day trips from Florence
 

Hi all,
First, thank you all for your help so far... You are greatly helping a stressed couple plan their honeymoon!

Second, we might be changing our itinerary to just Florence (we had thought we'd go to Venice and Cinque Terre, too, but money may not allow for as long a stay as we'd like). So, we decided if there was one place we'd want to go, it'd be Tuscany. We'll probably have 7 or so days to explore (not including our travel days). We want to spend some time in the city, but also take a bike tour of the country side, see some vineyards, and maybe take a side trip or two. Any recommendations? I'd like to spend at least 2 nights somewhere romantic outside of Florence. If we go with a cheap-ish (under 100E) hotel in Florence, we could probably splurge a bit ($150E) for a nicer, romantic place outside the city. Any ideas? We would prefer not to have to rent a car (we find driving kind of stressful).

Can I ask how many days and which airport you will be flying into/out of?

I ask because (and I know some will disagree), I would not recommend staying in Florence AT ALL, especially considering the type of accomodations you might be stuck with for under 100 Euro. This is just my opinion of course, but I've been to Florence twice, most recently last week, at the urgings of others, and I don't like it. It's extremely crowded, and IMHO, my least favorite spot in Italy. If you're only going to one spot in Italy, I definetely wouldn't recommend Florence. In fact, why not stay in Tuscany and do Florence as a day trip?

When we were in Florence we couldn't wait to leave, and it was worse the second time we went. The traffic, the people, the lines. Awful. Florence is the one spot in Italy that I would never return to.

Now I'm sure you'll get loads of replies telling you how Florence is their favorite place. Venice, Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Rome, Positano, the Lakes region, all are much, much nicer.

Oh Nina, I'm so sorry you had that awful taste of Florence! I understand though, because last time I was there it was that way. If it had been my first time I would never want to go back either!

That said, Bride, what month are you going? Florence does seem to be the most crowded of all destinations (I don't know.. Venice is pretty darn packed too). You might want to try to find a quieter destination if it's in the peak season.

While I absolutely LOVE Florence, you might think about staying in the Tuscan countryside and including Florence among your day trips, especially for a honeymoon. Florence can be a little hectic but it is a beautiful, vibrant, wonderful city.

I think I would have to agree with Nina somewhat on Florence. While we enjoyed our stay in Florence, we enjoyed Tuscany (and Rome) so much more. Florence was a great city but very very crowded, and we were there in March (off season).

As far as day trips from Florence are concerned, my vote would be for Siena! We visited Siena as a daytrip and fell in love with this hill town and wish we would have stayed there!

Tracy

Thank you all! We'er going in mid-Sept. I've been to Florence (and Rome and Venice) before (my soon-to-be-husband has never been to Italy at all), and I liked it. Brian really wants to see Tuscany. If we did stay in the country side and did Florence as one of the day trips, where would you recommend we stay? Would it be possible to day trip in and out of a town without a car?

I agree, Florence is a beautiful city with lots to offer, but nothing could make me endure the tourist trap it resembled on our last trip. If I ever go back it will be in the dead of winter.

We literally had to push our way through the crowds. Plus there were little carts selling cheap souvenirs everywhere, and it felt more like Epcot than Italy. I never wanted out of someplace like I did on our day in Florence. I thought I was going to have an attack of claustrophopia. A little hectic is a huge understatement!

PS- We love the beach. Will Sept. be beach weather? If so, can you recommend one in the Tuscany area? Are the beaches in Italy clothing optional? (Just curious....)

I think you could stay along ss222 (the main road that goes through Tuscany). We drove through and saw the Sita bus stops all along that route.

You could stay in Greve in Chianti, or Castellina in Chianti. If you stay in either you'll have lots of options for restaurants and a good sized town for shopping, but still charming. Go to Tuscany.net and explore villas in Chianti classico or chianti near Florence, I'd bet you'll find some great places in your price range. Just email and ask about public transportation.

September will definitely be beach weather, but you're talking about a whole different area of Tuscany, the Maremma which is WAY far away from Florence.

Hi Bride,

May I suggest 5 days in Florence with 2 days in Venice?

We stayed at the B&B Peterson for 11 nights last Sept. It is plain, clean, basic accomodations, but it does have AC and new ensuite bathrooms, for about 60E/nite.

With the money you save you could afford a fancier place in Venice.

See www.bedinflorence.it and my trip report
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044

Happy honeymoon.

PS,

That should have been 2 **nights** in Venice.

PPS,

You can easily visit Lucca and Pisa, Siena, and Orvieto in a day from Florence.

Honestly, I think I'd stay in Siena and day trip to Florence. It's so much more charming. You can take the bus everywhere.

OK, so you all have made me think that staying somewhere outside the city would be the best thing to do. Which raises a whole new set of questions...What are your thoughts for nice towns that are super convenient in terms of getting to Florence and doing day trips? Is there no beach that's a day-trip away from this area? Would it be much moer convenient to rent a car? If so, is it really stressful? Thanks to you all, particularly Nina and Ira who have posted so many great responses!!

bride_2004:

If you're looking to relax after your wedding, I would suggest staying in Tuscany instead and daytripping to Florence. We recently returned from our belated honeymoon and really enjoyed Tuscany. It was a welcomed "slow-down" when we got to Siena (after leaving Rome with all the cars, scooters and people). But the one Tuscan town I liked the most was Lucca. You can rent a bike and ride around on the elevated city walls. It was such a quaint relaxing town. Florence wasn't as crazy as Rome, but it was pretty crowded and noisy.

We stayed at Casa Laura in Siena (80E/night), but it's probably more simple than what you had in mind. During my research of Siena hotels, I kept running into the Hotel Santa Caterina, but I forgot how much it cost. Unfortunately we didn't stay overnight in Lucca, so I have no recommendations. I might be wrong, but I would assume you can find cheaper accomodations in other Tuscan cities as compared to Florence. So, you might not have to spend 150E to get a nicer place.

Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

Getting around by car is not difficult but finding parking can be a challenge and there is lots of traffic in the larger cities.

Hi bride,

If you are going to stay in Tuscany (not Florence) I urge you to plan it out as a motor trip.

Bus service to the smaller towns is infrequent.

See http://www.sita-on-line.it/

By train, you will have to go through Florence a lot.

OK, one last question for now: would it be possible/worth it to do a day trip to Cinque Terra if we were staying in the Lucca area and had a car?

I'd say Siena, Orvieto and perhaps Montepulciano as places to stay..