aspinxtreem

We are looking to take 1 or 2 nice day trips from Florence in May. We have reservations for all nights in a Florence hotel, so would like to return there at night.

We have had so many suggestions: Cinque Terre, Sorrento, San Gimignano, Cortona, Siena...it's so hard to decide! Hiking, strolling, eating, biking, wine, wandering; we love it all. Can anyone share their experiences/recommendations with us? Thanks in advance!

aspinxtreem

What a great site Rachel! Thank you.

ira

Hi asp,

You can take the SITA bus, near the train station, to Siena for a day - abt 1hr.

From Siena you can take the bus or train to Montepulciano - 2hr from Florence.

You can take the train to Bologna for a day - abt 1hr.

For a nice, quiet day you can train to Lucca - 1hr or Orvieto - 1:30 hr.

greggrb

We will be in Florence for a few days and are planning a day trip to Pisa, it seems to be about an hour trip by car. We plan on renting something to drive up. Any information would be appreciated.

aspinxtreem

Seeing as how we are still within the limit of the "no penalty cancellation" for the Florence hotel, do you think it would be better if we only stayed 2 or 3 nights in Florence and maybe spent the 1 or 2 nights in other villages for side trips? I know that it's not always great to "over plan", but we are on a budget and have found some great deals on lodging by booking in advance. Thanks!

KarenKL

I recommend doing your florence siteseeing while staying in Florence, but after that stay somewhere else in Tuscany. I recently did a 3 nights in Florence, 3 nights in Siena, 3 nights in Lucca, and 4 nights in Portovenere trip, and am SO HAPPY we did not go with our initial instinct to use Florence as a homebase.

aspinxtreem

We were originally thinking of this:

Day 1: Arrive by train into Florence 11:00a. Check in to hotel. Spend the rest of the day wandering.

Day 2: Major Florence sightseeing day

Day 3: Day trip to Cinque Terre by train

Day 4: Day trip to Siena by bus

Day 5: Morning and early afternoon in Florence, evening train to Rome.

Does this sound do-able or should we cut out one of the day trips? Another option is to spend one of our days with a tour (maybe highly recommended hills and roads) touring wineries and countryside.

mlongobard

Five days (and four nights) is so little time! Given your short stay, I'd suggest cutting out the day trips. Instead, spend your first two nights in Florence, devoting all of your time to the city. On Day 3, transplant yourself to Siena, and spend your third and forth nights there. On Day 3, if you've fallen in love with Florence spend the morning there and head for Siena in the afternoon; if you've had your fill of Florence, leave for Siena in the morning. You'll be happy to be in Siena come the evening, when the daytrippers have gone and the city's at its best. On Day 4 you can get out into the Chianti countryside, either renting a car for the day or getting around by bus. On Day 5, spend the morning seeing whatever Siena sights you missed on Day 3, then head for Rome. Or, if you aren't too burdened down with luggage, leave in the morning from Siena and stop at Orvieto on your way to Rome.

That's a pretty simple itinerary, but simple can be good.

ira

Hi greggrb
>We will be in Florence for a few days and are planning a day trip to Pisa, it seems to be about an hour trip by car. <

It's also about an hour by train, for about 20E RT.

See www.trenitalia.com/en

ira

OOPS.

15E 1 cl 10e 2cl

aspinxtreem

Thanks mlongobard for that itinerary! That sounds great and was exactly the kind of advice we need.

aspinxtreem

Actually, I was mistaken. Turns out we planned 6 days and 5 nights for Florence. Is there a way to work CT into that itinerary? We were really looking forward ot the beautiful hike.

mlongobard

The Cinque Terre have been the subject of many posts on these boards -- you might want to do a search to see the diversity of opinion about the area. It's a gorgeous stretch of coast (I don't think there's much debate about that), and May is a great time to be there (though that holds true for just about anywhere in Italy).

I've never made the day trip from Florence, but I think it would be a test of stamina. The trip by train takes 2.5 to 3 hours (one way). Once you get there, the hiking can be fairly rigorous; the further west you go, the more demanding it gets. My guess is at the end of the day you'd feel (1) happy to have seen the beautiful coastline; (2) frustrated that you didn't have more time there; (3) charmed by the towns -- whatever you've gotten to see of them in your limited time -- but sorry you hadn't been there 20 years earlier, before tourism became so prevalent; (4) totally exhausted.

aspinxtreem

I think we will do 3 nights in Florence and then 2 nights in Siena. Any recommendations on lodging in Siena?

tuscanfan

Hotel Chiusarelli in Siena, which is right by the busstation and closest to the town center.

Nick101

I was in Florence with my wife last February. We used the services of a guy called Marco. His English is excellent. He drove us around for a wine tasting tour between Florence and Siena. He also took us hiking in northern Tuscany, a beautiful and unkown place. He was very nice and his price was very reasonable. I highly reccomend him. His e-mail is [email protected]

aspinxtreem

Thank you SO much! I will email Marco right now and inquire about his prices and availability.

I also wrote to Luca from Hills and Roads, as many people have raved about him. Thank you for all of your help!