We are trying to decide between visiting Florence for 3 days or the alternative of 2 days in Florence with a side trip to San Gimignano. Is 2 days sufficient for Florence or should I give San Gimignano a miss? Any comments on San Gimignano, for those who has visited this place before? Thanks!

Oh heck yeah it is worth a visit! It is a very charming little city! I would recommend, however, trying to time your visit for late afternoon, early evening if you are unable to spend the night there. There are a LOT of day trippers who go there, so spending the evening and night there is really magical, because they all leave and you really get a true feel for the city.<BR><BR>Also, Siena is amazing!! Personally, I would to two days in Florence and then one in Siena or San G. I guess it depends on what you want to see and do in Florence, you could easily fill days and days there.<BR><BR>If I had to say which city has more to see, Siena or San G, I would say Siena, the duomo there was the highlight of our whole trip. <BR><BR>You will have a wonderful time no matter what you do. Enjoy!

I highly suggest you don't visit on a public holiday as we did on Easter last year-BIG mistake. It was far too crowded to be able to enjoy.

You can have your cake and eat it too - a 1/2 day trip to San Gimignano is sufficient, IMHO, if you're concerned about sacrificing time in Florence. <BR><BR>I think everyone visiting the big three in Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) should try to find the time to visit at least one hill town (San Gim, Orvieto, etc). It will give you an entirely different taste of Italy and is a wonderful relaxing way to spend some time.<BR><BR>

2 days Florence and you'll be happy to flee from the busy crowd. San Gimignano certainly is worth a visit, very nice. Sienna is kind'a nice too - we where there during the Palio which might have spoiled our impression of the city a little though.

I agree about seeing hill towns. We spent a day driving in the area of San G. and visited both it and Volterra in the one day with a gorgeous drive thru the country side in between. Would not trade that day for anything.

I would probably opt to spend two days in Florence and one day in Siena, which is very easy to get to by bus from Florence. A 1/2 day in San Gimignano is good for me - wonderful buildings, but they are all full of shopes. Florence, San G, Siena -- you really can't go wrong; too bad you don't have more time.

SG is a pretty but touristy town. There is nothing to buy there that you can't get cheaper in Florence. If you are not shopping and only have half a day, I prefer SG to Siena. After going to places like Montelcino, I found SG a bit of a let down but still a pleasant change from a big city.

I took a day trip to San Gimignano from Florence last fall and thought it was a perfect getaway (especially as I'd started feeling a little church and museum'd out. And I majored in and love art history!) I enjoyed hearing about the annual race held in S. Gim and thought seeing the festive flags flown by the different guilds (I'm not sure if guild is the correct term?) was charming. It was also nice to get out of Florence and see the different landscape during the drive. I definitely think it's worth a visit.

I liked San Gimignano but I LOVED Volterra. San Gimignano was very, very crowded. The drive to Volterra from San Gimignano is beautiful . We had a great picnic in a terrific park that had a castle next to it, and walked the quiet streets. Volterra also has ruins from 1 - 2 BC. I also loved Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pienza. You must have the pecorino cheese which Pienza is famous for. Ah, to go back to Italy.

Couldn't agree more with Maitaitom about the drive from San G. to Volterra being beautiful. You drive along a ridge with gorgeous views in both directions. It was my favorite stretch of road in Tuscany. <BR><BR>San G. looked very interesting but, when we arrived on a Saturday (around 11:00) the place was already mobbed with traffic, so we decided to skip it, and headed on to Cinque Terre. Next time, much earlier or later in the day.

If you're REALLY ambitious, spend the two days in Firenze, then see San Gimignano AND Siena the third day. Obviously, this would be cramming a lot into one day, and would rush you somewhat in both towns, but we did it. I would have liked to spend more time in Sienna, but we saw plenty in both places. If you're interested, here are some photos from our visits:<BR><BR>San Gimignano:<BR>http://www.strick.net/travel/photos/sang.html<BR><BR>Siena:<BR>http://www.strick.net/travel/photos/siena.html

2 years ago, I stayed in San G and it was great. I almost did not go, as some guide books talk about the touist crowds, and made it sound like it was a bunch of junky shops in a strip mall. We arrived about 4 pm, when the crowds were leaving, and were able to explore without any congestion. We stayed at La Cistera, and had a room with a magnificent view of Tuscany. In the morning I walked around town until the crowds came, then sat in front of the window until checkout time. I am going to stay there the first part of April for 2 nights at L'Antico Pozzo (La Cisterna is fully booked). We don't plan to stay there during the day, we will leave and explore the area.<BR>Re: the drive to Volterra. Ha Ha Ha It is a great drive. Once in Volterra they have maps of the Province of Pisa. I would caution you about going on any of the &quot;white&quot; colored roads. After receiving one of the maps, we decided to take a &quot;white&quot; road North our of Volterra to explore. It went up the side of a beautiful steep cliff, then turned into a dirt road, passable only by motorcycle or animals. In backing up, with attention to not falling off the cliff, the rear view mirror was torn off! There is plenty of beautiful scenery without the &quot;white&quot; roads. (These roads are not shown on any other maps that I have looked at)

i was heading to san gig. on 9-11, needless to say we didn't get there until the sunday...anyways....this is more a town that you would want to use as a base....the countryside is beautiful and the town is beautiful as well, but i don't think that it is worth taking your limited time from florence to do it...as someone noted above it is crazy during the day with day trippers and that takes away from its charm....mornings and late days and nites are when it can be enjoyed at its best....<BR>with your limited time stay in florence and reschedule for another time in sienna and san gig....

In making your decision, consider what is available in Florence and what you want to do here. A day spent visiting Tuscany and the hill towns will give you an entirely different view of Italy, but if you're really into art, for example, then staying in Florence might be better.<BR><BR>If you do decide to visit Tuscany, I would recommend renting a car if you don't already have one; you won't need one in Florence, but it's the best way to view Tuscany), then leave Florence, taking S222 south. It's a beautiful drive. If you can spend the night in Siena or S. Gimignano, I'd recommend doing that as the best use of your time. San G. is at it's best after the tourists are gone, in the evening. I also like Volterra (it has a great Etruscan museum), but it's a little further out of the way, so if you only have one day, I'd drive to Siena, spend time there, then end your day in San G.

We spent three nights in San G. last October and stayed at L'Antico Pozzo (which was wonderful) during the day we left the city and visited Florence, Siena and Chianti region. As everyone else as stated, San G. is beautiful in the evening and early morning without all the crowds. Enjoy your stay!<BR>

Thanks to all of you...I will definitely visit San G! May stay for a night there too! Rwally looking forward to it! Hopefully, the Iraq war will not affect the trip! Cheers!

HC<BR>San Gim was really my favourite small Tuscan town and maybe because it was in october when there were few tourists.<BR>Go to Gustavos wine bar where Maristella makes a mean bruschetta, and sample the Chianti wines, wonderful. It's at the far end of the main thoroughfare. It's also worth hiking the hills from there but you may have to save that for another time.<BR>Enjoy!!!

We stayed between Florence and Sienna 4 years ago. We found San Gim a tourist trap +++, but we were there in early afternoon with the crowds. It was the ONLY place in Italy where we had to pay to see the church, and the Etruscan museum was, yep, closed. Interesting to walk outside the walls, and look back and note all the TV antennas on top of all the towers!! Do see the walled village of Monteriggione durrounded by olive trees and vineyards - beautiful! I'd spend 2 full days in Florence and any extra in Sienna.

Well...what are your reasons for even contemplating visiting it? Because it's popular? Because you've heard it's pretty? Because it's historically significant?<BR><BR>I really hate these &quot;is it worth it&quot; questions because of course no one can ever answer such a question, but this one interests me because I've heard this question asked several times about this town, and it seems to me that things have changed since I last visited San Gimignano in 1989. Then, it was definitely WORTH it because of its art, architecture and the way it figured into the constant war between the Guelphs and the Gobellines - and that's why people went there, AND you could drive right in, find a parking space, and appreciate it. It still has all those attributes, but because it's also such a pretty town, with all those towers (guess what they were all about), people now are visiting it because it's pretty, without any thought to its significance.<BR>Now, far be it from me to suggest that you should visit a place because it has historical or archaeological or artistic significance (for all I know, all you want to do is wander around in a foreign place and see things that are different from your home town in Missouri), but if you're going to ask &quot;is it worth it?&quot; one needs to know, from what perspective? The town has a WEALTH of historical and architectural and artistic interest - does that make it WORTH IT? Would you be willing to drive around for an hour looking for a parking space to appreciate that? Some people would leave in 15 minutes, and some would circle for 4 hours to see the treasures. Are you just looking for a picturesque place with a decent choice of restaurants? Drive on if it's too crowded - there are plenty of places in Tuscany to get a good meal.<BR>If I had only 3 days for Tuscany, I would definitely spend 2 of them in Florence, which is a fairly compact place and a place where you can see a lot of things in a short time, and yes, go to San Gimignano or Siena or somewhere else for a day. Whether it is &quot;worth it&quot; is your call. For me, every village and town in all of Europe has been &quot;worth it.&quot; <BR>