Florence or Siena..or both?
 

We have 5 days in Tuscany - we want to go on a wine tour, shop, see a few sites - the typical first-timer in Tuscany agenda. What I need help with is where to stay? We have 5 days so I was thinking of staying in Siena for 2 nights and then Florence for 3 nights. Is it better to stay in one versus the other?

Any recos on great apartments in Florence or an Agriturismo in the Siena area?

Siena and Florence are only about an hour from each other so I would recommend staying in 1 place. Florence will offer more in the way of transportation and sightseeing so that would be my choice.

You can take the bus from Florence to Siena (more convenient than the train).

If you want to see Tuscany you will need to get out of cities.
I would stay 2 nites in Florence and then get a car to stay in rural Tuscany somewhere close to Siena. Your budget would dictate where.

I agree with adrienne, but what time of year is your trip? And what "sights" did you want to see? If you don't intend to go to the museums in Florence, I might advise differently.

I don't do apartments, but I'm sure it would be helpful for others who can recommend if you told us how many are in your party, your budget and whether there are any limitations or requirements (i.e., few stairs, wi-fi).

Have to agree with bobthenavigator who knows the territory.
It's a trip I took last year and getting a car in Florence gives you lot of flexibility to explore Tuscany.

If you love art, museums and history as much as I do, you can't 'see' Florence in two nights (one full day). IMO, time in Florence and time 'in Tuscany' are two very different agendas. Hopefully, the OP will return with more info about their goals for this trip.

Try http://www.ipianelli.com/ which is about 10 miles south of Siena. We stayed there in 2006 and are planning to stay again in 2012. These are small apartments carved out of a very large farmhouse surrounded by olive trees. Bellissimo!

I must agree with bobthenavigator. Some of the most interesting and beautiful towns (IMO) in Tuscany and Umbria are better at night when the daytrippers depart; e.g. Assisi (Umbria) and San Gimignano (Tuscany). Our itinerary included three nights in Florence, a night in Sienna, a night in Assisi, and a night in San Gimignano on the way to Rome.

ps...as Adrienne mentioned, Siena is very close to Florence. So you can spend as long as you like doing your wine tour on and around the Chianti trail on the way to Siena.

If you want to drink lots of wine, you may not want to drive : ) We used Hills and Roads (Luca) as our driver and we were glad we did. He is extremely knowledgeable about so many aspects of Tuscany, it really was a highlight for us. (hillsandroads.com)

I think whether you stay in Florence or elsewhere depends on what your interests are (as others have said). Good news is that I don't think it's possible to make a bad decision here.

Have a great trip!

The SITA company runs the buses between Florence and Siena, and the departure point in Florence is just across the street from the city’s main train station, Santa Maria Novella. Siena’s bus stop is at Piazza Gramsci, well inside the old city walls.

Personally would do both... apartments tend to be more than

nice hotels www.booking.com for those italyby.com for apt/ags

Car is a liability and expensive in big cities...

Happy Journey,

We made a day trip from Florence to Siena.
Easy and enough.