Need help exploring Tuscany in October

Old Aug 6th, 2018, 11:19 AM
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Need help exploring Tuscany in October

We want to drive around Tuscany a week before leaving on a cruise from Venice. My friend is into photographing Architecture an I jut want to enjoy the ride. Neither of us are in great shape walking all day, but not wheelchair material either! So here is our plan. I would love your advice and opinions on our itinerary, if we should base ourselves somewhere and do day trips or keep moving around, and if we will have somewhere to park the car when we arrive at a destination. Thank you!

We arrive in FCO and decided we will take a train to Florence and rent a car there for the week. Should we drive it to Venice for the return or back to Florence and take the train to Venice? We have no idea which makes more sense. in order we want to drive (and visit) Arezzo, Montepulciano, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra and end in Lucca. Too much or doable? Is the order of visits right. As I said, any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance. Mary
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 11:43 AM
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Mary, this is all very do-able and a beautiful time of year in Tuscany. By mid-October, it can be a bit chilly especially in the evening, so prepare for that, but there are fall colors to enjoy. Our favorite time of year there!. Enjoy a day or preferably two, in Florence and then rent your car; you don't want it while in Florence. And, then perhaps pick one base, like Volterra the is fairly centrally located to the destinations you listed. We liked the local flavor of Volterra, and the evenings when shops are open and locals are out.
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 12:53 PM
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There are a few daily direct trains FCO to Florence so check them as negates changing trains in a hectic to novices a least Rome Termini station - but I'd suggest taking train FCO-Rome to some place like Orvieto and rent car well away from Rome's horrid traffic and motor thru Tuscany and then return car in say Lucca if possible or other town and take train to Florence - or return car to Florence Airport but not in Florence itself. And then take train to Venice. Book long-distance trains as early as possible to garner limited in number discounted tickets much cheaper than full fare walk-up tickets. For lots on Italian trains check Acquista il biglietto con le nostre offerte - Trenitalia and https://www.italotreno.it/en - two competing train companies using same tracks and stations; www.seat61.com has loads on booking your own discounted tickets online; general train info also BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. I'd forget Arrezzo as it is outside the compact area you other places are in and IMO more a modern city than a proverbial hill town.

Last edited by PalenQ; Aug 6th, 2018 at 12:57 PM.
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 01:34 PM
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Thank you for all the great advice!
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 02:40 PM
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Driving to Venice could be nice if you want to stop off for a day or two in say the Lake Garda area or Verona but if just going straight thru ditch car and take train - probably cheaper than day of car rental and fuel and those steep autostrada tolls. But you could drive right into Venice and easily return car at end of causeway at Pza Roma and take boats to your hotel area.
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 05:38 PM
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"Doable" depends on the way you like to travel, how many hours a day you want to spend sitting in a car and whether you want to drive every day. Personally, I think your plans cover too much ground in the time you have. Staying in the geographic center of your sightseeing (which I think would be closer to Siena) means longer drives because of the return trip every day, but, in the alternative, would you really want to change hotels every day?

As a side issue in the keep-moving-every-day option, you'd have to rent a car large enough to hold your luggage completely out of view.

I suggest you check the drive time estimates between the towns you've listed. You can use maps.google.com, but I would add 10% to all of the drive times. From my experience, google is generally too optimistic for drivers unfamiliar with the area and tourists taking in the scenery. If you want to avoid driving only highways from point to point and travel instead on the more interesting secondary roads, set the search options (click on "Options" in the blue box) to avoid highways and tolls. You'll see that, not surprisingly, that adds time to all of the driving estimates.

Is your friend's photography focus only on architecture, or does your friend have an interest in landscape scenery as well?

FYI, there is some very photographic architecture outside of cities. Monasteries, for example. And, IMO, a single day in Siena may not be enough time for your friend's photography interest.

Lastly, if you're not familiar with the limited traffic zones (ZTLs) established in every town you're likely to visit, you should study the info at the link below. It's fairly easy to avoid driving into the zones in very small towns, but the larger the town the easier it is to stumble into a ZTL by mistake.

https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.co...with-ztl-zones
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Old Aug 6th, 2018, 05:39 PM
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October is a nice time to visit Tuscany. If you have never visited Florence three nights and 2 full days is probably the minimum I would recommend, especially if you do not like to walk a lot each day. I find we typically walk about 25,000 to 30,000 steps a day while exploring a city on vacation as opposed to the 12,000 a day at home. Some of the hill towns have a little up hill walking but its not really that strenuous. I would base in Siena as it is most central to most of Tuscany. How much ground you can cover than depends on how much time you have. One day would be required to explore the Val d'orcia with Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano. You can set aside another day for San G and Volterra. Pick up a car from the Florence airport and either drop it off there or in Venice.
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