Italy/Tuscany itinerary advice
 

I have started to solidify an itinerary for my wife and me for a trip to Tuscany (mid-40s, active, more into beautiful scenery, architecture, and food than art). Would love thoughts. Our last trip to Italy, we spent 5 days in Rome and LOVED it. We want to spend a little time there again. As for Florence, we want to of course see the art highlights like the statue of David, etc., but we are not interested in spending hours in art museums. This is why we have budgeted only 2 full days there. We could add a third day if we want on 7/4.

We were not planning on renting a car. But, should we want to explore Chianti, it might make sense for us to rent a car, see the sights, drive to Siena, and then drive from Siena to Rome. If we go to Lucca and Pisa, we would likely stick with train travel. We look forward to thoughts and advice.

Sat., 6/30 - Arrive FCO 12:30 pm, clear customs and take train to Florence. Check in Golden Tower Hotel and Spa.

Sun., 7/1 - Day in Florence

Mon., 7/2 - Private tour trip to Cinque Terre. Looking at Tuscany Car Tours.

Tues., 7/3 - Day in Florence

Wed, 7/4 - TBD - Perhaps day trip to Lucca and Pisa OR day trip to Chianti region

Th., 7/5 - Check out and travel via bus to Siena. Check in NH Siena. Explore Siena.

Fri., 7/6 - check out, travel via train to Rome. Check in Independent Hotel. Explore Rome.

Sat., 7/7 - Day in Rome.

Sun., 7/8 - Depart for US

Such a short trip and you are trying to do so much. It is hard to try and pull you down to do less when each movement gets to waste a whole chunk of time.

Florence/PIsa/Lucca by train, absolutely is the right decision. Trouble is Tuscany is so jambed full of lovely little cities with things to see, vistas to sigh over etc

My suggestion might be a bit radical but I would consider cancelling the second whole day in Florence (you have evenings there anyway) and do a car tour from Siena (Colle..., Buonconvento, Potenza, St Q, Montepulciano etc) and get them to dump you at Chiusi (if you have time for the Etruscan museum taxi to station) before an evening train into Rome.

I hate to suggest dumping CT but I'm tempted to do so as the drive Florence to CT is about 2 hours there and 2 hours back, but up to you.

Decisions decisions, look it is not a bad plan just think through how much you are moving and if that is how you want to spend your time.

I agree with Bilboburglar. 3 bases in 7 days is a bit much.
I also suggest cutting out CT.
Visiting Florence, Siena and Rome in a week is more than enough.

>>> Check in NH Siena<<<

I wouldn't stay that far from the center especially if I only had one night. Stay in the historic section so everything is walkable. Siena deserves more than part of a day, but if that's all I intended to spend there I would simply visit as a day trip by bus from Florence. The Sita bus is faster than the train and drops you at the historic center (train station is not at the center).

>>>check out, travel via train to Rome<<<

The Sena bus is more efficient, takes the same amount of time and doesn't involve changes as the trains do.

Home - Sena.it

>>>Private tour trip to Cinque Terre. Looking at Tuscany Car Tours<<<
>>> Perhaps day trip to Lucca and Pisa<<<

Driving from Florence to CT, you have to pass by Lucca. You might as well make it a pit stop on your way (breakfast? dinner?). I'm not a fan of Lucca, but perhaps there is something that interests you there. If there isn't, I would drop Lucca and have the driver take you by the tower in Pisa on the way back to Florence (assuming you only want a quick photo).

Here's one who really liked Lucca and its many old towers and Roman theatre - a few hours could be nice or an overnight. Many folks like Lucca and many do not.

It was several years ago, but we enjoyed staying in Lucca, which we did for 3 days.
The city is very pleasant, not overrun by tourists and there are plenty of places to visit in the vicinity.

I did some searching and found the information on our stay in Lucca.
It was in 2002!! We stayed in a B&B called Villa Romantica and enjoyed it very much.
From the reviews on TA, it still exists and still gets very favorable reviews.

Just a thought about the Cinque Terre: in my opinion the charm of that area is captured best by spending a couple of days there and walking the trails between the towns and hanging out and relaxing, etc. It's a lovely part of Italy and if you don't want to miss it I understand, but maybe you could save it for another trip? A day trip sounds rushed.

We did a day trip and hiked the seven miles of lowest trails between towns - towns which were so mobbed it was nice to get back on trail. But non-peak season would be much nicer.

Many people seem to do a day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence. But in my opinion, you will be seeing the worst of Cinque Terre and will be missing out if you don’t do an overnight. Nevertheless, friends of mine came back recently having done such a day trip, and they said it was one of their highlights.

day trip better than no trip at all to Cinque Terre. Stay if possible overnight.