Please sign in to post.

4 days in Tuscany- recommendations?

Hi,

We have 9 full days in Italy and are planning on 4 days in Tuscany, 2 in Florence, and 3 in Cinque Terre. On the Tuscany portion of the trip, I am torn about trying to visit too many sites in just a few days. Right now I'm thinking one day Volterra, one day Siena, one day San Gimignano/Monteriggioni, and one day relaxing at our bed and breakfast (just north of Volterra). Is the "Heart of Tuscany" area (Pienza) mentioned in the RS book area worth the extra drive? It would add another ~4 hours driving time to our trip. Just curious to know if the views in Pienza are that much better than the rest of Tuscany. I am a big fan of open rolling hills. Are there any other smaller towns closer to Volterra (besides the ones I mentioned we are planning to see) that you think are "must sees" for only 4 days in Tuscany?

Thanks,
Lee

Posted by
1760 posts

You will see open rolling hills all over Tuscany.

It sounds like you will have a car, so I'd recommend establishing a base to explore from. You could actually just stay in Florence (which is the capital of Tuscany, not separate from it) for all six days, which would give you plenty of time to do day trips and still experience all there is to see in Florence. Or you could do 2-3 days in Florence and 3-4 days elsewhere (I'd recommend Siena, because it's a great town to come back to in the evening and there's lots to see and do there).

Personally I found the area south of Siena (including Pienza, Montalcino, and other towns in that area) to be a tad more scenic than the area between Siena and Florence (including Volterra and San Gimignano), but it's all beautiful, and each town has a different character.

Posted by
15267 posts

In terms of popularity among global tourism, the most popular towns in Central Tuscany (besides Florence, which is Tuscany's capital city) are:
Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti Hills, Volterra, Pienza, Monteriggioni.

Of course there are dozens more, but the above locations are the top hits in the mass tourism industry.

If you have 4 full days in Tuscany and have a car, there is ample time to visit all of the above.
1. From Volterra area, on the same day, you can very easily visit San Gimignano and take a drive through the Chianti Hills starting near Castellina.
2. You can devote another full day to visit the Val D'Orcia area (Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, Buonconvento, San Quirico)
3. Another day you can devote fully to Siena, with Monteriggioni visited on the way back from Siena. One hour is all you need in Monteriggioni and you have to pass by it to get to Siena.
4. The day you visit Volterra (which takes just a few hours) you can relax at your B&B.
You can do the above 4 options in any order you wish.