I will be traveling to Italy in March of 2027. Flying into Venice -3/4 day stay; train to Florence/Tuscany - 4/5 day stay and train/rental car to Rome - 5 day stay. Question: not wanting to spend more than $200/300 on places stay within walking distance to sites. Also, wanting to know which top places in Florence/Tuscany to visit and which sites to use rental car and which to take train.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
9111 posts
You would only need a car for your time in Tuscany IF you want to visit or stay in small hilltowns
If you stay in Florence you can just day trip by train or bus to many places
Venice to Florence, Florence to Rome easily done by train
Do you have a guide book?
List of Florence sights:
https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/florence
For lodging do some searches here on forum and/or use Booking.com-set the filters for budget , amenities like AC, elevator etc
Use Google maps to identify location
Posted by
Coral Gables, Florida
520 posts
I think you should be able to find hotels below your budget in good locations, and I think you can easily do the trip without a car.
There are some Tuscany towns that you need a car to visit, so just go to the Tuscany towns you can visit by bus/train.
Yes, use booking.com to look for hotels.
Posted by
6733 posts
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/index.html
https://www.discovertuscany.com/tourist-info/
I think this is impossible to answer without you narrowing down the options a bit. First, decide how many days you want in Florence, as that will help determine if you stay in a Tuscan village.
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
2267 posts
Are you planning on staying in Florence AND a smaller place in Tuscany? How many nights will you be on the ground?
If you are willing to rent a car for Tuscany, I think it is better to drive so that you can visit several small villages and stop whenever you want to take photos of the gorgeous scenery.
You can take the train from Venice to Florence, and you can take the train or bus from Florence to Siena, if you wish to spend a few nights in Siena. At that point, I think it would be a good idea to rent a car for a day or two and visit some of the smaller towns, such as San Gimingnano, Volterra, Pienza, and Montepulciano. We also really enjoyed Monteriggioni, not far from Siena. It's a small walled village and was not crowded at all when we were there last May.
These are just some ideas. What you see and where you stay depends on your interests. It sounds to me like you need some good guidebooks, too. In addition to Rick's books, I recommend Michelin Green Guide and Rough Guides.