To start, we will be in Tuscany for 4 weeks in October.
We will use an apartment in Cortona for 3 weeks as a base and travel by motorcycle for a week then a car for a week and of course train travel.
(Not in that order necessarily )
So at 1st I was thinking Seattle/Heathrow/Florence with a 2 day in Florence then Pisa came up Seattle/LHR/Pisa 2 days then train to Cortona and day trip Florence (cheaper to stay in Pisa) Then Seattle/LHR/Rome came up and no I have not figured out an exit plan yet.
Any ideas would be appreciated and I might be over thinking this as all 3 would work.
(Last October we spent a month in Portugal as a 1st Europe trip, and traveled this way and it was wonderful, we plan on going back and also Italy several times after this trip.
Thanks š
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15832 posts
If you are flying out of SEA and want to reach Florence with the minimum number of layovers these are the options:
SEA > CDG > FLR with Delta/Air France (codeshare).
The flight from SEA to CDG operated by Delta or Air France, the CDG-FLR portion operated by AirFrance (4 to 6 daily pairs)
SEA > AMS > FLR with Delta/KLM (code share).
The flight from SEA to AMS is operated by Delta. The AMS-FLR portion is operated by KLM (3 daily pairs)
SEA > FRA (or MUC) > FLR with Lufthansa
The flight from FRA or MUC to FLR is operated by Air Dolomiti, an airline part of the Lufthansa group (3 daily pairs to MUC, 4 to 5 daily pairs to FRA)
Both Pisa (PSA) and Bologna (BLQ) are not far from Florence. Both have flights from/to LHR with British Airways (Bologna has 3 a daily pairs flights as opposed to PSA which has only one). British Airways also flies to FLR, but primarily from London City (LCY). They do operate one daily pair flight from LHR to FLR and back, but only in summer so I'm not sure it would work for you in October.
Aer Lingus flies to Pisa therefore you could also fly SEA > DUB > PSA, however that flight operates seasonally only in summer and I'm not sure it would be available in October.
Obviously if you choose Rome (FCO) the options are many more, but you need to spend the last night in Rome before the flight home as Florence or Cortona are too far for an early flight.
Posted by
OP
Idaho
33 posts
1st ThankYou for the Great information /response.
Lots there, great to have the airport abbreviations. This gives me a leg up on my Google searching airlines/info.
Iām not sure how you know all of this, hahah, but I loved it. Thanks
Posted by
Mayberry on the Willamette
343 posts
You could try flying into Milan (MXP) as well. 2 hours by train to Florence
Posted by
OP
Idaho
33 posts
Good 1, I will look into MXP also thank you.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15832 posts
MXP is actually a bit farther than 2 hours from Florence.
From MXP to Milan Central station is one hour by train. Then the train from Milan Centrale to Florence it's another couple of hours.
Rome is therefore a bit closer to Florence (2h20m in total) than Milan MXP, however MXP often has better prices, so it's worth considering.
Consider however that trains are not free and time is money, therefore when I have to go to Tuscany only, I prefer to fly to Florence unless the savings of flying to Rome or Milan are big.
Posted by
OP
Idaho
33 posts
All good stuff, I will open the lap top and reserch with all of this information.
Grazie