mbllevine

We will be in Florence in mid Oct. and wonder about the best place to go for a day trip we have heard about going to Sienna or maybe a wine tour to Chianti and recomendations?

carylspall

We were in Florence in October a few years back and took the bus to Sienna and San Gimignano (sorry-cant remember how to spell it! It was a really good day out!
Just get in training for climbing all those towers before you go!

MaureenB

Our second of three days in Florence, we took a train and then a bus to San Gimignano, for a day-trip. We had beautiful blue-sky weather, about 75 degrees. It was a perfect day to wander the little town. We had wine and salads at a wine bar, overlooking the hills. It was called Enoteca di Vinorum, Pza Cisterna 30. I'd recommend San G for a day-trip.

roadlesstraveled

I took two very enjoyable day trips from Florence. I took a bus tour to Sienna and San Gimignano and it made for an extremely pleasant day trip. The bus trip allowed me to see quite a bit of the surrounding countryside which was beautiful and green in the early spring. I totally fell in love with San Gimignano because it perfectly matched my concept of a medieval walled city. We also got to San G. early in the day and it was not crowded. I also took a nice half day trip to Pisa. While I enjoyed seeing the tower, it was the duomo that really wanted to see and it was wonderful. The other highlight of the trip to Pisa was the medieval cementary near the duomo. Although it was heavily damaged during WWII, the last judgment fresco were spectacular

willit

San Gimignano is the correct spelling, but there is only one "N" in Siena.

SG is very pretty, and in October will probably not be quite so overrun with tourists. It suffers a little from the tourist trade in that it seems hard to find any shops in the city that are not tourist related. The views from the main tower are stunning.

Siena is larger and possibly more of a "real town". I stayed there for two weeks in March , and fell in love with the place. Fiesole is excellent for a half day trip (30 minutes by bus from Florence). You might consider a combination of Pisa and Lucca for a day.

ira

Hi Mb,

Siena by SITA bus.

Lucca and/or Pisa by train.

Bologna by train.

SITA bus schedules are at http://tinyurl.com/b9mja

See www.trenitalia.com for trains.

TarheelsInNj

We had a lovely evening trip to Fiesole. We left about 4:00, and had plenty of time to wander the town and have a beautiful sunset drink at Blu Bar. The convent (San Francesco) is charming and offers a stunning view of the city.

Italybound07

bookmarking

Budman

Italybound07

This would be a better way of bookmarking threads you want to go back and review.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34860894

urbaniteyork

We just (last night) returned from a week in Florence. We took a day trip to Pisa and Lucca on the train. As our hotel was practically across the street from the train station (Hotel Della Nazioni) getting to the station was a cinch. We purchased our tickets from a self-service machine that offers 5 or six languages. It was inexpensive and fun. In Pisa, you get a bus to the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) - you buy your ticket (a one-hour ticket was 80 cents) at the tobacco shop right inside the door of the train station, and then wait for the bus at the hotel right across the street.

A one-hour ticket was sufficient, as it was raining, and we knew we would not linger, as we wanted to get to Lucca (certain the sun was shining there!). If you want to tour the Duomo, etc that means standing in line and you will need a longer bus ticket.

Validate your ticket each time you get on the bus. Once you see the Leaning Tower, etc, you can just cross the street to the bus stop and return to the train station. That's what we did, then purchasing train tickets for Lucca, where the sun was not shining, but at least it wasn't raining. Lucca was really fascinating, with hardly any people there (on a Saturday afternoon in early October). With the recent article in the New York Times about Lucca, it will no doubt very soon become more of a popular destination.

Ourlittle group of four had a few different guidebooks along, but the best by far was Rick Steves'. Step by step descriptions of not just WHAT but HOW, which is very helpful for novices.

Mario06

The nearest town which you should visit is Fiesole - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=71

You can also visit:

Lucca - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=189

Arezzo - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=107

San Gimignano - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=97

Siena - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=121

Pisa - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=115

Volterra - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=100

Cortona - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=78

Hope It helps.

laughingd2

In order of preference: 1. Siena, 2. Lucca. Also, if you are in Florence for a week, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not spending at least a late afternoon/evening in Fiesole. It's at most a simple 20 minute bus ride up the hill, and the bus runs frequently and late. We actually stayed in Fiesole for a week and came down into Florence (or points farther) most days - a great way to go.

lola34

Agree with everyone, just got back from Italy 2 weeks ago. Would highly recommend Siena and San Gimignano. Siena has the most beautiful cathedral. It took them 250 years to make the floors alone. Unfortunantely, the floors are unveiled only in the month of September, but the rest of the cathedral is still breathe taking. Just how I imagined the tuscan area would look like.