We are a group of four, will be in Cortona for 5 days and want to get a guided day tour to San Gimignano and Sienna. We do not want to rent a car ourselves. Are there tours offered in Cortona to these destinations? What I have found online is overpriced. Any other recommendations for day trips?
Posted by
471 posts
Those are a very long way to go for a day trip, I'm guessing 6 hour each way by public transportation. I've only done Cortona on the back of a motorcycle so I don't know for sure. There are mountain lifts, beautiful vistas and castles close to Cortona which would serve you better. You could look into Uber since you prefer not to drive. J
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
8184 posts
Above might be thinking of Cortina??
It’s about an hour drive from Cortona to Siena
I wouldn’t bother with SG
Siena deserves a full day or more
Try contacting the Cortona Tourism office
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1539 posts
Siena is about an hour plus drive so if you can arrange a guided tour it might be worth it but using public transportation it is too far/long for a reasonable day trip. If you go Siena deserves an entire day on its own. San Gimignano is probably closer to 2 hours and isn't worth that much travel time as it is small and in my opinion touristy and without much charm.
Maybe look at places on the east side of the valley that usually out of reach from people staying on the west side. Arezzo, Chuisi, Orvieto, and Perugia are all easily accessible by train and there are even more options a little further out. Places like Pienza, Montepulciano and Montalcino are all closer than Siena if you can arrange a driver and are well worth checking out.
Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
Atlanta, Georgia
227 posts
There are lots of private transfer companies in Italy with which you can make arrangements for personal guided tours. For example, Rainbow Limos is one I've used. It doesn't cover Tuscany but I'm sure you could find something similar.