kellieander

We are looking to travel to Tuscany next summer and are looking for tips or pointers on our very rough initial itinerary. Comments and suggestions are welcome!

Day 1 - Fly into Milan and take train to Florence.

Days 2-4 - Stay in Florence, rent a car and take a day trip to Siena.

Day 5 - Drive to Lucca and stay there for the rest of the trip.

Day 6 - Day trip to Pisa.

Day 7 - Drive to La Spezia and visit the Cinque Terre.

Day 8 - Back to Milan and return home.

We wish we could plan to go longer, but we can't.

caroltis

Not sure I understand your itinerary.

Based on what you have said - I would highly suggest you not rent a car while in Florence - take the bus to visit Siena. Rent the car on your way out of Florence. Personally I would plan 3 full days with no other excursions outside of the city during those days. Also not sure what you mean by Day 7 drive to La Spezia and visit the Cinque Terre? One day for driving and exploration is just crazy. Also, is Day 8 your day of departure out of Milan?

SusanP

I don't think you want to rent a car at all. There is no reason to drive from Florence to Siena and have to worry about parking the car. It's very easy to take the bus to Siena (not the train...the train lets you off outside of town, while the bus drops you off much nearer to the center).

There's also no need to drive to the Cinque Terre. Train would be better. However, by the time you get there, and leaving for Milan the very next day, you certainly won't have much time there, maybe half a day, I would think not even enough to see the towns.

It would almost make more sense to stay in Florence for the whole time, with the daytrip to Siena, another to Lucca/Pisa, and possibly another (maybe one of the great cooking or wine tours you can take from Florence).

Or contact Luca Garrapa (www.hillsandroads.com)for a daytrip from Florence. If you know where you want to go, fine, otherwise tell him your interests and he will suggest an itinerary.

Also, you will need to be in Milan the night before your flight home, so maybe you want to plan to take an early train from Florence and have a reservation to see the last supper in the afternoon there for your last day.

zoecat

I suggest flying into Florence and out of Pisa or into/out of Pisa. No car needed- take the bus to Siena and trains for the rest of the trip. You will need to start very early on your day to the CT.

If you can add more days, do so.

ira

Hi K,

May I suggest:

Fly into/out of Pisa PSA.

Stay in Lucca for the whole 7 nights.

OR

Fly into Florence FLR and out of PSA.
Stay 4 nights in Florence and 3 in Lucca.

Lucca is about 1 hr by train to La Spezia, and 1:30 hr to Florence.

You can take the SITA bus to Siena from Florence,

See www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

SITA bus schedules are at http://tinyurl.com/ybe6xk

Mimar

I don't think you need a car at all. The bus from Florence to Siena drops you in the center of town (as opposed to the train or driving). Driving is much restricted in the historic center of Florence. (You might look for the thread of posters who, months later, get tickets for driving in Florence's ZTL.)

And the Cinque Terre are linked by a path, the train, and ferries. The road is back inland, and the parking lots are mostly uphill away from the towns.

Have you booked your plane tickets? If not, you might look at flying into and out of Pisa. Or even Florence. Milan is well out of the way of your trip.