Tuscany, no Florence???
 

Would appreciate any input to this question. Should we visit Tuscany and not go to Florence? I am planning our first European trip. We are planning on four days in Rome. That leaves us with five or six days left to explore Tuscany. From what I can tell we should spend 2-3 days in the southern part of Tuscany and 2 days in the northern part. Should we visit the northern part and not go into Florence? Lucca looks very appealing to me. Hopefully this is the first of many visits to Europe. We love food and wine and would not like to be rushed in our travels. Any advice would be appreciated.

If you are into Renaissance art and/or history, then I believe that visiting Florence is a must. But if that is not your interest, then a trip to Tuscany would still be complete without it, although I think you may regret skipping it if you are in the area anyway.

Everyone in my family loved Florence. When planning our trip to Italy, I was tempted to skip Florence, based mostly on the reports of some folks on this board who hate it. My husband had been there before and insisted that we include it. We spent 2 1/2 days there (the other half day spent at Pisa) and there is SO MUCH we didn't get to see.

Well, I wont go into the detail of what it is about Florence that there is to see. I will just send a few links for you to peruse and see if you truly believe a day or two would be misplaced on your trip to Tuscany.

http://www.hotels-rome-italy-hotels....ponte-vecchio/

http://www.hotels-rome-italy-hotels....nce-cathedral/

http://www.hotels-rome-italy-hotels....ell-accademia/

http://www.hotels-rome-italy-hotels....ffizi-gallery/

I hope this gives you some idea.

We visited Tuscany without seeing Florence. (We did return our rental car there, and caught the next train to Venice).

Since we were visiting two other cities - Rome and Venice - and there's only so much time, we decided to skip Florence. Don't regret it at all. But of course we don't know what we were missing. Some day...

It is a given that you can't see everything in one trip. We had to eliminate Venice from our first trip to Italy and were very sorry to make that decision. But we had a wonderful, wonderful time wherever we did visit...the trip was terrific.

Then on our next trip, we included Venice which turned out to be a magical experience. We fell in love with Venice.

So if you don't get to Florence this time, then add it to your next trip.

I loved Florence in March when there were not many tourists (relatively speaking). We visited David and there were only 5 other people in the building. Same with many other museums (didn't visit Ufizi). Really enjoyed admiring the beautiful architecture.

I hated Florence in early Sept when it was shoulder-to-shoulder people and we spent so much time dodging the people that we really didn't see or enjoy the beautiful architecture. Friends who visited David, said they could not get close to him because of the crowds.

Stu Dudley

ttt

Loved Florence. Went in April the weather was great the city is great. A perfectly walkable city and beautiful. Food is fantastic! Don't miss florence.

Tuscany isn't huge - why not spend a day there (Florence) as part of your tour de Tuscany? My wife and I are on opposite sides of this one, by the way - she cares not a whit for Florence, while I could spend a week there (albeit several of those days lounging up in Fiesole).

Go to Florence, but stay in Lucca. We flew into Florence but stayed in Sienna for 3 days and Lucca for 4. From Lucca you can take the train to Florence (60KM), Pisa (15min), and the Cinque Terre for day trips.
I heard about Lucca on Fodor's and was glad I did. Stayed in the town itself and loved it. Once outside the walls it was like any other city. Florence is a bustling city but a lot to see i.e. museums. Check for times and days museums are open. Enjoy.

Hello everyone,

First message posted to Fodor's but have been enjoying reading others. This one appealed to us, so we've signed up.

We are currently planning a trip to Italy in late May and have a pretty good idea about limiting the stops but would greatly appreciate some advice. We fly into and out of Rome, then plan on spending time between Siena, Lucca, and Cinque Terra. We've both been to Florence and also plan to catch Venice on another trip, so we are concentrating on these areas.

Had planned for around four nights near Siena with trips to a few other towns near there, and a few nights in or near Lucca with day trip to Cinque Terra and/or Portofino.

Any advice here on hotels, sights, travel tips, etc. would be welcome.

Thanks.