Hello! I am planning at trip at the beginning of March - 11 days split between Rome, Florence, Tuscany and Venice. In an effort to not move hotels so much, we were considering not staying in Florence, but making our "home base" Tuscany and day tripping into Florence. Is this a good idea, or are we crazy to miss staying right in Florence? Thanks!!

Well, I'm sure you know this, but Florence is in Tuscany. I assume you mean that you might want to stay in the Tuscan countryside, and visit small towns.

I think it all depends on what you like to do. Your time is very short, and three hotels would be about my limit, so I understand that part.

If you stayed in Florence, what would you enjoy doing there? It is about the best place in the world for Renaissance art, has great shopping, very interesting medieval and Renaissance architecture, lots to see and do and some bustle, even in March. Also some of the world's greatest churches. A very "city" atmosphere.

If those things interest you, I think you should stay in Florence and hire a driver for a day out in the Tuscan countryside. Renting a car in Florence, and driving in and out, isn't really easy or fun.

On the other hand, if you long to experience Tuscan country or small town scenery, then you might want to day trip into Florence. However, for a short stay of just a couple of days/nights, a car would be almost a necessity to see some of Tuscany's small towns and country scenery.

At the very least, you would want to be able to drive to a town with good rail connections to Florence in order to see that city, or be prepared for driving in and finding a place to park.

Tuscany is my beat and I love it, but early March is not it's greatest time of year. It still gets dark early, and the landscape isn't really at it's most gorgeous.

Do you want to experience wine? Walking? Tiny towns? Siena? It would help if you could clarify what your idea of Tuscany is. It is a large place with a huge variety of towns, areas, landscapes, etc.

I March I would stay in town and day trip by driver and train. In can be a bit bleak that time of year in the country.

I'm in agreement with the others <u>unless</u> Art is not your &quot;thing&quot;. If you looked in the Duomo/Baptistery then walked to the Mercato and the Ponte Vecchio, you'd see 3 of Florence's best things and be outdoors most of the time.
To see Uffizi, David, Bargello, inside of several churches, Pitti Palace, etc. you are talking serious indoor time imho.
We travel in March and took train to Siena, San Gim, and Lucca-fairly easy to do from Florence. You'll have plenty to see in 11 days with Rome, Flo (a day trip to Siena or one of the hill towns) and Venice.

Let me offer my experience: we rented a farmhouse in Tuscany for 6 days and went into Florence twice for full days by train. The other four days we drove drove around Tuscany exploring various hill towns and Sienna. We then took the train to Rome and spent 4 days there. I'm a major museum goer--I plan most vacations based on seeing art and take weekend trips in the US to see exhibitions, but I loved staying in the Tuscan countryside rather than staying in Florence--it was so restful and lovely at night and waking up to look over the vista in the morning is not something I will forget. It was a wonderful contrast to Rome.

Thank you all so much for your help. I do realize that Florence is in Tuscany -I guess I am just in debate if I should stay for 2 nights in Florence, and then 2 nights in the country - or make it 4 nights in 1 place. I like art and sightseeing - but not 4 full days of it. I love shopping and wine tasting as well. So I am probably split 50/50 in what each area has to offer!

SAB-I would love to know who you rented your farmhouse from and which property you rented! We are thinking of doing the same next summer. Thanks.

We rented through drawbridgetoeurope.com; the farmhouse was outside of Giaole in Chianti, but it isn't offered anymore. Since we used that agency, which was very good, I have discovered the Slow Travel website with its recommendations for rental agencies. We are using summerinitaly next year to rent in Sorrento. BTW you will find many recommendations here by just posting Tuscany rentals in the search box.

SAB, was that is early March? Big difference.

No bob it wasn't, it was April. I only posted my experience, not trying to persuade anyone one way or the other. Did you think I was being misleading? One can't be too careful on this site these days.