Six Days in Tuscany - Based in Montecatini

jonnylb4

New member
We are staying in Montecatini in mid-February for six days, the first day including our flight and drive to our hotel and exploring Montecatini. We are renting a car and plan to take the 3 hour drive to Venice and Verona on the next day for Valentine's Day. Do you think the Festival of Love in Verona is worth the drive? After that, we have four days to tour Pisa, Lucca, Cinque Terre, Garfagnana (we would love to see the wind cave and hike up to Monte Forato. Is Monte Forato even accessible in February? Should we opt for a trip to Abetone instead?), Vinci, Fucecchio, Florence, the Chianti region, San Gimignano, Volterra, and possibly San Miniato and Siena if time permits but it most likely won't. We obviously plan to be quite busy. Another question is: Do you think your 2-day itinerary for Florence is possible for 1 day if starting at sunrise and ending at sunset? We would love to see as much as Florence as we can but there are a lot of other enticing attractions in Tuscany (too many for less than a week, that's for sure). If you believe our plans will take much longer than we anticipate, would you please suggest what you think should be most important or top priority on our list, or somewhere that we may have missed or haven't considered? It's our first time in Italy and we want to take in as much as possible.
Thanks for your help!
 
Where do you fly in? If you want to visit Venice and Verona, maybe it would make more sense to do that while staying in the area, so that you don't have that 3 hour drive, it would eat too much into your time. If it's part of your 6 days, you really cut on the time you have for Tuscany.

As far as Tuscany and with just 6 days, I would suggest: 1 day in Florence, fitting in what really attracts you from the sights I've recommended - there is this one for just 24 hours that cuts down and tells you which ones to absolutely not miss: https://www.visitflorence.com/itineraries-in-florence/florence-in-24-hours.html
Then you can do Pisa and Lucca in one day, CT in another day, Garfagnana on another day, Vinci, San Miniato and a drive through Chianti on your way to Siena on another day, another day to spend between San Gimignano and Volterra.... so you see, you have already ran out of days. I understand trying to fit as much as possible, consider you have totally left out the Val d'Orcia even at this point. But you will need to cut something out.... or plan to come back in another future trip! :D
 
We fly in to Milan before 8am on the day of arrival, so it probably would make more sense to visit Venice and Verona on that day, and explore Montecatini the next day.

We are definitely going to Florence for a day; your intineraries are very helpful! We love hiking so either CT or Garfagnana (both would be ideal) are a must. Unless you have another suggestion for a good hiking destination? I know that the Via Francigena is always an option. I'm just hoping that the weather is nice and trails are open when we are there. But yes, I realize something has to be cut out. It will most likely be either a few of the small towns in Chianti or Siena. There is so much to see in so little time! I don't want to overload our intinerary, and I am disheartened knowing we will be missing the Val d'Orcia. But I am certain we will make a return trip to Italy (can't forget about Rome!) Again, thank you for your help!
 
I say remain flexible once you're here, see how the weather is like and then head in the direction you want for the day. You won't get to do everything you would like, but a future trip can include southern Tuscany and Rome, at the very least!
 
Top