Is Florence a good base for most of Tuscany?

If you rent a car all of those places are doable as day trips. If you are not renting a car then you can take a bus to those places as well. Siena and San Gimignano are both realistic day trips. However, if you can only spend a couple of days in Florence, why not spend a night or two in San Gigmignano or Siena? Both of those places are really neat at night.

Would help us in answering your question, if you say whether you're traveling by train or car.

sarah,

If I understand your post correctly, you'll have 5-6 days total in Florence. You're staying in a Hotel for two of those nights and with a family in Careggi for the remainder of the time?

Yes, you can easily visit Siena for a day trip (although spending a bit longer would be nice). Your best option would be the SITA Bus. The Bus station is right next to Firenze SMN rail station, and you'll be dropped right in the centre of town (Piazza Garibaldi as I recall), rather than at the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located. Be sure to buy a return ticket and note the departure time from Siena.

A daytrip to Lucca is also easily possible. The trip by train is as short as 1H:22M each way.

Using public transit would be a better option, especially as you'll be based in Florence which has numerous ZTL area (passing through these with a car will result in a €100 ticket each time).

Good luck and happy travels!

Right, Thanks Scott and Ken. We are traveling by train, and I was wondering if we should bother staying in Florence or just plan on overnighting in other towns, but since they are reasonable day trips, we may as well take advantage of staying with the family which will be such a great experience.

Thank you very much.

rather than overnighting in other (multiple) towns, my suggestion would be to pick one as a base in which to stay after Florence. It takes more time than you'd think to pack everything up, get to the next town, check in (assuming the room is ready), and then start exploring. And BTW don't forget Umbria, which has plenty of interesting hillside towns and sights although its technically not in Tuscany. Perugia, for example, is a hub for a regional bus line.

It's actually easier to combine Siena and San Gimignano as a day trip. I would suggest going to San Gimignano in the morning and then catching a bus from Poggibonsi to Siena (you'll change buses in Poggibonsi on the way to and from San Gimignano). That way you can stay longer in Siena. Volterra is best done as a separate day trip, as those buses connect in Colle Val d'Elsa.

You have received some good advice - but the short answer to this: "Is Florence a good base for most of Tuscany?" is yes - if you are using public transportation, a little more of a pain if you have a car (but not impossible - and easier if you are not in the "center").

Personally, I'd rather stay in Siena than in Florence. It just depends on how many times you've been to Florence and what you really want to see there. San Gimignano & Volterra are both hard to get to without a car. You have to take a bus to both and that's time consuming. I've stayed in both places and they are wonderful to relax and hang out in but your itinerary is far too cramped. It's a short trip from Florence to Siena, however, and if you have free lodging in Florence, hey, go for it! It's not that bad a train trip from Florence to Orvieto either and that's a great daytrip. Good luck!
Katherine