Geo

Which city makes a better base for Tuscan country excursions, Siena or Florence? I will be staying in both and would like to add an extra day to one of them for a day trip. Are there any horse backriding tours convenient to either city? If not I was considering renting a car for the day.

xxx

I'd choose Siena. Easier to drive in/out and more options with respect to itineraries:<BR><BR>1. Siena, Sinalunga, Lake Trasimeno, Assisi and back (3 hours driving total); if there's still time available after Assisi, one may drive further south, to Spello, Foligno and Spoleto (add one more hour to the driving time)<BR><BR>2. Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza, Monte Olivetto Maggiore Abbey, Montalcino, Siena (3+ hours driving total)<BR><BR>3. Siena, San Gimignano, Castellina, Radda, Gaiole, Castel di Brolio, Castelnuovo Berardenga, Siena (3 hours total driving time)

RJD

Done most of these itineraries. Prefer #2.

Kay

xxx gave you great options. I have done #2 also and would choose it. Montepulciano & Montalcino are stunning hill towns. I wish I had hired a driver for the day though, because these have great wine shops and you can't taste much of the wine and drive back!

Diane

Be sure to start out early -- everything except for restaurants virtually shuts down between noon and about 3PM, so plan your day accordingly, or all you might see of one place would be a restaurant and window shopping or photographing exterior views! That's not terrible, but the inside of the churches and theater in Montalpulciano, for example, are gorgeous. And the enotecas shut their doors to tasting/buying during that time, as well.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Siena is best. I have done all of those day trips---and they are good ones--but #2 is easily my fav. Assisi is too far.<BR>I would do #2 in reverse order, starting with Abbey Oliveto Maggiore and then Montalcino---etc. Have a good map. The Michelin # 430 is good, but the TCI map of Tuscany[200k to 1]is the best. I would try to do 2 days of day trips if possible. Good luck !

Geo

Thanks to all for the great advice. That's one more question mark in my itinerary I can cross off. I'll take the day trip behind door # 2. <BR><BR>What do you think of this as an alternative to a second day trip? I'm traveling to Siena from Cinque Terre. Would I be able to rent a car in Pisa and drive to Siena? Can I cover one of the other 2 day trips on the way down?

xxx

Arriving in Pisa, I'll surely spend some time there. Most probably, you'd be able to take off only after lunch, say 2pm. The total driving time from Pisa to Siena through San Gimignano should take some 1:45 hours. You'd arrive in San G. in shortly over one hour. Once around 4pm the tour buses start leaving town, your timing would be fine. You could enjoy the city till 6/6:30pm. From San G. to Siena it's about 35 minutes.<BR><BR>If you're not spending time in Pisa (which I don't recommend), you'd have the option to visit Lucca shortly before heading to San G. This would increase your total driving time by only about 40 minutes. As an alternative to Lucca, you could visit some of the Gallo Nero chianti district (Castellina, etc), or Volterra, after leaving San G. <BR><BR>There's only one certainty: you certainly won't run out of options

Geo

Thanks to your great advice I've come up with a plan for this leg of my trip. Let me know what you think.<BR><BR>After 3 days in Florence rent a car and drive down to Siena with a stop in San Gimignano. <BR><BR>After first night in Siena take day trip #2 as recomended.<BR><BR>After second night in Siena drive north towards Pisa with a possible stop in Lucca. Return car in Pisa and head to Cinque Terre by train.<BR><BR>I've read you shouldn't leave luggage in unattended rental car. Is there somewhere I can store my bags when I stop in San Gimignano?<BR><BR>I keep finding a 3 day (3 night) minimum for car rentals. Since I'll only need the car for 3 days, 2 nights will I get penalized for returning it a bit early?

xxx

There's nothing that will identify your rental car as such. It'll have normal FI licence plates. As long as you're able to conceal ALL your lugagge and other signs that you're a foreign tourist (maps, snacks, etc.) IMO it's quite safe to visit San G. and other cities enroute, with all your stuff in the trunk. If you want to minimize the chance your trunk gets breaken into, you may buy a local newspaper in Florence and leave it as the only thing visible inside. Though this is evidently not 100% proof, the chances of break in are minimal.<BR><BR>Relative to your itinerary plan IMO it's close to perfect. Nothing to add.<BR><BR>There's no penalty for returning the car early ...

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Geo I like it! If you want a pretty and interesting drive to Pisa then take S-68 from near Colle west. Stop in my fav hill town, Volterra, enroute. You connect with A-12 a bit south of Pisa.<BR><BR>How long in the CT and where. Why not keep the car ?

Carol

Re; Cinque Terre; you CANNOT drive in, they don't allow any but resident cars in the lots above the town. But we drove to Levanto where you can park right at the railway station safely and then took the train to the 5 towns. Be careful to take the local train because only it stops at the town. We stayed in a little family type hotel in Levanto for 3 days and enjoyed a different cinque terre town each day, but enjoyed Levanto too. No one goes there but it is a perfect vacation town in itself with a beautiful beach, ancient castle on the hill, ruins of an old church/castle with a restaurant inside and even 2 bookstores. the town itself isn't charming as are the cinque terre, but I'd even move there to raise a family.

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Of course you can drive and park there.<BR>I have done it several times. However, I agree that both Levanto and Portovenere make great base locations.

Geo

It's amazing how quickly you've helped me nail down the details of my itinerary. I'm still in my twenties and a rookie traveler so I need all the help I can get. <BR><BR>I wanted to get rid of the car in Pisa because after Cinque Terre (2 days) I'm off to Rome (4 days) and then back home (end of month long trip). I usually prefer trains to driving but I know the best way to explore Tuscany is by car. <BR><BR>Bob, I will follow your advice on the route from Siena to Pisa. While in Cinque Terre I'll probably stay in Vernazza based on what I've read about the different towns. I would probably stay in Levanto or Portovenere on future trips.<BR><BR>Thanks again to all.<BR>

xx

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