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Tuscany with young teenagers

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We will be traveling to Tuscany for a week April. We will have a rental car but don't want to spend a ton of time in the car. The kids say they don't want to do all day tours with a group/guide. Any input on this itinerary would be appreciated! I am undecided about Day 5.

Day 1 Arrive Milan in AM, drive to Montecatini Terme: rest, ride funicular to Montecatini Alto
Day 2 Lucca, Pistoia
Day 3 Florence: food tour with David, wander around other outside sights
Day 4 Drive to La Spezia, park and take train to Cinque Terre
Day 5 Drive to Bologna area to see Lamborghini and Ferrari museums, on to Como for the night
Day 6 Boat ride around Lake Como, drive to Milan to return car and leave next AM
OR
Day 5 Day drive around southern Tuscany
Day 6 Drive to Bologna area to see Lamborghini and Ferrari museums, on to Milan to return car and leave next AM

Posted by
7209 posts

Personally I wouldn't want to choose a base and then have to jump in my car to spend the day sightseeing elsewhere...which sounds exactly like what you have planned. You want to see Lucca? Then spend some nights there. You want to see Florence then spend some nights there or nights in the CT.

And then, of course you're talking about "driving" to places like Bologna and CT. You definitely don't want a car in the CT because you'll just have to park it at some outlying area like La Spezia and then train into the villages to do your sightseeing. Wouldn't you rather just wake up in your apartment or hotel in CT and walk out the front door and be where you want to be?

I'm not a big fan of that false freedom of rental cars and I AM a fan of staying in the middle of whatever you want to see...

Posted by
337 posts

Oh my goodness. Are you really considering this plan?You have a total of 5 nights! I have not been to Montecatini Terme or Bologna but this trip does not seem at all reasonable for even a 2 week trip. I would say you will be spending ALL your time in the car. I think the teens will be freaking out by the end of day one, and esp day 2, as will you. Check out the travel times on Rome2Rio and the fact that you will be jet lagged on arrival. Even if you are flying from within Europe, this trip spells disaster to me. You have no time to actually experience anything. If this is your first trip to Italy or Europe, be aware that you can't just drive to a town or city like you can in the US. There are very specific areas in the town/city that you CAN NOT drive in known as ZTLs.
Might I suggest: Ditch the car. Fly into Milan. Either stay the night to get over some jet lag or train that day to Florence. Stay in Florence for the majority or your trip and day trip from there via train to all other areas except Lake Como. I would skip Como this trip. Train back to Milan the night before departure. A car is definitely not needed. You can either do the day trips independently or as part of a group.
Alternate: fly into Milan and train that day to Como. Stay 2 nights (really only 1 day), then train to Florence. Day trip from Florence by train to Lucca, CT, Bologna (3 separate trips). Back to Milan night before departure. Not sure you have the time for version 2.
I would opt for version 1.

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