We are tentatively planning on going to Tuscany (maybe Umbria too?) in May (have our flights on hold thru Saturday) with our son who will be 3 years old at the time. I'm looking for suggestions of where would be the best areas to stay in. We're looking at a 10 night trip with two different overnight locations of 4-5 nights each (may spend the last night near the airport) so that we can see a wide variety of hill towns without having to drive too far in a given day. We are NOT going to Florence (we went there a few years ago before our son was born). Where would be the best towns or areas to stay in that would be strategically located? We will have a car. Tentatively planning on picking it up at the airport (flying in/out of Rome), but open to other suggestions if you think it would be better to take the train somewhere else to pick up a car. Thanks in advance for the help!
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8150 posts
We like to stay in B&Bs and farm stays. Orvieto is one of our favorite towns, and there are great bed and breakfasts in and outside of town.
Many take the train for just over an hour north of Rome Termini and pickup a Hertz car across the street from the Orvieto train station. From there, you can be in Siena area in 90 minutes or so--great roads. Civita is just southwest of Orvieto, and it's very interesting.
I also like the area north of Siena--outside of Poggibonsi, Certaldo and San Gimignano as a centrally located place to tour Tuscany from. We really liked Volterra, but it's a little farther west and a pretty quiet area.
Posted by
Boston, MA
1829 posts
Siena is very well located for day trips to other towns and I think would be a good choice
Depending on your interests the other location to pair with Siena could be Lucca, Orvieto or a farm stay in the countryside in southern tuscany or northern Umbria
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5389 posts
I'd suggest Lucca for your Tuscany base. Its beautiful, but flat. The wall around the city has numerous playgrounds. There are lots of day trip options. We rented an apartment for a week from this place (Anfiteatro location) because they even have a common playroom!:
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
I did a similar trip with two friends, we stayed in Siena and Assisi and visited one to three hill towns every day. We stayed at hotels, but agriturismi would work as well if your child isn't interested in city night life ;-)
Posted by
OP
23 posts
Thank you for the suggestions everyone. If we were to stay one part of the time north of Siena and one part of the time in Southern Tuscany closer to Orvieto, would that give us two good bases to get to most places within an hour? I think Lucca might be too far, but it seems to be kind of isolated from everything but Pisa (which we aren't too worried about seeing). This plan would probably rule out Umbria as well but that might have been pushing it unless we stayed longer anyway. Am I missing any other must-sees that would be too far away?
I kind of like the idea of taking the train to pick up the car in Orvieto but as I think about it I am not too keen on dragging my son's car seat through train stations.
Posted by
Wichita
831 posts
John,
This may give you ideas http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm