Hello! I'll be visiting in March. Either staying in Greve or 10min outside of Siena AND Florence. We would like to do Lucca & San Gimignano. Is it unrealistic to do those both in a day?
Also, how active is Greve in March? The hotel said many restaurants & wineries will be opening after we leave so we just want to make sure there's enough for us to do, or would we be better off in Siena?
Thank you!
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6991 posts
Will you have a car?
Lucca and SG are about 1.5 hours apart
Days are still short in March
Florence and Siena are an hour apart
Where can you stay that is 10 min from each??
Posted by
OP
5 posts
we will not have a car. thank you!
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6991 posts
There is to train access in Greve or SG. You would have to get to Siena for a bus to either and that can be quite poky and limited
I wouldn't try to fit both.
You'd be better off in Siena but even better in Florence.
Siena isn't the greatest for transportation in the Tuscany region- the train is not on the main trainline so you have to go into Florence then transfer to bus or train.
I suppose there is a bus from Siena to SG and to Lucca but fitting both in same day on a limited bus schedule and routes will be difficult.
A car is really useful in that area!
You can play around on rome2rio.com to see the transportation options- it's a good tool but not always accurate and you'll have to drill down to find the actual bus company/schedules.
Some examples
Siena to SG by bus- up to 2 hour trip with a transfer in Poggibonsi
Greve to SG by bus- up to 3 hour trip with 2 changes
Greve to Lucca by bus- 3.5 hours with at least 2 changes
Greve to Lucca by bus and train- about 3 hours with change to train in Florence
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you so much! we will be doing 3 nights in Florence. We have 5 other nights we were trying to play around with where to stay- hence Greve or Siena. We will either be doing public transportation or will hire a service.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6991 posts
You might consider adding a night or 2 to Florence.
Day trip to Lucca from Florence by train- super easy
Day trip to SG from Florence by train/bus- this is the quickest route and an easy change
Florence is really the best base if you don't have a car.
Then spend the remaining 3 in Greve or Siena.
You could hire a driver while in Greve or Siena to show you more of Chianti/Tuscany/Val D'Orcia.
Toursbyroberto.com gets high marks here- most of his tours leave from Siena- small groups, etc. He books up early.