Dick

We have been to ROme before but never to Tuscany. We are thinking of renting a Villa/Apt for a week and using it as a base to explore the area including Florence. <BR> <BR>Is this reasonable? If we rent a place, would it be better to train to Florence as opposed to trying to drive? <BR> <BR>Our other alternative would be hotels in Florence and Tuscany. <BR> <BR>If it makes a difference, we would be flying into Malpensa and either "training" or driving south. <BR> <BR>Thanks

lyv

A couple of years ago my husband and I rented a lovely little fully equipped apartment with a great pool overlooking San Gimignano. We did day trips through Chianti, Volterra, Lucca, Siena and took the bus into Florence for a day. We caught the bus easily in San Gimignano. The location was perfect.

Lexma90

We've traveled throughout Tuscany & Florence, always staying in hotels. We really enjoy being able to stroll through Florence at night, people-watching & stopping for gelato. That's something you can only do if you stay there. If you like that sort of thing, you might consider spending a night or two in Florence, then the rest of your time at a villa (or a hotel). <BR> <BR>In terms of taking the train to Florence, driving to Florence is easy, but the parking is not, so training it might be the better way to go. <BR> <BR>Buon viaggio!

StCirq

We've rented places in Tuscany several times, and IMO the best location is between Firenze and Siena. It's easy enough to drive INTO Firenze, but parking can take most of the day, so we usually took the local buses or trains. I particularly liked the local buses that went from hill town to hill town - we made several impromptu stops along the way a couple of times and then caught the next bus to our destination.We always rented a place near a town so we could spend at leat a night or two dining in a restaurant, walking around, and checking out the local scene.

Anne

A great way to see the hills of Tuscany and be in driving distance to Florence, Siena, etc. is to rent a place in one of the many country homes and villas converted to small hotels. Most are rented by the week only and also have swimming pools. I reserved mine through Italyrentals.com on the internet. Our place is an hour from Florence and only minutes from San Gignignano. There are places to rent all over the area and many in Umbria too. Worth looking at and usually more affordable than seven nights in hotels.