Info on where to stop between Pisa/Florence and Florence/Siena by car

TROGHURST

New member
Question to find something a bit quieter and off the tourist trail (if possible)!

I'm really keen to try and find something that's not so touristy (I know this is difficult particularly in the Chianti region).

Our plan is to fly into Pisa, stay over night and then head to Florence, down to Siena and then back up. We have 9 nights in total and are happy to spread our time across the different cities and accommodation. We have a hire car and will be travelling in September.

I have a couple of questions:

Is there anywhere we should stay/stop on our trip from Pisa to Florence?
And the same for Florence to Siena?

After Siena this is where we'd really like to go and stay somewhere that doesn't have many tourists. I travelled to Italy as a child and had the best experience of Agurturismos where as now I feel they are really popular.

I appreciate there might not be anywhere but as I say, we're willing to travel to find quieter places and spend 2,3 or 4 nights there.

Really appreciate any recommendations you have. We're really flexible in what we're looking for, wine tour, luxury accomodation, homely cooking, and small villages with beautiful countryside.

Thanks!
 
You are right in that Tuscany is very visited and there are a lot of visitors, but you can still have experiences across the area where you won't feel crowded, particularly if you stay in the countryside in an agriturismo. Of course, these are very popular nowadays and have spread across the region but they will still give you a wonderful countryside experience, particularly the ones set up as B&Bs where you only have a room and come in contact with the owner and other guests. Others are set up as self-catering apartments where you have a kitchen, you are more independent and removed from other guests, but considering you're moving across the area, spending less time at each, maybe you don't need the kitchen as much so I'd suggest to choose those set up as B&Bs.

There are many areas "off-the-beaten" path, including the Lunigiana, the Garfagnana, Casentino, upper Mugello, the Valdichiana, the Maremma.... there are still people there, just not in the same numbers. In September you will still find a good amount of visitors but I don't think you will feel super crowded (aside from Florence, Siena and Pisa which take a little longer to empty out).

You can still find many central places that won't feel crowded, for example, between Pisa and Florence, I would suggest staying in the area around Pistoia or south toward Vinci - still very central but not on everyone's radar. Take a look at Villa Dianella as one possibility in the area.
Or a little bit further south, for between Florence and Siena, you can consider staying closer to San Gimignano at Casolare di Libbiano. Both are B&Bs, both offer the chance to take cooking classes directly at the place and Libbiano also offers dinner for guests.

Further away and definitely in an area where you will feel there is more space, you could consider either Camporsevoli or Casale Cardini. Camporsevoli is apartments so will give a bit more independence, if that's what you'd like.
 
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