3 days through Tuscany to get from Rome to Florence

Posted by karen2008 on 08/04/18 01:30 PM

We are renting a car and have three days from the time we leave Rome until we need to get to Florence. We are planning to leave Rome in the morning by train and pick up the rental car in Orvieto. I thought we might spend the first day in and around Orvieto, then to hotel in Siena. Second day hang around Montepulciano/Pienza area and back to hotel in Siena, then Siena on third day, sleep in Florence. My parents are traveling with us, so trying to limit hotel changes.

Any advice on other hill towns or roads to take during these Tuscany days?

Thanks!

Posted by Laura

08/04/18 02:14 PM

174 posts

I would take a look at the RS Florence and Tuscany book. He has some nice drives outlined that you could do. I just returned from the area. We used Siena as a base and did his Heart of Tuscany drive one day and his Crete Senesi + part of his Brunello Wine drive (because we wanted to see Sant’ Antimo) the next day. Gave us a nice overview of the region and took us on some really scenic but manageable back roads (vs staying on the S2 or A1 highways).. You could do those drives however you wanted from whatever starting/ending point. Siena in and of itself is good for a day of site-seeing. I’d also recommend seeing if you could do a winery tour. Rick lists some good ones (we did Altesino) but there are many wineries in the region you could choose from.

We actually came down from Florence to Siena for the three days and then returned to fly out of there so what you’re doing, if you use Siena as a base, sounds really similar. Pienza was my favorite hill town but Montepulciano is nice. Even Montalcino surprised us.

Posted by Mack

Adams Basin

08/05/18 01:40 PM

571 posts

Great plan...we dd this except we chose to visit Siena by bus from Florence. That gave us time to visit Tarquinia, Montepulciano, Civita de Bagnoregio and many other points between. It's all easy driving through the country side and if you want to speed things up there's the autostrada.
We stayed in an agro tourismo with a view of Civita...PM me and I'll share the details...special place that we would stay at again.

Posted by Frank

WPB, FL & Firenze

08/05/18 08:22 PM

3112 posts

While there are many options, I'd suggest taking the train to Orvietto and staying there the first night. Pick up a rental car on day 2 and drive to Siena, stopping in your choice of Chiusi (Etruscan sights), Montepulciano and/or Pienza along the way. Your idea of day tripping to those towns from Siena involves a lot of back-tracking. Drop off the rental car in Siena evening of day 2 (or early morning of day 3 depending on rental office hours) and spend 2 nights and 1 full day in Siena, Then take the bus or train to Florence on the morning of day 4 (which appears to be the day you want to arrive in Florence). Most people find the express bus from Siena to Florence most convenient.