I am considering doing a day trip from just outside of Florence (southwest) to Volterra.
Maybe stop somewhere along the way to break up the drive?
Has anyone done it? Is it too long of a drive?
Thanks for any insight!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
It's about one and a half hour drive from Florence.
The distance is only about 80 km (50 miles), taking the Colle Val D'Elsa route, but over half of the drive is on a rather curvy, therefore slow, 2 lane highway.
I've done it many times in youth, and unless I was the driver, it often made me a bit car sick.
If you go via Pontedera and Ponsacco, along the Val d'Era (Era Valley), the road is much less curvy and largely on flat land (and a good portion on freeway), but it's a bit longer (almost 100km or 60 miles) and it will take at least 10-15 min extra.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8338 posts
Tuscany is hilly and the roads are curvy. But they're well paved and marked well. Driving is not at all difficult.
We stayed outside San Gimignano and it was a relatively short drive west to Volterra. It was a hilltown well worth seeing. We came back to San Gimignano later in the afternoon--after all the tour buses had left.
Posted by
169 posts
If you follow Raccordo Autostradale and SS68, Barberino Val d'Elsa and Colle di Val d'Elsa are nice towns to see along the route, and San Gimignano isn't that far away from Volterra.