want to see montalcino and montepulciano . Maybe pienza , san gimignano .

Should we stay in siena and take day trips from there ? Somewhere in val d'orcia?

What about the agritourism experience ?
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Old Apr 18th, 2014, 07:28 PM
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Also we will be travelling in August . Will go to florence and then get a driver to take us to tuscany . Will the hotels make arrangements for drivers and tours to the different areas or should we do that in advance from the states. I see lots if recommendations for trips with private your guides but they are quite expensive . Are there semi private or small group tours to the hill towns ?
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Old Apr 18th, 2014, 11:10 PM
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Don't dismiss using the local buses, especially if you base yourselves somewhere like Siena. Timetables are generally available online. They are not so frequent that you can visit lots of places in a day but still a very viable option.
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Old Apr 19th, 2014, 01:27 AM
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jessica - it is going to be hot. I would strongly advise ensuring that any accommodation you have has access to a swimming pool [and A/C of course] which will help to keep the girls happy.

although I haven't used him, Luca at http://www.hillsandroads.com/ gets consistently high reviews here. if you are staying in the sort of hotel i suspect that you are going for, then of course they will make tour reservations for you, but you will get a better choice [and prices] if you prebook, and I suspect that Luca gets pretty booked up. He will for example do a transfer from Florence to Siena via Chianti so that you can combine a day trip with moving from one place to another, which is vey cost and time effective.

with your girls in tow, i would suggest staying somewhere lively like Siena, where there will be things for them to see [ie shops] in the evenings, and different restaurants for you all to enjoy. you can then use that as a base for your touring. but DO find somewhere with a pool.
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Old Apr 19th, 2014, 06:22 AM
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Are you flying into Florence?

Most of the hill towns you mentioned are too small for your daughters to have much shopping. Siena is big enough and has enough stores, restaurants and people watching. San G is too far from what you want to see to be a base (and pretty small).

From Siena, there is bus service to Montalcino and San G. There are also quite a few tour companies, but southern Tuscany is best with a rental car.
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