angel025

August 26th to August 30th – Florence

I will be in Florence for 4 full days. 2 days I plan to spend in Florence itself. And the other 2, a day trip.
One of the day trips will be Sienna. I have another day to choose between Chianti wine tour or Luca, Pisa. (I know my mother really wants to see Pisa, we can skip Lucca though).

Ideally I would love to do a wine tour and Pisa on one day. Is that possible? (We don’t plan on climbing the tower because I have heard that it is not worth – thoughts? )

August 31st to September 4th - Rome
Is there a wine tour close to Rome instead?

Jean

You'd have to know the timing of the Chianti wine tour so you could check the train schedule to/from Pisa. We haven't done a guided wine tour, but the ones I've looked into are all-day excursions. And I wouldn't just go to Pisa to eyeball the tower and then return to Florence. There are many interesting things to see in the immediate area of the tower, and you could easily spend a 1/2 day (including transportation time).

FWIW, I'm a fan of Galileo, so climbing the tower that Galileo climbed was worth it to me. If you decide to climb, you need reservations for a specific day and time.

http://www.opapisa.it/en/organizza-l...che/orari.html

jk1348

I recently booked the Best of Tuscany tour thru Walk about Tours Florence. We are going on 9/4/11. Yes it is a bus tour but it encompasses Sienna, San Germingano (sp) and Pisa including a stop at a vineyard with lunch. Departs from train station area in Florence at about 8:15am and returns about 8pm. I am traveling with my daughter and I am 62 and she is 28. Seemed to be the best way to cover some of the things we wanted to see outside Florence proper and was actually quite reasonable.

tuscanlifeedit

You could probably find a tour that included the Campo dei Miracoli in Pisa, as well as a winery or two, or you could certainly set one up yourself.

I believe the man at hillsandroads.com is just one of the many drivers that would plan and execuate something like this for you. I hire drivers for clients to do this sort of thing quite often.

It isn't the cheapest way to go, but you certainly get to do exactly what you would like.

If you wanted your winery tour to begin in Pisa, I would search for drivers out of Pisa, but by the time you get to the train station in Florence, then the train to Pisa, then the hike, bus or taxi to the Campo, then the winery tour, then back again, it doesn't seem time or money efficient.

tuscanlifeedit

Another thought is combining Siena with a winery visit or two. I'll bet some company is doing that. Try a google search.

Since Siena isn't that much fun while all the shops are closed, you could do half the day winery visits, and half the day Siena.

LoveItaly

And please note that the correct spelling is Siena, just one "n". That will help you with your research.

PalenQ

Pisa and Lucca are easily or could easily be included on the same day trip

and busing to siena you could easily go by way of Chianti-en-Greve.

The Pisa s Leandro (not sure of name) train station, a secondary station with about hourly trains from Lucca and Pisa Centrale is a very short stroll from the Leaning Tower - hop off see the Tower and Baptisry or whatever they call the church in that square (closed when we were there noon to 3pn or so and no shorts allowed I think or excessive skin) - then head to nearby Lucca by train - I have seen just about every town in Italy and Lucca to me is so so exceptional - a ramparted city with an inordinate number of medieval towers - a Roman colosseum that is now part of a residential complex - then hop direct train from Lucca back to Florence.

angel025

Thank you for your comments. After reading everything I might do what Jean recommended. The Siena, Chianti, Pisa and San Gimignano. It costs 100 euro per person (including the climb).

What day is better, Sunday or Monday for the end of August to take such a tour?

Any recommendations for only Tuscany countryside tour? - But I definitely want to see Pisa and Siena.

kybourbon

>>>The Siena, Chianti, Pisa and San Gimignano.<<<

In one day? I think that's too much.

jnjfraz

Siena and a Chianti wine tour are very good together and make a great day. You will need a car or a car hire for this.

We very often tour a winery in the morning (10 to noon) then take people to Siena. Two great wineries to tour are Castello Monsanto www.castellodimonsanto.it OR Castello Verazano www.verrazzano.com You will need a

Or take a bus to Siena and I have heard that this company is great http://www.siena-activities.com/taste_siena.htm

Jean

jk1348's Best of Tuscany tour is 12 hours long with 4 stops.

Since hitting all of these destinations involves at least 5 hours of driving, that leaves less than 7 hours for seeing Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, climbing the Leaning Tower, eating lunch and seeing a little of a vineyard. Not to mention time spent getting everyone off and on the bus 9 times.

I understand the desire to see as much as possible, but this is a whirlwind tour I wouldn't recommend.

PalenQ

Siena and a Chianti wine tour are very good together and make a great day. You will need a car or a car hire for this.>

Naw you do not need any car to do that - there are constant buses from Florence to Chianti and onto Siena - may save time as don't have to ferret out parking once there - in Siena once we had to park well down the hill and hoof it up - bus will take you near the top. Easily done by public transportation.

annhig

Fiesole [get the bus from Piazza San Marco] makes a great 1/2 day or evening trip out of Florence. Lovely views over the city plus interesting walks up to the Monastery of San Francisco and the roman theatre.

the restaurant in the centre under the trees is vey pleasant too.

kybourbon

>>>Naw you do not need any car to do that - there are constant buses from Florence to Chianti and onto Siena<<<

There are frequent buses between Florence and Siena, but not through Chianti and onto Siena. Buses from Florence to Greve are more centered around local work schedules with long gaps between service. They often only go as far as Greve with a few going as far as Panzano. You would then need to find a bus going on to Siena.

angel025

So I can do the Siena tour and Chianti wine tour. I know that I can take a bus to Siena, but there is no public transport to Chianti and then Siena. In that case, is there a tour comapny that you recommend?

Thanks