sandyv60

Can anyone offer suggestions for staying and exploring the Tuscany region without a car?
We would be starting our trip in Rome and spending 4 to 5 days in the Tuscany area and fly out of Florence. Would like to do a day trip to the Cinque Terre too. Suggestions for accommodations in Tuscany would be appreciated !

Paragkash

sandyv60, Italian Rail pass may help you.
I did a day trip to Cinque Terre and was disappointed.
I feel it is over hyped as Rick Steves has written great reviews about it.
It looks quite run down. You can have better things to do in your available time.
Only part we loved in the Italian Riviera was a half day trip to Portofino. It is a picture post card place and you can just spend your day between Santa Margherita Ligure.
Trains to Cinque Terre are crowded and we saw 2 people getting robbed.
This is my personal opinion and it may differ from other people's view.
One good place is Bellagio, Lake Como, italy.

Jean

Tuscany is hard to see without a car. If you stayed in Siena, there is bus service to many towns, but it would be hard to experience more than one town a day. If you stayed in Florence, there is both train and bus service to many towns, and there are some town combos that can be visited in a single day. There are organized tours from both cities, but you're limited to the towns and schedules offered. If you hired a driver/guide, you could stay where you like and see what you want.

The Cinque Terre is 3+ hours (one way) by train from Florence and 4+ hours (one way) by train from Siena. Santa Margherita Ligure is an hour farther.

sandyv60

thank you both for the info. I am thinking it would be best to be based in Florence for transportation purposes. After doing some research, I do see organized tours that are available for day trips, which is something we would probably do either way.

any ideas on the best place/area to stay in Florence ?

if anyone has any suggestions for tour companies/individuals-- that would be great !

Bamaman

Without a car, I would suggest staying close to the Florence train station and taking a day trip to Siena by bus. You catch buses across the street from the train station. They line up around the corner and on the street behind the McDonalds.

You might also look for some tours that go down to San Gimignano, Volterra or some of the other hill towns.

The Cinque Terre is just a little too far for a day trip, and I'd suggest saving it for your next visit.

HappyTrvlr

Look at www.hillsandroads.com for countryside tours in Tuscany if you don't want to get a tental car.

WWK

I highly recommend Luca Garapa at Hillsandroads.com. We took several day trips with him to some of the hill towns and vineyards. He's reliable, charming, and very knowledgeable.

kybourbon

>>>Italian Rail pass may help you.<<<

A rail pass is useless for Tuscany and usually not economical for the rest of Italy.

You can do a few days in Tuscany by bus as long as you are willing to stay a few places.

From Rome, you could take the train to either Chiusi and switch to the bus to Montepulciano. You could stay there a few nights. Take a day tour (vineyards?) or two from there or bus to a couple of surrounding towns. Pienza would be another option, but does not have as many options for tours/travel. You just have to pay attention to bus schedules (most of Tuscany will not have Sunday bus service).

You could also take the Sena bus from Rome to Siena and stay there a few nights. Much more bus options to surrounding Tuscany.

It's not easy to travel around by bus, but is possible. Here's a bus map of the area.

http://www.sienamobilita.it/mappe/Mappa_EXT.pdf

Small towns such as Pienza, Montepulciano,Montalcino have drivers you can hire also. If you are trying to get a feel for the rural countryside, you should stay at least a night or two in a hill town.

bvlenci

KYBourbon is correct. I have tried various itinerary hypotheses, and I've never seen a situation where a rail pass would be helpful in Italy. Usually you would greatly increase your costs and reduce your convenience, because on long-distance routes you have to make separate (mandatory) train reservations.

kwren

I can see why people would be disappointed with a day trip to Cinque Terre. We spent 4 days there in September and watched the masses ushered in, given 15 minutes to "see" a town and were told not to be late or the next train would leave without them. The crowds with these tours were amazing and would wash over the towns at around 10:30.

We, on the other hand, just loved CT. We wandered around, hiked, rode the ferries, took the train to Portofino (and didn't get robbed or see any problems), sat in cafes and enjoyed the beautiful view from our cliff top apartment in Manarola. Our building on the cliff was completely away from the crowds at all times and all we heard with our windows open were the waves and gulls.

Save the CT for another trip when you can stay for a few days. It will be a completely different experience.

As far as not having a car in Tuscany, I'm sure the above suggestions would work, but why not get a car? A lot of the charm is in driving around and stopping in the little villages. Without one, I've read a lot about private day tours which sounded good, but I haven't taken any of them.

DebitNM

We have booked a tour with Luca of Hills and Roads after getting a personal recommendation from a friend and also reading reviews here and on Tripadvisor. We go next month,will be happy to report back.

sandyv60

Thank you everyone for the feedback !
I think we may just base ourselves in Florence and then do some day trips from there.
DebitNM-please share your experience with Hills and Roads. I have just sent them an email and hope to hear back from them

DebitNM

When are you going, sandy?

sandyv60

In mid-May

flpab

Cinque Terre was my favorite part of Italy. We took the train from Florence and spent two nights there. We hiked, went to all the villages, shopped, ate and drank in the views and wine.
We took the train to Sienna but would do bus next time as the train station is not in the center and we had to take a taxi. The bus station is in the center. Took bus everywhere else.
I rented an apartment Via Dante Alighieri and it was a great area.

sandyv60

Where did you stay in Cinque Terre ? Did you do a tour, or did you go around on your own ?

kwren

We stayed at Arpaiu in the apartment. If you look at the website, the apartment is in the middle salmon colored building at the top of the cliff. You have to walk up a hill from the train station when you arrive, but we got used to the walk pretty quickly. The individual rooms are in the yellow building to the left of the 3 salmon buildings. That yellow building had an upper patio we could use to watch the sunset. You can imagine the view we had. I would go back there in a heartbeat!

http://www.arpaiu.com/english.html

flpab

We actually got an apartment in La Spezia and took the train and ferry. We did that as we took the train after landing in Florence and knew the ferry left out of La Spezia. We stopped at all the villages via the 9am ferry but missed it after hiking so took the train back which was close to our apartment. La Spezia was very charming as well and loved our apartment since there were four females. Our apartment was the one with the bikes leaning against the stairs.
http://www.hotelcrismar.it/en/

kybourbon

>>>We took the train to Sienna but would do bus next time as the train station is not in the center and we had to take a taxi.<<<

There is an escalator up from the train station. You can also catch the local bus at the train station to Piazza Gramsci. The Sita bus from Florence to Siena is better though since it's center to center. It's also more likely to have working AC than the old regional trains on this route.

sandyv60

WWK and DebitNM- which tours did you do with or going to go on Hills and Roads?