Best town to day trip from Florence?

An easy and fast day trip? My first reaction is "why fast"? Part of being in Tuscany is the slow pace of everything. It is to be savored. Quality over quantity, That said, Grayline has a number of guided bus tours from Florence. See https://www.grayline.com/things-to-do/italy/florence/# for ideas. Several years ago I took my wife and her mother to Italy and we rented an apartment in Florence for five nights. We took their all day guided bus tour from the train station in Florence to San Gimignano and Siena in that order. It goes through the Chianti region of Tuscany and includes lunch in Siena. It leaves around 8 AM and returns to the train station around 5PM. I believe it was around 65 Euros at that time. We also did a long day trip to the Cinque Terra by train. Left early, around 7AM and got back around 8PM. Since we were going to the CT a few days afterward I thought a quick trip there to get acquainted with the area would be helpful. It certainly was. If I can help in any way please send me a private message.

Jim

Also, if you happen to like opera there is an English speaking Anglican church in Florence that has opera performances on most weekends. They turn the sanctuary into sort of a theater in the round. I stumbled across it while planning our trip and we saw La Boheme, my wife and mother-in-law's favorite opera, the night we arrived in Florence. it was outstanding. You can learn more about it at https://stmarksitaly.com/music-arts/opera-at-st-marks/

Jim

Are you driving?
Volterra
Montecatini and Montecatini Alto (easy train ride)
Portovenere
Pisa (don't give up on seeing the church)
Orvieto

I would agree with Gordon's suggestions. My first pick would be Volterra if you're driving, it's about 1-1/2 drive if traffic and road conditions are tolerable. Great hill town with magnificent views over Tuscany, a great Etruscan museum, and wonderful windo shopping and lunch options. If you're travelling by train, then Montecatini Terme and Montecatini Alto are a great choice (about an hour by train to Terme). Alto has the charm (well actually they both do), Terme has the spas and great shopping, both have good restaurant options for lunch. Getting from the train station in Terme up to Alto is by bus or taxi or walking (only for the fit). There was a funicular railway up and an aerial gondola but I'm not sure they are still operating, you'd have to check on that. We took the funicular up but that was 15 years ago.

Fiesole is a short bus ride to a viewpoint area with only a few small cafes.
It can be done in a couple of hours. Many enjoy it in evening.
The Grayline tour sounds the best as u have seen the highlights of tuscany before. Assisi is agreat destination.

Yes to Volterra and lunch at Enoteca del Duca.
Also look at charming Panzano. Have lunch at one of famous butcher Dario Cecchini's places.

Fiesole is probably a good place to live but I thought it was entirely meh as a place to visit, although we did enjoy an opera at the old Roman amphitheater. Volterra is wonderful; be sure if you go to visit the Etruscan museum there. They must have 400 Etruscan burial boxes and what we know if Etruscan culture is mostly from the scenes on those boxes; endlessly interesting.

Thanks for all the replies so far. We are already visiting Orvieto while in Rome. I forgot to mention that we have also been to Montacatini and the cinque terre. We are also attending the opera in the Anglican church one evening. The reason for wanting something that doesn't take much time to get to is that we will be out all day and most of the evening a couple days while we are there already and we have specific restaurants we want to go to while in Florence. Voltera definitely interests me but we are not driving and I might be hard pressed to get my husband to agree to a town that requires more effort to get to on this trip, as we are spending lots of time on trains and buses already. But I'll look into it again. And I've also thought about Assisi but it's not close either. No interest in Pisa at all. And I think I'll cross Fiesole off my list, after getting feedback about it. Keep any suggestions coming!

Have also been to many of the places mentioned and like you wanted to visit somewhere else less touristy. Visited pistoia and felt like I was the only tourist in town. Short walk downtown from the train station and very friendly people who mainly spoke italian, but I did ok. Nice architecture to see, quaint ships that DON'T cater to tourists. Took lots of pictures and it happened to be market day which was an experience in itself. And off the beaten path town I enjoyed and like Rick has said without a "tourist budget." Took pictures, explored had a nice simple lunch and took the train back later in the day.

Thanks Dan!

I just want to say that everyone's suggestions of Volterra have reminded me how much I want to see and be immersed in it. My husband does NOT want to drive on vacation (drives all day with work) and doesn't want to take all the time and complication for public transport via train/bus. So I am currently looking into private transfers at a premium cost. Thanks a LOT to all of you who reminded me of how much I've wanted to see it the last couple times I was in Italy, lol. My husband is equally thankful.

Another vote for Pistoia. A simple train ride from Firenze.

While your heart seems set on Volterra, it doesn't meet all of your original criteria. It's charming, has a lot of interesting history and you can get a nice meal, but travel time will be at least 1.5 hours each way by private transfer and there's little in the way of window shopping (except alabaster).

Of the 3 cities still in the running, I think Pistoia best matches your original criteria. It has charm, is less than 40 minutes by train from Florence, has some nice restaurants and there are lots of opportunities for window shopping. There's a large street market on Wednesday mornings, which increases window shopping opportunites but masks some of the charm of Piazza del Duomo. For lunch you might try Lo Storno or Osteria N.4 next door on Via del Lastrone (very near Piazza del Duomo). Bologna, by far the largest of the 3 cities, also meets your original criteria and is 35 minutes by train. My favorite (and least expensive) meal while in Bologna was lunch at Tamburini, a high-end deli with a lunch-only dining area in the back (near the main square). The heart of the historical center is pedestrian-only on weekends.

Yet another vote for Pistoia --- our favorite thing to see there was the Cappella del Tau.

Based on the fact that you have already been to Montecatini and travel time to volterra may be prohibitive for you, I would add another voice for Pistoia. It meets your qualifications for a day trip, being just a short train ride from Florence. If you're interested in seeing more than one town on a day trip you could combine Pistoia and Prato for a 2 in 1. We did both in one day. Easy to train from Florence to Pistoia, then from Pistoia to Prato is only about 10 mins by train, then back to Florence from Prato in a little over 1/2 hr. A walking tour of each is well worthwhile, either on your own with a guide book or an organized one through the local tourist office.

We loved Volterra, Castellina, and Greve in Chianti. Volterra was our favorite.

So the verdict is in: this trip we will do Volterra. We splurged and hired a driver/guide. Next trip we will check out Pistoia! Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful and given me new ideas as well.