We are visiting my son who is doing study abroad in Florence.
We'd like to be in Florence for 3 days to see where he lives, etc. and then take him somewhere for Thur-Sun while we visit.
Need suggestions.
We've been to Venice and Rome already.
We are open to ideas - we know it will be cold so trying to figure out what is best.
We can go anywhere but we can't leave until Thursday after 4pm after his last class.
Thanks for your help!
Posted by
Glostrup, Denmark
1454 posts
Why not ask your son? I am sure he can get a lot of good suggestions from his fellow students.
Posted by
the Netherlands
2487 posts
Pleasant Bologna is nearby and can serve as a base for visiting smaller cities around, such as Ravenna, Modena and Ferrara. All are easily reached by train.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17201 posts
We'd like to be in Florence for 3 days to see where he lives, etc. and
then take him somewhere for Thur-Sun while we visit.... we can't leave
until Thursday after 4pm after his last class.
I assume he must be back in Florence sometime on Sunday for classes on Monday? And because you "know it will be cold" must mean that it's this winter sometime?
If this is the case, you have less time than you may think due to the late departure time on Thursday, short daylight hours and need to travel back on Sunday. Bologna is a very good idea but you might also ask him if he's already visited anything within short day-trips from Florence? That's a great base city for jaunts to Siena, Lucca, Pisa and Fiesola (that one can be done in 1/2 a day), off top of my head.
It may make sense just to stay put for the duration and jump on trains or buses (Fiesole and Siena) according to whim and weather.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16630 posts
I’m sure he already has some ideas. Also you might suggest a place that he’s already been while there.
All I can say is that February is generally cold in Tuscany, with temps likely in the 30sF at night and with max daily temperatures not much over 50F, if that. It’s also dark by 5:30-6pm.
As such I would stick with visiting cities, rather than countryside or villages, which will be pretty dead in winter.
Within one hour or so from Florence, you have the following easy to reach choices:
Arezzo (45 min by train)
Siena (75 min by bus or 90 min by train)
Lucca+Pisa (both are close. 1-1.5 hours by train)
Pistoia (30 min by train)
Bologna (35 min by high speed train)
All of the above are small size cities (Bologna is a larger city) which offer enough to see on a day trip from Florence.
Also, I don’t know how much of Florence you have seen already, but in spite of living there most of my life there are still things I have never seen, so obviously 3 days may not be enough.