Florence & Tuscony Advise & Help
 

My boyfriend and I will be visiting Italy between August 9 & 16 of this year and we decided to do Florence & Tuscany.

I need advise and help on the best itinerary for our trip. Here is the list of what we want to see during our stay:
- Florence
- Lucca
- Pisa
- Cinque Terre
- Portofino
- Torre del lago Puccini to watch an Opera on August 11th.

I know this may look too much but I've done Milano, Roma and Amalfi coast in 7 days :))

We'll be flying to Florence from Paris and back. So Florence is our main hub in Italy.

Anyone please advise me on where to go first and how long to stay where, what is more beautiful, what hotels are good, and what means of transportation to take? train, bus, rent a car??

We love sightseeing, food & wine (and shopping of course for Italian souvenirs)...

Thank you

ok, FLorence, Lucca and Pisa are all easily connected by trains and make a nice day trip, you could indeed do Pisa and Lucca on the same day but it might be a bit of a run

Cinque in August will be mad and I would not take a car, you could, for instance take a train to Genoa and then hike through the towns but I'd search on these threads on that area in particular to get better advice

I'd aim to set aside at least 2 full days to florence in august, it will be busy and hot

How about 4 days in Florence with a couple of day trips and 3 on the Ligurian coast, maybe staying in Cinque Terre? CT is easily reached from Florence by train through Pisa. You could visit Pisa on your way to CT.

If you haven't made hotel reservations on the coast, I advise you to do so asap. It will be very crowded in August.

If you haven't made plane reservations to and from Paris, consider flying into Florence and out of Pisa.

Florence will be quite hot in August but it is my favorite city in Italy so be sure to leave time in the city to enjoy all of the wonderful things to see and do. Cool off with frequent gelato stops! Have a wonderful time.

What's your budget?

Thanks guys for the tips!
We're still deciding on what airlines to fly because we live in Dubai, and we're visiting The Channel Islands in the UK as well as Paris... so it really depends on what flight itinerary we go with.. but we like nice hotels, not bed & breakfast... and most probably will rent a car in Florence to do all the rest.. what do you suggest Ira?