7 days in tuscany before florence

Jnielsen

Member
My 73 year old husband and I will be visiting Italy mid February 2019. We have been to Tuscany before, have visited San gimignano and siena before. We are thinking about doing the following...leaving Rome by car on stopping in Orvieto and civita dinbagnoregio on our way to chiusi where will will stay for the week.. The next day going to Assisi, Perugia, spello and todi..Monday going to arezzo, cortona and Val de chiana..Tuesday going to Val d'orcia, montepulciano, pienza and montaleinco..Wednesday going to Siena, just to reminisce and monteriggioni... Thursday taking a day off, Friday going to volterra (new place to see) and San gimignano once again to reminisce. Saturday we leave chiusi and on our drive to Florence to return our car, I thought we could see piza and lucca..then checking into our place in Florence..we like history...we like to see sights, architecture, eat. Not into shopping or museums ..
Is this possible or too much..I know it is a lot of driving but we drove last time we were there and don't see that as too much of an issue.thanks for your input.
 
Buongiorno,

All of these places are wonderful to visit - but my concern would be that you are packing way too much into some days - and not planning enough downtime to relax and "enjoy" the vacation. Just checking your itins, there are several that include almost 4 hours of driving - which would really cut into walking to the towns, shops, museums, churches and restaurants.

Day 1: in Orvieto and Civita Bagnoregio on our way to Chiusi where will stay for the week.
Great stops. However, Orvieto alone could easily fill your afternoon even without going to Bagnoregio. I say this just so you don't overextend yourself.

Day 2: Assisi, Perugia, spello and todi ..
Without any stops this is a 4 hour round trip - that is a lot of travel time and all of those places are great to stop in but you might want to to split it into two days, even a night over in Spello? or just focus on two towns.

Day 3: Monday going to Arezzo, Cortona and Val di Chiana
Spend the morning in Arezzo, head to Cortona for lunch and then meander the countryside back to Chiusi (Arezzo is a favorite of mine - and you could spend all day here!)

Day 4: Tuesday going to Val d'Orcia, Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montalcino
lovely day, I would start with Montalcino, then Pienza so you are close home at the end of the day - at Montepulciano

Day 5: Wednesday going to Siena, just to reminisce and Monteriggioni

Day 6: Thursday taking a day off

Day 7: Friday going to Volterra (a new place to see) and San Gimignano once again to reminisce
this is at least 4 hours on the road (not counting stops) - can you do this while you are staying in Florence? - lot less driving maybe take the day to discover Chiusi, Cetona, Sarteano or Abbey of San Salvatore

Day 8: Saturday we leave Chiusi and on our drive to Florence to return our car, I thought we could see pizza and lucca..
Pisa and Lucca are a four-hour drive, maybe you could make this the day you go to San Gim and Volterra, and sleep the night in Pisa. Then visit Pisa and Lucca the next day and end the day in Florence

I hope this helps you plan,

Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise
 
Time to plan on each town

Donna, thank you for your reply..Can you give me any idea on how much time I should plan on spending in the following towns and maybe what there is to see there...trying to narrow down my options..the good news about having a rental car and not being held to anything than a 7 day timeline, I can change things on the fly...we wanted to use chiusi as our base and not do multiple packing and unpacking..so I guess I am looking for some places so would be on a must see list.. If I know what to do or a reasonable amount of time to spend in a town then it will help me narrow things down.we will have 4 days in Florence after that I won't have a rental car so places like Pisa and lucca can be done by train from there if I need to..don't know much about the following towns.....

1. Orvieto
2. Perugia
3. spello
4. Val de chiana
5. Cortona
6. Civita bargnoregio
7. Todi
8. Arezzo
9. Val d'orcia

Thank you for the information.
Jolene
 
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Ciao Jolene,

Just reading your itinerary I was going to suggest doing Pisa and Lucca by train once you're in Florence, they are NOT on the way to Florence so you'd be doing a lot of driving and the time to see each would be reduced. You can do a day trip to Pisa by train in the morning, have lunch and then continue by train to Lucca for the rest of the afternoon and dinner, then head back to Florence.

Using Chiusi as a base is fine but I would definitely recommend doing day trips in the area, with the furthest being San Gimignano/Volterra.

Most towns require at least 2 hours each, some will have more things to see than others and yes, definitely keep it flexible. If you like a place, stay longer than planned and maybe skip the next stop. I don't know Umbria as well as Tuscany but Orvieto and Perugia have enough to keep you busy an entire day. Arezzo can take an entire day, but you can definitely include Cortona in the afternoon. The Valdichiana is a valley with many small towns, it is hard to say how much to give it other than drive through it from Arezzo to Cortona and back to Chiusi, stop whenever you see something that catches your fancy. You could add Castiglion Fiorentino as a halfway stop between Arezzo and Cortona.
 
GO TO Livorno FROM FLORENCE

We are planning to stay in Florence and join local trips to Cinque Terre and Livorno.
I found many many local tours WHICH WILL transport visitors from Livorno to Florence!!!! But, I had problem to find a bus tour FROM FLORENCE TO LIVORNO? Can any one of your help us.


In addition to rent a car, train seems to be the best way? Is there any direct train from Florence to Livorno? Many thanks!
 
Ciao Yuanlinwang,

Most tours that take you to Florence from Livorno will also take you back! Make sure to check all the details of the tours you found you liked.

If you get to Florence on your own, you can take train to Florence and train back - check www.trenitalia.com for train schedules.
 
thanks everyone for your input...I will definitely take into consideration what has been suggested...and I will keep doing my research......one last question..what will the weather be like in this region during the last two weeks of February?
 
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