A week in Florence--daytrips?

There are a number of easy day trips from Florence. As Steve mentions, Siena is great. Lucca and Pisa can be combined in one day by train. San Gimignano or Volterra can be done by bus. Orvieto is an easy train trip. Assisi is even a possibility by bus or train. Siena and Lucca would be my top picks for easy day trips. Volterra would be my top pick for one that's a bit longer (about 2 hours each way).

Lucca. Four Stars.

Aside from Siena, The Hill Towns of Central Italy are, IMHO, over-rated.

We didn't get anything more out of visiting: San Gimignano, Montalcino, Montepulciano or Pienza than we did seeing Lucca and Siena.

I really enjoy some of the towns in the Chianti area (Greve, etc). There is a Sita bus that goes from FLorence through Greve and ends in Siena. It is a beautiful trip and you could get off and enjoy some of the towns along the way. If you stop in Greve, walk out of town and through some of the Vineyards. We stayed just east of Greve in an agritourismo and really enjoyed walking down the dirt roads in the area and enjoying the picture postcard views.

Thank you for the tips! I really don't know much about Siena, but it seems to have left good impressions! Cortona is interesting, too, but we'd have to find other transportation once we got off the train, I think, as it is not close to the station.

take a few hours and take the city bus up to Fiesole.
On a clear eve to night the skyline looking at Florence is lovely, have dinner or a snck and coafe in this small vilage. A great short break from hustle bustle of Florence and only about 20 min by public bus.

HI

We were just there in Sept 2009 (first timers) and loved it. We did a trip with the Best of Tuscany tour and hands down was the best day. Very reasonable and fun and you get a lot of time in each place you stop and lunch at the wine farm was awesome. I definately would check it out if I were you. I would do it again!!

http://www.walkaboutpass.com/nqcontent.cfm?a_name=bestoftuscanytour_homepage

Bev

I checked out that tour and it does look interesting. I like the idea of getting a sample of several towns. Then another day we could take the train to Orvieto, maybe, to see a bit of Umbria.

Are the Walkabout Tours less commercial than some out there? We went on a tour to Pompeii once, and though I loved what we saw, I felt the company was rather brusque and more intent on selling cameos and inlay furniture. . . .

Hopefully someday we will be able to have a longer stay in Italy and be able to linger in some of these towns for many days.

As many have suggested, Siena is worth a daytrip in itself, with its many sights to see. Pisa and Lucca together in one day can also make for an excellent daytrip. San Gimignano and Volterra can be worthwhile as well. Going a little further afield down into Umbria, Assisi alone and Orvieto are always great (as are some others in that area if you were to make a really long day of it from Florence). I would also recommend my personal favorite, Cortona. Easily accessible from Florence, it's an excellent stop; doesn't have much in terms of tourist "sights", but the town in itself is the real catch. And there are certain things to see if you really want to explore. I think you mentioned above regarding the transportation getting into town. Yes, Cortona is a true hill town, so the train drops you off at the base of the hill in the town of Camucia. However, there are regular buses that go from the train station right up to Cortona (that run roughly every hour), so that is a quick and easy way up. A cab is another option, if arranged in advance. Or you could always walk it, but that would take into your daytrip time.. so probably not advised in this case. But I hope you enjoy! (If you have any other q's regarding Cortona or these towns or even towns not mentioned, just send me a private message).

We also took the Best of Tuscany tour in the fall (Walkaboutpass.com). It was excellent and the lunch was delicious-so was the wine.. The most time was spent in Sienna where you have a guide. Not commercial at all and no hard sell although we did buy olive oil at the farm where we had lunch.

There are buses timed to meet the trains at Cortona stations. Bus trip from Cortona-Camucia station is only about 10 minutes.

We thought we had seen Florence the first time we were there. The second time we made the itinerary a bit more relaxed and that is when we really, saw Florence. The cultural density of Florence is unlike anything we've ever experienced anywhere else. One thing we saw that changed us in our view of life, was to walk past the Piazzale Michelangelo up to San Miniato. The Church is beautiful, but the Cemetery is a profound sculpture garden spanning hundreds of years of concentrated art styles. One Site; The Bride and Groom Sculptures, are seemingly kitsch at first as full body, realism style, white marble, until you see their meaning. We had to sit down on a bench and nearly weeped in silence as it became clear just how unbelievably beautiful the sentiment was of these Grave Markers: This is extreme Art.

While in Florence, we did a bus trip to Siena one day, and a train to Lucca/Pisa another. Both were very easy and rewarding. Thanks, too, Francis for a moving post. I wish I'd known about the cemetary; we stumbled into a Gregorian chant service (or recital) at San Miniato that was extraordinary in music and setting.

We did the Venice, Florence and Rome RS tour last year. Florence at the time was our least favorite city, in part because we had just come from Venice where there was no traffice and life seemed more laid back.

I feel like I didn't give Florence a fair shot so we are going back this April to spend a whole week. Thanks in part to the posts here we are doing the Best of Tuscany tour as well as a side trip to Cinque Terre. We will be sure to make a stop at the cemetary too.

I really think that Florence is most likely one of those places that grows on you and is not meant to be enjoyed in a hurry but at one's leisure.

Thank you, everybody for all of the interesting tidbits! We will make a point of finding that cemetery near Piazzella Michelangelo. My husband is excited about the day long tour of Tusdany, and honestly, it's probably the only way we'd ever go to Pisa :) as it is not high on our list. while I am not wild about bus tours, I've had some trouble with a foot this year, so it would be good to have a day in a cushy bus.

I am currently tempted to rearrange our last 3 days' hotel time, so that 2 will be at a B & B in Cortona!! I have a friend who thinks Cortona is the heaven on earth.

Ciao--Cheryl