VESPA/SCOOTER in Tuscany Plus Itinerary Question

upcycledbliss

New member
Hello!

I am going to Italy in October, so I have a little while for planning, but I am excited so trying to do some now. I will be landing in Genoa (evening of 10/10) and going to the white truffle festival in Alba. I have not decided yet if I will stay a whole week in the area so that I can see the medieval and middle ages festivals in Alba or not. If I do not I will probably spend 4-5 days visiting Turin/Mountains/Alba. Does anyone have suggestions on this?

I will then take the train to Florence and spend 5-7 days (depending on time in piedmont) in Tuscany! I was thinking of basing myself in Greve for my time. I think I could rent a bike or an e-bike here to get around the local area some, but would like to rent something bigger for 1-2 days. I was wondering if a scooter would be able to hold enough gas and take the mileage to get me a comfortable visit to Val d'Orcia also. If not, do I go back to Florence to rent a car? I do not want to drive a lot in the Cities, especially if they have no drive zones.

My main goals other than wine and food, obviously, are to take photography, walk, enjoy the scenery and maybe see if there are any harvest events (any suggestions on this?). If I stayed in Greve, took a day trip to Sienna for one day, 2 day tour on scooter/car, one day in Florence, and had 1-3 days to visit the area on bike/foot/bus, would this seem reasonable?

Also the SITA bus schedule no longer has crosses or hammers that I can see. It also doesnt seem to have any Sunday times on it. THere are Festivos days. Am I looking at an old schedule?

I do not have a establishment picked for sleeping yet, any suggestions.

I figure I will end my time in Tuscany in Florence so that I can be in town to catch an earlier train to my next stop, Amalfi Coast (via Naples I know). Here I plan on spending 4-5 nights and visiting Pompei on the way back to Rome where I will stay 2 nights (fly out of Rome morning on the last day).

Does this sound like an okay itinerary? Am I doing too much?

Thank you so much!

Laura
 
Rental

Buongiorno,

I have worked with Officina Ramuzzi (the link you provided) with my local bike tour guide, he would use them for rentals when doing tours in the Chianti area. They were reliable and had good equipment.

As per a trip to Val d'Orcia, you should have plenty of gas - but even if you don't you will be able to find gas stations along the way for a fill-up. Just keep in mind if you are not used to long hauls on a bike or vespa...you will be covering a lot of ground and it can get a bit uncomfortable on the backside :)

Placing yourself in Greve will give you lots of opportunities for walking, wine and photography. You should check out Altiero in Greve, Via San Cresci, 58, Telefono: +39 055 853728. Great wine, small vineyard and very friendly.

Buon Viaggio
 
Certaldo Convenient Rural Base for Tuscan Sights Outside Florence

Hi Laura,

October is a great time to visit Tuscany, cooler weather, fewer tourists, but it could be a little chilly for travelling on scooter in the Tuscan hills, and also for someone not familiar with the country roads it could be a bit precarious as some are very narrow and curving. and Italian drivers are not exactly....careful.

You would be better off hiring an Economy car from Florence Airport for comfort and safety and heading to the southwest from Florence around the area along the Florence-Siena train line. That way you will have the option to leave your car in free parking lots behind stations and get the train to some places e.g. Siena.

Certaldo area is a great base as it is right in the middle of an area exactly half way between Florence and Siena in which there are some lovely places to see like Certaldo Alto, San Gimignano, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Volterra and Monteriggioni. The train station in Certaldo has a free large parking lot behind it so you can easily go to Florence (to the north) and Siena to the south) by train without having to worry about parking.

There are loads of good, inexpensive places to eat local food and there are also many family-run wine producers in this area.

We take visitors in October and have availability from October 14th. We also have discounted rates for single travelers. Please see our website and feel free to email us with any questions!
 
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