7 nights in Tuscany/Umbria
Mar 15th, 2012, 09:48 PM
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7 nights in Tuscany/Umbria
We are two friends traveling to Tuscany/Umbria in late April for a total of seven days. We have reservations in Florence for the week but are considering spending a night or two in Umbria so as to visit Assisi, Gubbio and Arezzo. We don't plan on renting a car. Thought of doing a day trip from Florence to Assisi and Gubbio and decided against it because of the cost (about $500). Instead we are considering taking the train to assisi spending a night there and renting a taxi to drive us to Gubbio and from there to Arezzo. Questions - is it easy to get a taxi for this purpose in Assisi - we are told the lines at the train station are very long. Also, would it cost a great deal to rent the taxi?
The remaining nights we are struggling with trying to fit in San G; Siena, Volterra, Lucca and Chianti. Any suggestions on how to make all this work would be most appreciated. We have signed up for a half day cooking class in Chianti area for one of the days.
The remaining nights we are struggling with trying to fit in San G; Siena, Volterra, Lucca and Chianti. Any suggestions on how to make all this work would be most appreciated. We have signed up for a half day cooking class in Chianti area for one of the days.
Mar 15th, 2012, 11:04 PM
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You should probably contact a driver in umbria and get a quote. Here is one, and you can find more with google searches for "car transfers Umbria."
http://www.umbriadriver.com/sito/
One other note: Arezzo is in Tuscany, and it is very easy to visit from Florence by train.
Otherwise, unless you feel that driving in Umbria and Chianti would seriously ruin your vacation, you should know that Umbria in particular is one of the easiest places to drive in Italy. It is also quite easy to drive around Chianti.
You don't say which day of your trip you have booked your cooking class, or where in Chianti it is, so it is hard to give advice. But although it is possible to reach all your detinations in Tuscany using public transportation, I'm not sure you can do it in 7 days and go to Umbria as well unless you go with a group tour. There are some that include Siena, Lucca, Pisa and San Gimignano in a single day.
Otherwise, from a base in Florence, Siena is a full day trip, so is San Gimignano/Volterra. You can combine Lucca and Pisa. Arezzo is half a day, and presumably you want to spend at least a day and a half in Florence without leaving. So that is 5 days -- plus you have a cooking class. That leaves you less than 2 days for a job through Umbria -- and where are you flying out of?
If you have strong interests in art and Italian painting, I suggest you eliminate Lucca, Gubbio and San Gimignano/Volterra. If you are more interested in seeing hilltowns, elminate Arezzo, Assisi and Lucca. If you are more interested in relaxing, eliminate Siena, Gubbio, Assisi and San Gimignano.
You are zooming around in an effort to nail down the max number of stunning picturesque guidebooks, and you will miss more of Italy that way than you realize. You will be zooming past places of great interest, where it is very revealing to linger.
http://www.umbriadriver.com/sito/
One other note: Arezzo is in Tuscany, and it is very easy to visit from Florence by train.
Otherwise, unless you feel that driving in Umbria and Chianti would seriously ruin your vacation, you should know that Umbria in particular is one of the easiest places to drive in Italy. It is also quite easy to drive around Chianti.
You don't say which day of your trip you have booked your cooking class, or where in Chianti it is, so it is hard to give advice. But although it is possible to reach all your detinations in Tuscany using public transportation, I'm not sure you can do it in 7 days and go to Umbria as well unless you go with a group tour. There are some that include Siena, Lucca, Pisa and San Gimignano in a single day.
Otherwise, from a base in Florence, Siena is a full day trip, so is San Gimignano/Volterra. You can combine Lucca and Pisa. Arezzo is half a day, and presumably you want to spend at least a day and a half in Florence without leaving. So that is 5 days -- plus you have a cooking class. That leaves you less than 2 days for a job through Umbria -- and where are you flying out of?
If you have strong interests in art and Italian painting, I suggest you eliminate Lucca, Gubbio and San Gimignano/Volterra. If you are more interested in seeing hilltowns, elminate Arezzo, Assisi and Lucca. If you are more interested in relaxing, eliminate Siena, Gubbio, Assisi and San Gimignano.
You are zooming around in an effort to nail down the max number of stunning picturesque guidebooks, and you will miss more of Italy that way than you realize. You will be zooming past places of great interest, where it is very revealing to linger.
Mar 16th, 2012, 10:14 PM
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Zeppole - Thank you for your reply. We fly in and out of Florence. Our cooking class is on the day before we leave so we have the first five and half days to explore. We are very interested in seeing the pretty countryside and touring pretty villas and gardens, shopping the local markets, cooking local cuisine, and maybe a little bit of museum visiting. In Chianti, we are going to be near Poggiobonsi - we visit the Tavernelle market and then spend the afternoon at the cooking class. We picked Lucca for the villas, Volterra for the pretty countryside, Siena for the shopping - are we on the right track with this plan? We expect to spend about a day and half in Florence. Renting a car is very tempting but we are intimidated by the fear of being in remote areas on our own because we don't speak Italian and we are two women traveling by ourselves.
We have been told that Gubbio is very pretty and is filled with pottery shops - is this accurate?
We have been told that Gubbio is very pretty and is filled with pottery shops - is this accurate?
Mar 16th, 2012, 10:42 PM
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You really needn't be afraid of renting a car and driving because you are 2 women alone who don't speak Italian. You would be safe anywhere in Italy, and you will practically be in America driving around Tuscany these days. Seriously --put those thoughts away.
It is not easy to reach the villas and gardens of Lucca without a car. They are outside the city walls, in the low hills. Yes, Gubbio is very pretty and is filled with pottery shops, but then so are most towns in the region.
If you are "very interested in seeing the pretty countryside and touring pretty villas and gardens, shopping the local markets, cooking local cuisine, and maybe a little bit of museum visiting," I strongly suggest you arrive in Florence, get over your jet lag in a hotel in town for 2 nights, then rent a car and go out to the Chianti countryside. You might enjoy a town like Castellina in Chianti or Bucine. You will find lovely villas and palaces in the small towns all around there. You can start with this for a guide:
http://www.gardens-of-tuscany.net/
You will find ceramics shops everywhere, but if you really enjoy shopping for ceramics, you can take a 2-hour drive from Chianti to Gubbio, or go Deruta one day just to shop for ceramics of the highest quality. Stop for lunch on the way near Cortona.
From Chianti, you can visit famous Siena or San Gimignano if you like, or a beautiful small town Lucignanao or Loro Ciuffeno.
You will be close to your cooking class.
I think once you get to Italy you will see that you are tripping over fascinating, beautiful gardens, villas, ceramic shops, local markets, everywhere you turn. You really don't need to drive all the way to Gubbio to see a beautiful town.
If it turns out you really can't bring yourselves to rent a car, enjoy Florence as a base. See if you can book a villa/garden tour in either Lucca or Fiesole (above Florence).
Take the bus from Florence to Siena to see pretty countryside and the magnificent town of Siena. If you are really motivated, take a bus to San Gimignano one day. That takes two hours, but it is simpler to take a 15 minute bus ride up to Fiesole and enjoy the gardens and villas up there (plus some Roman ruins).
Take a 90 minute day trip by train to Faenza one day if you really want to shop for fantastic ceramics like the ones you would find in Deruta. (Shops close for lunch, so go later in the afternoon.) If you like terracotta pottery, take a 20 minute bus ride from Florence to Impruneta, where 99 percent of all the terracotta pottery in italy is made.
Don't make too much of fetish of trying to get to local food markets. The one if Florence is actually quite good if you take your time with it and go inside the covered area to see the specialities and sample the cheeses and oils.
But I think you would have more fun if you rented a car and stayed in the countryside.
On the day before you need to leave, drive your car to the airport in Florence, drop it off, and then take a 20 minute bus or taxi ride back to Florence and spend the last night there.
It is not easy to reach the villas and gardens of Lucca without a car. They are outside the city walls, in the low hills. Yes, Gubbio is very pretty and is filled with pottery shops, but then so are most towns in the region.
If you are "very interested in seeing the pretty countryside and touring pretty villas and gardens, shopping the local markets, cooking local cuisine, and maybe a little bit of museum visiting," I strongly suggest you arrive in Florence, get over your jet lag in a hotel in town for 2 nights, then rent a car and go out to the Chianti countryside. You might enjoy a town like Castellina in Chianti or Bucine. You will find lovely villas and palaces in the small towns all around there. You can start with this for a guide:
http://www.gardens-of-tuscany.net/
You will find ceramics shops everywhere, but if you really enjoy shopping for ceramics, you can take a 2-hour drive from Chianti to Gubbio, or go Deruta one day just to shop for ceramics of the highest quality. Stop for lunch on the way near Cortona.
From Chianti, you can visit famous Siena or San Gimignano if you like, or a beautiful small town Lucignanao or Loro Ciuffeno.
You will be close to your cooking class.
I think once you get to Italy you will see that you are tripping over fascinating, beautiful gardens, villas, ceramic shops, local markets, everywhere you turn. You really don't need to drive all the way to Gubbio to see a beautiful town.
If it turns out you really can't bring yourselves to rent a car, enjoy Florence as a base. See if you can book a villa/garden tour in either Lucca or Fiesole (above Florence).
Take the bus from Florence to Siena to see pretty countryside and the magnificent town of Siena. If you are really motivated, take a bus to San Gimignano one day. That takes two hours, but it is simpler to take a 15 minute bus ride up to Fiesole and enjoy the gardens and villas up there (plus some Roman ruins).
Take a 90 minute day trip by train to Faenza one day if you really want to shop for fantastic ceramics like the ones you would find in Deruta. (Shops close for lunch, so go later in the afternoon.) If you like terracotta pottery, take a 20 minute bus ride from Florence to Impruneta, where 99 percent of all the terracotta pottery in italy is made.
Don't make too much of fetish of trying to get to local food markets. The one if Florence is actually quite good if you take your time with it and go inside the covered area to see the specialities and sample the cheeses and oils.
But I think you would have more fun if you rented a car and stayed in the countryside.
On the day before you need to leave, drive your car to the airport in Florence, drop it off, and then take a 20 minute bus or taxi ride back to Florence and spend the last night there.
Mar 17th, 2012, 03:54 AM
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I wanted to add that if you end up not wanting a car, then Orvieto is quite a pretty town with lovely views that is filled with ceramics shops, and it is easier to reach from Florence than Gubbio..
Since most shops close during the lunch hour, one way to do a day trip from Florence and get the most out of shopping is to take a train after breakfast to Arezzo and have a big lunch there. After lunch, take the train to Orvieto, and by the time you arrive, all the ceramic shops will have reopened. In the early evening, you can stop by a wine bar and have a bite to eat. The return trip to Firezne will take just under 2 hours.
But if you have a car, I wouldn't drive it all the way to Orvieto. There are lots of pretty places much closer to Florence. You don't need to go that far.
Since most shops close during the lunch hour, one way to do a day trip from Florence and get the most out of shopping is to take a train after breakfast to Arezzo and have a big lunch there. After lunch, take the train to Orvieto, and by the time you arrive, all the ceramic shops will have reopened. In the early evening, you can stop by a wine bar and have a bite to eat. The return trip to Firezne will take just under 2 hours.
But if you have a car, I wouldn't drive it all the way to Orvieto. There are lots of pretty places much closer to Florence. You don't need to go that far.
Mar 17th, 2012, 05:51 AM
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I agree that car rental is easy and driving in the remote countryside is easy. I agree that the OP would benefit greatly by having a car and should take the recommendation seriously.
But driving out of Florence is not easy, IME.
I speak Italian, lived briefly in Florence in the '70s, have navigated in many parts of Italy including Rome.
Getting out of Florence on our last visit was a nightmare. Highway signage was confusing or absent. (I admit our maps were inadequate.) I actually ended up screaming at my spouse, who was driving. Other posters on this forum have commented the same, both about entering and exiting central Florence.
But driving out of Florence is not easy, IME.
I speak Italian, lived briefly in Florence in the '70s, have navigated in many parts of Italy including Rome.
Getting out of Florence on our last visit was a nightmare. Highway signage was confusing or absent. (I admit our maps were inadequate.) I actually ended up screaming at my spouse, who was driving. Other posters on this forum have commented the same, both about entering and exiting central Florence.
Mar 17th, 2012, 06:01 AM
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It is quite easy to rent a car someplace other than the center of Florence. The simplest thing is to take the short bus ride to the airport and rent it there.
However, you can greatly ease your departure from Florence, should you decide to rent there, by
(a) asking on the Tripadvisor message board for Florence for advice about which is the best rental office (There are residents of Florence who post on that board)
(b) looking at a map of Florence ahead of time on Google Maps
(c) purchasing a good map of Florence and Tuscany before you come to Italy
(d) asking the person who rents you the car to show you on YOUR map what is the best street to take to leave the city
(e) renting a GPS with your vehicle if you know how to use one.
If you still feel daunted, just go to the airport and rent the car.
However, you can greatly ease your departure from Florence, should you decide to rent there, by
(a) asking on the Tripadvisor message board for Florence for advice about which is the best rental office (There are residents of Florence who post on that board)
(b) looking at a map of Florence ahead of time on Google Maps
(c) purchasing a good map of Florence and Tuscany before you come to Italy
(d) asking the person who rents you the car to show you on YOUR map what is the best street to take to leave the city
(e) renting a GPS with your vehicle if you know how to use one.
If you still feel daunted, just go to the airport and rent the car.
Mar 17th, 2012, 08:52 AM
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Zeppole - Thank you so much for your thoughtful advice and recommendations. I am absolutely leaning towards renting a car. Will look into the various options you have suggested and probably come back with additional questions 
Mar 18th, 2012, 08:42 PM
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Yes, I did most of those things.
Spent 2 hours on Autoeurope site, comparing the locations of various rental firms.
Spent at least an hour on mappy.com plotting the route and printing instructions to pack in my travel portfolio.
Confirmed my understanding of the route with the charming but airheaded woamn in the rental office.
It availed me not one whit.
Just sayin'.
Spent 2 hours on Autoeurope site, comparing the locations of various rental firms.
Spent at least an hour on mappy.com plotting the route and printing instructions to pack in my travel portfolio.
Confirmed my understanding of the route with the charming but airheaded woamn in the rental office.
It availed me not one whit.
Just sayin'.
Mar 19th, 2012, 01:39 AM
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Which rental office did you use? Did you have a GPS?
You can read many trip reports here and on other message boards by people who picked up a car in Florence and went to rural Tuscany and didn't have your experience, many of them first time travelers to Europe. It's good you post your experience, and maybe other people picked a more favorable car rental office, but it is not an insuperable problem.
However, it really is simple to take a taxi or even a bus to the Florence airport and pick up a car there. The Florence airport is quite close to the city, and when you exit you are on the A1, which intersects with roads going to the Chianti, Siena/southern Tuscany and Lucca/Pisa, or Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto to the north -- so for whichever direction you need to go once you've picked up the car, you will have a simple path to getting there. It is worth the few extra euros if it will start your adventure in Tuscany pleasantly
You can read many trip reports here and on other message boards by people who picked up a car in Florence and went to rural Tuscany and didn't have your experience, many of them first time travelers to Europe. It's good you post your experience, and maybe other people picked a more favorable car rental office, but it is not an insuperable problem.
However, it really is simple to take a taxi or even a bus to the Florence airport and pick up a car there. The Florence airport is quite close to the city, and when you exit you are on the A1, which intersects with roads going to the Chianti, Siena/southern Tuscany and Lucca/Pisa, or Emilia-Romagna and the Veneto to the north -- so for whichever direction you need to go once you've picked up the car, you will have a simple path to getting there. It is worth the few extra euros if it will start your adventure in Tuscany pleasantly
Apr 18th, 2012, 08:08 AM
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zeppole, I am so impressed with your knowledge of Tuscany. I have posted here before about wanting to travel to Tuscany/ Italy in the near future and asking for some advice. But, because I had no definitive plans - understandably it was hard for other posters to give me the responses that I was looking for. Everyone was great in their attempts in giving me advice but it was my fault for posting so early.
Now that I have convinced my sister to take a trip with me just to Tuscany, I have been doing more research. And I must say that I was also concerned about driving abroad. I do know how to drive a standard but my sister does not, do they rent automatic cars - just in case my sister would have to drive?
Thank you for all of your suggestions even though they were not directed at me. GRevahs, I hope that you have a lovely time on your trip and if you post your experiences (with renting a car or not) for all of us to enjoy.
Now that I have convinced my sister to take a trip with me just to Tuscany, I have been doing more research. And I must say that I was also concerned about driving abroad. I do know how to drive a standard but my sister does not, do they rent automatic cars - just in case my sister would have to drive?
Thank you for all of your suggestions even though they were not directed at me. GRevahs, I hope that you have a lovely time on your trip and if you post your experiences (with renting a car or not) for all of us to enjoy.
Apr 18th, 2012, 08:49 AM
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The memory of our last 'excursion' to downtown Florence still
haunts me - one wrong turn was all it took and then 20 min.
of terror through the narrow streets zig-zaging our way to
try to get the dodge out of hell. Next time we left the car
and took the train.
haunts me - one wrong turn was all it took and then 20 min.
of terror through the narrow streets zig-zaging our way to
try to get the dodge out of hell. Next time we left the car
and took the train.
Apr 18th, 2012, 09:52 AM
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After talking with a few people at work that has been to Florence and neighboring towns - they had the same experience immimi. I have time to decide what to do but I'll probably end up going for the train as well. thanks.
thanks.
Apr 20th, 2012, 04:50 PM
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I have driven twice into Florence and both times were nightmarish. The third time we arrived by train and then took a taxi to the airport and picked up our rental car. SO much easier to get on the highway from there.
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