We will have 4 full days in Florence. We are planning day tour of Cinque Terre. Am trying to decide between day trip of tuscany or wine tour for 2nd hired tour. That leaves us 2 days to explore Florence on our own. Thoughts?
Posted by
Ontario Canada
666 posts
Lauri
I would leave the CT until your next trip to Italy. It will take a good part of the day to get there and back and there are 5 towns to explore. Unless you are just going to stop at one have lunch and then come back which IMHO does not do this area justice. I would spend a day or two exploring by bus or train places closer to Florence. San Gimignano, Siena maybe Pisa. Renting a car is an option to see the country side as well.
Posted by
Little Rock, AR, USA
116 posts
A great combination might be a Vespa tour out of Florence-- seeing Tuscany, and doing a wine lunch at a vineyard. I agree that you might save CT (and Pisa and maybe Lucca) for later. Florence is fabulous -- art, history, everything you could want, so don't short change it. And, you could rent a car and drive to Siena, San Gimi, etc. Be sure to save some time for sitting in a piazza, eating and drinking and just enjoying the culture and the people.
Posted by
Silver Spring, MD
62 posts
If you head west out of Florence, trains can take you to Pisa and Lucca and get you back in the early evening. Both towns are easy to walk and each has its own character. Pisa will be much busier with tourists. If using a tour, I would suggest Volterra and San Gimignano. We did that and still had plenty of time to tour a chianti winery before returning to Florence.
Dave