9 Days in Tuscany. Suggested itineraries w/ fewest hotel changes

LindsayE

New member
Greetings everyone,

I would love suggestions on how to spend our 8 nights in Tuscany. My husband and I will arrive and depart via air in Florence. We'd prefer to stay at only two different hotels so we have only two "home bases" as this seems to be easier to book than changing locations and hotels throughout. We would prefer not to drive too much as parking and regulations seem a bit stressful.

Here was our initial idea:

Arrive Florence, spend 3 nights there. 2 days exploring Florence and 1 day on a day trip to Siena and back.
Train to Montecatini. Use the other 5 nights in Montecatini as a base to travel by train to Luca, Pisa and ??? while returning back to Montecatini at night.

I read the Tuscany in 7 Days recommendations. Do you have a base that you go back to every night for this type of travel or do you stay in different towns every night?

We are into the art and museums, but also huge food and wine lovers.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Lindsay
 
Would a better idea be to spend 4 nights in Florence with 2 days experiencing Florence and 2 days spent traveling back and forth to Lucca, Pisa and Montecatini via train followed by:

Train to Siena and 4 nights in Siena. While there, can you easily access Val D'Orcia, San Gimignano and the Chianti region or are these regions only done by renting a car?
 
Ciao Lindsay,

It really all depends whether you want to spend time in the countryside and, if so, whether you'll be willing to drive. The main cities you don't want to drive really are Florence and Siena, but the point is just to be careful and not drive INTO the CENTER as that is the area that is a limited traffic area, so only those with permits can't enter. Stay clear from those and you're fine even in Florence.

So let's say you don't drive at all. Then you arrive and thus start with Florence as your base. You could do 5 nights in Florence, and dedicate at least 3 full days to Florence. Then another day can be a day trip to Lucca, and another day trip to Pisa. You have the time, so take it slowly and don't try to cram too many things in all at once.

Then I'd suggest train to and 4 nights in Siena. From Siena, you can reach the Val d'Orcia by bus although they aren't ideal - take a look at time tables here: http://www.busfox.com/timetable/
If they seem too limiting, you can do tours from Siena - take a look at the ones here and here.
While in Siena, you enjoy Siena, take a bus to San Gimignano one day, and maybe to Volterra on another day. The other day you can look into a doing a tour to Montalcino or Montepulciano offered on the links above.

Now, if you are thinking of driving, you can organize yourself completely different. Stay in Florence only the days you want to visit the city, then rent the car and head out to one base in Tuscany that you can use for the rest of the time. Take a look at the suggestions and do a search here to see various options: http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-car-rental/

At that point you cand do 2 nights in Florence and then a whole week in the countryside, at a farmhouse or villa apartment for a week. One that has a pool and where you can also take time to relax by. Take a look of the options here: http://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/ If you want specific suggestions, let us know! Right now I just threw out a bunch of ideas.
 
Another question

Hi Lourdes,
I just read your reply to the "9 days in Tuscany thread..." and my daughter (17) and I will be planning a similar trip to the Tuscany region arriving in Florence the morning of June 30 and departing Florence on July 7th. I am not confident in our abilities to navigate the region by car and would like to travel by train and perhaps a hired car/driver.

I would appreciate any advice you have on places that a teenage girl and her mom might enjoy - who both love art, theater, music and getting to know the local people. We are up for going just about anywhere in the region, but like the members above, we don't want to be switching accommodations frequently during our stay.

Thanks so much for everything you are doing with managing this site. I apologize for replying to this thread, I am new to this and could not figure out how to start a new "thread".

Ciao,
Enels1
 
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