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9 night Itinerary - Rome and Tuscany

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My wife and I are heading to Italy for the first time in 2020 and we are looking for itinerary advice. We originally planned on 3 nights each in Rome, Florence, and Venice - flying into Rome and out of Venice. However, flying round-trip from Rome is significantly cheaper, so we are considering only doing Rome and Tuscany. Here is our tentative plan:

Day 1: Arrive in Rome -- take train straight to Florence
Day 2: Florence
Day 3: Florence
Day 4: Travel to Siena
Day 5: Siena

Day 6 - 9: Rome
Day 10: depart from Rome

While in Florence or Siena we will probably do a full day Tuscany wine tour. Possibly spend another day to visit Livorno, Lucca, or San Gimignano (other suggestions?). Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Eric

Posted by
907 posts

Day 1 is pretty much shot, you might have some time to roam around Florence but you will likely be jet lagged.
So, that leaves Day 2 for all of Florence, then Day 3 to pack and catch a train or travel to Siena, or, do that Day 4. I am not sure you have much time to do Florence justice if you take a day for Tuscany. You Siena allocation looks find, 1 to 1 1/2 days. Rome looks reasonable.

Be comfortable with your time in Florence before you add more to the itinerary. San Gimignano is hard to get to unless your are driving. Lucca is an easy train ride from Florence (1 hour+ one way). Go to Pisa instead of LIvorno.

Posted by
872 posts

From the FCO airport there are direct trains to Florence at 11:08AM and 3:08; others you change downtown. Buy tickets on arrival.

Florence to Siena you take the bus, which goes to the center of town. Siena to Rome the bus takes three hours and is direct. The train [station a short distance outside the walls] takes 20 minutes longer with a change in Florence. You have only a full day in Siena. You could do a day trip from Florence instead, saving the bother of a hotel change. Florence to Rome takes 1.5 hours. There are a number of easy day trips from Florence.

SG from Florence you take a train or bus to Poggibonsi and a bus. The town does get clogged with hordes of tour bus visitors. Pisa is a very easy day trip; Bologna only 30 minutes.

Posted by
996 posts

You've already done a wonderful job maximizing your time. Question - is it important to you to stay IN Sienna? Would a day trip from Florence do just as well?

Some people have specific needs/wants for certain locations. Sienna may be the same for you. Otherwise, you might be able to accomplish the same amount of sightseeing with a day trip from Florence and then have a little more time to see something else in that part of Italy.

Posted by
4 posts

Thank you for the replys. I think we would be OK with a day trip to Siena from Florence. However, the main intrigue is spending two evenings in a smaller, less crowded city for some of our trip. I've heard the city is wonderful at night when the crowds die down a bit. We'll have to decide if it is worth moving hotels.

It sounds like we'll probably skip a separate day trip - especially considering we are doing a full day wine tour

Posted by
872 posts

I'm not a fan of one-night stays, but if you skip staying in Siena, you could stop in Arezzo or Cortona on the way back to Rome.

Posted by
8437 posts

Do Siena on a day trip from Florence. Sam Gimignano deserves about two hours. You should spend more time in Florence and Rome.

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