11 Days in Florence, Tuscany and then Bologna....Itinerary and other questions

jbgelfand

New member
We (my wife, 13 yo son and myself) are flying to Florence on June 17th and departing back to the States on June 30th. We have the following itinerary in mind, your comments, suggestions appreciated:

What would experts think about the following itinerary :

Florence 2 days

Bus to Siena, rent a car in Siena. Siena and around 2 days

Montepulciano and around 2 days

Drive to Pisa / Luca , drop off the car.. 1 day

Train to Cinque Terre. Stay in CT 2 days

Train to Bologna ( exploring Parma on the way ). Bologna 2 days


Does it make sense to have two bases - Siena and Montepulciano in Tuscany. ? Or we can explore all the places of interest from the either ?? What is the optimal town for the base ? We would like to do people watching, wine sipping after a busy on the road exploring Tuscany villages.

Thanks again
 
Ciao!

The itinerary looks good. Do you fly back out of Florence or Bologna?

I suggest using one base once you leave Florence... or you could do 1 base for the entire week you're in Tuscany, staying outside of Florence from the very beginning and doing a day trip to Florence during the week.

Either way, I'd suggest renting the car in Florence and driving south, staying near Siena but not in the city. That way you can visit Siena while you already have the car, without worries about the ZTL area.

Montepulciano is quite close to Siena, so I wouldn't recommend doing the two bases unless you rent the car only once you're ready to leave Siena. Then it would make sense to move out, once you have the car.

If you choose to have one base, these are some places I recommend you take a look at and consider since they are great for exploring all of the area around Siena and the Val d'Orcia around Montepulciano:
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/podere-cunina.html
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/san-giovanni-in-poggio.html
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/romitorio-di-serelle.html
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/agriturismo-vernianello.html
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/il-cellese.html
http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/la-rocca-di-cispiano.html

In CT, do have some hiking in mind? just make sure to check the official site for the national park, as most of the trail along the coast is closed (http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp?id_lingue=2). But keep checking, by mid June other sections might likely be reopened by then.
 
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