Leaving for Honeymoon on Friday & Haven't Planned! Need help with Florence/Tuscany.

If you want to see some small towns in Tuscany, one possibility is a small-group day tour or two. You can easily see the (not-so-small) Siena and Lucca via public transportation, but it's harder to hit more than one or two small towns per day if you're limited to buses and trains. I have no experience with guided tours in that area, but I know others here do, and I'm sure they'll give you the name of a reliable company or two.

I mention this possibility because to latch on to one of those tours you may need to be in one of the key tourist cities. Siena might work, but Florence might be better. I know from experience that it doesn't work so well to stay in a cute small town and then look for day-trips run by private companies, because the demand is just not there without a critical mass of tourists.

Yes, if you don't want to rent a car, Florence will have by far the greatest number of options, both by train/bus on your own and by group tours. Siena will also have some; I wouldn't expect any group tours from other cities, for the reasons acraven mentioned.

An agriturismo does require a car.

If you search around on this forum, you'll see various tours mentioned from Florence; I believe Rick also lists some in his book. One that has been mentioned positively on this forum that is also endorsed by Rick is Tours By Roberto: http://www.toursbyroberto.com/

Congratulations on your wedding, Kelly! And what a wonderful idea - Italy in the beginning of autumn. I think your itinerary looks great, something to remember for the rest of your life. I hope it's stress-free, problem-free, and I hope you eat and laugh and drink lots of wine together !

Congrats! Since this is so late in the game, make it easy on yourselves! Do not rent a car. Your plan is fine for three nights Rome, five in Florence. I do not think one night in Orvieto is worthwhile, so add that night to the Cinque Terre. You can stop in Orvieto on the way to Florence if you are so moved. Do it all by train, maybe the occasional bus or guided tour day trip. Tours by Roberto can give you a great Chianti experience from Florence.

Any neighborhood will do. We have stayed in Santa Croce and enjoyed being a bit away from the center, although only a 20-minute walk from the Duomo. We also liked it up by the train station surprisingly, as well as smack dab in the center. At this point, just pick an apartment you like. If AirBnB doesn't suite you, try VRBO.com or Booking.com for options. Maybe a hotel or regular B&B will suit you as then you can have the assistance of the hotel personnel with your plans each day.

Hope you feel better soon and have a great wedding! Don't sweat train tickets: just buy them a day or two in advance online.

We are on our way back to US today. We did a tuscany day trip with slow day tours out of Florence and We also took a bus to Sienna and loved it! Also, we took the water taxi out of Venice and went to Burano and Murano. We used trains and found them to be great! We used Italia rail to book and it was cheaper than Trentalia. Try and book at leadt a few days ahead to get a reasonable fair! Have a wonderful time!

Looks like a great plan. I'd add the Ovieto night to Venice. As one poster indicates, you can always make a stop on your way to Florence to see Orvieto. I love Florence so I'd say stay there and you might find you don't even want to take any day trips as you won't be there that long. However, Florence gives access to many day trip possibilities... Best wishes and have a great time! Wray

You might have difficulty getting apartments this close to departure...

I wouldn't bother with a rental car - it's too much hassle and fraught with potential (huge) expenses. Not to mention the need for you to get an international driver's permit before you leave.

Only one full day in Venice - arguably one of the most romantic cities in Italy? I would plan on at least 2 full days and three nights. BTW - have you researched how to get the Marco Polo from the lagoon?

If you can get a nice place in Florence, I would make it your base for Tuscany. It has great transportation options (trains and buses) and plenty to day tours into the country side. I really enjoyed the Walkabout Florence Chianti tour. It's about an hour to Pisa and 1.5 hours to/from Lucca (on the regional train). Both cities can be easily seen in one day.

The Cinque Terre has a bit to travel associated with it. Is it worth it? (I would rather spend my time sightseeing than riding trains/buses.) Maybe streamline the trip a bit to compensate.

To me Orvieto's definitely worth an overnight. In addition to being a picturesque hill town, it has identifiable sights (museum, cathedral, and others). But there's also lots to see from your base in Florence. Before you decide to visit Orvieto en route from Rome to Florence, however, figure out what you're going to do with your luggage.

Here is a Fodor thread about the issue. I don't know what the current situation is. It's a good little walk from the top of the funicular to the core of the old town, and I think there are cobblestones. I remember cursing my wheeled-but-too-heavy suitcase just on the way to my hotel, which wasn't even mid-way to the cathedral. You certainly don't want to drag your luggage around with you (or wear it) as you visit Orvieto.

Hi all,
Thank you for your help! I've decided that my original plan with basing myself in Florence will be best this go around. Perhaps next time we can consider staying in the heart of Tuscany and renting a car. I agree with the suggestion to perhaps book a day tour with a company to tour around Tuscany and see more than one city in a day. While I'm not a huge fan of doing my whole trip as part of a tour, I've always quite enjoyed adding a day tour or a walking tour in different cities. I'm going to look into some of the suggestions: Tours by Roberto, Walkabout Florence & Slow Day Tours.

During our time in Florence, I am thinking of doing the following trips. Does this sound like a good plan -- or do you have any other suggestions?

1. 2 days dedicated to all Florence
2. 1 day trip to Bologna for the Italian Days Food Tour
3. 1 day trip to Chianti region -- either a formal tour, or taking the bus for a wine tasting & lunch at Verrazzano (http://www.verrazzano.com/en/wine-tours/)
4. Bus to Siena for the day

Regarding axing Orvieto and adding an extra day to Cinque Terre or Venice -- that was something I was considering before -- and I keep going back and forth about it. The link to the Fodors conversation is interesting. I definitely don't want to be lugging my stuff through Orvieto if there is no storage -- even if I am a light packer! I think we'll stick with the itinerary as is -- and, if anything, shave a day off Florence instead.

@work2travel: right now we have 3 nights in Venice (19,20 & 21), with one full day in Venice and one full day to see Murano & Burano. You think it would be worthwhile to add a day here and cut one of the side trips from Florence?

Cheers!

I'd like an extra day in Venice myself. Yet some people say one day is just fine. I really think the key is whether you are a famous-sight sort of traveler (and perhaps one who hates crowd scenes) or a wander-around-and-see-picturesque-neighborhoods traveler. I am the latter. I'll go to some museums and churches, but that's just where I start. In smaller towns my goal is to walk every street of the historic district. That's obviously not practical on a short trip to Venice, but I love all those back streets, and one day would be so short that I wouldn't enjoy myself.