We did our honeymoon in Tuscany and Rome and now over 20 years later, we want to take our adult children there. We plan to fly into Rome around Dec 23 and stay for 6 nights and then stay in a second location for 6-7 nights from which to do day trips to see San Gimignano, Cortona, Florence, Siena, etc.
It seems most would use Florence as the 2nd base but my husband and I prefer smaller towns and would prefer Siena as the 2nd base. We would like to explore the option of renting a car for our 2nd half of the trip. I understand we can't drive into many of the smaller villages having to park outside the city walls which is fine with us. But, how feasible is it to do that?
Can we stay in the center of Siena and just cab to where our car is parked daily? I've read the underground parking by the train station in Siena is a good parking place.
Does it make sense to do this or is it better to use Florence as a base and take public transpo to these smaller towns instead of renting a car? Or is it better to rent and drive to and from Florence? My husband and I really enjoy the flexibility of driving, but want to explore the best way to do that logistically. Thank you in advance.