Thanks so much. This is great info. I'm definitely planning on a trip to Fiesole, and if I decide I want a tour -- as opposed to just taking a bus or train to San Gimignano and/or elsewhere, I'll contact Luca.

Because of the overwhelming recommendations on this forum I booked Hotel Casci in Florence.

Another good move - re booking Hotel Casci!! Have been FIVE times over the last years and loved it completely!!!

I've emailed and heard back from Luca. I think this will work well. For less than 300 Euro we can have a private, customized, all-day tour. He suggested a stop in Certaldo, as well as San Gimignano, and asked about our interests.

If others want to join the tour it would lower the price. But being the first ones to book, we get to choose the stops.

So ... thanks to this forum I've got a hotel--and maybe a tour guide!

Are there additional stops you'd recommend? Luca had suggested a winery stop in Chianti, but we don't drink and aren't interested in wine tasting.

After Certaldo, San Gimignano, Siena... IMO, you don't have time for additional stops. You're already spending more than 3 hours in the car (more than 4 hours if you drive through Chianti), and you need to allow time to see the towns you're driving to. Siena is fairly large, and you could have easily spent an entire day just there. At Certaldo, if the driver is not able to drive into the historical center, you'll have to walk or take the funicular up to Certaldo Alto.

That tour sounds great!

If you have your heart set on CT, I'll put it out there that I went in early March last year. No hiking (bc the trail had been washed out the previous summer) so I took the train between the towns and wandered around eating focaccia with pesto. It was a pristine blue sky kinda day and was only a little bit chilly.

We weren't planning on including Siena in the private tour--just San G & Certaldo. But I could ask about including Siena. I realize the days will be very short in early March, and we might not have enough to time to do it in daylight.

Re: CT ... I've accepted that it's probably too far--and the wrong time of year. But focaccia with piston sounds great!!!

Sorry. Somehow I thought Siena was on your list.

Without Siena, and depending on how much time you spend in Certaldo and San Gimignano, you might have time for a stop in Chianti. You could ask to return to Florence on via Chiantigiana Strada (SR222) which is one of the great scenic drives in Italy. This would take you through Castellina, Panzano and Greve.

When we first used Luca as our tour guide many many years ago, it was our first time in the Italian countryside and we did not really know what to do and where to go. I sent Luca a list of our interests, walking abilities (we were with an elderly Mom), etc. and sort of let him take the reins with where to go and what to do. We had two days with him touring and it was amazing. He is able, because of his being a tour guide, to get right into the center of the towns so that we did not "waste" precious time. We also toured with him in March and yes it got dark early but not too early so that if you start out by 9 AM as we did, you will have plenty of time to see as much as possible. Enjoy.

Focaccia with piston sounds as though it might be a bit greasy.

<Focaccia with piston sounds as though it might be a bit greasy.>

HA! Delicious. It's a Tuscan specialty, but you do have to be very careful not to break a tooth on those pistons! GRRR ... Sometimes I hate auto-correct!

I did send Luca our interests--and mentioned that we like to photograph scenery. I just wanted to see if there was something I should tell him to include. I'll definitely tell him to take scenic routes.

Thanks for all your help!

We took a Best of Tuscany tour through Walkabout Florence. Not being much of hikers/walkers, and also wanting to see a bit of everything, this was perfect for us. We got to see a lot of Italy, enjoy a great lunch/wine tasting, and enjoy the drive without worrying about the drivers. Yes, a lot to see in a loooong day, with not a whole lot of time to explore anything specifically, but still a great time to relax and let somebody else worry about the logistics.

I would want to spent it all in Florence. One day trip, maybe. Four days will go by fast!

If you are interested in ceramics, there are some very talented potters working in the Certaldo area. One in particular we plan to visit next year is Terry Davies.
http://terrydavies.it/home/

oldsteve: that tour looks PERFECT! Thanks so much.

We'll probably only do that one day tour--so it'll be good to get a good overview of the area.

Thanks, wekewoody. So ... we don't only go to Kauai!

http://www.florencetown.com/eng/flor...-florence.html

We enjoyed this cooking class in Florence. We also enjoyed people watching and just wandering around Florence. We took a train to Figline to visit a friend. (about 20 min) I would not take a ton of day trips out of the city. You could spend two days just walking around the city and seeing everything. We are not big museum people either and we all enjoyed Florence.