Day tours from Florence

Check out WalkaboutFlorence. They have a couple of tours that might interest you. Excellent reviews.

sg,

Florence makes an excellent "home base" for day tours in Tuscany, both because it has excellent transportation but also because there are lots of tour companies in that area. I've never used that tour firm as I prefer to plan my own day tours, but you might check Trip Advisor to see what kind of ratings they've been getting. I had a brief look but couldn't find them on this list.....

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Search?q=florence+and+tuscany+tours&geo=&pid=3826&typeaheadRedirect=true&redirect=&startTime=1449376311774&uiOrigin=MASTHEAD&returnTo=http%253A__2F____2F__www__2E__tripadvisor__2E__ca__2F__

I would suggest Lucca with Pisa, and Siena with San Gimignano if you are looking for organised day tours.
Lucca, Pisa, and Siena are very easy on your own by train from Florence.

If you are heading from north to south (ie Venice to Rome) then these logistics work for you using local trains in Tuscany.
Florence (day trip to Pisa and Lucca)
Siena (day trip to San Gimignano by bus)
Montepulciano
Orvieto

Linda,

Thank you! Actually, I was looking at Walk about Florence a few minutes ago. I really like the Best of Tuscany tour. Thank you for your suggestion!

Ken,

Florence will definitely be our home base. We have been looking into that. I think that Florence is the perfect location for tours. Thanks for the link. I will certainly look into it.

Have you stayed overnight in Siena or Oveito? Rick Steve's Itinerary recommends it. I am excited to stay in both cities. As I mentioned, Florence will be our home base for a few days and then we will be heading south to these cities for the next few days.

Not sure how long you will be staying in Florence, and you may actually enjoy a tour. I find them stifling and boring and prefer self-directed travel. It's easy to get yourself to destinations outside Florence by train or bus. My priorities would be:

• Take a train or bus to Lucca. Utterly charming and walkable. Full of ruins, but more importantly everything has been modified for use. So you find jewelry stores in old tower houses and restaurants on the walls that surround the city. Last time there we actually stayed at the youth hostel and had a wonderful suite at a bargain price. Located close to the city walls and the Roman amphitheatre.
• The #8 bus from San Marco Square goes directly to Fiesole an Etruscan hill town. Stop at San Marco for the David and other art works and then head up the hill for a wonderful afternoon in the Tuscan hills.
• Head further afield by taking the bus to Sienna. Fewer tourists here than in Florence. Great art and architecture and a beautifully preserved city. Tutto Italiano
• Have more time? Then I'd go to San Gimigiano or Pisa. Both are full of tourists, but are worth the trip. Your idea of a guided Vespa tour could be a fun way to see parts of the countryside that are usually not accessible.

Have fun.

Have you gone on your trip yet? We are going in April '16 and are also looking at Vespa tours out of Florence.

Last summer we did a day trip into Tuscany with Fun in Tuscany Tours called "Chianti Wine Tour". It was absolutely wonderful!!! It was a small 4 person group and we visited a winery and received 5-6 wine tastings with cheese, bruschetta, olives, olive oil, etc. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. Then, they took us to San Gimignano in one of the tour guide's personal vehicles. There, we walked around the town for about an hour and ate gelato. From there, we went to another local winery and had dinner with 7-8 wine tastings (which was all provided). The wine was so delicious that I bought 3 bottles and continue to buy from them (they have a distributor in Chicago). I highly recommend this tour if you aren't decided yet. When we go back to Italy next summer, we will book again with them. Here is their link: http://funintuscany.com/

They even have additional tours where you could Vespa or horse-back ride through Tuscany. We didn't do these because we wanted to drink wine more :)

Ciao!

Vespa is surely the best way to discover the Chianti region. You can watch the landscapes and visit the medieval villages like Volpaia or Radda.
Florence is one of the best city for the home base and visit the rest of Tuscany. But I can also suggest Pistoia and Lucca (they are cheaper and very fascinating).

I recommend a tour in the Chianti area, one in Lunigiana, one in the area of Montaione and Iano di Montaione, a couple of day in Maremma, an excursion to Pisa, Siena, Lucca and one day discovering some little villages like Montefioralle, Monteriggioni, Colle di Buggiano.
Enjoy Tuscany!

We easily did Pisa and Lucca (in that order) in one day via the train. In our experience, Pisa only has the Cathedral, Baptistery and tower. The piazza is crammed full of selfie-stick wielding tourists, oblivious to those around them, trying to get the perfect shot of themselves with the tower in the background. The rest of the city is pretty unremarkable... Use the Pisa San Rossore train station as it's closer to Piazza del Duomo.

Take the train to Lucca. The station is across the street from a wall gate. We just adored Lucca and wished we had booked a room for the night. It was wonderful to walk the wall and see the city from that perspective.

As for other day trips from Florence, we took a Chianti winery tour with WalkaboutFlorence and had a wonderful time. It was the wife's highlight of the entire Italy vacation! On WalkaboutFlorence, it's advertised as the Chianti food and wine safari I believe.

Although there are plenty of escorted tours from Florence, the train and bus system is pretty easy to master so you should be able to head out on your own at will.

Another version of the Lucca day trip would be to take the train from Florence to Lucca and then the bus from Lucca to Pisa (Linea EO3). It is a pretty journey through small towns and lovely countryside. Takes about 40minutes.