We will be travelling as a group of four next April. We plan to spend a week in Tuscany and take a day trip or two to Umbria.
We would like to be on a train line, but are willing to rent a car for day trips.
We would like to be in a fairly large city, not in the countryside and would like our home base to be not super hilly so we won't be carrying our luggage up and down hills.
We have been to Lucca, Florence and Pisa, so won't be going to those place this visit.
We are thinking Arezzo? Are there any other towns we should consider?
Posted by
Milan Italy
156 posts
Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, the best advice I can give you is to go to Siena, a stunning city that is neither too big nor too small, offering everything you need. In my view, it is one of Italy's most beautiful cities, and it is also conveniently located for trips to Umbria by either car or train.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
18280 posts
If you are relying on trains, then Arezzo is the best choice on that part of Tuscany, also close enough to Umbria that you could visit by train, if you want (the train takes about 90 min to Assisi, and even less to Perugia).
Cortona, Castiglion Fiorentino, Lucignano, Poppi, Anghiari, are nearby and reachable by train or bus.
Siena is good to visit the towns in the province of Siena, but not for Umbria. To go from Siena to Umbria you need a car, as Siena is not well connected to Umbria by train or bus, but you still need a couple of hours to drive to Assisi, for example.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
9815 posts
Spoleto has always seemed like a good base in Umbria.
Posted by
Seattel, Washington, USA
145 posts
Montepulciano is another option. Right in the middle of southern Tuscany.
Posted by
10479 posts
Siena in Tuscany and Spoleto in Umbria.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2695 posts
Montepulciano would require renting a car. I think Arezzo is a better choice.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
2257 posts
This is a good representation of Tuscany access by train or train+bus for places like Cortona and San Gimignano.
https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/images/tuscany-rail-map.png
And this is an illustration of Umbria by rail: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/8d/dd/86/8ddd8638d8954daf21b218a5977986df.jpg
One of this issues is that both Tuscany and Umbria are large areas by themselves so the perfect location with easy access to both doesn't really exist. Each of these areas is large enough to be hard to explore from a single location so trying to do both is doubly hard. Now with a week you'll probably spend 4 or 5 days exploring so you really only need that many interesting places on your list.
Places with train access and positioned between these areas I think Arezzo is probably the best choice. It's interesting enough to explore for a day or two on it's own - there are often fairs or festivals going and the once a month antique market is legendary - and it offers easy train access to Cortona (plus bus), Castiglion Fiorentino, Lake Trasinemo, Perguia and places in between as well as a 1 hour bus to Siena. There are many car rental agencies in town if you wanted to rent a car and famous lower Tuscan town collection is within day trip range since Pienza is about an 1:15 or so away.
Usual driving warnings apply:
- Every driver needs an IDP before leaving the states.
- Read up on ZTLs and speed cameras zones. (There are apps for both.)
- Add at least 25% to Google driving times for rural roads and GPS is crucial.
Have a great trip,
=Tod