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Traveling from Venice to Tuscany

Hi
Whats the best way to travel to Chianti from Venice in mid July ? We are a family of 4 ( 2 adults and 2 kids below 10 years). Should we hire a car from Venice ?
Or should we take the train to Florence and hire a car from Florence to Chianti ?

Posted by
5188 posts

You can take a high-speed train from Venice to Florence, then you can visit many of the towns in Tuscany by train or bus.

What other towns do you want to visit in Tuscany besides Chianti?

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks. Will take Train to Florence. Will hire a car in Florence to drive around for the 3 days.
From Chianti will do day trips to Leaning Tower of Pisa ( just half day), drive to Val d’Orcia, Vine Tour in Chianti. Also would love to see Sun Flower fields. Do you think we can see this in mid July ? saw in a forum that we will be able to see this on the Highway 2 while traveling from Siena to San Gimignano.
Any other beautiful places to visit in Tuscany ?

Posted by
15043 posts

If you intend to visit Florence before heading to the Chianti it is best to take the train to Florence first, as Priscilla mentioned, visit Florence for whichever amount of time you wish (maybe stay 2 nights) then rent a car and head out of town. You certainly don't want to have a rental car while in Florence.
If Florence is not at all in your plans, then you could rent the car in Venice and drive straight to Tuscany's countryside. That way you can probably save as trains aren't cheap either and you need 4 tickets (although kids pay less).
The train ride to Florence is 2 hours long. By car plan at least 3 hours (all freeway) plus pit stops.

Posted by
9 posts

I dont have any intention of going to Florence. We are more into nature. It will be great if we can drive to Chianti from Venice. As you said since its highway all the way then shouldnt be any problem. Thanks so much for your comments.

Posted by
5188 posts

The last time I was in Tuscany, I only visited Florence & Pisa, but I've read about so many other towns in Tuscany such as
Lucca, Siena, Arezzo, Pistoia, San Gimignano, & Montepulciano.

Since you will have a car, you can also visit Prato, Pistoia & Montecatini on your way to Lucca (from Florence) via the A11.

My plan is to visit Tuscany in the near future & perhaps rent a car so I can drive to all these beautiful places :-)

I'm sure others will chime in with more detailed info regarding towns in Tuscany.

EDIT: I wrote this before reading Roberto's reply or your comment regarding NOT visiting Florence (?)

Just wondering... Have you been to Florence before?

If you like nature & the outdoors, you may want to visit The Cinque Terre ;-)

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks Priscilla. This is our first trip to Italy.
After Tuscany we are going to Amalfi Coast. So thought of giving a miss to CT.

Posted by
11613 posts

Sunflowers are ubiquitous, there are beautiful fields of them everywhere. You should be able to see them in July, unless it gets so incredibly hot that they are wilted by the end of the day (I remember once taking a train and seeing them on the way out and at the end of the day's return trip those fields had turned to brown).

Posted by
15043 posts

If this is your first trip to Italy, then how can you go to Tuscany and not visit Florence (the capital of Tuscany)? It would be like visiting the outskirts of Paris, but not Paris.
I can understand that you might prefer not staying in a city, however while you are staying in the countryside (maybe at an agriturismo farmhouse, which I recommend, or a countryside hotel) you could take a day trip to Florence and visit the city for at least a day. Just park in a lot outside of the historical center (at Piazza Porta Romana there is one) as the historical center of Florence (and virtually every ancient town in Italy) is closed to non resident traffic.

Posted by
5188 posts

Anushi,

Roberto has a good point.... I hope you reconsider your travel plans & visit Florence at least for a day... it's a beautiful city!

Roberto is very knowledgeable about his native land & he will give you the best advise ever!

Posted by
7737 posts

My brother and sister-in-law went to Italy for the first time and spent three nights in Florence. Do you know how many museums they went to? Zero. Not even to see Michelangelo's David! I was dumbfounded. But what I found really unacceptable was that they had a wonderful time anyway.

There's no one-size-fits-all approach to travel. (^_^)