Hello friends. :) My husband and I will (hopefully, COVID-willing) be spending 9 nights in Florence in mid-March 2022. We arrive on a Friday, and I will be taking Italian classes at Scuola Leonardo da Vinci from 9am-12pm starting the following Monday thru Friday. We then leave on the following Sunday. So, we have a few weekend days we may use for day trips like Siena and Lucca, but we also have 5 weekdays where I will be out of class around noon and we may want to venture somewhere. This will be our 3rd time to Florence and we are really mostly wanting to relax and enjoy one of our favorite cities, so we're certainly not looking to pack in a bunch of other places, but just in case we get a little antsy I thought I'd ask for recommendations. Anywhere accessible via train in 30-45ish minutes from Firenze that would be worth a stroll and an aperitivo? We will not have a car. Grazie mille!
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7288 posts
Have not been there yet but have Certaldo on my list
Train is about 50 min, then ride funicular up to old town
Looks very quiet and charming
Another close by would be Fiesole- take bus
Posted by
Washington DC
28388 posts
Bologna's only 38 minutes away by Freccia train, but there are some issues: A few hours would only scratch the surface of a city that size, the historic center is some distance from the train station, and Freccia tickets are expensive (most of next Tuesday's are at least 24 euros each way) unless you buy them really early. For spur-of-the-moment side trips, regional trains or buses work out better financially.
Posted by
Land of La
9294 posts
Montelupo Fiorentino.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1605 posts
In Florence for five weeks we only wanted to do two day trips and Pistoia was one of them. Half an hour away by train. Lovely little town with many green and white striped buildings, interesting art, good food, very walkable (pedestrian-only medieval center). Probably our favorite thing there was the Cappella del Tau with late 14th century frescoes that were relatively recently discovered. No one else was in there even though it is free and the paintings have many amusing details. Take binoculars.
Octagonal St. Zeno Baptistery is all brick inside
Cathedral of St. Zeno
Palazzo del Comune
Church of Sant’Andrea
San Giovanni Fuorcivitas
Plant nurseries surround the town and can be seen from the train
Chocolate factories so there's probably good chocolate there but we didn't have any
Stores might be closed all afternoon, but evenings are lively.
Posted by
North Carolina
2502 posts
Prato (just to the east of Pistoia) has a textile museum - looks interesting.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16168 posts
When you do Lucca, you could add Pisa, if you have a full day available. They are close by.
Mid-March will still be standard time (daylight savings kicks on the last Sunday of March), therefore sunset time is going to be before 6:30pm, but you still have a few hours of daylight to enjoy in the afternoon. For half day trips I would consider:
Pistoia
Fiesole (Roman ruins, Etruscan museum, Medici Villa)
Castello, between Florence and Sesto Fiorentino (Medici Villa of Castello, and Medici Villa of La Pietraia)
Galluzzo (Certosa Monastery)
Montelupo (famous for ceramics work)
Pratolino (Villa Demidoff)
Settignano
Impruneta
Posted by
Colorado Springs
3031 posts
All good suggestions so far.
My vote would also be for Fiesole - a short bus ride and a world away from the bustle of Florence.
We enjoyed a day trip to Montecatini Terme during our last visit. The little town features a number of elegant spas if that's your thing, including a couple of impressive art deco structures dating from the 1890's. Weather permitting you could take the funicular up the hill to Montecatini Alto for lunch. From there you have sweeping views over the Arno River valley below.
Edited to add: Montecatini is about an hour and 15 minutes from SMN via the same Regionale train line that eventually goes to Lucca, so it's a little further than you were thinking. Worth it though - it 's a pretty little place to stroll around and maybe have dinner.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA
305 posts
Thanks so much, everyone! This is super helpful. We've spent a fair amount of time in Emilia Romagna so probably won't do Bologna this time although I do love it. We did pop up to Fiesole for dinner on our first trip to Florence but did not really explore it much so I appreciate that suggestion as well. Pistoia looks perfect!
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2422 posts
hey hey rachel
eatwith.com/florence
many activities to look at: food tours, lunch/dinner in a residents home, cooking class, wine tasting
comeandseeitaly.com/florence
many different things to see and do
eatingeurope.com/florence
buy a gift card with promotion code: "newyear22" for a 25% off discount. will be emailed to you.
cookly.me/florence
market shopping and cooking, wine tasting experience
tuscan-wine-tours.com
super chianti tour. tasting, olive oil and cheeses, meeting the famous butcher, dario cecchini, with lunch at his restaurant, visiiting chianti/chianti classico regions and stop at small village of greve in chianti
tasteatlas.com/pasticceria buonamici/bomboloni
famous donut in florence.
girlinflorence.com/restaurantsnightlife-list
atlasobscura.com/places/babae wine window
few day trips and things around florence to so and see. enjoy
aloha
Posted by
872 posts
Pistoia there is a big morning market on Wed and Sat that snakes through towm.