My spouse and I, travelling with our two first-year college students and subject to their spring break schedules, will be in Italy for ten nights in late March. The current plan is four nights in Rome, three nights in Tuscany with a car, and three nights in Florence.
On the day we leave Rome, we will rent a car and drive north, stopping en route to one or two towns. On the fourth day in Tuscany, we head into Florence and return the car. (We would return it at the Florence train station, and lodge nearby so that three days later we could easily walk to catch the train and the connection to the Milan airport.)
Here are some options we're considering for the time in Tuscany, and we would appreciate thoughts on these ideas and/or suggestions for other possibilities.
Option 1: Spend three nights in Siena with two day trips. If so, what day trips? This seems more relaxing, but maybe there would be too much backtracking?
Option 2: Similar to #1, but in a town other than Siena. If so, what town?
Option 2: Change locations each night in Tuscany. If so, what towns?
The four of us, variously, have been to cities in Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and Bologna) but not smaller places. Hence, carving out time in Tuscany. Another reason for that: even though my spouse and I are art historians (but in fields far from Italian medieval and Renaissance art), we find looking at buildings (and the paintings and sculptures within them) and urban spaces less taxing and more exciting than non-stop museum time.
I welcome thoughts, suggestions, and the collective intelligence of this forum's hive mind!