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Cinque terre and Tuscany Decisions

Posted by (Birmingham, AL) on

Hi all,

I am in the planning stages of a trip to Italy for early next summer (late May/early June). As part of the trip, I am planning for 6 nights in Cinque Terre and Tuscany. We are a family of four with two teenage sons. We will be coming from Florence. At the end we will be leaving for Rome. Presumably, we will head back to Florence to catch a train to Rome.

Originally I was thinking of 3 nights in Cinque Terre and 3 nights staying somewhere in Tuscany. But as I read more about Tuscany, I am thinking that it with so many different areas to see, we would be better off with only 2 nights in Cinque Terre and 4 nights in Tuscany. I would like some opinions on this.

2nd question - We will be taking the train from Florence to Cinque Terre. My thought when leaving was to take the train to either Pisa or Lucca and pick up a rental car from there to head into Tuscany. I was wondering which would be an easier spot to pick up a rental. And, given that we will be taking a chunk of the day to drive down into Tuscany, plus the train travel time from Cinque Terre, would you take the time to visit both places? (I was in a Pisa as a teenager and do remember being impressed by the leaning tower, but remember little else.)

3rd question - Assuming that we stay four nights, that is essentially three full days plus the day spent driving down there. I definitely want to visit Volterra/San Gimignano and Sienna, and the third day could be spent further south in the area Rick Steves refers to as the heart of Tuscany. Given that we are in a car with our two boys, I would like to try and reduce the number of longer drives without a stop. Therefore, I am wondering about where I should be looking for a place to stay. Should I consider the idea of staying two nights in the Volterra/SamGimignano area and two nights further south, or should I try and stay 4 nights in one spot. In which case, where do you think would be a good area to look. I should mention that I am very intrigued by the idea of staying at an agriturismo.

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions

Posted by
8161 posts

When you leave Cinque Terre maybe rent the car in La Spezia.
Then decide from there how you feel if you want to go to Pisa or Lucca.
Find one city in Tuscany to base yourself 4 nights and take daytrips to other towns you mention.
Note some agriturismos may have minimum stays that you may not meet with 4 nights

Posted by
44 posts

My husband, our 22 year old daughter and myself just returned from 17 days in Italy. We went from Rome to La Spezia by train which was 4 hours then took the local train from there into Cinque Terre, specifically Monterosso where we stayed for 2 nights. We all agreed if we were to do it over again we would not have stayed in Cinque Terre but just have done a day trip from Florence and then added those 2 nights onto the Tuscany and Florence portion of our trip. The travel from Rome to Cinque Terre cost us a day and it was hassle dealing with luggage. We were able to comfortably see all 5 of the Cinque Terre towns in 1 day so for us there was no advantage to staying over. If your family is into hiking then it most likely would be best to stay over. No matter what you do get your Cinque Terre Card at the La Spezia Train Station. It will give you unlimited access to the trains in Cinque Terre, the bus that takes you up to Corniglia plus “free” access to the bathrooms at the train stations.

If you opt to stay in Cinque Terre you could pick up a car in La Spezia, which is what we did when we left Cinque Terre and then drive into Tuscany. Getting the car in La Spezia is definitely the easiest since you’ll take the train there anyway.

Tuscany was definitely my favorite part of our trip. It’s why I would urge you to add nights onto that portion of your holiday. We stayed at Relais San Bruno, which is located outside of Montepulciano. I loved staying there because we got the countryside while still near Montepulciano plus the owner is wonderful but Relais San Bruno is not an agriturismo. For and agriturismo stay check out Il Rigo (http://www.agriturismoilrigo.com/_it/home.html). It was not available for our trip.

No matter where you end up staying, try not to miss Montepulciano. Unlike some other towns, such as Pienza, the tour buses can’t get into Montepulciano so it’s not overrun with tourists.

If possible try to go to Il Casale (http://podereilcasale.com/en/), which is located between Pienza and Montelpuciano. It’s an organic farm that makes wonderful cheeses. Make reservations for tour and lunch on the terrace.

Good luck with your plans. I hope you have a great holiday!

Posted by
907 posts

OK, quick thoughts. You seem to have a misconception of Tuscany. Florence is the capital of Tuscany so you are in Tuscany while in Florence. Secondly, "a chunk of the day" isn't quite accurate. Lucca is only 50 miles from La Spezia, the likely place to get a rental car for easy access. However, even if you go on down to Pisa after on the train it is only 15 miles back to Lucca. Things are really close in Tuscany, it is not like the USA.

6 nights in 5 Terre is 4 too many, maybe 5 too many. The kids will get bored.

So, pick up a car in La Spezia and see Tuscany. You could stay in Lucca (1 night), and if you don't then visit there, it is very nice. I would head out to San Gimignano (3 nights) since you want to go there. Rent a place near there and day trip. Volterra, Certaldo, Siena, and many other places are easy from that area. Then move on down further south for a couple of nights.

Maximize your exposure to Tuscany. None of the trips will be a problem for your required " reduce the number of longer drives" as none are that long.

Enjoy it!

Posted by
48 posts

I can only answer part of your question as we didn't have time to visit Tuscany countryside on our trip. We also travelled with our 2 teens and we went from Florence to Monterosso for 2 nights. On the way there we stopped for a few ours ( I think it was 4 hours) to climb the tower of Pisa which was one of the highlights of the trip for the kids. Luggage storage at the station was easy and we took the cab to the tower to save time. We had time to climb the tower (with pre-purchased timed tickets), visit the church, wander in the square, and quick lunch.

I suppose one can visit all 5 towns in one day, but we only did Monterosso and Vernazza. The train was always very packed and after one trip from Monterosso to Vernazza we decided it was better to just relax and explore than hitting all the towns. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza (beautiful view with very few people) and enjoyed wandering around the alleys with gelato.

I thought about staying at an agriturismo but the rest of the family preferred to be able to walk around town after dinner so I dropped the idea. I guess it depends on your interests. It's fun to plan together as a family and see what your teens enjoy doing.

Hope this helps a bit. Happy planning.

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