American Tourist
Member
I have copied below suggestions (from another thread) about a nice driving route from Florence to Siena and returning to Florence in the same day. This tour sounds wonderful, but I wanted to follow up with another question:
The routing described below was given in response to a visitor who desired to see a lot of things, including Siena.
I'd like to follow up by asking for suggestions for a nice way to balance our desire for ample time in Siena with our desire to see some interesting and/or beautiful sights between Florence and Siena. Our plans in Siena thus far include:
1:30pm: Cathedral visit, including 90-minute "Gate of Heaven" Tour of the Cathedral
Civic Museum visit
Torre del Mangia climb
plus we would like time to absorb the Piazza del Campo...
plus we would like time to wander into the medieval-ish districts...
Given our interest in Siena, we had pretty much planned to drive straight to Siena on the "fast" road, spend the day in Siena, and then return to Florence.
But perhaps we should be considering alternate routes that would provide nice views of the countryside and hilltop villages. Or perhaps we should even be considering some stops to visit some of the places mentioned below (Chianti, Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, etc.).
I would be so appreciative to hear suggestions about how to balance our day between our desire to see Siena well and our interest in taking some scenic routes and perhaps visiting a special place or two along the way.
Thank you!!!
I suggest you consider driving through CHIANTI instead, as it is the area between Florence and Siena and is along your route. You can head down into Chianti through the Via Chiantigiana (SS222) to Greve, stop there, head on and make stops in Panzano and Castellina.
End up in Siena after lunch, spend the afternoon there and by 7pm make your way to San Gimignano (maybe a quick stop in Monteriggioni, a beautiful walled castle along the road from Siena to Poggibonsi). You will still see beautiful countryside, charming hilltop villages and get to see Siena and San Gimignano. Take the roads I'm indicating, not the "fast" Firenze-Siena road way so that you can stop at the small towns if you feel like it. Colle Val d'Elsa and Staggia are also charming, but depending on time, which I don't think you'll have much of, you can see where to stop or not.
The routing described below was given in response to a visitor who desired to see a lot of things, including Siena.
I'd like to follow up by asking for suggestions for a nice way to balance our desire for ample time in Siena with our desire to see some interesting and/or beautiful sights between Florence and Siena. Our plans in Siena thus far include:
1:30pm: Cathedral visit, including 90-minute "Gate of Heaven" Tour of the Cathedral
Civic Museum visit
Torre del Mangia climb
plus we would like time to absorb the Piazza del Campo...
plus we would like time to wander into the medieval-ish districts...
Given our interest in Siena, we had pretty much planned to drive straight to Siena on the "fast" road, spend the day in Siena, and then return to Florence.
But perhaps we should be considering alternate routes that would provide nice views of the countryside and hilltop villages. Or perhaps we should even be considering some stops to visit some of the places mentioned below (Chianti, Greve, Panzano, Castellina, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, etc.).
I would be so appreciative to hear suggestions about how to balance our day between our desire to see Siena well and our interest in taking some scenic routes and perhaps visiting a special place or two along the way.
Thank you!!!
I suggest you consider driving through CHIANTI instead, as it is the area between Florence and Siena and is along your route. You can head down into Chianti through the Via Chiantigiana (SS222) to Greve, stop there, head on and make stops in Panzano and Castellina.
End up in Siena after lunch, spend the afternoon there and by 7pm make your way to San Gimignano (maybe a quick stop in Monteriggioni, a beautiful walled castle along the road from Siena to Poggibonsi). You will still see beautiful countryside, charming hilltop villages and get to see Siena and San Gimignano. Take the roads I'm indicating, not the "fast" Firenze-Siena road way so that you can stop at the small towns if you feel like it. Colle Val d'Elsa and Staggia are also charming, but depending on time, which I don't think you'll have much of, you can see where to stop or not.