We will be flying into Bologna or Florence for 10 days.Want to visit Ravenna, Assissi, Sienna and other Tuscany hill towns. Would like suggestions for itinerary (where to go, how long) as well as would you rent a car and drive around Tuscany or take a train or bus? We have driven a little in Italy up by Venice years ago, it was nerve wracking. Any ideas, suggestions, etc welcome!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15197 posts
The car will be useful for visiting the small towns and the country side in Tuscany and Umbria (Assisi).
The car is not necessary for visiting the bigger towns which are easily reachable by train or bus (e.g. Ravenna, Bologna, Florence, Siena). Since you want to visit primarily places in Tuscany and Umbria (Assisi) it is probably better to fly to Florence and base yourself in Tuscany. Ravenna is closer to Bologna, but it is very easily reached by train from Florence (via Bologna).
One option would be to split your stay in two locations:
1 - Florence (without a car) from which you can visit Florence itself, Ravenna (via train) and Siena (by bus)
2 - A location outside the city from which you can visit the small towns and countryside (with a car)
That strategy will minimize your rental car period, which is expensive in Italy.
You could also visit those small towns from Florence by bus, however not as efficiently. Assisi is somewhat of a distance from Florence. It's doable as a day trip from Tuscany with a car, but by train it would take a little longer (nearly 3hrs vs 2hrs by car).
Below is a nice guide to Tuscany's towns and villages:
http://www.borghiditoscana.net/eng/index.html
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15589 posts
I hesitate to drive in Italy for several reasons. I have managed so far just by train. I'm currently planning a week in some of the places you are looking at and I've done a lot of research for train schedules on the Trenitalia website. I plan to take a day trip to Ravenna while staying in Bologna. I will then train to Florence, from there to Assisi and then to Orvieto with overnights in each. Both Assisi and Ravenna are somewhat "remote" by train.
It's easiest to get to/from Ravenna by train from Bologna. You will have to connect somewhere if you are going from another town, and most likely the best connection will the through Bologna.
It's an easy bus trip between Siena and Florence. There are about 3 trains a day between Florence and Assisi that do not have a train change. The trip is 2.5 to 2.75 hours.
I did think about renting a car for this part of my trip, but the pros were definitely outweighed by the cons for me. I will have 8 full days and 2 half-days for this, with no jetlag, since I'm starting the trip in Sicily and flying from there into Bologna. For me, trying to do more would be too fast-paced, and I've been to Ravenna once before, and to Florence several times.