Tuscany Itinerary

Sarah:
Lucca and Cinque Terre are great places, but you have such limited time to spendlosing a day coming and a day going (to Rome.) Cinque Terre is also in pretty tough shape after October flash floods. It might be best saved for a future trip. I would suggest flying into Pisa and taking the train over to Florence. You can spend 2-3 days there, and take a bus down to Sienna (1 hour trip) for a day. Rent a car to sight see the Chianti wine towns or San Gim. and Volterra. Drive 2-3 hrs. to Orvieto and drop off the rental car at the train station. Spend the night. Then, catch a train into Rome45 minutes. You shouldn't miss the greatest concentration of art in the Worldin Florence. The place is simply the cradle of modern civilization.

I should have offered more information. My flights and accommodations are already booked. I arrive in Rome at 8am and will be in Lucca by 1:15 or so based on train schedules. I am spending 5 nights in Lucca and then 5 nights in Rome. Also, I went to Italy this last year and spent 4 nights just in Florence, so no need to visit Florence again. More than anything can someone give me an itinerary for my exploring by car day? Thanks for the advice David - despite the flooding (or maybe even more so because of it) CT is the highest on my must do list this trip. I'd like to go support the businesses there. I also traded going to Venice for CT on this trip. Thanks!

There are some great driving itineraries on the SLow Travel website, Sarah.

I can't imagine visiting the Cinque Terre as a day trip, and especially not from Lucca. I took the train from Lucca to CT in 2009, and it was no easy trip; you'll have to make several transfers, and it will take probably 3 hours each way. If you're committed to doing that, get an early start and be prepared for a very long, exhausting day. A one-day tour will never get you from Lucca to all the hill towns you want to see, plus Siena, and back. If you want to do Siena and hill towns, I'd suggest you get the car for two days and break it up, with a full day in Siena. Otherwise, pick one or the other. Another nice day trip is north from Lucca to the Garfagnana. Easy and scenic by train, and some charming areas in the mountains.

I agree with the posters above - visiting the Cinque Terre for one day will be a very long day, with not much time spent just enjoying one or two of the towns. Between now and then, keep checking info for how Vernazza (and possibly Monterosso too) are doing re recovery from the floods. Use Google maps or the like for drive times for a day in southern Tuscany. Keep in mind that Lucca is on the northern edge of Tuscany. Per Google maps, it will take you almost 2 hours to get to Siena (one-way). Monteriggioni is just north of Siena, you could visit that lovely little town. And maybe a little time in San Gimignano. As your base is in Lucca, consider, instead, some day trip destinations in that area, to give you more time enjoying, as opposed to driving/training. Consider Pecsia, or the area north of Pistoia.

Thanks for the advice everyone, but I'm for sure doing CT. If I leave Lucca at 7:08am I can be in CT at 8:49. don't find that to be too bad for us (we pulled a 17 hour day Disney last year to give you an idea of our stamina). Even if we only see 2 of the towns that is fine with me to get a taste of the area.

Sarah,
If you truly can arrive in the CT before 0900, you can have a fine day, weather permitting. If you hike and the trails are open, great. But you can also make a fine day of it hopping among the five towns by train and touring each one. Rick Steves' Guide has little orientation tours to each of the 5 towns that we enjoyed a lot. Weather is important, though, because it is very much an outdoor activity location.

I agree with others that one day in CT is too quick... but it's better than nothing. The best part of the CT is exploring off the main paths of the towns and hiking at least one of the trails. I applaud you in supporting them... we're planning on doing the same this summer. We took a day trip bus tour of San Gimignano and Sienna in one day. San Gimignano was too short and Sienna was too long. Pete

DK Eyewitness had a fairly new guide book - "Back Roads Tuscany" for driving tours. It sounds just up your alley.