Agriturismo in Siena as base for Florence day trips?

People (who post here) do sometimes choose to sleep in Siena and do Florence as one or two day trips. Some find that one day trip isn't enough for Florence, and I guess many of those people choose to sleep in Florence and do Siena as a day trip. Most people (again, those posting here) choose to take the bus or train from Siena to Florence, even if they have a rental car. The reason is the dreaded Florence ZTLs. If you want to know more about Florence and ZTL's, go to the stickie at the top of this page that explains how to search this site for prior discussions, and input the search words Florence ZTL. Or come back and ask us and we'll save you the search.

I would suggest you do 3 nights countryside and 3 nights florence, that part without a car for the reasons Kent mentions.

Dealing with 6-7 days for Tuscany, I recommend Siena 2 nights, doing an agriturismo outside Siena 1 night, then agriturismo outside Florence 1 night, Florence city 2 nights. In any particular order. This gives you the best of all worlds. Siena and Florence are VERY different cities an areas, each with their own hilltop towns and nooks & crannies to explore. Plus they're quite far car wise (over an hour) apart. So staying in one and day tripping to the other, IMHO, may not be the best, since there's so much to do in each area. If you stay overnight at any hotel in Florence's city center, call the hotel before you arrive by car and they will input you into the ZTL computer system and you can drive in and out of the historical center without a fine (multa). I know, I know, it seems a little high-tech for Italy, and it is, but staying overnight for at least 1 night in Florence is definitely worth it! Otherwise, there are places to park that are just before the ZTL signs/cameras and if you get lucky you can pick a place just outside it, and still be within a 5-10 minute walk of the Duomo (think area around Piazza San Marco). ZTL stands for Zona di Traffico Limitato (limited traffic zone) and helps to keep cars off of streets that are much better suited for walking these days. It's actually quite a nice thing! :-)

I have to disagree with Steve. He is suggesting 5 places in a 6-8 night span. That is way too much moving around. Last September we spent 7 nights in Tuscany. Four nights were spent at an agriturismo just outside of Siena (Agriturismo Marciano - I highly recommend it), 2 nights in Florence and 1 night in Lucca. If I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed 6 nights at the agriturismo and day-tripped to Florence. We got rid of our car before going to Florence. If you do plan to stay in each place I recommend you do not have a car in Florence. It could be a year or more after you get home when you find a ticket in the mail for driving in a ZTL area. After we left Lucca we went to CT, stopping by Pisa for a few hours on the way. Have a great trip!

Hi Allyson. I agree with Andrea. I'd stay 4 dys in Siena & drive to various hill towns in the area and then spend a few days in Florence. I also highly recommend Agriturismo Marciano in Siena. It's a unique experience and for us, it was the highlight of our trip to Italy in 2009. Have a great time.

Ok, I'm converted, 2 agriturismos is a bit much (I just love them!). I'll suggest 3-4 nights Siena, 1-2 nights Agriturismo in area (make sure to do at least a full day there, go out to a vineyard, do olive oil tastings, have the included dinner--mezza pensione). then spend the rest of the time in Florence and environs.

I tend to agree, between taking the bus from Siena into Florence or parking outside of Florence and then trekking in doesn't seem that fun of thing to do more than once, and you will want more than 1 day in Florence. You will also probably want more than 1 night, there are some great sites in Florence at night. One walk RS mentions, up to Piazzalle Michaelangelo, affords some great city views.

Thanks to everyone for the input. I think we will split our time between an agriturismo near Siena and several nights in Florence. Since its our first trip, we want to experience a little of everything.