After Venice and before Rome, we are staying in Siena for 3 weeks in April. We are thinking about visiting some places by bus/train (Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa?) and also renting a car for 1 week to visit the hill towns in Tuscany and Umbria. Any suggestions for an itinerary and best use of car would be appreciated. Is 1 week a good amount of time for the car? We don't like to spend too much time in the museums and prefer spending our most of our time roaming around towns, eating, trying wines, seeing the countryside, etc. Thanks for any help.
Posted by
Washington DC
27230 posts
I'm not sure which places are easy to get to by bus, but they might include Volterra and/or San Gimignano. I like Lucca a lot and it's not far from Pisa. People often combine them for a day trip out of Florence, so I assume you could manage that by car from Siena.
East of Siena you have the fabulous Assisi, which would need to be a car trip. It should be just under 2 hr. one way. Arezzo should also be better by car. The fastest morning train seems to take 2hr. 20 min., and it's about half that time by car. Arezzo has a large monthly antique market. Google for details if you're interested.
There are many other popular towns in that area, but I haven't visited them.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15268 posts
3 weeks is a long time for Siena, in my opinion. Siena itself can be seen in a full day.
Florence 3 days is good, but you would need multiple day trips (75 min each way by bus).
Pisa can be done in a few hours and you can be there in less than 2 hours by train (change in Empoli).
The Cinque Terre as a day trip is a challenge, since getting there and back will take over 6 hours of your day.
A week taking trips to small towns by car is good, but you are still left with another week to fill.
How about splitting your 3 weeks into a few of places instead of just Siena? Would that be possible or is your itinerary already set in stone?
How about one week/10 days in Siena, one week in Florence (easier for day trips to Pisa, Lucca, Arezzo, Pistoia), a few left over nights at 5 terre before heading to Rome?
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
I'm with Roberto. Three weeks is a long time for this one location. From Lucca in the north of Tuscany to Orvieto in the south of Umbria is over 3 hours drive, so while one central location may sounds like a good idea, it does mean long days driving to more distant places.
I would look at 3 stays of a week each (and perhaps 3 distinct experiences)...
1) Big city stay in Florence - best by train from here to Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo
2) Rural stay (agriturismo) near Siena - with a car to visit Chianti, San Gimignano, Volterra, Montepulciano
3) Small town stay in Umbria (maybe Spello) - with a car to visit Assisi, Orvieto, Gubbio, Spoleto
Posted by
Boston, MA
1829 posts
I agree with the other posters that it would be better to break this up and stay in multiple places.
3 weeks is a really long time in Siena ; which is not a bad thing but then you are trying to do as day trips places that demand more of your time.
Makes more sense to split it up into 3 nights in the CT, 4 nights in Florence and do Pisa as a day trip from there and then the rest of the time in Siena with a rental car that entire time for everything else.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
107 posts
Thank you for all the replies. My husband wanted to stay in only one place for our entire trip, so the compromise is Venice, Siena, and Rome. So we are set for 3 weeks in Siena. We won't mind spending several days getting to know Siena, so I don't feel that we have to do side trips every day. I think we could go to Florence 2-3 times for day trips. I have considered staying overnight one day in Cinque Terre, and from the comments that is probably a good idea. I am open to all suggestions, but we definitely are based in Siena. Thanks again.
Posted by
Atlanta, Georgia
565 posts
My husband and I did 10 days in Siena in 2011. I'm envious of your three weeks! We had a car the whole time though so we came and went as we pleased. Be forewarned that parking is expensive. We were there in off season March and didn't have any luck with free parking. We rented an apartment and our hosts found us a nearby parking deck outside the ZTL. I'm not one to really pay attention to cost on trips but that one got my attention. Also, I heard RS finally updated his book about this but you can easily get from the train station to the walls through a series of escalators in a shopping mall across the street from the train station. It's also a great spot to pick up staples after a day trip. My absolute favorite grocery store is in Siena. It's in an underground mall in the center of town by the post office. Follow the college students. I'm not sure where you are staying but I've never seen an elevator in Siena so keep that in mind. We were early thirty something's in great shape and still had a rough time making it more than a few times a day up to the fifth floor. Awesome views though! Our favorite restaurant was Osteria La Piana nearby our apartment.