austinbueller

We are planning a 2 week trip to Italy in July. We want to do Rome 4 or 5 nights, Florence 2 or 3 nights and spend some time in the Tuscan countryside.

We were wondering if we should stay in Florence a few nights on its own or combine that part of the trip and stay in the surrounding country side (an agriturismo?)then drive in to Florence to see the museums.

Any thoughts and/or pluses or minuses to doing this? Would travel by rental car or by rail make sense if we did this?

Thanks in advance for the help.

ira

Hi A,

The only reason you would want a rental car is to motor through/around Tuscany.

If you are staying somewhere around Siena, you can take the SITA bus to Florence for daytrips.

How long in Tuscany?

Any reason why you are skipping Venice?

Henry

austinbueller,
I would suggest you stay in Florence for a couple of days then rent a car to see Tuscany. A car is required to stay at most agriturismo. If you want more information feel free to e-mail me. I have some suggested side trips in southern Tuscany.

austinbueller

Ira,

Thanks, I would like to avoid car rentals unless it makes sense for a day trip or the like.

We were thinking 3 or 4 nights in the Tuscany region apart from Florence.

We were going to skip Venice to avoid hitting too many places at once and be able to enjoy it. Florence had more appeal to me if I had to choose one. Do you think we could fit Venice in this timeframe?

Henry, I'll be sending you an email.

Thanks for the suggestions.

ira

Hi A,

>I would like to avoid car rentals unless it makes sense for a day trip or the like.<

Not a good idea to rent a car for a daytrip. Trains and buses are very good. You want a car for 5-7 days.

My own preference is (1) Venice, (2) Florence, (3) Rome.

Many folks recommend an overnight in Siena. We found that it was a nice daytrip from Florence.

With two weeks, I suggest:
Fly into Venice (4 nights)
Train to Florence (4 nights, daytrip to Siena, daytrip to Bologna)
Train to Rome (5 nights, daytrip to Orvieto and/or daytrip to Tivoli or Ostia Antica)
Fly home

See Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596

ekscrunchy

Unless you think this will be your only opportunity to visit Italy, I would definitely not try to fit Venice into your two week trip. See Rome and Florence, and then rent your car and go exploring in Tuscany from a base in an agriturismo or in a hotel in a smaller town that will be easy to drive in and out of. Personally, I would plan 5 nights in Rome, 4 nights in Florence, and then rent a car for the rest of the time to explore parts of Tuscany. I would put Montepulciano/Pienza on the driving itinerary.

Joe18

Florence is a great walking city, and the crowds dwindle a little in the late afternoon and night. So you'll get a better sense of it if you stay in town for at least a couple days. I imagine you know that it's good to reserve tickets at the major museums like the Uffizi beforehand.

ira

ttt

TarheelsInNj

If you're only going to be in Tuscany for 4 or 5 days, you can get around without a car. It depends entirely on how many towns you want to visit, however.

We spent a week in Montepulciano without a car, and were perfectly happy. Rather than take a lot of daytrips to other towns, we spent time absorbing the local atmosphere and trying out all of the different restaurants. We also spent one day hiking to Pienza, and took the bus back.

One option you can try is taking a "nomadic" trip from Rome to Florence. For example, go from Rome to Montepulciano for 2 nights, then travel up to Siena for 3 nights, then finish in Florence for several nights. All of this can be done by public transporation. Between the larger towns, such as Montepulciano and Siena, the bus usually runs a few times a day.

I would NOT recommend relying on public transportation if you want to visit lots of towns, but for moving between them it can work okay if you read the schedules very carefully.

JOYFULY

Make sure you're not renting a car on Sunday, we were there last summer and except for the airport all car agencies were closed in Florence, we wanted to rent a car to see the countryside so instead we took the train and went to Pisa
Also I would definetly include Venice, a must see, we spent 4 days in each city, Rome, Florence, and Venice saw the highlights of each city and it was very leisurely, and fun.