Florence and Tuscany in 3 days

rishavx

New member
Hi,

I am planning to travel to Florence in the end of May, on 30th (monday) and stay for 3 days till 2nd June (wednesday). I'll arrive early morning from Munich by train.

My plan is to see Florence on the first day, then hire a car and cover the Tuscany region. My idea is to visit - Florence for a day, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra on the same day, then Lucca and Pisa on the third. Florence would be my base. Is this a good idea? Or should I skip Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra and go to Cinque de terra?
 
Don't Skip Siena

Buongiorno,

I suggest you consider

Day 1: Florence

Day 2: pick-up car and visit Siena/San Gimignano or Siena and Volterra...I believe all three in one day will have you a bit stressed....stay in either San Gimignano or Volterra so you can arrive later in the evening and still have time to enjoy the city. No need to go back to Florence - and parking is easy at San Gimignano

Day 3: Drive to Pisa (remember to book ahead if you want to climb the tower!!) and Lucca

CT is beautiful - but I would suggest for this trip not to leave out Siena and area.

Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise
 
Thanks

Thanks for the suggestion Donna. Guess I'll go to Siena for sure. I've already got 3 days booking (non-cancellation) in Florence, so need to make it my base. So, what do you suggest, San Gimignano or Volterra?

Also, if I can manage one extra day in Tuscany region, do you suggest I go to CT?

But in that case, do you suggest I stay for the extra night in San Gimignano or somewhere near CT?

Last thing, can you suggest the places to visit in Florence on monday? Or is it better to spend any other day in Florence?

Thanks,
Rishav
 
CT or no....

Hi -

so I would do Tuscany on Monday because these are both great cities to simply enjoy the atmosphere! no need to really worry about museum openings.

To choose one of the other is a tough call, personally I always go for the underdog :eek: which in this case would be Volterra - but that is a lot to do in one day (Siena/Volterra)!

June 2nd is a national holiday (so be aware that trains and car rentals will have different hours than normal!!)

As beautiful as CT is, if you could add another day then I would enjoy Siena all in one day...bus it back and forth from Florence and then on the extra day rent the car and travel San Gimignano, Certaldo and Volterra.

Hope this helps,

Donna Denise
 
So maybe a no to CT this time

Thanks again.

Well I may skip CT this time and try to cover it if possible in the future.

But, is Florence good to visit on a monday (30th May), or should I try to schedule it for another day. As it is, I think all the museums are not possible to visit in one day. So, if you were in my place, which are the ones you consider a must visit in Florence? Which of these are possible to visit on a monday?

Thanks,
Rishav
 
I agree with Donna - with Florence as your base, I would do one day in Florence, one whole day to Siena as there really is a lot to see and enjoy, but maybe making your way to San Gimignano in late afternoon and enjoying dinner there - if you visit it once the large bus crowds have gone, it is really enjoyable. The third day spend it between Pisa and Lucca. If you had a whole extra day, then maybe you could do a quick trip to CT and if you have a car, you could drive there from Florence and spend the night in one of the five towns. Or skip CT this time around and enjoy the extra day in Chianti or in southern Tuscany, in the Val d'Orcia area.... or an extra day in Florence, there really is a lot to see in Florence! :D

As far as Monday in Florence - only the Uffizi and Accademia are closed. There are many other museums open - you can see the list here: http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/open-on-mondays.html
Of course, both are the top museums in Florence so if you wanted to visit them, I would consider moving the days around so you do Florence on a different day. I would also highly recommend visiting the Duomo and Baptistery, climbing up the bell tower or cupola and the Museo dell'Opera - which are all doable on a Monday if you decide to skip the other two museums.

Where are booked for the 3 nights in Florence? I just ask because once you rent the car, you have to consider if you keep it for the two days, where you will park it (if your hotel has parking, you're set) --- but also consider that if you're staying within the historical center, you might not be able to drive in into the center if you're not staying at a hotel (as it is a limited traffic zone, hotels will pay for your entrance into the ZTL area to get to them, but this has to be established before you drive in. Read more about the ZTL here: http://www.visitflorence.com/tourist-info/driving-in-florence-ztl-zone.html )
 
Hotel Columbus

Thanks Lourdes.

I will be staying at the Hotel Columbus, and they seem to have a parking. So I hope it wont be a problem. Anyway thanks to your advice, I guess I will stick to the plan suggested.
 
I know it, it is along the Lungarno Colombo - perfectly safe away from the ZTL area so you should haven't have problems with that aspect! If they have parking, then you're set! :D
 
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