juliekenney

Hello, Greetings from Italy. We are in Florence and are having a wonderful time. We have a private driver tomorrow and were planning on going to Siena and Chianti area. We just heard from two other people staying at our hotel that it was very crowded and maybe next time they would go to Lucca instead. Any thoughts? Thanks so much! We have 8 hours so all thoughts welcome. Julie

Grinisa

While I love Lucca, I wouldn't waste my day with a private driver there. Lucca is easy to reach by train from Florence and you can spend a half day there seeing the main sights and enjoying the town. Because you have a driver at your disposal, pick towns that are harder to reach with public transportation: Volterra, Pienza, Montalcino. Siena can get crowded on the weekends but maybe on Monday it won't be so bad.

rhkkmk

i agree...i would not go to the "tourist towns", like san gig., sienna and others where the bus loads come in hoards....maybe hit them at the end of the day, after 4 or very early...i would head to the quaint hill towns or the less traveled towns....wine country, etc...
stay away for the frequent site towns

beanweb24

We just got back yesterday from our honeymoon in Italy!

We went to Siena (were staying in Stigliano 20km away) and liked it but enjoyed Pienza and Montalcino more. Siena was great earlier in the day, but then the tour buses hit and there were tons of people. However, I will also say that the Duomo in Siena was one of the most stunning churches I have seen in Europe - just gorgeous.

We also enjoyed Castellina in Chianti, but did not make it to Radda in Chianti where I hear their may be more restaurants...beware though - the nicer restaurants in Castellina required a reservation even for lunch!

Enjoy Italy!!!

juliekenney

Thank you all so much....so excited and would love to hear more advice...thanks julie

uhoh_busted

We only got to drive through Pienza, and I wish we'd had some time to see it...Monteriggioni is kind of Disney-like, but we liked it too. We got there as the tour busses had left so had this entire tiny town virtually to ourselves on a bright sunny afternoon. Think of it as a fairly quick scenic stop-by (it is really that tiny). I thought the town hall and Duomo in Siena were spectacular, and of course that unique piazza. Monday should be an excellent day to visit that pretty place.