My family of four (two adults and two teenagers) will be traveling to Italy for two weeks in June. We are doing the big three - Venice, Florence & Rome. We have an extended stay in Florence of 5 nights in order to road trip around Tuscany for a couple of days (parking has been rsvpd) and then drive to Rome. I am looking for some input into my road trip days. Is my plan overly aggressive (which I tend to do), or is it doable AND enjoyable? Any ideas for these locals that are appealing to teenagers is much appreciated.
Day 1 pick up car in Florence - Northern Loop - Lucca, Pisa & San Gimignano.
Day 2 - Southern Loop - Sienna, Montopulciano & a Chianti winery near Greve in Chianti (not for the teenagers - recommendations please)
Day 3 - Drive to Rome, stopping in Orvieto and possibly another stop along the way
THANKS!
Posted by
Florida, USA
225 posts
Hey BleuLaLa. That is pretty aggressive - 7 or 8 cities in 3 days! You would only have an hour or two in each place and would not really be able to see and enjoy any of the cities. If you really want to push you should still limit yourself to no more than 2 cities per day and personally I would do only 1 per day.
Check for drive times. For example, depending on where you are picking up your car in Florence, it will take an hour or more to drive to Siena and from Siena another hour to drive to Montepulciano. Then you have a 2 hour drive back to Florence. So you are in the car for 4 hours of your day - although you would see some beautiful Tuscan countryside, you would see very little of either Siena or Montepulciano.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6049 posts
I agree -too aggressive, lots of driving time but not much time at all to actually see any of those towns.
Siena deserves a full day, Lucca almost as well
Where will you park the car between these 2 days?
If you’re staying in Florence parking and getting in and out of there will be problematic
Posted by
Portland
3595 posts
Your northern loop isn’t too bad, though I would cut out S. G. Too crowded with tourists. Your teens would, no doubt, enjoy the bike ride on the Lucca city wall. The Pisa Campo dei Miracoli can be seen in a couple of hours.
Don’t try to fit in a stop other than Orvieto on Day 3. Much to see there.
Several years ago, we spent a couple of days in Florence with a car. Roberto, who is a regular on this forum, directed us to a garage which had a reasonable daily rate (€20) and was close to the home of the people we were visiting. It also had easy access into and out of the city. If he doesn’t chime in here, you can approach him, “Roberto da Firenze.”
Posted by
West Chester PA
107 posts
Check the dates for the Palio race in Sienna...It might be in July but the main square (which is lovely) may be blocked to get ready for the race...covering it in sand etc. Not being able to stroll around the central square puts a dent in the sight seeing of Sienna IMO.
You can be done with Pisa in a couple of hours and head to Lucca for most of the day. I'm guessing you are going back to Florence to sleep...can save the trouble of driving and parking and take the train to Pisa and either back on the train to Lucca or there is a bus...they are relatively close.
Orvieto is so nice! If you are parking near the train station, the children will love the little funnicular train up the side of the hill to the town.
Posted by
Massachusetts
847 posts
Agree with the others - it's too much. Pisa and Lucca are easily combined in one day but including San Gimi is pushing it. And Pisa and Lucca are easy by train so I wouldn't waste car time on those. San Gimi and Montopulciano (and a winery) are all probably doable in a day. But Siena and Orvieto are quite large, and packed with stuff to see and I would hate to not give them each at least a full day. You don't say how long your entire trip is - could you possible take a day from Venice or Rome (I think three days is minimum for each of those) and use those days for Siena and Orvieto. Also they are both doable by public transportation. You can do a day trip to Siena from Florence by bus (better than train as it dumps you right at the edge of the historic center whereas the train station is quite a distance). Orvieto is doable from Rome by train (about 1 hour, frequent).