Stay in Florence or elsewhere?
 

Am planning 4 to 5 days in Florence mid-October. Is it better to stay right in Florence or elsewhere in Tuscany? I'll have a car so getting around not a problem. Hotel reccommendations are welcome...Thanks

Oooh--fresh from the "Make this stuff up" thread. What is "better"? If you want to see stuff in Florence, stay in Florence. If you want to absorb general Tuscan ambiance, stay elsewhere. Having a car in Florence is a problem--driving and parking in the city itself are not easy. If you can manage not to pick up the car until you leave Florence, you will be happier, I think. <BR>I think this is your first trip to Italy, right? (I may be confusing you with someone else, if so, sorry.) I would stay in Florence at La Residenza--get a room on the top floor so you can have your own little balcony, assuming you're spry enough to climb out your window. There's also a more easily accessible for all guests up there.

If you're going to take advantage of Tuscany, and I would, my suggestion is to train it in. Don't even think about driving. The train station is so convenient to FLorence, and it's only a few blocks to where all the good stuff is. Florence is not a large city, you can, I do, walk the whole thing several times a day. My husband is from Tuscany, and we stay in his town, he takes me to the train in the morning, and because I love Florence so much, it take the last train home at night. You can park in Florence, but it is hard to find, and is expensive. I have always taken the train, but on our last trip we decided to drive in one day, well, after 2 hours we found a place to park, and were rushed for the rest of the day. The parking lots fill early, that is something to think about if you're still going to drive.

I think the answer to your question is "yes". That is, maybe do both. We are going to spend a week in Tuscany, but I still decided to spend a couple nights in Florence so that I could see some of the more crowded sites early in the morning, and so I could enjoy some of the fine restaurants late in the evening. Maybe you want to split it up? 2 or 3 nights in Florence and a night elsewhere, like Sienna, or San G, or somewhere in Chianti? Although my impression is you could easily spend the entire time in Florence and not run out of things to see. So it depends on how you want to spend your time.

We stayed in the Tuscan countryside and drove into Florence two days. My regret is that we did not spend at least two days and nights in Florence. I would have liked seeing things at night plus trying to find a parking place was a mess. One day we almost had 3 wrecks and the other we got a parking ticket. Anyway, when I go again I will definately stay in Florence at least par t of the time.

Hi <BR>There have been previous questions on this same subject. You'll find the previous pros and cons if you do a Search on Florence. <BR>Good luck