6 Days Tuscany

You probably need to let us know where you will be staying after the 1.5 days in Florence to answer if both cities are possible in the same day. Having visited Assisi I would say that takes some time to see it all if you are interested in seeing the sites in both the lower and upper town.

The problem we had with visiting two hill towns in one day was that we would get to a town when it opened in the morning, enjoy the area and then find when we got to the next town, it was siesta time. Be careful with timing when planning. Also remember that "hill" is the key word in hilltown and you do a lot of walking uphill. We spent a lot of time in assisi and were exhausted by the time we were finished. We covered the whole town as well as walking all of the way up to the castle. By the time we were finished we knew we didn't have enough energy to enjoy another town.

With that said, we stayed in Montepulciano and loved it. Assisi was a pretty good drive from there. You might be able to combine Montalcino,and Pienza with Montepulciano more reasonably.

We did an 8 day Tuscany/Umbria driving trip last year and here's what we did: flew into Pisa, rented car and next day hit the road. Stopped in Volterra for lunch and sightseeing on the way to Siena where we spent 3 nights. From Siena we daytripped out to San Gimignano, Greve and Panzano. Really liked Volterra and San Gimignano, also they were our first experiences with hilltowns. Stopped in Montalcino on our way to Orvieto, our next base for 3 nights. Loved Orvieto and since we had spent several days driving decided to stay put in town for one whole day. Really enjoyed having a leisurely day in Orvieto to walk around, enjoy the sights, have a nice lunch and get caught up on postcards etc. Next day drove to Assisi for the day, stopped in Deruta on the way back to Orvieto. Next day stopped in Todi for some sightseeing and a lovely lunch on the way to Rome where we dropped off the car and flew home the next day. We actually found that we didn't spend enough time in Siena (even though we spent 3 nights there)so we went back there in May this time without a car and spent 2 whole days doing nothing but exploring Siena. If you are there on a Wed. make sure you hit their market. Lots of fun. You didn't say whether or not you have been to Tuscany before. If not I thought San Gimignano and Volterra were more interesting than Greve and Orvieto was one of our favorites. We did not rush around on our trip and were fairly flexible on our days. Had originally wanted to get to Montepulciano but it just wouldn't work out. We were there in Feb. last year and by 5:30 it's getting dark and we preferred to be off the road by then. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to enjoy.

Janae:

I echo Stacey's comments. To truly get the feel of Italian village life you have to go slow. We did the morning in a wonderful village and then rushed to the next town - uh oh - reposo. It was like the place was abandoned. We learned.

We take one village at a time and look to get the most from that place - market day - a cafe or restaurant - a couple of sights - etc. Then we head back to the villa and relax by the pool - maybe take a nap and then back at it again for supper.

We just know that we cannot see it all and we just need to return someday.

Our travels are enriched not by memories of running about but by recalling the depth of the experience we enjoyed each place we went. Have fun.

We were just in Tuscany in May- stayed for 8 days in a Villa in Siena with our son and his wife- wonderful. We went through Tuscany.net to rent it. The name of the Villa was Villa Lunetta- it was a great location to spend lots of time in Florence and then take off in our rental car (SOOO glad we had a car although driving through those hills was quite an experience!!) to see the villages. I became ill for our last couple of days so only got to see Greve and San Gimiangno which we loved. We'd like to go back and see more of Tuscany another time. There is a neat little pizzeria in Siena that we enjoyed for a meal. Have fun!

Consider taking a bus tour from Florence that goes to San Gimignano and Siena. Leaves the train station at 8AM and returns by 6PM and is operated by Grayline. In Sept 2007 it cost 65 euros per person and included lunch in Siena. the guide on the bus explained what we were seeing enroute and we had a local guide in each town to for more details and history. Returned to Florence relaxed and had plenty of energy to stay up late for dinner and to mingle with the locals.

If you do this, it will give you plenty of time to explore the rest with gusto.

One last thought....If you've never been to Florence before please don't sell it short. A day and a half will not do it justice and you'll be rushing around the whole time. Florence, like a good Italian meal, is to be done slowly and savored. I'd do a little more in Florence and have more QUALITY time in a smaller number of hill towns. Don't forget what Rick always says, "Assume you will return".

Finally, and please take time to climb to the top of the Doumo. If you don't know what that means, you will. Have a great trip.