Base for 4 -.5 day Tuscany or Lake Como stay

Welcome to the forum Dave & Kathy.
In order for us to give you good information we would appreciate you answering a couple of questions
Firstly, how long do you plan to remain in Italy after your tour? Secondly, it would be helpful to know what towns, & cities you will be visiting on your tour.
Also since you prefer not to drive, trains and buses would be the order of the day, so we all would have to consider that in our answer.

Hi Dave and Cathy, how about Siena? You need to sleep there to truly appreciate it. You can take a direct train to Montepulciano (1h 15m) and Pisa (although not a hill town) that requires a connection (1h 45) another day.

Do you consider Florence a large city? Because there is a tradeoff to staying in a small town or village without a car, how did you want to spend those four days? (that is, moving around or sightseeing within the town you are in). What places does your tour cover?
I would not venture far from Tuscany if I was flying out of Florence.

Without knowing where you will be touring from re: Montecatini, I would recommend the lakes. You will have already spent time in Tuscany so why not stretch your legs elsewhere?

Lakes Maggiore or Como, with Como being my personal preference. Consider Varenna for the most flexible travel options (train, ferry car rental) or Bellagio (if you don't mind the daytime crowds).

With a departure from Florence, you should consider spending a few days in Siena as a base before heading to Florence, if the Lakes are not of your choosing. Another option (outside of Tuscany) could be a base in Bologna. Beautiful city with easy access to Ravenna, Modena and even Padua and Verona (60-90 minutes, typically) and fare is inexpensive.

I have not traveled extensively in Italy, just the lake area. I do prefer Lake Como over Lake Maggiore but both have their own appeal. On Lake Como, we stayed in Varenna and used the ferries to make the short crossing to Bellagio (15 mins). Varenna is on the rail line from Milan so that makes for easy access. Varenna is certainly quieter than Bellagio. Stresa on Lake Maggiore is nice too and great for visiting the Borromean Islands, but there is something magical about Lake Como.

I see you are from Missouri (I am just down the road on I-44. halfway between St. Louis and Springfield). on a side note, If you have not purchased flights from St. Louis to Europe now is a great time - pricing has been better than from Major hubs like Chicago.

Margaret

Dave & Cathy, yes, it would help us give you better advice if we knew which towns you will be visiting during your 7-day time based in Montecatini. I’m assuming you will be seeing Florence, Lucca, Pisa and Siena during that time.

I would definitely recommend staying in another portion of Italy beyond Tuscany for your extra days. There’s so many choices that are convenient by train! We have been to Italy several times and have always just traveled by train - very easy and relaxing! Varenna at Lake Como is an option as others mentioned. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be there for your entire five days, though. Any interest in being in two locations, such as heading to Venice for a couple of days and then onto Varenna? With the train, you could be in Venice before noon from Montecatini.

I love Siena, but Florence would be great for a base.

You’ll need to be in Florence the night before your departure flight
Unless you’ll have spent a lot of time in Florence on your tour it makes an excellent base
Trains to so many places for day trips

What is your goal during these final days? To sightsee more or to just chill?

If you must depart from Florence, then I think that nixes Lake Como. You would spend two days traveling up there and back. You might want to look into La Spezia on the coast, or Arezzo southwest of Florence, as well as Sienna and other places as suggested by others. YouTube has numerous 4K resolution walking tours which can give you a feel for a town before you go.

At the moment flights out of Florence airport are minimal. The usual 5 or 6 flights a day in each directions to Paris CDG are down to one a day in the early afternoon, same is true for flights to Frankfurt or any other European hub. They are all down to one a day, but none leaving early enough for you to make a connection back to the US.

We don’t know how things will be in October, but you may want to consider booking your flights back from Rome or Milan, at least until we are sure the world is back to normal.

We are considering staying in Tuscany and visiting the hill towns after our booked 7-day tour, based in Montecatini, ends. Prefer not to drive.

Welcome! We spent a wonderful week in Tuscany, using an agriturismo as a home base and visiting Radda, San Gimignano, Volterra, Siena and other hill towns. Our agriturismo was very convenient, just north of Greve.

Two things might affect your plans. First, check to see what will be available then. Some agriturismos have a minimum stay. Secondly, it is hard to ramble around the hill towns without a car to get from one to the other. I found driving in Tuscany to be easy, just be sure to obey the speed limit, especially near towns. Also cars are restricted in the center of hill towns, but there's plenty of parking just outside the restricted ZTL area. ZTLs are well marked and it is easy to avoid driving in and getting fined.

If you don't want to drive, your best bet may be to stay in Siena or Florence and take day trips with bus tours. Have a great trip! Mid-October will be a nice time to be in Tuscany.

Thank you all so much for your help. Unfortunately our plans have changed so no Italy this year. We hope that travel restrictions will diminish in 2022 so we can travel to Italy then.

Again, thank you all for taking the time to help. Your suggestions are much appreciated.

Dave and Cathy

I'm sorry to hear that this year didn't work out. I hope you make it in 2022.