DianeInMd

Hello all,
My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in October, and I am working on putting together an itinerary, but I need your advice. Here is our rough itinerary:

10/9 - Fly to Rome
10/10-10/12 - Rome
10/13-10/16 - Florence/Tuscany, travel by train from Rome on 10/13
10/17-10/19 - Venice, travel by train to Venice on 10/17
10/20 - Fly home

My main question is where should we stay between Rome and Venice?

I know that I would like to see Florence, but neither my husband or I are huge art fans. I think we'd like to see David at the Accademia, but that's probably it for museums. Other than that, we'd like to see the Duomo, the Baptistery, the Ponte Vecchio, and the leather markets.

We would also like to get a taste of Tuscany with the opportunity to visit some small Tuscan towns. I don't think we want to rent a car on this trip - we don't want to deal with the cost or trying to find our way around. We would be interested in doing some kind of a day tour to see some of Tuscany and/or taking the bus between towns. My husband says he would like the opportunity to just enjoy some Italian town atmosphere.

We definitely want to visit Siena, and possibly San Gimignano or another town.

I'm debating about whether we should stay the four nights in Florence and take day trips from there or if we might enjoy staying in Siena better and see Florence as a day trip. I'm concerned that we might want to stay someplace with a little slower pace after spending time in Rome, and I have read that Siena is a good hub for transportation to other towns of Tuscany. Do you think we would be able to see enough of Florence to suit our needs in one day? I don't want to short change Florence. Do you think Siena would provide the slower pace and more atmosphere than Florence?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions on tours of Tuscany originating in either Siena or Florence? We don't necessarily need to hire a private driver as we are trying to keep our costs down.

Thanks for any advice you can offer. This has been my biggest dilemma in planning this trip, and I'd really like to come to some conclusion soon.

Thanks!
Diane

ShannonMarie

I'm not sure this is very helpful, but it's just a suggestion. Perhaps, you should go to Google Images and look up 'Florence', 'Siena', 'Florence Street', or 'Siena Street'. This works for me everytime, and it's how my sister and I decided about visiting London or Paris this summer for a week, after we did our research on both cities. This is the most helpful especially when you look up pictures of streets in towns because it can really sometimes determine the charm or likability factor of a destination and let you view the city in a way you may not have done previously.

ShannonMarie

Personally, for me, it's Florence.

weasel

Hi, We found that a day trip to Florence was enough. Be sure to book your tickets for the accademia ahead of time or you may be disappointed. I enjoyed walking around Siena better. It wasn't as crowded, I liked Sienna Duomo better than Florences. The Ponte vecchio was pretty. You should be able to take bus trips to S. Gimignano or montalcino and Pienza. I found S Gimignano very Touristy, liked Volterra which is quieter/quainter. I would pick Montalcino and Pienza over San G. if I only had time for 1. Driving around tuscany is very easy You may want to rent a car for one day because It gives you more freedom to visit the smaller hill towns.

Jean

I'd stay in Florence. Although the weather at that time should be very pleasant, there are no guarantees. I'd rather be in Florence on a rainy day than trying to get around Tuscan hill towns on public trans.

Unless I'm misunderstanding your itinerary, you really only have the afternoon of the 13th, all day the 14th and 15th, and the morning (if that) of the 16th. (Or are you going to Venice on the 17th?) You can see all on your Florence list in one full day and spend the other full day visiting San Gim and Siena. American Express (office near the Duomo) offers a one-day escorted bus trip to both towns.

An alternative if the weather's a disaster (or if I've misunderstood your itinerary): day-trip by train to Bologna and stroll its covered arcades/walkways, have a fabulous lunch in this great "food town."

panecott

I personally think Florence deserves several days, but based on the list you provided of things you want to see, one day is more than sufficient. As another poster said, be sure to make a reservation for the Accademia, otherwise you'll waste a lot of time waiting on line.

You can take a day trip to San Gim from Siena by bus. Florence/Siena is easily done by bus or train. Another lovely town for a day trip, which is easily reachable from Florence - not sure about Siena - is Assisi.

DianeInMd

Thank you everyone who has responded so far.

ShannonMarie - The Google idea is a very good suggestion.

Jean - we do have a full day on the 16th in the area, we won't leave for Venice until the 17th.

nessundorma

When I visited Siena in January I didn't find it any less crowded than Firenze. In fact, it was more crowded! Part of that has to do with the fact that the alleways are very narrow.

Ocotber can be an absolute beautiful month in Tuscany, because it is harvest time. I will suggest that you reconsider your decision not to rent a car. It is not difficult to drive in Tuscany, and given your interests, you might find it wonderful to have a car and see more of Tuscany than its larger cities (and Siena is a city).

Another think you will want to consider is whether you want to stay in a hilltown like Siena, which means a lot of stairs and climbing. My problem with the idea of staying in Siena for myself (I've only visited) is that inside the walls, you don't have any views of the countryside unless you do some climbing. If you stay outside the walls, it's not necessarily so interesting.

You say you are not interested in art in particular, but the main reason people go to Siena is to see Sienese art. The food is not particuarly prized. And while many of Siena's art treasures are fantastic, and I hope you will see them, at least on a day trip, Sienese art tends to the dark side, while the art of renaissance Firenze is filled with color, gold and light.

I plan to revisit Firenze in the next couple of years, but right now my plan is to stay right next to Firenze, in the next town on the train line, which is called Prato. I'm thinking of staying in this villa and visiting Firenze by train a few times:

http://www.karenbrown.com/property.asp?propid=10600

Of course I will have a car, and that is how I will visit other towns as well. But if this place appeals to you, try e-mailing the owner and asking if there are busses or trains that leave from Prato that would take you to San Gimigiano, etc.

(By the way, it would be simpler to head from Tuscany to Venice than Rome to Venice if that hasn't already been discussed.)

nessundorma

Also, I can't help but add that even if you do not like museums, you might find it extremely worthwhile and enjoyable to visit the "museum" of San Marco, which is actually a monastery where Fra Angelico painted beautiful murals in each of the monk's individual cells as objects of spiritual contemplation for the monks. You walk through a warren of tiny rooms to see the glowing pastel artworks on the walls. Nothing has been altered. It really gives you a feeling of what it was like in Florence centuries ago, with the very wealthy trading gold on the Pontevechhio, and the religious leading lives of poverty but great beauty in the monasteries.

The Museo San Marco is not very far from the Accademia.