we just booked a four day stay in an apartment in florence (thanks to this website and helpline!) as a sort of appetizer trip before our two weeks in paris. we don't think we can do four whole days of museums...nor do we want to try. we'd like to see as much of the area as is possible without running ourselves ragged--perhaps two days of travel out of the four. please note that these are four entire days, waking up and going to sleep in florence. (we are traveling to florence on day -1 and out of florence to paris on day +1, which we are not even counting as part of the trip. i realize this is an odd way to think, but it works for me!) we do not think renting a car is a good idea, because of money and practicality (though i can be convinced otherwise). i'd really like to see: rome, general hill towns/vineyards, and cinque terre. i realize i can NOT do all of these things, and am trying to figure out what is the 'easiest'--additionally, i'm not going to kill myself on buses and trains just to get to some obscure village that i think i have to see never having been there. but i'm thinking some people reading this HAVE been there, and can help me figure out where to go, somewhat easily, that would be worth the trip. i'm extremely enthusiastic for any recommendations. thank you in advance.
Posted by
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Hi Tracy. I would recommend taking the train to Siena for a day trip. This is easily done by train and it's a nice place to walk around. I personally think Rome would be too far to go for a day trip & one day will barely even skim the surface in Rome; I would save it for another time when you can spend several days there. You might also be able to visit San Gimignano by train or bus from Florence but I am unsure of how feasible this is. Have a great trip.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Florence is not a good place from which to do day trips by car, if you're sleeping anywhere in the Florence center area that's inside or near the ZTL's (because of the automatic camera-enforced big fines for driving in or out of the Florence center).
For daytrips from Florence, some do:
1) Siena as a day trip from Florence, best by bus, train also works.
2) Small tours of Tuscany, let others do the driving.
3) Pisa and/or Lucca, by train.
The Cinque Terre is a very long day trip from Florence. You can get to Rome faster than you can get to the CT, from Florence. But few here choose to do Rome as a day trip from Florence--it's possible but whether it's a good expenditure of your money and time is open to debate.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
Getting to Rome isn't that difficult, but there's so much to do there that it's hard to limit yourself to one day. It's also a lot more costly as the only efficient way to train there is on the Eurostar Italia which is 44 euro. The slower regional trains are more like 5 euro.
Someone else suggested Lucca which is about 90 minutes away by train and a neat place to visit. You can rent bikes and ride around the top of the city walls. Pisa is an hour away. Bologna is 30-60 minutes by train, depending on the speed of the train you take.
It could be hard to find a vineyard accessible by train, so this would be a good thing to look into doing a tour.
I would only consider renting a car for one day so I didn't have to keep it in Florence, and then only if I planned to drive to 3-4 towns in one day. Since you specifically don't want to run yourselves ragged, I don't think a car makes sense.
If it were me, I would bus to Siena and spend one day there, and train to Lucca and/or Pisa and spend one day there. Also, while Florence is very museum-heavy, there are other things to do, i.e., tour Fiesole, climb the Duomo/belltower, walk along the river, listen to the gregorian chants at San Miniato, etc. You might find more to do in the city than you originally thought.
Posted by
Singapore
354 posts
You can take the SITA bus from Florence to Siena or San Gimignano, so those are easy day trips to do. (It's easier to take the bus to Siena than the train, as the bus drops you off in Siena city centre while the train station is a couple of kilometers out). Pisa/Lucca is also easily done by train, Lucca is worth a trip because it feels very different from Florence and has a few interesting sights including the city walls; but many people find that there isn't that much to keep them occupied in Pisa. A day trip to Rome isn't practical, so maybe it's best to plan on making a return trip to Italy soon!
Posted by
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
18 posts
Hi Tracy,
Having been to florence several times now (I love it!) my advice would be to DEFINITELY do a Chianti tour. The one I did was a CAF tour and I booked it from home (through Expedia) or they have their own direct website. There are various tours through that beautiful area but I did the one which was an afternoon & evening tour and included wine tasting, snacks and dinner. It was FANTASTIC!!! It left at 2:00 and returned at 10:30 which still gives you the morning free to sightsee in florence. There is also a tour for Siena and Sangimignano which I would also recommend. These tours are a great stress-free way to travel rather than trying to get there by bus or train on your own.
Good luck and enjoy!!!
MARY