7-8-day Trip: Prioritizing Florence & Tuscany Wish List

Actually there is bus service to Volterra from Florence and Siena, ~ 4/day, 2 hrs--except no bus service on Sundays or holidays. You didn't say where you're flying into/departing from. If flying into Milan, you could do 1 day Bologna, 2 or 3 days Florence, 2 days Siena, and include a day trip to Volterra if you really want to see it. You said 5 or 6 days, if you only had 5, some travelers would do: 3 days Florence, 2 days Siena.Volterra is Rick's favorite small town in Tuscany, because it's less touristy/commercial than some.You didn't specify your interests: a big art-architecture-Renaissance-history traveler would be happy with all 5 days in Florence. You can't go wrong with any of the 4 towns you've mentioned, except I'd say Florence is a must see.

Kent - Thanks very much for your suggestions.

I'm interested in art & architecture, but my sister who's traveling with me is more of a nature person (I love hiking & biking, so that works for me), so I think small city-small town experience will cover off on all needs. In fact, I noticed in one of Rick Steve's books there's a company that does hiking, biking tours (or a cooking lesson) -- so I was thinking of incorporating one of those options into the itinerary.

We'd probably leave on a Friday & return on Thursday or Friday (so 7-8 days total, but really 5-6 days in Italy). Yes, flying into Milan was what I assumed since it seems about same distance to Florence, with potentially less stress (not to mention that I don't mind skipping spending time in Milan, but I wouldn'r want to land in Rome & not spend any time there!).

Thx again,

-Susan

Susan: Price and compare to Milan the price of flights into: Galileo airport (Pisa) and Vespucci airport (Florence); and in your cost comparison consider the savings in train fare to get to/from Milan, as these two airports are much closer to Florence,Siena & Volterra (but would rule out Bologna. It takes a lot of train time and cost to get from Milan down to Florence and you can avoid these and see Bologna some other time, this also allows you to focus on Florence and Siena (3 star destinations compared to 2 stars for Bologna).

Kent -

That's a great suggestion - I'll check that out, as I'd much rather spend less time traveling & more time getting to my destinations. I read up on Bologna last night & agree that it makes sense to leave it out (I'm not that interested in food as I am in art, architecture, etc.) & focus on the cluster of Florence, Siena, Volterra.

Thanks much - have great day,
-Susan

Susan - I stayed in Volterra for 2 nights last fall and loved it. Highly recommend it. As Kent says, there is bus service from both Florence and Siena. I did bus from Pisa and then bus to Siena with no problems.