Day Trips to Florence
 

Is it practical to base in somewhere such as Cortena, Arezzo or Montepulciano and make day trips into Florence? or would we be better off to reverse the order, stay in Florence and make day trips into Tuscany? Looking at an April or late March week-long visit. Thanks for any tips.

I would consider 2 nights in Florence followed by the rest of the time based in Tuscany for day trips within that region. Much more managable.

We stayed in Montepulciano, and it was too much for a day trip to Florence. We spent one night during the middle of the week in Florence, and it certainly wasn't enough time. ((b))

Hi BB,

If you will be renting car, I think you would want to stay in the countryside and, as noted, do two nights in Florence.

If you will be using trains and buses, Florence is the central hub.

((I))

After quite a number of trips to Tuscany, I have strong feelings on this subject. I'd split my time, as others have said above.

When we day-tripped into Florence (we were staying just north of Siena), we were so tired by the end of the day that we just wanted to go home. We didn't have the energy to enjoy a nice dinner and stroll around the city in the evening.

After 2 trips like this, I swore the next time I would spend a couple of nights in Florence. It's much better!

If you only want to spend one day in Florence, you can certainly drive or train in, see the Uffizi and David, and go home. But IMHO you will miss out on a lot. Same thing other way round.

If you're already visiting a few cities, then you might be quite happy staying in Tuscany and only driving into Florence for a day here and there.

We stayed outside Siena, drove into Florence for only one day and thoroughly enjoyed being back at the villa for dinner and late night drinks on the patio under the stars. But, that was after spending several hectic days in Rome.

However, if this week is your entire time in Italy, then I'd split the time between Chianti and Florence.

See ~tuscany.net~ for accomodations once you've decided on the itinerary. You're sure to find something perfect!