My family (4 adults) is planning on a Mediterrean cruise from Rome and would like to spend 3-4 days in Tuscany prior to departure.
Our thoughts are:
1. Rent minivan at FCO airport.
2. Drive to Siena and do day trips from our hotel in Siena
3. Hire a private guide for the 3 days
4. Sightseeing in Siena
5. We would try to cover Chianti, San Gimignano, Montalcino and other small villages.
6. Would stop at a winery and tour the vineyards
7. If time permits, attend a cooking class
8. No hiking as 1 of us uses a walker for mobility, can move short distance with cane.
9. Drive to port and drop off rental van
I realize this is only some ideas at this point, but would like some help to convert it into workable plan.
Posted by
Boston
1804 posts
- Rental minivans are hard to come by, you'll probably find a station wagon is better. Be aware of auto and manual transmission requirements. For Civitavecchia drop-off there are only Avis, Hertz, and Europcar, luckily they are recommended decent companies.
- Parking in Siena is non-trivial. Look for a hotel with it included on the periphery of the historic center.
- Only the listed drivers can drive your rental. A 3 day guide is unrealistic. Use tours with good reviews for the sites you can't do yourself.
- Italian streets are generally rougher with paving stones and there are few curb cuts. Most attractions are not adapted for close access by vehicle or easy access by walkers. Allow for special sites and timing for the person with mobility issues.
Posted by
872 posts
4 people you don’t need a minivan, and Siena is not a good town with a car; better in a town in Chianti or the Val d’Orcia. You can get permission in Siena to park in the ZTL, but getting out of town and back is time consuming.
Posted by
30 posts
Siena is great to visit but I'd rather stay out in the countryside for a few days and drive to Siena as a day trip. Loved our time in Chanti and would go back in a heartbeat. San Gimignano is said to be overrun with tourists during the day these days so you may want to stay local around the town you decide to stay in vs driving a long way to a packed out hill town with a famous name. Cooking class at our agroturismo was amazing, and we enjoyed that many of the small towns have markets that are fun for food and shopping. You have to make a reservation for wine tasting at many of the local vineyards as of information we just got being there end of May. We rented a van in Florence but it was really expensive and was a manual transmission and they are hard to come by. Roads are twisty and narrow, but you can also take local 'freeways' to get from place to place that are easy and fairly modern.