Tuscany, How Many per Day by Car?
 

Hello fellow travelers!
Wife and I will go to Italy next April. We will rent a car and spend 5 days in the Tuscany region. How many cities can we "decently" visit per day?
We plan on going to at least Siena, San Gimi, Montalcino, and we would like you to recommend any other ones for us.
Thanks in advance.
Ciao

Oh, and by the way, if it helps, the cities before and after Tuscany are Lucca and Florence, although kind of located in Tuscany.....
Anyways, thought it would be helpful.
Thanks again.....

phototraveler,
The most I plan for is two but sometimes I can not get to the second one. E-mail me and I will send you some suggested day trips in Tuscany.

One or two towns a day is realistic. I usually think in terms of how many nights I will be somewhere rather than how many days, taking into consideration moving from location to location.

We stayed three nights in Siena and four nights in Pienza this spring. Moving at a slow pace, we were able to visit San Gim, Volterra, Calle val d'elsa, and Monteriggioni while staying in Siena. In our four nights in Pienza, we had plenty of time to visit Montalcino, Montepulciano, Cortona, the Abbey Sant’ Antimo, and Pienza.

You are using the name phototraveler. I found the most photographic town and it's surroundings to be Pienza. You can see some of my photos at

http://www.travelswithdiane.homestea...13Tuscany.html

Of course, there are many wonderful photographs to be found in this area. Bring lots of film or memory cards.

Hello Henry. Phototraveler, Henry was extremely helpful to me when I was planning my trip. Be sure to contact him for his wealth of information.

Hi P,

>How many cities can we "decently" visit per day?<

A good rule of thumb is to spend no more than 4 hrs driving.

I usually plan on 2 small towns.

However, much depends on the particular area you are visiting.

I have done some trips where we visited 4 places in one long day, because each had only one point of interest.

((I))

It really depends on the town. I think many require about half a day or more to really appreciate. On the other hand, we've stopped in towns like Monterioggioni and Colle di Val d Elsa, for an hour or so each on our way somewhere and were perfectly delighted and satisfied that we did.

wow, so many replies as of now, thanks a lot!
Henry, you should receive an email from me soon.
luvtotravel, thanks for your input. Looks like a plan. I aldready had Siena as a base, but for the whole Tuscany. Your idea makes more sense. Let's see what Henry recs me.
Ira and NeoPatrick, thanks for your input too. Driving by seems nice as well.
Keep'em coming, I'm loving it.

Hi Photo,

On my last trip, I spent 8 nights in Tuscany and Umbria. The 2 towns per day is more than enough for me! In southern Tuscany, visiting Sant'Antimo and Monte Olivetto are highlights too. I must have time for wandering, driving, photos, lunch and wine (not in that order)!

If you are interested, search for my trip report of last Sept. "Dayle's Solo Trip to Italy" and the last part is Tuscany/Umbria.

Buon viaggio!

Hi Dayle! From what I read you've already gotten many compliments on your report, but please accept one more, what a report!!! Great information on food, wine, wondering, just what I like.
It will definitely play a good role in my trip planning.
Thanks for sharing it with us.
Ciao

LUVTOTRAVEL, loved your trip report. great writing, thought i was there with you. now, if those photos are your "testing with a new camera photos", forgive-me, but my camera is still in the shop! those were seriously great shots in my humble opinion, great composition, beautiful light, well, i guess southern tuscany is the place for those tuscan dream photos. my wife and i both have families oversees, and your trip report is an excellent idea to share our travels with them. did you esign your own website? it is great by the way, some really good shots. what camera lenses did you take with you for this trip?
thanks again for sharing.
by the way, Henry sent me a ton of information already, just didn't have time to read everything yet....
Ciao Bella

Phototraveler, thanks for the nice comments. I have a Canon PowerShot G6. No special lense, just point and shoot on automatic setting. PhotoShop helps bring out the colors when I don't capture them well.

I design my website on www.homestead.com. Basically, a drag and drop system. Worth checking out. I joined up years ago when it was free, so I now pay $100 a year to maintain. Not sure what they charge for people signing up now, but they offer a lot of easy to use tools. By the way, they operate on PC, not with MAC system, so I have to have two computers as my main computer is MAC.

I sell my photos at craft shows on a part-time basis. I had been selling at shops, but it is such a hassle that I stopped. I don't sell here as this board is much too important to me and it's a big no-no. Just a few nice words now and then keep me going, though.

Anyway, the area around Pienza is a photographer's dream. I also went to Lake Como on this trip and took amazing photographs. It was even more beautiful than Tuscany.

Have a wonderful time and don't worry too much about sticking to a schedule. Take some time to just absorb the atmosphere.

Hi again Photo,

Grazie! I'm glad you find my level of detail helpful. I've planned 4 trips to Europe (3 Italy & 1 France) with the great help of this board.

Personally, I haven't gone digital yet, so all my pictures are in lovely scrapbooks along with ticket stubs, hotel brochures, maps, etc. Makes the memories much more fun!

Two if they're small and close together - but probably one is the max to really see anything.

I spent two weeks in Italy this past October, one week in Tuscany. Based myself in Montalcino, a charming little town, and took day trips from there. I cannot say how many towns we visited each day because it was different. But if you are interested, click on my name and you will get my trip report.

Then, if there is anything specific I can help you with, let me know.

Happy travels!!

Well Everybody, thanks for all your help and time on this question.
Based on our conversations, and the extra and well appreciated help from Henry, I think we've got a good idea on what we can/should and can't/shouldn't visit based on our trip constraints.
I've pasted the draft itinerary below so you can take a look and critique.
We're planning on having lunch/dinner at the restaurants rec. by you too (late di lunna, grapollo blu, and so on...), but that's on another, more detailed, level of the planning.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY.

16-MON
- train to Pisa (2h)
- pick rental
- drive to Volterra
VOLTERRA
- visit sites
SAN GIMIGNANO
- visit sites
- sleep San Gimi

17-TUE
SIENA
- visit sites
- sleep Montalcino

18-WED
SANT’ANTIMO
- Gregorian Chant
MONTALCINO
- visit sites
- sleep Montalcino

19 -THU
MONTEPULCIANO
- market
PIENZA
- photography south side of walls
- sleep Montalcino

20-FRI
MONTALCINO
- market
- drive to Florence to drop rental

We might switch Siena from Tuesday to Wednesday to see/shop in the market there. On the other hand, Henry advised me that the city gets packed on market days. So we're still thinking.

Flame, I'm kind of new to Fodors. When I clicked on your nam a whole bunch of forums appeared on the left. I went thourgh them but could not find your report. Does it have a name or another way I could possibly find it? Thank You.

photo,

Here is a link to my trip report I wrote you about.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34884020

Let me know if this helps.

luvtotravel,
Sorry I missed your post. Thank you for the kind words, glad I could help.

Henry

Thanks everybody for their posts. As per one of many of Henry's recommendations, the wife, aka boss, and I have decided to stay at La Crociona, an agriturismo 2 km from Montalcino in between the city and abbey o Sant'Antimo. La Crociona was very responsive and friendly, and the rate was extremelly affordable and even included a wine tour and tasting of their wine making facility. Friendliness, affordability, good location, well recommended, and wine, that's all we were looking for in Tuscany.
Thanks again for all your help.

Hi Photo,


Just a note on Italian town markets, most aren't very great. Kind of an assortment of clothes, kitchen goods, shoes, some food. Maybe not what you are expecting....

Be sure to have lots of Brunello for me!

Hey Dayle, thanks for the tip.
Brunello, you can count on me !