We will be spending about 5 days around Florence. While there, we'd like to explore Florence, but prefer to spend more time in the countryside and small surrounding towns. We prefer not to stay in the central part of the city. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced area on the outskirts of Florence with access to public transportation? Alternatively, is there a small town with good transportation nearby from which we could see Florence and the region? We are interested in Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Perugia and Assisi, but perhaps there are other small towns we have missed. At this point we're not planning to rent a car.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15161 posts
To see the countryside a car is a necessity, as public transportation options are limited.
You need to specify the places in Tuscany you want to visit, besides Florence, in order for me to recommend a town.
Posted by
OP
Southern California
4 posts
We are interested in possibly visiting Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Perugia and Assisi. I didn't list those names because I thought perhaps there were some very nice places I hadn't considered. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!
Diana
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15161 posts
Without a car you are really stuck to stay in Florence. Any other base would be very inefficient to visit those locations using trains, all of which radiate from Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Florence main station. Those destinations are also quite a distance to travel, so the trains are the only option to reach them fast enough for a day trip..
However you don’t need to stay at the station, which is a rather busy area. There are places within the city center of Florence which might still give you the sensation you are away from a big city. The historical center is largely car free. For example the San Frediano or the San Niccolò districts are pretty quiet. San Frediano is not a long walk from the station. You just have to walk across the Vespucci bridge and you are there in minutes. Of course the Vespucci bridge was designed by the same engineer who built the Genoa bridge just collapsed (Riccardo Morandi), but the design is different, so no reason to worry.
Santo Spirito is quiet too, if you stay away from Piazza Santo Spirito or via de Guicciardini between Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti.
If you want to stay out of the city altogether, you might want to consider Fiesole or Settignano, but then you need to spend half hour on a bus or a taxi to come down to the city center.
Posted by
martinez, ca, usa
2299 posts
hey diana
maybe take an early train to lucca, and take a cooking with chef paolo at cucina-italiana.com, after classes you can walk the walled city and take train back to florence.
aloha