ShannonY

I need help deciding how to plan my trip to the Tuscany region of Italy. A friend and I are flying into and out of Florence. We have a full week to spend here and can't decide whether we should base ourselves in Florence with bus trips to surrounding areas or rent a car, stay in an agriturismo and travel to villages nearby with a possible train trip to Rome as well as spending time in Florence. This is my first trip to Europe and of course I want it to be the trip of a lifetime but only have so much time to do so. Any recommendations out there from you seasoned travelers? I would appreciate your help. Thanks!

BigRuss

First trip? Stay in Florence. Much to see there and traveling to it from an agri with a car would suck.

mamcalice

It really depends on what time of year you are going. If in the late spring, I might be tempted to spend 4 days in Florence and 3 in a hotel or agritourismo with a car. If in the hottest part of summer, I guess I would stay in the countryside for the week. Save Rome for next trip. If in the winter, forget the countryside and split your time between Florence and Rome. No car in that case.

bvlenci

I think we need more information. In addition to the time of year, it would help to know your interests. If you're passionate about Renaissance art, even a week in Florence wouldn't be enough. However, if you have little interest in museums and churches, the agriturismo sounds better.

ShannonY

Okay, thanks everyone! I am going in mid-May. While I do love to look at art, I don't want to spend every day doing that. I do want to see San Gimignano, Siena and Pisa. I really would love to see Rome. Isn't it only an hour by train from Florence?

flpab

We stayed in Florence for a week in a very fun apartment that was in the center of everything. Loved the terrace the most. We took train and bus for day trips. I did a very fun cooking class and we give you the info if you are interested. There is so much to see and do in Florence alone.

ShannonY

Thanks flpab. Yes, I would like info on the apartment and the cooking class if you don't mind.

asps

Rome is one hour and half from Florence by train. If you manage to stay relatively close to Florence station a day trip is nice. If you stay out of Florence you have to drive to the railway station (not easy, not cheap parking) and it gets much longer. Do not try the day trip driving.

bvlenci

The train trip to Rome from Florence is about an hour and a half. If you leave very early and return late, you can get about 11 hours in the city. However, Rome is a very large city, and its most popular sites are usually quite crowded. I fear that a day trip to Rome that includes a visit to the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel and also a tour of the Colosseum will result in your spending most of your time jammed into a crowd of other tourists, and leave you no time to really enjoy Rome. If you do visit Rome on a day trip, I urge you not to take any tours at all, and to stay away from the Vatican Museums, which will suck up three to four hours of your day even if you see only a fraction of what's in the museum.

I don't consider Rome to be a suitable destination for a day trip, but if I were to go for the day, assuming I had never been there before, I would go to St. Peter's Square; maybe I'd enter the Basilica (which is free) if the security line weren't terribly long. I'd view the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and other ancient sites in the area from the street. I'd definitely visit the Pantheon, but then I'd spend the rest of my brief time in some uncrowded part of the city.

ShannonY

Thank you bvlenci for your help! I will take it all into consideration.

dulciusexasperis

"This is my first trip to Europe and of course I want it to be the trip of a lifetime but only have so much time to do so."

It's a ONE WEEK trip ShannonY. I don't know where you are from but you need to realize that you cannot see/do any more in Italy in a week than you could in your home country.

One week is enough time for Rome alone or Florence and perhaps 2 day trips out of Florence. Or a week in the Tuscan countryside. It is NOT enough time for ALL of them. If you make the common mistake of trying to see/do too much in too little time all you will end up doing is wasting a lot of time moving between a and b and less time IN places seeing/doing things.

Your comment about 'only have so much time to do so' indicates a way of thinking that says, 'squeeze as much in as possible' with the assumption being that 'much' is synonymous with 'many'. The way to see as much as possible is to spend time IN places, not in BETWEEN places. So pick one option and use your time wisely.

I note you have also posted asking about touring Tuscany by Vespa. Clearly you are all over the place in your thinking. That's understandable but you first have to make a DECISION and pick one. Either you go to Rome for a week or Florence (with a day trip or two) for a week or tour the Tuscan countryside for a week.

No one can help you make that decision really. It's up to you to decide what your main interests are. You know what the choices are, chose one. You CANNOT do all of them in a week and that is what you really want to do isn't it.

All anyone here could do is tell you which they would pick. I'd pick a week in the countryside staying in one village for the entire week. But that's my preference, not yours. What I would do is irrelevant.

The issue is you only have one week and several choices. YOU have to pick ONE.

Ackislander

Dulcis non est utile. Nor dulce, for that matter.

The other advice is all pretty good.

With your general interests, I would stay in Florence, do a day trip by public bus to Siena, another by train (?) to Pisa, and I would go to the turist office and ask about a tour bus for San Gimignano and that area of Tuscany. If it took you to Pienza and any of the big monasteries like San Antimo, that would be a big bonus.

ShannonY

Thanks again you new responders. I realize I sound like a crazy person wanting to see it all, I am just so thrilled to be going. (I live in the U.S. by the way). I have decided to stay in Florence the whole time, taking day trips out by bus or train. Maybe I will get to come back one day, I can only hope.