Florence/Venice Day Trips
 

If you could do ONE day trip from each of these cities, which would you choose and why?<BR><BR>Thanks in advance for your advise.

From Florence, Siena may be the most obvious, or Pisa. Lucca is very nice too. There are lots of lovely villages and gorgeous countryside around Florence, and my personal choice would be to hire a car and explore these. Regarding Venice, I don't think there is anywhere sufficiently nice within an easy trip that it justifies losing a day in Venice to visit!

Thanks for the info Ukfiona. We have done a lot of research on day trips from these locations, but are still torn in deciding.<BR><BR>We are seriously thinking of Siena from Florence, with maybe a stop or two along the train route. We are also thinking of Verona from Venice, but aren't sure (as you said) about losing a day in Venice for it. That's why I'm trying to get suggestions from those who have done some day trips.<BR><BR>Thanks again. Anyone else?<BR>

Statia, the question is: How many days are you planning to spend in each city?<BR>As for you comment about making a stop or two along the way to Siena, I think that's being a bit too ambitious for one day! To do justice to Siena alone, would take at least the better part of a day.

Thanks for your comments, Howard. You're probably right, if we do Siena, we should do just that area in the day. It just seems from what I've read that it wouldn't necessarily take a whole day to see the area and we usually try to fit in everything we can on a trip....within reason.<BR><BR>We are going to be in Florence 4.5 days and Venice 4.5 days. We aren't necessarily planning a &quot;do or die&quot; day trip anywhere, but would like to have something in mind in case the mood strikes us. That's what we typically do on any trip abroad.<BR><BR>Thanks for the advise.<BR><BR>

I think you've got the right idea for both potential daytrips. Verona is a lovely city and very different from Venice. Be sure to tour the arena -- it is exquisite. Juliet's balcony is really hokey. There are more interesting things to see in Verona. Beautiful shops, interesting churchs, wonderful galleries. Siena is also a gem. You will probably want to head back to Italy to see more of both of those cities!

Thanks for the advise uh oh. I guess we'll just stick with Siena &amp; Verona IF we decide we have time to explore more than just Florence and Venice.<BR><BR><BR>

Statia, you're doing your planning the right way! With 4 1/2 days in each, you can certainly do one day trip and still get the most out of Florence and Venice.<BR>Verona is a great choice from Venice. For a good virtual tour of Verona, check out: <BR>http://virtourist.com/europe/verona<BR>Siena is great choice from Florence, but there are certainly a lot of others as well, as even a little bit of research will reveal.<BR>http

Thanks, Howard! I've been doing a lot of research, but that's a site I haven't visited. I'll check it out.<BR>

Well, I give this a third try. It depends on your interests, but our 1st trip to Venice was 4.5 days and we didn't have time to see everything we wanted to. Among the sights we didn't have time for included: The Accademia; the Guggenheim; Murano; Burano; Torcello; the Arsenale area with the Naval museum.

You have a valid point, Rufus, especially considering most of one day will be taken up with renewing our wedding vows for our anniversary.<BR><BR>With &quot;actually&quot; only having about 3.5 days, we probably won't end up having time for a day trip from Venice, but I'd like to have an option, just in case we decide on it at the last minute.<BR><BR>Thanks for the info.<BR>

I really would not sacrifice a day out of only 4.5 in Venice to see Verona, pleasant though it is. Although Venice is great to wander round, there is such a huge amount to see and although the sites are close together sight-seeing can be much slower than you think because of variable Italian opening times and most places closing down for 3+ hours at lunchtime. I would suggest that tou take a boat to Murano or somewhere if you feel you must leave the centre.<BR><BR>From Florence, the trains are good, but you will see more if you rent a car, and you could perhaps take in some of the smaller but very worthwhile places like San Gimignano (though can't quite remember the geography off the top of my head.)<BR><BR>Wherever you go, you will love it!

I'll disagree and say that I would give up one day out of 4.5 from Venice - - but i wouldn't day trip. Why waste the time, and the added lodging expense (since an equivalent room in Venice will surely be lower priced in Verona, or elsewhere) - - to day trip from Venice. Just move on, and spend the night in Verona (or Padua or Sirmione or many other choices).<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

Thanks UKfinona....we'll keep your advise in mind.

Thanks, Rex. I appreciate the info. However, we have a prepaid apartment in Venice and would prefer not to pay &quot;two&quot; rentals on a given night.<BR><BR>Also, as I mentioned earlier, our vow renewal will take almost a whole day away from the sights, so we will probably end up with only 3.5 days for seeing Venice, after all.<BR><BR>As I said before, we'll probably have Verona and Siena as &quot;possibles&quot; if we decide to to a day trip last minute. I think, though, that we will end up having to skip it on the Venice portion due to the time shortage.<BR><BR>Anyone have recomendations for renting a car vs. taking the train to Siena? It just seems that a car, gas, directions, etc. might be more costly and time consuming than the ease of the train.<BR><BR>Thanks again for all the advise!<BR>

Statia--Unless you wanted to visit smaller towns/sights on the way or something, I'd go by rail. We used a combination of rail and rental car on our trip to Germany last summer--the week we just wanted to get from place to place, so we used the train. Much less to bother with compared to a car. After that we wanted to wander about, so we rented a car. It worked out well.

Thanks, Rufus. Yes, in so much as we really would like to have the independence and experience of driving, I'm also thinking that the train is better for a one day juant.

Statia:<BR><BR>You don't say when your trip is, but if it is in the spring or summer, a terrific day trip from Vanice is a barge trip on the Brenta Canal, visiting several of Palladio's villas. I believe that the barges do not operate in the winter. Try Brenta on a Google search.<BR><BR>Another (overlooked) town in the vicinity is Chioggia, at the south end of the Venetian Lagoon. It, too, is a water oriented village (with wonderful trattorie). Boats run several times a day.

Thanks for the tips, DRJ. We are traveling in summer, so we'll also keep your ideas in mind.<BR>

Once again and I'm probably starting to bore people now, I just had three weeks in Florence so I'll tell you how I saw a lot of Tuscany which really is as lovely as all the postcards. From Florence I did day trips by train, usually leaving at about 9.30am. I went to San Gimignano, my favourite three times, Siena, Arezzo, Lucca twice, Montelupo, Borgo San Lorenzo and Via Reggio. All of the trips cost no more than 10 euros return, I thought excellent value. The trains were totally reliable and on time. Each day I had plenty of time to explore each place and return to Florence by 7pm. On my third visit to San Gim. I walked the surrounding hills for a few hours, what a delight and then walked into the town for lunch. To me the views from there are the nicest of all the hill towns. If you don't want to travel so far you can go to the delightful town of Fiesole, just up the hill by local bus from Florence, I did a 11km walk there one day, along the ridge and down the south side passing many beautiful old villas, farmhouses with olive groves, even a castle to arrive at Compiobbi where I caught a train back to Florence.<BR>Have fun, the possibilities are endless.