This forum is fabulous! My husband & I are traveling to Italy in October. This is what we have planned so far.
1 night Milan, 2 nights Venice, 3 nights Florence, 5 nights (open for Tuscany & Umbria) 4 nights Rome, flight out of Rome. But now I'm stuck, I'm not sure how to plan the Tuscany/Umbria part.
We make wine at home, so we would like to tour some wineries in the Chianti area and in Tuscany to see their techniques. I'm not sure whether we should rent a car in Florence and drive to the wineries from there (maybe Greve?) and then stay the night in Siena. Or take a bus to Siena and do day trips from there. Or if we should drive all the way down to Montepulicano and use that as a home base? The other option we are considering is staying one night in Siena and then 2 nights in a hill town, and then 1 night in Oriveto, but it seems like a lot of packing an repacking. If we had one night in Oriveto, we would drop the car there and take the train to Rome. We would also like to fit Assis in there somewhere. Can anyone help me figure this out? Thanks!
Posted by
99 posts
Hi,
I'm a public transport only person so I can't give my take on the car. We did almost a similar trip last November. Except that the vineyards would have been dry at that time of the year so we didn't do that. We put a day in Lucca ( With a few hours early morning in the field of miracles in Pisa) in between the 3 days in Florence so that we left our main luggage in our Florence B & B and just carried a small bag with a set of clothes to Lucca. If you go to lucca make sure that you was the walls in the morning. Its a wonderful experience.
Siena by bus is very convenient from Florence and leaves you right in the middle of the old town. We did 2 nights in Siena and one day trip to San Gimignano from Siena ( Check bus schedules as there are limited departures on either end). Siena itself deserves a full day with the nights specially reserved to enjoy its lit up streets and the Piazza del Campo.
Orvieto is a convenient train ride from Siena. And taking the funicular up the hill is a great experience. We just stayed a day in Orvieto but wished we had more since we were so happy with Orvieto that we didn't have the time to go to Civita. There are frequent trains to Rome from Orvieto but Assisi would be farther off this track. ( And I haven't been there so I can't comment on it)
Have a great trip.
Posted by
Los Angeles
1825 posts
Train to Siena from Florence...rent at hertz which also has an office in orvieto to drop off before a train to Rome. The hotel Italia in Siena is a good location for train and car and an easy walk to the center. Spend a day exploring Siena. Rent on the second day and tour north. Head to montepulciano for a night or two before orvieto. Those three towns and the surrounding countryside are a good balance to the large cities.
Posted by
Laval, Québec, Canada
336 posts
I would rent a car and stay south of Siena, around Buonconvento for instance, in the middle of everything.
I would do Orvieto by car on my way to Rome and drop the car in Rome.
The rest of the towns including Siena will all be within a hour drive.
The drives there are just fantastic. Especially that region of Buonconvento-Pienza-Montepulciano-Montalcino.
You will also be in Brunello wine country which is the quintessence of Tuscany wine.
Vino Nobile de Montepulciano also have great wines.
The only problem is Assisi which is close to 2 hours from Buonconvento
Or, you Stay close to Cortona and will be exactly an hour from everything.
Cortona is a great hill town. Under a Tuscan sun is shot there.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Rent your car in Florence.
Florence-Greve. 40 min
Drive to Rapale 1 hour. Stay
Other day trips:
This whole area is rich in wineries. Look at wine,words,wisdom.com
Rapale-Siena-30m. Spend the day.
Rapale-Monteriggioni-45m-Castellina-25m-Radda-15m-Rapale-50m.
Rapale-Assisi-1H35m. Spend the day. Same time on the way back.
Rapale-Montepulciano-55m-
Orvieto-1H. Sleep Orvieto.
Drive to Rome. Drop car at Tibertina Station. Train to Rome Termini.
Posted by
OP
26 posts
These are some great tips! Such a variety of answers. The websites that you have directed me too are really helpful. We hadn't thought of staying in a small town, instead of Siena.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Something you should know if you haven't driven in Italy.
https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones
Posted by
Ohio
171 posts
You might consider Borgo Argenina as a place to stay, It is more or less half way between Chianti and Sienna. From its terrace you look over the vines and can see Chianti.
http://www.borgoargenina.it/
My favorite Tuscan town is San Gimignano. It's kind of a medieval Manhattan.
http://www.sangimignano.com/en/