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Florence and Sicily for the First Time-help with Itinerary pls

Posted by on

I'm tracking flights from IAD>FLR>CAT but we've only been to Rome in Italy, so we're not sure where to start. My husband's not so interested in Florence (he wants to be out in the countryside), so I'm limiting to three days. Better to stay in Florence a couple more days and do day trips to places like Siena, Lucca, etc?

For Tuscany (or even Umbria), I'm at a bit of a loss. We want to see the countryside, vineyards, Val d'Orcia. Husband wants to hit Chianti Vineyards: Tenuta di Capezzana in Carmignano, Marchesi Antinori (Via Cassia per Siena, 133, 50026 Firenze FI, Italy) and Castella di Ama (Località Ama, 55, 53013 Gaiole In Chianti SI, Italy). All are about an hour from Florence, so not sure the best way to handle. Also want to head south to Montepulciano. Thinkgin maybe to stay in Perugia? My plan is to be car-free in Florence and then when we head out to Tuscany/Umbria to rent a car.

Sicily. No clue. Been combing this forum and others. I think I have a rough plan...but would love some of of the opinions of the experienced Italy travelers. We will be renting a car there.

Current Itinerary:
Aug 8 IAD>CDG>FLR
8/8: Arrive Florence 11:30am
8/9-8/11: Florence
8/11 Rent a car-head to Tuscany Stay--Where?
8/18 Fly from Florence>Catania, Sicily
8/18-8/21: Planning to do as much as possible. Thinking maybe for the West Coast attractions to visit Taormina, Siracusa, Noto, Ragusa and down to Marzamemi beach. But what's the best place to stay to hit all of these places?
8/21-8/25: Stay in Palermo as a base and visit Cefalu, Segesta, Marsala, Selinunte and Agrigento.
8/25: Fly to Corsica or Sardinia
8/25-8/29 Corsica or Sardinia
8/29-9/2 Paris

Many thanks for any advice. Got some great advice about Corsica (Seems hard/time consuming to get to) but hoping for some additional feedback re: Florence/Tuscany and Sicily pls.

Thanks!
M

Posted by
12031 posts

I think eliminating Corsica/Sardinia and giving that time to Sicily would be a better use of your time. You are trying to cover Sicily in 4 days where RS uses an 11 day tour to do so.

Are you leaving IAD on the 7th and arriving FLR on the 8th?

Posted by
532 posts

A few years back now we rented a car through AutoEurope and on the advise of the agent picked it up on the other side of the Arno in Florence. We stopped at Castello D'Alboa and then had a great tour at Badia Colibuono in Chianti. We had to have reservations (go online to arrange visits for them all) and it was a private tour which you will experience far more in Europe than you would ever in California (our home). We spent the night in Radda. We then drove to Montalcino to drink Brunello di Montalcino wine. We had reservations at Altesino Winery and the more visitor oriented Barbi and stopped at a few others. The next day we drove to the far larger and more touristy Montepulciano. We then returned the car in Chiusi and took the train to Orvieto which is delightful and switched to their white wine. After we took the train to Rome. On other trips we have visited Lucca and Siena. I would only stop at Pisa quickly if passing through anyway.
Two years ago we spent 17 days in wonderful Sicily but we only used public transportation which worked great for us. It will be very hot in August as it was definitely warm in early June. We visited pleasantly surprising Palermo, then made a quick dart down to the magnificent unforgettable Agrigento, then back north to sweet Cefalu and ferried to the Aeolion Islands. On to Taormina which is gorgeous but was very crowded and expensive and then Ortygia in Siracusa, a favorite. Spent a very hot day in Noto which is inland and the town closes up quite a bit in the afternoon. We flew out of Catania. But this was in cooler June with 3-4 nights in most places, some with pools and a good amount of beach time. Also most people advise that you leave nothing in your car when you stop to visit a place. Hope this helps

Posted by
7 posts

Very helpful, Karen. Thanks so much! Definitely spending time wineries, so I'll look up the ones you've suggested.

Thanks!!
M

Posted by
7 posts

joe32F

This is where we are:

Arriving 8/9: IAD>CDG>FLR
8/9 Jet lag, power thorough!
8/10: Florence
8/11: Florence
8/12-8/15: Tuscan agriturismo in Chianciano Terme (Close to several wineries ..and Val d'Orcia (a must for me)
8/15 drive to San Casciano in Val di Pesa
8/15-8/19 agriturismo in San Casciano in Val di Pesa (Close to wineries adn driving distance to Lucca, etc)
8/19: Plan was to fly from FLR to Sicily...and then on from there.

Basically, everything from 9/19-Sept 2 (when I head back to the states and he heads to NW France) is open. Wanted to have a few days in Paris...but besides that, we're wide open.

I thought Sicily would be a nice mix of beach and culture...since making Athens and Greek Isles was difficult and sounds like it will be overrunwith tourists (I know...it's the worst time of year for travel, but it's all we could manage this year).

Open to suggestions. I'm also happy to head to the south of France, tool around and explore...but was thinking Sicily would offer an nice change.

A million thanks for recommendations! Hoping to buy flights this week or next while the rates are still relatively low.

Thanks!!
M

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