Please sign in to post.

Florence or Pienza for Easter Weekend?

Hello all

My family will be in Tuscany over the 2019 Easter weekend, and we're trying to decide whether it would be best to be in Florence or at an agriturismo near Pienza for Easter Sunday and Monday. Whichever we go to first, we would arrive on Good Friday.

Our group is my husband and I, my mother-in-law, and our 2 children who will be 4 years, and 11 months. Florence would be more convenient as we could come by train from Rome, however I have been searching the forums and have seen many comments that it will be packed. On the other hand, I'm not sure if the shops in the places we want to visit from Pienza will be open which may limit what we can do. Starting in Pienza also means that we will need to pay to park the rental car on the outskirts of Florence for 3 nights (we won't return it as we need it for the rest of our holiday).

My husband and I have been to Florence before and loved it, however as my MIL hasn't been we will be looking to visit the Accademia Galleria and Duomo, plus busy areas such as Ponte Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangiolo. We are planning a quick 3 night visit.

We will stay in Pienza for 5 nights, and would like to visit Montepulciano & Pienza, the Chianti region, Siena, and have a day open to decide as we go.

Any guidance as to which order to visit would be much appreciated.

Posted by
3112 posts

The Easter celebration in Florence is fantastic. Don't miss the festivities in front of the Duomo - the brigades in historic uniforms and the Scoppio del Carro (Google it - noisy, so not sure how the children would react). Except for these events, Florence wasn't overly crowded. Some businesses were closed, but the city didn't completely shut down on Easter and Easter Monday. You could visit the Accademia and Duomo sights on Friday and Saturday and then visit the always-open Ponte Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangelo on Easter or Easter Monday.