Over the years we've been to Italy 4-5 times.

Except for Como and a few lake towns our visits have mainly been to cities; Rome, Florence, Venice. We've also been to Sorrento & Capri a couple of times.

I'm trying to put together a trip that starts in Rome and ends in Florence. I don't think we want more than a day or so in each of Rome of Florence as we've been to each a couple of times.

We'll be traveling by train and would like to keep bus travel to an absolute minimum if possible. Also, I'd like to keep each train ride (other than changing home bases) under 1:30 if possible unless there is a compelling sight to visit.

Also, we'd like to limit ourselves to sleeping in Rome, Florence and one other place (if possible). I imagine the third place would be a town/city with other towns/attractions nearby.

Our style is to be out by 10:00 - 10:30 and walk around town most of the day. We stop frequently to hang around sights of interest. We visit museums when of extreme interest (The Met, D'Orsay, Louvre, Prado, Uffizi) but not really museum goers. My wife likes to make store stops when she sees something of interest. I am a photography buff.

We could spend between 8 and 12 days on this trip though I'm starting to think 12 may be a bit long.

Some possibilities that I have come up with are:
From Rome - Orvieto, Spoleto

From Florence - Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo

Siena could possibly be a home base as we may want to spend more than part of a day there (?) and a few towns are located in the area (San Gimignano,, Montepulciano, etc).

Any help, guidance, etc would be much appreciated.

Oops. Forgot to mention that the trip would most likely be in mid-June.

hi myer,

I was looking for the map of train services on the trenitalia website, but could only find this:

http://www.railplus.com.au/images/ma...y-rail-map.pdf

[I'm sure there's a better one but for some reason I couldn't find it]. but it's better than nothing - you can see that there are plenty of potential stopping off points on your route. you might like to look at where the train stations are when making your choice - for example siena's is a bit out of the city, though I think there's a bus up to the town.

looking at your plan again, if you are possibly staying in Siena, Lucca or Pisa, you could so Florence as a day-trip from, say, Siena, using the same bus that other people use for day trips TO siena. and Pisa as a day-trip from Lucca.

however, for an 8-12 day trip, I have to say that you will see far more of the little places if you have a car. june would be a lovely time to be touring this area - long evenings, and no need to book, outside the main centres.

any reason you've decided against it?

regards, ann

If you haven't spent time in southern Tuscany, you could go through there on your way from Orvieto to Siena. From Orvieto, you would train to Chiusi (20 minutes)and catch the bus to Montepulciano (not on Sunday I think). From Montepulciano it's a very short bus ride to Pienza and longer to Siena (should be under your 1:30). There are lots of places you can reach by bus from Siena in under an hour including Montalcino.

I don't think you could easily daytrip to Montepulciano from Siena because of the bus schedules.

Siena Mobilita is the official bus website for this area and includes all of the various bus lines (LFI, Tra-in, Sita). I have a Siena Mobilita schedule book (about 150 pages)from last fall if you have trouble finding something I can look it up.
http://www.sienamobilita.it/EN/index.html

I'm not quite sure what the goal of your trip is. To see more of the Tuscan countryside? Yet you want to stay in Rome and Florence. You could base in other cities where you haven't been, like Bologna or Milan or Torino or Perugia or Genoa. These all have many daytrip possibilities. Or you could base yourselves in smaller towns like Siena or Lucca or Santa Margherita Ligure or Stresa, also with many daytrip options.

And why are you so prejudiced against buses? Buses in Europe are generally very modern, with big windows, air conditioning and sometimes even toilets.

We have never rented a car in Europe and I don't drive "standard". While I've been thinking of this as an option, I've tried to avoid it.

I'm trying to avoid buses since my wife suffers from travel sickness and buses don't help. Trains have never been a problem.

I'm thinking of using Rome and Florence as two of the home bases since our plane arrives in Rome and we leave from Florence. I'm just trying to reduce the packing/unpacking/moving.

Yes, we'd like to see some of what we haven't seen before (although we could do with a day or so each in Rome and Florence). However, we'd also like to make it easier on us by staying where we start and end and reducing the number of luggage moves.

Good info/ideas so far. Thanks.

I don't have motion sickness, but didn't think the buses were much of a problem as they seemed to be fairly slow (not like Amalfi coast buses). Many towns in your Rome/Florence/Siena triangle are served by bus, not train.

If you want to see southern Tuscany then you should consider renting an automatic for a few days in Chiusi (train there after night or two in Orvieto). It's a very short drive from Chiusi to Montepulciano (less than 20 miles). Montepulciano to Pienza is only about 8 miles. If you based in Pienza with your car (it's flat and easy to get in and out with little traffic) there are many small towns in the area to visit. Quite a few can be reached by "white" roads (search backroad itineraries by Stu T and Bob the Navigator). Many of these are gravel roads so it's not like you will have tons of traffic or be going fast. Even Montalcino is only 20 or so miles from Pienza although the route is curvy and not gravel. You could drive slow and pull off if any traffic needed to get by.

White road picture near Montalcino.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/70505071@N00/267064498/

Another place to consider for your third hotel is Perugia for its short train rides to many places in Umbria and Tuscany: Cortona, Arezzo, Assisi, Trevi, Deruta, Todi, Spoleto, Lake Trasimeno. There is also great bus service from Perugia to places not on train lines, like Gubbio.

But don't pick Perugia if you decide to rent a car. If you want to see Umbria with a car, stay somewhere like Bevagna or the surrounding area.

If using trains, I agree with Jean's advice on Perugia as a base. It will allow you the most options of rewarding places to visit.

kybourbon's advice on renting a car to see southern Tuscany is a great idea. The driving is so easy, I doubt you would have any problems. And, it would be sooooo wonderful! You can return the car in Chuisi and train to Rome or Florence for your night prior to departure.

How about the Maremma area, have you heard of it?
In June it's perfect...just giving you a new idea...
http://bit.ly/2pVAMt
perfect half way distance florence-rome

While there is a temptation to learn to drive a standard over the next few months and rent a car for a week of the trip, I'm still focusing on doing almost all of the traveling by train with a very small amount by bus.

Still interested in any ideas of towns/cities of interest that would fit the stated criteria.

thanks.

Sounds like you're focusing on Tuscany or Umbria. But another possibility would be Bologna and thereabouts (though it's not between Florence and Rome, obviously). I really like Bologna - big enough to include a variety of interesting things to do and see, but not so touristy other cities. And while I've only taken the train from Bologna to Venice, I know that you can get from Bologna to a number of nearby smaller cities (Ravenna, Ferrara, Parma, Modena, Verona); all of them are less than the time frame you're looking for.

Actually, while not between Rome & Florence, i had put Bologna on my list of potential day trips.

Thanks for the confirmation.

You don't need to learn how to drive a standard transmission car. Rent an automatic.

I don't know where you're from or your driving experience, but we found Umbria to be very easy to navigate on secondary, low-traffic country roads. Even the main "highway" through the Umbrian valley is not fast and busy like the Autostrada.

But if you decide against the car, I still think Perugia has the most day-trip-by-train options. Perugia itself is a nice, medium-sized city. Its university adds an energetic atmosphere.