We will be staying in Florence in March (our 2nd trip) and may be limited to 2 day trips from there. We are trying to decide between Siena, Assisi, San Gimagnano, Lucca and Cortona. Can you help us narrow it down? Museums and churches are great but we're happy too, just strolling, eating, shopping, taking photos and taking in the local life in picturesque quaint towns. Thanks!

Sue

I suggest San Gimignano and Cortona.
Have a lovely trip.

Ciao.

Vincenzo

Hi

Will you have a car? My wife and I went to Florence in the summer of last year and you can check out my trip report with pictures on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm

After our stay in Florence we drove out to the Chianti district and we used this as a base for exploring various towns. Here is the trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/tuscany_italy_travelogue.htm . Hope this helps

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Hi Sue - Only 2?

Mine would be Siena & Cortona (- or Assisi).

Steve

San Gimignano and Siena would be my picks.
You are not really getting a lot of consistent direction here

Hi S,

In this order:

Orvieto
Bologna
Siena (and San G)

PS,

We found Lucca to be a very pleasant town to lay back and chill in, but not interesting enough to recommend for a daytrip.

The "antique" fair was a disappointment.

I've been to the first three of the five towns you mentioned. I think San G is the least museum-and-church-heavy of the three, so I'd recommend you go there plus either Siena or Assisi.

We just did similar in November 07.
We visited San Gimagnano, Siena, and also stopped in at the really neat small hill town of Monteriggioni. We had a car and spent the day exploring these cities and also the Chianti region.

Have fun!

Definitely Siena, but if you want to stroll, then I'd say Lucca.

I loved Assisi and Siena. I missed Arezzo but had wanted to see the Pierro della Francesca frescoes. Cortona and Montepulciano are supposed to be lovely (on my list of places to visit).

I think the answer to your question depends on whether you're driving, training, or busing. (Warning: driving in central Florence is strictly controlled; there's a thread about people getting tickets, tickets that follow them home.)

So, assuming you don't have a car: for sure, I'd do a bus trip from Florence to Siena. (The bus leaves from across the street from the train station and stops in the middle of Siena; the train leaves you outside.)

The second day trip take the train to Lucca. It has fewer of the big sights but is a nice town for strolling, shopping, eating. You can walk around the walls -- on top of the walls looking down into the town.

Siena and Assissi would be my favorites (we also did Pisa, San Gim and Perugia).