Village Italy tour Question about Sienna and Lucca

Posted by sallymoxley (Richmond, VA) on 04/23/18 06:27 PM

12 May we are going on our 7th RS tour this time the Village Italy tour. I was disappointed to see we our two nights in Siena are at a "country hotel" w/ "pool time" after morning and lunch in Sienna. Has anyone stayed in Siena for the afternoon and made other arrangements to get out to the "country hotel" (Castello di Fonterutoli)?

In seems we have considerable free time in Lucca and we would like to bicycle 20-30 miles. Has anyone cycled in Lucca and able to recommend it?

Thank you. We are very excited and your responses only ratchet me up. hah Sally

Posted by Patricia

Milwaukie, Oregon

04/23/18 08:38 PM

1056 posts

My husband and I participated in the village Italy trip in September 2016. While we did have part of a day in Siena , we did not elect to stay there until later in the day and try to get back to the B&B, and, to my knowledge neither did any of the participants in our group, so I have no news for you about that.

However, about biking in Lucca, the bike rental was included with our trip, and we had ample time to circle the city more than once on the city walls.

I’ve been on five Rick Steves tours, and Village Italy ranks right up near the top of my list of favorites. You will enjoy yourself tremendously. Buon viaggio!

Posted by zcorsair

San Francisco, CA (USA)

04/23/18 09:03 PM

488 posts

I've stayed and cycled in Lucca. Most of my riding was along with walls, going from one part of town to the other, round trip, I believe the wall path is a exceptionally leisurely 2.5 miles. I'm sure if you do a search of bike routes around the Lucca area, you'll be able to satisfy a healthy ride. Possibly work with one of the many bike shops, there may be a somebody you can work-out a reasonable fee to play tour guide via saddle/peddle.

Posted by sallymoxley OP

Richmond, VA

04/26/18 01:26 AM

127 posts

Dear Pagricia, thank you for mentioning how much you enjoyed your Village Italy Sept 2016 trip. We are excited! Also “zcorsair”appreciate your comments about availability of bicycle rental shops! Helpful.

Posted by kathy

St. Louis MO

04/27/18 10:19 PM

731 posts

Sally, we are starting our Village Italy a week from tomorrow. After planning this trip since last July I can hardly believe it is almost here! It looks like our Lucca day gives us free time on both nights so we plan to do a Puccini concert the first night and take a quick trip to Pisa the second d night. We will play that one by ear. It's only a 30 min train ride to Pisa! We hope to at least ride the city wall on our first evening before the concert.

I was a little surprised to see our time in Sienna to be so limited but at that point in the tour it might be nice to just relax a little and take in the surroundings of our country hotel.

Posted by mnannie

Northern Minnesota

06/02/18 07:06 PM

594 posts

Our country hotel was Villa il Crocicchio about 80 minutes from Sienna, and we didn't get back to it until after 5 PM. We would have preferred more time at the villa:)