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Day Trips from Florence Rain or Shine?

Posted by on

There's so much information on day drips from Florence posted here and I think I have a much greater list than what we can do in 8 days but as we are going just after Christmas in December, I wanted to get a handle on some weather considerations for some of these destinations. We aren't planning a hard scheduled itinerary so I was thinking we might perhaps just look a day or two ahead in the weather (& day of week) and then plan accordingly.

For example, Cinque Terre may not be a player for this trip due to duration and weather but if there's a beautiful day of sunshine (is there a day like that in December/early January there?) ... perhaps. Of course a sunny day there after a week of rain is probably another story.
I would think that Sienna may also be a poor choice on a rainy day but wanted to get thoughts from the experts on this list.

I was thinking of saving the big museums, churches in Florence for the bad weather days and venturing out to some but not all of the following depending on the weather and what we might be interested in.
Bolognia,

Parma,
Modena (perhaps the car factories might be a good rainy weather destination?)
Arrezzo
Cortona
Sienna, Greve (Castillo di Verrazzano), San Gimignano
Volterra
Piza & Lucca (perhaps not at all worth it if there is a good chance of rain?)

So what are the weather considerations I might take into account for these destinations?

Thanks for any suggestions!
Gary

Posted by
16210 posts

Any provincial capital you mention is big enough to have enough to do indoors in case of so so weather.

Greve in Chianti doesn't have a lot to offer, especially in bad weather, the Chianti is a rural grape growing area somewhat similar to Sonoma and Napa counties in California.

San Gimignano and Volterra are small towns, and somewhat more challenging to reach in a short time unless you have a car. Cortona also falls in the small town category, but it can be paired with Arezzo, since they are close by.
This is my ranking:
1. Siena
2. Lucca+Pisa (more time in Lucca than Pisa)
3. Bologna
4. Arezzo+Cortona (Cortona first, then Arezzo on the way back)
5. Pistoia, just 25-30 min from Florence, half way on the way from/to Lucca on the same rail line.

Greve, San Gimignano, Volterra, are probably best by car or tour, but not sure I'd go with bad weather.
Parma is pretty, but a bit far.
I don't have a big fascination for cars, so I can't really opine on the Ferrari museum in Maranello or the Lamborghini Museum at Sant'Agata. Both are somewhat away from Modena though, so you'll need a bus or taxi from the Modena train station.

Posted by
5664 posts

I was thinking of saving the big museums, churches in Florence for the
bad weather days

Just don't forget that most of the Museums are closed at least one day per week (Mondays?). This would be a good day to head out for a day trip. And some churches have shorter hours on Sunday because of Sunday masses.

Posted by
16210 posts

Lots of venues (museums etc.) are closed on Jan 1 (New Year's day), so take that into consideration.
Check the websites of venues you want to visit to see weekly closure days (Mondays are popular weekly closure days, for example the Uffizi gallery).
Scratch the cinque terre, regardless of rain or shine. December is not the time to go there, especially considering the time (and train changes) necessary to get there from Florence.

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