Sherry

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record, but I am really trying to make the most of this vacation with very little experience. I am staying in Florence May 4-7. Is it advisable to stay in FLorence May 4, 5 and then travel somewhere else in Tuscany on the 6th and stay over for one night? I would love to experience a hilltown or the Chianti region. Should we take a one day tour and stay over or rent a car and stay and where do you suggest.

Ronda

We loved Florence. Every time you move, you loose time packing up, and traveling. I would suggest you stay 3 days in Florence and do a day trip.

Joanne

Sherry: Ronda gave you good advice. There is so much to see in Florence, your time there is well spent. If you are planning to visit the Uffizi and Accademia,I would suggest you make reservations in advance to avoid standing in line. We will be in Florence at the same time you are there, and I will be reserving time at both museums well before we leave for Italy. Sites where this may be done are as follows:<BR><BR>www.weekendafirenze.com<BR>www.flo renceart.it<BR><BR>j

Grasshopper

Sherry, Why not stay in Florence but take a day to go to a hill town or two. We took a very nice "tour" to Siena and San Gimignano (sp) through I think CAP tours (all the hotels have their brochures). The bus took us to San G. and let us wander on our own for a couple of hours... then drove to Siena where we could either join in the tour or wander on our own for about 5 hours. It was great. We did the on our own stuff and really enjoyed ourselves. You see a lot of the countryside on the drive and it's no fuss. Alternately you could take the SITA bus and do it yourself for less money but more planning. Another half day trip we took through CAP was the Chianti wine tasting trip. That was really fun! We went to a castle winery and olive oil maker where we had a special tasting in the garden. <BR><BR>There is lots to see and do in Florence, 2 nights really aren't enough so you will want to plan just one trip outside. Fiesole is a hill town that is only 20 minutes on the #7 city bus. Go in the late afternoon and stay for dinner with a view of Florence.

Carol

We stayed in Florence 3 nights. If we had a week, it would not have been enough time to see everything. <BR><BR>I agree that packing and moving does waste time. However, we left Florence, rented a car and had a wonderful time driving through Chianti country for the day, eating amidst the vineyards and ended up in Siena late afternoon. We checked in the hotel and spent the rest of the day and evening enjoying Siena.<BR><BR>The next morning we checked out and went to San Gimingnano and toured more of Tuscany and late in the evening drove to Rome for our flight the next morning.<BR><BR>After the noise of Florence, the peace and quiet of the countryside was delightful. And we didn't waste the time backtracking to Florence.<BR><BR>Either way, it's a win-win situation.<BR>If I can help further, just write.

Anon

We are going to be in Florence exactly when you are and wrestled with same question. We decided to spend 2 days in Florence, move to Siena for 1 night and back to Florence. (We need to be in Florence on the 4th night to catch a train early the next morning.)<BR><BR>Yes it means packing, but consider the advantages in flexibility. We get to decide on the spot whether we want to spend 3 days in Florence and 1 in Southern Tuscany or 2 and 2 or 2 1.2 and 1 1/2 etc. We also avoid having a heavy travel day. <BR><BR>We also get to spend a night in a new place. Cities change at night and take on a new character. Florence might be nice, but there are other nice places too - like Siena. And I'd hate to spend the day there and think wish we could see more, only to have shlep back on the bus.

dougd

We are going to this area in April, but are doing the reverse. We will be staying at a farm about 1/2 hour south of Tuscany for two nights with a car, and plan on doing one all day trip to Florence on the local bus. We will also be doing an overnight in Sienna before the farm stay. Has anyone done this?

Sherry

Anon,<BR>Sounds like we are comtemplating the same things. We also need to catch a train to Venice. How are you getting to Siena? Where are you staying? Are you going on a tour?

Anon

To Sherry:<BR><BR>We will probably take the bus to Siena, By all acounts, the bus better for than train for this trip, but I've not checked thourghly enough to be sure. But we also want to in San Gim. If it's not an easy bus from Siena, then we might rent a car for the day. Or we could bus to San Gim the next day and bus back to Florence. Haven't got that all figured out yet. <BR><BR>I've never used a tour before, but I'm keeping an eye open. Nothing looks worth the money so far. <BR><BR>

Topper

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Sherry

Still looking for more info on Tuscany. Can we stay in Florence two nights and take a daytrip to a vineyard and stay over? or should we rent a car and go to Siena and San G. Where should we stay in the Chianti region?

Sherry

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Vita

Sherry. Could you post your whole itinerary? Depending on where you are coming from, it might make sense to do Tuscany first, then Florence and catch the train from there to Venice.

Sherry

Vita,<BR>We are spending three nights in Rome first, then FLorence and then Venice. Can we take the train to Tuscany from Rome? i just thought it would be easier to travel from Rome to Florence since they are big cities.

ron

the florence trian station is easier to get to and u can do a tuscany bus tour.