mike7

GF and I will be in Florence Sept 30 to Oct 5 and would like to do a wine tasting daytrip. We would prefer to do it on our own using the bus system and not join a group tour. Can anybody help us with a vineyard close to a bus stop worth touring? We've had one recommendation- www.verrazzano.com (along the bus route to Greve from Florence). I would like some other options to compare or possibly string a few together. Thank you in advance for your help.

kfusto

If budget is the issue, there is a government/tourist board sponsored coach tour for only 15E per person that I have seen mentioned often on Trip Advisor. Since it is a large bus it visits the larger wineries but you will get to see the lovely countryside.

Otherwise, I have spent a number of days in the area over the years tasting wines and have never seen a winery accessible by public transport.

kybourbon

The 15€ tour is only once a week - Thursday.
http://www.firenzeturismo.it/en/prom...anti-area.html

mike7

The issue is not budget, we thought it would be different/fun to try and do things on our own instead of a group tour. If this is not feasible do you have any suggestions for a good group tour?

kfusto

We have always booked with a private driver so that we can go to wineries who produce wine varietals we enjoy and go at our own pace. We also prefer smaller producers as opposed to the ones on the bus tour circuit.

Luca Garapa of Hills and Roads has been our guide for a half dozen day trips to the countryside over the past 6 or so years. www.hillsandroads.com.

He is very good.

mike7

Just an update in case anyone is interested. We went to Verrazzano vineyards/castle for an amazing day by public transportation. It was a very easy bus trip from Florence and there were stops near other vineyards also. The Verrazzano website has directions regarding which bus to take. They will also pick you up at the bottom of their very long driveway. If I had to do it again I would prefer to do it this way. No worries about drinking and driving.

hikrchick

Hi Mike, can you give me some more details? My hubs and I will be in Florence in early September next year and we really don't want to rent a car but would like to go into the countryside. We are thinking about Luca who gets lots of good reports here, but we also are a bit adventurous and might like to try to figure it out on our own. How long was the bus ride? how often each day? Did you stop at any of those other vineyards? Was this an all-day trip or just a half-day? Thanks very much!

mike7

hikrchick- It was a hour long busride. We did a wine tour with lunch and it was the better part of a day. We started our tour at 1030 and left the vineyard at 330 or 4. By the time we arrived back in Florence it was 5. The lunch was one of the best meals we had in Italy. You are seated at tables of 5 or 6 they bring out a bottle of wine with each course, pour your glass and leave the bottle on the table. In all I believe we had 4 bottles of wine for the table and a complimentary vin santo and grappa at the end of the meal. You taste their balsamic vinegar as well. We bought a bottle of wine for the road and decided to drink it as we walked back to the bus stop and waited for the bus with our new friends. The bus runs pretty frequently and their is a schedule linked to the vineyard website. I would suggest telling the busdriver your stop because if there is no one waiting to get on and you don't stand up he will drive right by it. We missed the stop and ended up 3 or 4 miles down the road. We easily could have caught a bus back to the stop but it was a beautiful day so we walked through the countryside. We did not visit the other vineyards and I didn't go to Lucca so I can't comment on that. As for figuring it out on your own- it was our first time in Europe and I was worried about navigating through the public transportation system, it was alot easier than I expected and people will point you in the right direction if you ask. Just read some forum's and articles (on this site and others) about Italy's public transit and you will be fine.

aussie_10

mike7 - glad you enjoyed your wine trip it sounds great, I will investigate it further. Thanks for the information, we will there next October. Sounds likea fun thing to add to the list.

constant

If you're interested in a minibus tour, there is a way to save some money (not a lot, I have to admit), and that's to look for a shared tour. We did this a while back with Angela Saltafuori. She was a great guide and it was an excellent tour - in our case,the Chianti Classico tour. http://www.tuscanywinetours.net/