Lucca or Siena Area?
 

We will be visiting Tuscany in July and I am wondering about the best location from which to explore the region. We will have older parents (but active) and I thought originally to stay in one location. Mulino di Torrigiano has been recommended to us in Tofori near Lucca, but I had been thinking that the Siena area would be a better base.

Does it matter where we stay? Would it be better to break the visit into two lodgings - one in northern Tuscany and one in southern Tuscany? We will be there for 5-7 days.

Thanks.

Lucca is bearly into Tuscany while Siena is more centrally located.
Siena or towns nearby are better locations to explore Tuscany. You are renting a car I hope.

I love Lucca but it is not your best location for the rest of Tuscany. You want to be within 30 miles of Siena--I prefer south or SE, but I can also argue for NW near San Gim. Others prefer north in the heart of Chianti.
Tuscany is large--location is key.

Thanks so much for your input! You are confirming what I had thought. The Lucca area referral was from a family member so I felt that I needed to consider it - but I think we'll stick with the Siena area and stay in one location for the duration of our visit.

Regarding lodging, does anyone have any suggestions for this area? From my internet research, I thought Hotel Salivolpi, Palazzo Squarcialupi, or Fonte de Midici looked interesting at a reasonable price. But this is a very special occasion and we will have older parents with us so I want it to be nice, comfortable, and good location.

Yes, we are renting a car. I'm assuming that we will enjoy just exploring the countryside around Siena and that, for visits to the bigger/farther places like Florence and Pisa, we will hop on the expressways and hopefully make good time that way.

You guys are great. This is the best message board I've found. Thanks.

We used Siena as a base last year and found it accessible to lots of Tuscany. However, we were only there 3 or 4 nights. If you don't mind moving, and if you have 5-7 nights, it might be better to stay in Siena a few days and then move south and/or closer to Umbria.

We based in a villa in Siena in 1999 for one week with another couple. Used that to explore the entire area on day trips in a rental car. It really worked out well and we would do that again. You are doing the right thing.

Siena downtown can get crowded for parking so one day we took the city bus and this worked well. We drove up to Florence and that also was easy.

Have a great trip!

Search here for " Frances Lodge" as a possibility, and never overlook Locanda della Amorosa for any Tuscany sojourn.

I suggest that you take the train into Florence. I've never driven in Florence and have no desire to do so! The train station is so close to where you will want to be. Five of us stayed in a villa near Siena 2 years ago and drove everywhere except Florence.
Have a great trip!