tuscany
 

we are renting a car in florence and spending 3 nights in tuscany/umbria ....hopefully to drop the car off on sunday in orvieto at the railway station. ...and then train to rome....
tuscany is very small.... should we stay in one town like siena all 3 nights or a different town each night to get the feel of another small tuscan town

Tuscany is not very small, and even the popular tourist area can be slow going in a car because of winding country roads.

If you want a small town experience you need to stay in a small town, although parking can be difficult in small towns and large in Italy.

Many people go to rural Tuscany and stay on a farm because it is farm country. And there is plenty of parking on a farm, plus the farm usually serves dinner.

Tuscany is very small? Everything you see on this map is Tuscany: http://healthmap.files.wordpress.com...uscany-map.gif
Perhaps you've been misleaded by those people who think it's possible to go to "Florence and Tuscany", like in "Paris and France", "Madrid and Spain"... Florence is Tuscany's capital.

You don't want to move around because you lost half a day each time you do. Stay in one place and do day trips. You can't see all of it in 3 days so get a good guidebook and choose your spots.

To add to what Franco says, you wouldn't try to see San Francisco and all of California in 3 days. You can't do Tuscany, either. Only a little piece.

Pick a central location, like Cortona and do day trips. You are a distance to Umbria and driving at night can be long, dark and tiring. Enjoy your 3 days, you'll just get a sampling of this gorgeous area.

STay in one location. Read a good guide book and you decide what you want to see. South Tuscany takes 5 days and Umbria takes at least that long---you will need to plan well.

Multiple posts here about lodgings in agritourismos in Tuscany. Makes sense to me to have a central location and do day trips.

I generally split my Tuscan Hill stays in two (not including an occasional stay in Lucca).
I stay in one place for my Chianti visits and another (usually Montalcino)for the Val D'Orcia area. Umbria I place in a seperate stay category.
With only three nights you need to make some decisions. Is there one town that especially appeals to you? What's your motivation for visiting the hill area?
To me, and many others, traveling SR222 down to SR2 is a great way to see much of the Tuscan countryside (there's a great "sidetrip" near Siena that takes you a on a beautiful sidetrip towards Buonconvento). I recommend you drive that route and stay one or two nights in Chianti (agriturismo?Castellina area?) and then one or two further south (in Montalcino?). This leaves you an easy trip to Orvieto. be careful about Sundays and whether the rental office will be open.
You have a short time there, but if you follow a plan like this you'll stay longer next time.

Tuscany is NOT very small!

great.... stay in one place ...got it .... we do want to go to siena...is that a good place to use as a base for 3 nights?

alane,

No Siena is not a good place to base for a car driving trip. Parking with in the walls is limited and the roads around Siena are confusing. It's really the only place we had difficulty finding the right road on a 10 day driving trip one spring.

You would do better to stay in a MUCH smaller town or an agriturismo. Parking will be no problem then, and you can do day trips at will!

One more note, the rental office in Orvieto will most likely be closed all Sunday. If you must drop off on a Sunday, you will need to drop at a major location - Rome, Leonardo di Vinic airport, etc.

what if i stay outside the walls of siena and the hotel has parking ? is that a central city to do day trips ?

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alane, whether Siena is a central city to do day trips depends on where the trips are to. You need to decide what towns you want to visit and then pick a central base. Most of Umbria is too far from Siena for a day trip.

Dear Alane
I'll repeat what the others have said - Tuscany is not small, in fact it's BIG considering that every square inch has a lot to offer in terms of art cities, mountains, valleys, wetlands, beaches... There are distinct areas of Tuscany, each with its own characteristics: the Senese (where Siena is), the Chianti Senese which is a sub-part of that, the Maremma, Mugello, Colline Fiorentine (hills outside Florence), costa etrusca, argentario, the various islands...
In a three day trip based in or near Siena you can see part of Siena itself, San Gimignano, and Volterra. That's it. And that's a fine start. If your hotel has parking or is near one of the city lots it's fine.
Siena is not a central city to do day trips to say, Assisi in Umbria - or rather, it could be, but it would only make sense if you were staying for a week. And even then, the roads around Siena are famously bad. If you want to get a little Tuscany and a little Umbria, stay in or near Cortona (where parking is easy just outside the walls).
Let us know what you choose!
Alexandra

"what if i stay outside the walls of siena and the hotel has parking ? is that a central city to do day trips ?"

I've driven into Siena four times and around it many more. Driving around is easy (was a bit harder a few years ago, but they've improved the road system. Each time I drive into it (and a couple times leaving), I've always swear "Never again!"

There's a reason I split my Tuscan trip in two (sometimes threes-Lucca,etc). Going from one great little town to another can be wonderful, but it's a slow wonderful.

wow thanks for your help....i now have direction for those 3.5 days........
i love this place !!!!!!!!!

i may be back with more questions .........

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