Advice Needed: Tuscany/Florence
 

We're planning our trip to Italy - most of the itinerary is locked in, but we're still working on a 5 day-4night section to cover Tuscany &amp; Florence. <BR><BR>Originally, we were going to spend some nights in Siena or thereabouts, and some nights in Florence. But now I'm thinking we should stay in one hotel and use that as a base for day trips to: places like Florence, San Gimigniano, Hill Towns, Lucca. BTW, we will have a rental car for this segment.<BR><BR>(1) Does this &quot;base&quot; idea make sense (2) if so, what town would be the best &quot;base&quot; and (3) any suggestions for hotels - something mid range.<BR><BR>Thanks!

That would not be my first choice because I like staying in different places. I would do 2 nights in Siena and two nights in Florence to get the feel for a place at night. Siena was not my favorite place in Tuscany but it is interesting for a one day visit and then spend the other day seeing San Gim. and maybe another small town.

Generally I like staying in one place and doing day trips with a car. Saves time changing hotels etc. And in this case you could stay somewhere in or near Siena and have more available to you than you could do in 5 days. (Unlike debbier, I love Siena and really enjoyed staying inside the city walls.)<BR><BR>However, with only 5 days I personally would prefer to spend 2 nights in Florence. Florence is a very exhausting city -- there is a lot to see, there are a lot of people, you are on your feet all day, and you walk everywhere. So for me, I like to be able to go back to my hotel and rest for an hour, take a shower, change clothes, before going out for the evening. <BR><BR>On 2 different trips we stayed near Siena and day-tripped all over central Tuscany. But every time we went into Florence we were so beat by the end of the day that we didn't even want to stay for dinner. I won't make that mistake again -- it is so delightful to stroll around Florence in the evening.

To be honest with you when exploring these small towns a car is a dead loss and costs quite a bit for parking. I still think to explore these small towns of Tuscany that Florence is the base and day trips you can do by train or Sita bus which departs from near the train station. Florence train station is one of the most user friendly in Europe and the fares are very reasonable, late last year less than 10 euros return to Lucca, Siena, San Gimignano and Arezzo. That's from Florence

I respectfully disagree, KathyNZ. I think driving around Tuscany is a wonderful way to explore the area. You can discover charming towns that you might not make a prime destination, you can take a back road and see delightful scenery, and you are not limited to the train or bus schedule. You can linger in a town like San Gimignano and see how different it feels when the tourist hordes depart. We never had trouble parking just outside places like Pienza, Montalcino, San Gimignano, Volterra, Monterriggioni. <BR><BR>Siena is another story, but if you visit on a day trip there are convenient garages to leave your car, and if you stay in a hotel you can usually arrange parking through them. If I were staying in Florence and visiting only Siena for the day, I would take public transportation, not a car. But if I wanted to also visit a few other towns, a car would be the way to go.

Thankyou Marilyn, I was in San Gimignano three times on day trips from Florence in november - december and saw everything in the town and did a long hike over the Tuscan hills. I am well satisfied with my three and a half weeks spent exploring Tuscany and Umbria by day train trips. And when you travel solo public transport is by far the best and cheapest. We are only making suggestions here not demanding people to do as we did. Then they can decide for themselves.

Carin,<BR><BR>I completely think establishing a base and doing day trips from one location is a good idea. Depending on which time of year you are going, I would check into renting a farmhouse as your base - you will find incredible choices that meet any budget and usually will exceed appointments in any hotel in that same price range - check on slowtrav.com if you ar einterested in learning more about that option. There are also agriturismo options for nightly stays.<BR><BR>I think selecting a base around Siena or Chianti would make a good deal of sense - you can day trip to Lucca/Pisa; Florence/Fiesole; Chianti/San Gim.; Southern Tuscany: Montalcino/Pienza/Montepulciano; possibly Umbria as well. <BR><BR>I definitely recommend renting a car, you can set your own pace for touring and determine how much you want to see and the times you want to see them at, not to mention any spur of the moment finds - a bus/train would limit your options considerably. good luck.

Here's another vote for renting a car versus taking public transportation. Among other things, you have the advantage of being ableto stop when and where you want along the way...and as often as you want.<BR>As far as where to stay, I'd favor two places. We opted for two diverse types of accommodations and were happy we did--a vineyard in Trequanda (about 20 kilimeters SE of Siena) and a castle outside of Assisi.

I agree--one location and a car is the way to go. Now, picking that location is another story. It really depends on how much time you want to spend in Florence, and the ease of getting there.<BR>Look at www.tuscany.net and use their search function by region to narrow your choices. Look at Hotel Villa Belvedere or Castel Biggozi as good compromise locations--both near Colle and near the superstrada. It is tough to do Lucca and south Tuscany from one location. Good luck !

I think 2 in Florence without a car then pick up your car as you leave Florence for the hilltowns might be a way to go. Having driven in Florence I can say it was a nightmare! I think basing yourself in a hilltown(and I agree Siena or around Montalcino) would allow you time after Florence to get an idea of life among the hilltowns. I agree parking in San G(if you go in late afternoon) and Montalcino(any time of day) is far easier than parking in Siena. However, a tip is to park at the &quot;Campo&quot; garage. It is relatively easy to navigate and in close walking distance to &quot;the campo&quot; itself. I am a big fan of Siena. My favorites among the &quot;towns&quot; were Montalcino and Montepulciano. We did rent an apartment in Chianti and drive to all our destinations. Check out the Slow Travellers website as well for places to stay. There have been many recommendations over time for hotels etc<BR>in the area on this site. Type in &quot;hotels-Siena&quot; or any of the other towns you've considered and previous posts will appear. Have a great trip. Answering posts about Tuscany always makes me wish I could be there right now!

KathyNZ, perhaps I am reading your post incorrectly, but it sounds as if you took offense at my disagreeing with you. I was just offering my opinion, based on 3 trips to the area in the past 5 years (each trip several weeks). Can't see where I &quot;demanded&quot; that anyone do as I did. <BR>And Carin used the plural in her original post, so she is not traveling solo.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful advice. One reason why we're thinking about staying put in one town and doing day trips is because the rest of the trip seems to involve a lot of train travel and hotel changes every 1-2 days. Ugghh. That's why for this middle Tuscany section we thought we'd change the pace and rent a car and do day trips from one hotel. <BR><BR>We're going in May, and I'm SOOOO excited (I should be working right now, but instead I'm gabbing about my trip on Fodors.com). Reading everything, surfing the web, I don't think I have ever researched a vacation as much as this one. It's funny - on this forum and in talking with friends/coworkers, there seems to be general consensus on what places are cool/not worth it, but Florence seems to be one town that has widely diverging opinions - worth a day trip? Worth as much time as you can? That's what's so great about these forums.

We spent 8 days in Florence and saw about 1/3 of what there is to see. Loved every minute, in that time we also took a day trip to Fiesole and to a Chianti classico vineyard (so about 6 days sightseeing in the city). It is a beautiful city - definitely visit it.<BR><BR>I think that a day trip would be very stressful and you wouldnt truly appreciate the city or even see much of it. If you accept that you wont see everything, you can do a good amount in 2-3 days without tiring yourself out completely and see the main sites. Remember if you want to go to the Uffizi that you can get tickets in advance and avoid the long line (at least you could in 1999).<BR><BR>Stay in Florence itself as opposed to driving in because part of the charm of the city is walking everywhere - particularly after about 10pm at night when everyone is out in the streets and walking. If you had to return to a hotel outside every night apart from the driving/parking nightmare (you wouldnt BELIEVE the examples we saw while there) you would miss this kind of city impression.<BR><BR>Have a wonderful trip!