Will be staying in Tuscany (between Florence and Siena) from Christmas to New Years. Obviously, we will be visiting both Florence and Siena on a couple of occasions and need advice about where to park the car in each city, which I understand can be a problem. Any secrets, advice, etc. is appreciated.

The only problem you might have in Florence or Siena parking is full parking lots at that time of the year. When you drive into Florence, you'll find parking anywhere. You can also try under the train station. If you're staying in Tuscany, ask your hosts if there is a bus into Florence. In Siena, you will find parking outside the walls. We parked three blocks from the gate at the top. It isn't hard in either place. One hint is in San Gimignano is to pass the parking at the bottom of the hill. There is a parking lot at the top of the hill right at the entrance.

jj, we stayed several times just north of Siena (near Monteriggioni)and here is what we did.<BR><BR>Siena: There is a large carpark that is about a 5 minute walk to the center of town. Can't recall which gate it is near, but I'm sure you can find out when you are there. <BR><BR>Florence: We parked at the Piazzale Michaelangelo, a large, free parking lot that overlooks the city from the south side of the river. It will take you about 15-20 minutes to walk into the city center, and we always took a taxi back up at the end of our day when we were tired.

Thanks, I thought it was going to be a major ordeal to find parking.

Not at all. Just remember if you don't park at Piazzale Michelangelo, look at your map because you can't drive into the historic center. We just took parking areas near the river.

There is a fairly large parking lot next to the stadium in Siena. It is about a 5 minute walk to the historic center. I remember I found it by following the signs to the stadium (there are signs for parking as well)

Not absolutely sure but I seem to remember we parked in the lot marked for &quot;the campo&quot;. We were parked near the university and it was easily access to &quot;town&quot;. This was in late October of this year.

Whoops..that was parking for Siena. By the way...we had a great meal at Osteria Logge while in Siena.