Hello,
We are planning an 8-9 day trip with our family of 8 (young adults in their 20’s) in early July. We would like to begin our trip enjoying cultural experiences and then spend a few days based where we can leisurely explore the natural beauty of the area. We will most likely fly in and out of Milan and will not rent a car. We would very much like to see Florence/Tuscany but don’t know if that would involve too much extra traveling. We are considering flying into Milan and heading straight to Florence for 3-4 days and then spending the last few days in Lake Como. (The Dolomites were recommended and would be wonderful but we ultimately decided it would involve too much travel time). Any suggestions regarding this possible itinerary would be greatly appreciated!
Posted by
North Carolina
2475 posts
Sounds great! If you want to get in a day trip from Florence, you might want to give Florence five nights.
Posted by
New York, NY
1585 posts
Thrin4 - I think you can include Tuscany in the itinerary even without a car. You can set up base in 3 locations. This is how you can organize it.
Fly into Milan as you mentioned:
Milan /Train straight to Florence
Day 1 - Milan / Florence
Day 2 - Florence
Day 3 - Florence
Tuscany (Base in Siena)
Day 4 - Siena
Day 5 - Siena (Day trip Lucca / Pisa)
Lake Como:
Day 6 - Menaggio
Day 7 - Menaggio (Lake towns tour of Varenna and Bellagio)
Day 8 - Menaggio / Milan
Day 9 - Milan (Fly Home)
Posted by
OP
New Jersey, USA
6 posts
Thank you for your input!
What would be the most efficient way to travel from the Milan airport to Florence, and from Florence or Siena to Lake Como? I have seen different travel times quoted and would like to minimize the time spent traveling during our short visit!
Thank you again for sharing your ideas and information!
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16022 posts
Not to discredit RJean's helpful itinerary in any way but if it were me? I'd base for the whole of Florence/Tuscany in Florence and day-trip Siena (by bus) from there as well as Lucca and Pisa (by train). It takes less time to travel to/from Lucca and/or Pisa from Florence versus Siena, and you'd cut a hotel change.
For example, you can do Florence>Pisa by train in abt. an hour, no train changes.
You can do Lucca > Florence in as little as 1 hr, 19 minutes, no train changes.
Siena>Pisa is abt. 1 hr, 45 minutes with 1 train change
Lucca>Siena is 2.5 - 3 hrs with 1 to 2 train changes
Pisa> Lucca takes abt. 30 minutes, no changes, so the same regardless of whether your base is in Florence or Siena.
I think you'd be able to reach the Como area from Florence much more quickly from Florence versus Siena as well, and you might want to consider staying in Varenna as it is on a train line. I'm seeing journeys as short as 3 hours, 28 minutes from Florence to Varenna with one train change in Milan.
Varenna > Milano Centrale trains take abt an hour, no changes.
Malpensa airport to Florence will take approx 3.5 hours by train with 1 change at Milano Centrale.
The stations I used for schedules on the Trenitalia website (https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html) are:
Malpensa Aeroporto T1
Milano Centrale
Firenze S.M. Novella
Pisa Centrale
Varenna-Esino
Lucca
Siena
Posted by
OP
New Jersey, USA
6 posts
Thank you, Kathy, and everyone who responded! The travel times you provided have really helped us to narrow down our options. It was also helpful to know the names of the various train stations to use when searching train schedules. Now we are looking to fly into Florence which may not save a lot of time (as there are no direct flights) but might simplify the process of getting there. As much as we would love to have a base in Siena, it may be easier to stay in Florence for the 4 nights and take at least 1 day trip. With 8 people, we want to limit our travel time and accommodation changes as much as possible! I feel like we are closer to solidifying our plans- Thank you!
Posted by
OP
New Jersey, USA
6 posts
As I am getting ready to book our flights, I’m beginning to second guess our decision to go to Florence in July. Although we know to expect heat and crowds, we still wanted to see this intriguing city. If you have any tips to make a summer visit enjoyable, we would appreciate it. If you would advise us to wait until we can go at another time of year, please share your thoughts? Thank you!