4 Days in Tuscany - help!
 

I inadvertantly posted this on the general Europe site. Thanks to you who responded. <BR> <BR>We have 4 days to spend in Tuscany. We will be based in Castellina and plan to visit Siena, Volterra, San Gimignano and Greve. A friend has suggested that we leave a day early and go to Lucca instead of seeing some of the other hilltowns. Is this a good idea? Should we sacrifice a day in Castellina to go to Lucca. We plan to spend 2 days in Florence next. Opinions greatly appreciated.

I am not a fan of Lucca. Many on this site are. <BR> <BR>We went to Lucca with friends while in Tuscany in Oct. 99. None of us thought it was as good as the other smaller towns you have mentioned. My wife and I were then back in Lucca as part of a cruise in July 00. I decided that I was probably not doing the town justice, so we went again to Lucca, only 8 months later. I still fail to see the allure of Lucca. Nice wall around the city, a few churches, one flea market and a few shops. My opinion is to spend your time in the smaller towns of Tuscany and save Lucca for the trip when you are driving right by the town and have a few hours to kill. Having said that, you will now receive postings below about how great this city is. Good luck. Any extra days you have should be spent in Florence. Enjoy Italy.

Thanks for your advice, Bob. With the limited amount of time we have, I think we'll skip Lucca this trip.

I would recommend skipping San Gimignano. My wife and I were there a few years ago and found it to be a complete tourist trap. We joked that it looked like something Disney would put up to attract Americans who like to wait in line for two hours to eat at a chain restaurant, rather than look for a quaint place with better food and atmosphere, that's more representative of a given area.

We planned to hit San Gimignano in late afternoon when the tour buses have left. Is it still not worth the trip?

top

My husband and I spent a wonderful 26 days this past Autumn in Italy, and one of my all time favourites was definitely San Gimignano. I thought it was preserved so beautifully, and the Piazza della Cisterna was just glorious. There was a magnificent creeper all reds, golds and yellows growing up one side of a building in the Piazza... it was all so beautiful! I am an 'Autumn' girl, so maybe that was more the reason I loved it... But anyway... if you have the time for a stroll through, I'm sure you won't be disappointed... Debbie Lee...

this is for randy <BR> <BR>ciao randy <BR> <BR>i'm sorry to hear such a bad opinion about san gimignano. if you found it "disneylike" you maybe should think about this: <BR> <BR>san gimignano is a very good preserved historical town, it exist much more longer than disneyworld and maybe it's beauty and impressiv mediaeval look (infact it is a mediaeval town and not something from the 20th century), gave to disney and his folk the idea to build something similar up in the united states. i know that you over there do not have a history like we have here in italy and i think it is very unpolite and seems even a little bit "dumb" (sorry english isn't my mothertounge) to say something like you about a peace of history. once you started to say this, you can continue for firenze, roma, napoli, asti, and the whole cinqueterre. <BR> <BR>i'm sorry if i was rude to you but it upset me to read something like that from somone who obviously doesn't have a single idea what history means. <BR> <BR>tanti saluti comunque e una bella giornata <BR> <BR>christina

I agree with Bob. We were not impressed with Lucca. I would spend more time in Florence. You will love Florence and Siena! We spent 3 nights there and wished for more.

You'll love San G in the evening. Stay and have dinner and wander the streets. It's not a ghost town at night, but very quaint with less people. We're actually using it as our base for seeing Chianti and Siena, that way we get back in the evening when day trippers are gone.

I've stayed in San Gimignano twice and loved it. Yes, it has a lot of tourists, but if you're able to spend the night or at least linger for dinner, you'll find it a beautiful town with real!live!residents! going about their daily lives. I once wandered outside the walls and fell asleep in the sun on an old stone wall. The owner of the old stone wall, and the ancient stone house it surrounded, turned up and invited me in for coffee. It was a great afternoon.

Eileen, I think Lucca is a terrific place for and afternoon of shopping then dinner and sleepover. It is not a tourist trap. You'll find the people shopping there live there. My fiance and her daughter who are professional shoppers, loved it. <BR>My favorite meal in tuscany last year was at La Oliva and a nice place to stay is La Luna. <BR>I recommend you check it out. <BR>Mark <BR> <BR>