Stay more days in Florence or take a trip to Cortona

Does the tour include enough in Florence? All the things you want to see and do?
Assuming tour is only 2 nights in Florence

Cortona could be a day trip

You’ll need to stay in Florence night before departure so I’d just stay in Florence all 3 nights. Avoid 2 hotel changes, most of RS tours are fast paced already

@ChristineH:
The tour will only spend two nights in Florence. I've visited Florence during my previous BoE 14 days tour'; the attractions we will visit in this tour (Heart of Italy) likely are going to be similar. For the BoE tour we did get to stay in a country village hotel surrounded by grape vines and olive groves; to me it's the highlight of the trip!

For this reason I've arranged for additional three nights of stay; just so I will get to explore Florence more. Since the train/bus trip to Cortona is less than 2.5 hours; you're right that this could very well be a day trip. Maybe that's what I will do; keep it easy and relaxing :) Thanks for your input!!

the train/bus trip to Cortona is less than 2.5 hours

Actually I thought it was a bit closer! That seems too far for a day trip.
There are other towns much closer- Siena, Lucca, Fiesole, even Pisa is a good day trip- town is interesting

Hello :)

I agree 2.5 hours each way, 5 total is too long for day trip.

I would choose Cortona, but only if you can spend the night.

Part of the joy in visiting a city is walking back too your room after a nice dinner. And waking up in the morning there.
Then it would be worth it.

If not, I would choose a closer city to Florence.

Have fun!

:)

@ChristineH:
Among all the other cities you mentioned; Pisa might be the best option for a day trip. It's close to Florence (~ 1 hr by train from Florence) and has a major attraction.
@Tigger:
I thought about visiting Cortona because 'Under the Tuscan Sun' was filmed there :) But close to 5 hrs of train ride round trip might be too much for a day trip; so I likely will stay overnight if I do go.

Thanks everyone for your inputs, very helpful!

You could probably manage a day trip that would include both Lucca & Pisa. I’ve been to Lucca twice, once as a one night stop when transitioning from Florence to the Cinque Terre and once as a day trip from an agriturismo near Florence. We stopped in Pisa for a couple of hours when taking the train from Lucca to the CT. That was enough time for us. I personally enjoyed Lucca more than Pisa, but I understand people wanting to see the Leaning Tower in person.

We took a day and drove there .... I wouldn't do it again and when friends have asked us in the past about a visit there - we tell them it wasn't worth it. There are cuter places to visit IMO.

I've decided to stick to a simple day trip without staying overnight. This way it provides plenty of flexibility in the event I want to change my plan. Thanks everyone for your feedbacks; really appreciate it!

I didn’t find Cortona to be all that interesting.
If you opt for Pisa, don’t limit yourself to the tower. The cathedral is very beautiful, as is the baptistery. There is also another small building that is part of the Field of Miracles. I think it might have been where the bodies of some of the vips were interred. It’s also worth a short visit.