sydney7127

Me again, so I have a list of towns in Tuscany that I would like to visit. I'll be there for 6 weeks, with 3.5 day weekends to travel at the end of each week. Here are the towns that interested me, obviously I cannot go to all of them, so maybe you all can make some suggestions as to which are better that others, and which are easier to get to than others, I'll be staying in florence and won't be able to rent a car. Also, which towns can I do together?

Okay here goes my list: Orvieto, Arezzo, Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Volterra, Alpi Apuane, Chianti, Barga, Fiesole, Pistoia, Prato, San Miniato, Viareggio, Vinci, Anghiari, Bagno Vignoni, Cortona, Colle di Val d'elsa, Monte san Savino, Monteriggioni, Murlo, Pitigliano, Pienza, Sorano, San Vinenzo, Bagni di Lucca, Montevarchi, Poppi, Rapolano Terme, Sinalunga, and Abbazia di Sant'antimo.

kybourbon

It would probably be best to keep all your Tuscan town questions on one thread.

Since you will have 3 1/2 days each weekend, why don't you consider taking a budget flight somewhere. Sicily? Paris? Vienna? Amsterdam? Sometimes you can get budget flights for as little as a few Euro. Look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net.

cwoolner

Hi sydney,

Considering you won't be able to rent a car, the best bet is going by train to any of the Tuscan towns. I know that takes Anghiari out of your list. Which is too bad - beautiful little hilltown on the way to Caprese Michelanago and worth a day of exploring (completely off the beaten path and the locals are lovely!).

Have fun!

Grinisa

Many of the towns are difficult to visit without a car. But you can certainly do Lucca and Pisa in one day by train from Florence. Or Lucca in the morning and spend the afternoon on the beach at Viareggio. Prato and Pistoia are another good combination for a day and again easily reachable by train. Siena is better to do by bus. If you check ahead of time, one of the buses may also stop in Monteriggioni. Then you can continue on to Siena. You can take the train from Florence to San Miniato in the morning, then continue on to Empoli to either catch a bus to San Gimignano or a train to Poggibonsi where you take the bus to San Gimignano. You may just want to spend the weekend in San Gimignano then you can take the bus to Volterra one day. There is probably a local bus that runs down the S222 or Chianti Road. Again, spending a long weekend in one of the towns along the road may be the best way to explore that part of Tuscany. You can go to Fiesole just about anytime as it is a 15 minute bus ride from Florence. As for Pienza, Montepulciano and Sinalunga, again, stay the weekend and explore by bus. Arezzo and Orvieto are easily reached by fast trains from Florence.

Nonconformist

You can get to Assisi and Perugia in Umbria by train from Florence as well (the same train as for Arezzo, but further along the line, so obviously a longer day). All recommended by me. It also gets to Spello, not visited by me but I have heard good things about it. The same train line takes you to Terontola, where you should be able to get a bus to Cortona. I don't think Montepulciano or Pienza are accessible by train.