10 days in Tuscany

Ashkapur88

New member
Hi all

My girlfriend and I are flying to Pisa on the 12th July and are in Tuscany for 10 days and will be flying out of Pisa on the 22nd. This is first time visiting and we are having a lot of trouble planning the trip as there is so much to see and not sure whether to have a few bases or just stay in places we visit. We will be renting a car also.

We would like to try and cover the following places, although are open to adding/removing places -
  • Pisa and Lucca
  • Florence
  • Sienna
  • Arezzo and cortona
  • Montepulciano
  • San gimigiano
  • Orvieto

My plan was the following - Pick up the car and head straight to Florence (spend 3 nights evening 12th, 13th, 14th) during this time see Florence and a day trip to Lucca if need be.
Then head to a hotel Cortona where we can spend 15th, 16th and 17th - we can see Arezzo and Montepulciano for day trips.
Sienna - 18th, 19th
San gimigiano - 20th , 21st
Leave early on the 22nd and go and see Pisa for the dayas we fly out at 7.30 in the evening.


Happy to travel and from that plan above its 4 hotels where we will stay in 10 days and with the car can see as much as possible.

I understand that parking in the cities will be extremely difficult so I'm wondering whether we just base ourselves in the countryside and head to the cities from there? Any suggestions of a plan would be more then welcome.

Thanks
 
Itin for July

Buongiorno,

You can really go either way: base yourself someplace or move around. However you have put together a nice itin and if you are up to moving around then I suggest you do it. Though if you are looking to have a more relaxing vacation...with lots of downtime, choose just one place, more centrally located.

While stay in Florence, you could look at an accommodation like Casa Palmira where you can use pubblic transport to get around and you don't need to worry about parking. Nice country setting, when you are finished touring Florence you can sit by the pool or arrange a dinner with a cooking lesson.

As for Cortona, Il Sole del Sodo is particularly lovely and an excellent base for the day trips you mentioned. Great garden will give you lots of space to recharge your batteries.

The only suggestion on the itin would be maybe just one night in San Gimignano and the other night in Lucca, before going down to visit Pisa and leaving. This way you keep your trip in a big circle instead of coming over to Florence and then back to Lucca...besides Lucca is a great little town and well worth living the night life - so I would suggest a hotel in the center.

Buon Viaggio
 
Thank you for your reply!

Would you suggest getting the train from Pisa to Florence and then perhaps rent the car in Florence instead when we leave to go Cortona?

Ok, I think we will spend one night in San Gimignano and then the other night in Lucca.

Thanks again
 
car pick up

You really don't NEED a car in Florence - so if you are OK lugging your suitcase on the train (which as long as you have only one piece :) is really no big deal) then you can definitely save yourself the money and train it to Florence.

You can also look into the bus services (like Terra Vision and the AutoStrada) which are very easy to use, just as fast as the train. I use them all the time when I fly out of Pisa. I live in Florence, catch the bus which picks up / drops off at the SMN train station in the city center and then leaves you literally at the door of the Pisa Airport.
 
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