My wife and I are planning an extended trip to Italy (up to 4 weeks). We would like to rent something in a town in Tuscany for a reasonable price, that has access to public transportation.
We are familiar with Lucca, Montepulciano, and Volterra, but would like to hear if someone has other suggestions.
Our plan would be to do occasional day trips to other towns.
Thank you.
We stayed at a winery just outside Greve. Greve is a charming little town on the bus line. I suggest you look at where you want to go and see what bus/train lines serve them. We had a car and were able to do day trips to places not easily accessed by public transportation.
We will be in Italy at the end of October, flying from Madrid to Rome, then taking the train to Florence. From there, we'll train to Perugia where we'll stay in town several days before staying at an agriturismo where we'll help them harvest olives and take cooking classes.
Have a great time!
I think you mean rail transportation. There is a Tuscany Tourism website: https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/tuscany-by-train/
Also, Buses go everywhere... mostly slowly. Just Google "Bus Maps for Tuscany, Italy."
Have fun.
What time of year? What are your interests (and non-interests!) ? Does it have to be Tuscany?
Are you open to renting a car and exploring the Tuscan countryside via smaller country roads and secondary highways? I Greppi di Silli is an agritourism farm with lovely accommodations and just south of Florence is easily in reach of Greve in Chianti, Poggabonsi, and San Gimignano. Sienna and Montepulciano are both just over an hour's drive away.
My wife and I liked it so much we brought three couples back. Check out the webpage to see if it is right for you:
Welcome to the forum! Over many trips to Italy, I've stayed in at least six towns in Tuscany. I would suggest Arezzo, which is a great town with excellent train service. Happy planning!
First you need to decide what places you want to visit, then you decide on the base that is most convenient to take day trips to those places. So list the towns you want to visit and we can help decide.
Have you been to Siena? It will be busy, but full of art to see and still feels very medieval. We liked staying just inside the Porta Camollia --- it makes the train station an easy walk with escalators but still a short walk to the very center of town.
Also very fond of Pistoia! Never made it a base, but I would.
We did a great Road Scholar tour and spend 6 nights in Siena, used it as a base to visit many great places.
We rarely had to be on the bus more than 1 1/2 hours each way.
Not sure that I would rely on public transport, that would eat up more time just getting to the train or bus station.
Florence, Siena, Pisa, and San Gimignano, Cortona, Montepulciano and Pienza.
I think it heavily depends on what area of Tuscany you would like to explore? I'd choose Lucca every time, but this is because I'm in love with the northern part of Tuscany!
I know you didn't ask, but have you considered Umbria instead? There's hardly a difference between the two regions except that Tuscany seems to be the better known and so gets more visitors.
