Florence / Tuscan Region
 

Hello,
I will have 3 full days in the Florence area and one half day. I am looking for suggestions on things to do...my husband and I are mostly interested in seeing beautiful countryside, but there are a few bits of history we do not want to miss. So far, here are some ideas we have:

Uffizi
Statue of David
Taking in a sunset view from Piazzale Michelangelo
Romantic dinner in the hill town of Fiesole
Chianti - wine tastings - but where?
Umbria? Footsteps of St. Francais
waste time away in a wonderful cafe
cooking class in the Tuscany Region
Sienna
Pisa

I understand the list above is too long, so I am asking for help in narrowing it down or for ideas that I have not thought of.

We will be doing so much museum/church/ancient siteseeing in Rome that we really want to get a feel of the charm of the Tuscan Region and make this leg of our trip more relaxing. My husband really wants to make sure we cover some beautiful countryside during our trip, so I'm really looking for great ideas/experiences that perhaps I have not thought of.

Thank you!

There's no way you can do all those things in three and a half days. Forget St. Francis and Umbria. Choose Piazzale Michelangelo or Fiesole for a view of Florence. Prebook the Uffizi and the Accademia (David). Choose Pisa or Siena; the landscape is much prettier on the way to Siena. Consider hiring a driver/guide like Luca Garappa of Hills and Roads to pick you up in Florence and take you, with wine tastings and lunch in the Chianti on the way, to Siena; spend a night there.

That's way too much to do in 3 1/2 days. It's a full day's drive from Florence to Umbria. I'd suggest 2 days in Florence then head to Siena and spend the night there. Like Zerlina said the landscape is more picturesque in the direction of Siena and the city is much prettier than Pisa.

Depending on how willing you are to tackle stairs I'd suggest climbing the dome of the Duomo or its tower. The views of the city are really spectacular. I know everybody does it but it's still worth it.

And definitely get some gelato while you're there.

You are considering 3 destinations here--not one.
Florence demands at least 2 full days---rural Tuscany another 5 days, and Umbria another 3. You could short cut it in maybe 6 days but not 3.5. It is fun to dream, but you must inject realism at some point.

If your interest is primarily in the countryside, consider basing in a town or village instead of in Florence. While Florence is one of my personal favorites, it is a small city and you must travel to visit "some beautiful countryside". Rethink your plan and perhaps visit Florence for a day if you are looking for a relaxing experience in Tuscany.

We prefer to stay in Florence and visit the countryside and also can personally recommend Luca Garapa as an excellent driver and guide for a day trip to the wineries and/or small towns or villages in Tuscany.

Thank you all for the feedback.

We've decided that it will be best to devote more time to the part of our trip. 5 days will be the most, and it seems like it would make sense to make Florence our base and venture out on 1-2 day trips. We realize we can't see it all even in 5 days - but 5 days in this region is better than none. So we should be able to capture some good highlights at least....which is really all you can truly expect from an 12 day vacation.

Does anyone know of good wineries to visit?

Kfusto - do you have contact info on Luca Garapa?

Luca Garappa is at hillsandroads.com

we've used Luca 3 times with another one coming this summer. We highly recommend him.

I will get in touch with Luca...I hope he is available. Thank you!

I still don't see what's the point in making Florence your base if you really want to see the countryside. I would stay in the countryside and make one daytrip to Florence, given your interests - not the other way round! Florence is a car traffic hell, and driving out of and back into the city (never mind whether with a driver or on your own) makes you lose precious time every day.

I agree with the above posters. Skip Umbria (too tough to get to in a short time) and I would skip Pisa. My husband and I stayed in Greve in Chianti for a week on a vineyard and it was a great place to get to several vineyards. There's so many...one of the bigger ones we went to that gave a nice tour was Vignamaggio (http://www.vignamaggio.it/index-english.html). They had a gorgeous garden, as well.

i agree with Franco, if your priority is countryside. For example--we are staying at Agriturismo Savernano--a 30 min train ride into Florence, but youll be based in the countryside on a farm with vineyards, olive grove, etc. there aer other places like that--hotels, inns, and bed and breakfast places.