My husband and I are in the VERY beginning stages of planning our first trip to Italy for early summer 06, and we will be going for two weeks. I have been lurking here for a week or two, and I have one big question that I haven't seen answered.

We will spend some time in Florence, and I want to have the experience of seeing some of the countryside. Our time might be limited, however, so where is the best place to go (day trip from Florence maybe) to see the "stereotypical" Tuscan countryside with rolling hills, cyprus trees, etc.? Is there a walking/driving route that we could take (or hire a driver for) that would give us a taste of this landscape? We will probably be splitting our time among the "big three," so we're hoping to capture this experience in a day trip, if possible. Any ideas?

Thanks!!!

Hi Abby,

Try doing a search with the words "driver", or "wine tasting tours". Several posters here have recommended both private drivers and companies that do small group day tours.

Buon viaggio!

IMO driving through the countryside fo Tuscany is easy. The roads are well marked and with your own car you can go at any pace that suits you. It's hard to say any one place is typical. There are so many beautiful towns.

Hi abby,

You can bus from Florence to Siena
http://www.sita-on-line.it/
or
Bus from Florence to San Gimignano
http://www.sangimignano.net/bus/

We just returned from Tuscany and stayed in Sienna. We were only in that area three days, so our Tuscan experience was a bit of a whirlwind, but some of the classic villages are San Gimignano and Voltera which would probably be a do-able day trip. Those are two cities people on this board often recommend, and the cities and the area around them was incredible. Have fun. I want to go back and spend a week in that general region. PJK

Check out StuDudley's Tuscany drive in this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34574110