Arezzo and Pistoia: day trip from Florence or spend a night?

Arezzo and Pistoia are easy day trips from Florence. Pistoia there is a big AM market Wed and Sat.

If you’d rather experience those small cities at night or not is up to you. Arezzo is about one hour from Florence, Pistoia is about 35-40 min.

You haven't indicated how many nights you have to work with but a 2 week trip is typically 14 nights. You've already given Rome 10 nights of that (7+3) so that leaves 4 nights for 4 locations- Florence, Lucca, Arezzo and Pistoia.
To me that is too many hotel changes and not enough time to enjoy any of the 4.

If you are flying in and out of Rome consider going to Florence first- then put all Rome nights at end so you don't have that split stay there.

Since you've been to Florence and Lucca- opt to stay in Arezzo and Pistoia with day trips to Florence and Lucca.
I wouldn't day trip from somewhere that you only have a 2 night stay.

Hi Kathy,

I really enjoy staying in some of the smaller places for a night or two! I’m currently in Italy again and am having a wonderful time! I also travel by train and stay 1-3 nights at locations. Here’s what I wrote about Arezzo the last time I was in Italy:

Arezzo - 2 days: this is one of my new favorite towns. I had wanted to see Arezzo, and since they have two jousting festivals, one in early September, I timed my stay to be there for it. (When I first stepped into Piazza Grande where they were practicing the day before, I was sad that my husband was missing such a special event that he would have loved!) I stayed at small De’ Montetini B&B, and the location was perfect. I enjoyed taking many photos in the medieval portion of Arezzo, loved the jousting event & entire day’s activities leading up to it, and the food in this city was wonderful. My B&B host wrote down a few recommendations for me, such as Antica Osteria dell ‘Agania, and they were all good. (I couldn’t believe how many locals kept coming into Antica Osteria dell ‘Agania the night I was there!) There’s also an antique fair each 1st Sunday of the month, so both activities were happening that day. Arezzo is also a good uphill workout to be ready for Montepulciano!

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions thus far. I’ll need to rethink the number of days in Rome, but will also most likely have at least 17 days for the whole trip.

I didn’t know you were staying in Rome that long. I think you should stay 4 or 5 nights, preferably all concentrated at the end before coming home. In other words go to Tuscany (Florence or wherever) first upon landing then leave your Rome nights at the end of your trip, if you fly back from Rome. 10 nights is well above what 99% of travelers would allocate to Rome on a 2 or 3 week vacation. Just because Rome is known as the Eternal City doesn’t mean you should stay there an eternity. Most travelers don’t spend more than 3 or 4 nights in Rome.

I don’t like “one night stands”. Too much hassle goes into hotel changes (check in check out check in again, plus unpacking repacking unpacking again). I prefer a minimum of two nights (which is a full day) at any location. Two nights (I.e a full day including the night) is probably sufficient to see (and enjoy) Arezzo (or also Pistoia). Unless you want to use those cities as a base for other day trips. In case you want to use those places for day trips, add one night for every day trip you plan to make from that location. Arezzo for example is a good base to visit Cortona or also Anghiari. Actually even Perugia or Assisi are not that far from Arezzo (Assisi is only 90 min by train). Pistoia can be used as a base for Florence, Lucca, Montecatini Terme, for example. If you want to visit Florence as a day trip, rather than staying in Florence, Pistoia is better than Arezzo (shorter distance).