Tuscany - where should I go - what should I do?

[Cruiser Elite]

Help me out here good people - Tuscany is such a famous, historic and iconic region - a must see some good friends tell me - so best I visit - help me out please?

 

[kelvedon]

San Gimignano is an amazing hilltop town that, in my opinion, should not be missed.

 

[Kaiser]

What are you interests?

If it were me I'd keep heading east and go to Le Marche region instead. IMHO more diverse and quieter . But then I'm not much interested in art, museums or other sites - preferring things like cooking classes, winery visits and biking/hiking in amazing scenery. I'm heading there in April as well as some time in Friuli Venezia Guilia - amazing area for food and wine.
If you're more interested in amazing food - I think Piedmonte, Emilia Romagna, Marche and FVG are probably the strongest contenders.

Marche Tourism | Plan your next travel to the Marche

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Our interests are beach side location of poss - definitely wine and food and overall historic touristy things.

Totally open minded ATPIT and I have become aware a couple other AFFers in same boat so we can all piggy back here.

 

[viccam]

I would recommend that you pick a small central town on the regional rail network. That way you'll get the feel of real Tuscan life and not have to combat the thousands of tourists in the bigger towns.
From there you can do day or over nighters to towns like, Sienna, Lucca, Pisa, Florence, Perugia, Assisi etc etc etc....
If the opportunity arrises, Head to La Spezia (the bottom of Cinque Terre) and take a ride or boat to Portovenere (I might be there too around the last week of April).
As with all places nice ! you'll need months to see it all. Take what can and enjoy.

 

[RooFlyer]

As I mentioned last night, my only visit to Tuscany was for work - honest! Its a major geothermal power generation area. So my tip would be to NOT visit Larderello.

First pic the old cooling towers in the town which cannot be demolished, even though they are decommissioned, as they are 'heritage'; sound familiar?




This is one of the modern power stations (foreground) and cooling (steamy background) facilities in the countryside. "The power station - note the earthy colour and columns - has been architecturally designed to blend into the Tuscan landscape." yes, they said that with a perfectly straight face. (Don't worry about any of this - Larderello is a hole which you will avoid and the new power stations are tucked away so you'll probably never notice any.)




The power company Enel's HQ is in Pisa )). We stayed at Tirrenia, just out of Pisa, on the coast. Nice forested area, but the Mediterranean Sea beach wasn't exactly Bondi, and much of the coast front is private and fenced off.

 

[VPS]

Great area - I think viccam's idea of basing in a town is great - Lucca is a delightful little town and has rail links to Sienna, Florence, Pisa, Viareggio etc - I would strongly recommend Sienna Florence and Pisa - we didn't stop in Viareggion - if you go to Pisa go behind the Leaning Tower and look at some of the buildings behind - really interesting.

Are you planning on driving or train? If driving then you're able to get out to some of the smaller towns like Vernazza and San Gimignano

You can also go over to Assisi which is really interesting

Montepulciano is not far and there may be a few wineries you could force yourself to visit for comparison purposes!!

Wherever you go you'll enjoy

 

[Cruiser Elite]

snip from another thread:

On my last trip to Italy I was on a one day cycling wine tour near Florence.

Do tell me more pls lto?

 

[Boris spatsky]

Siena is amazing, as is Montepulciano. We stayed last time in Pienza, a small hilltop town and loved it.

 

[Renato1]

I've driven around lots of Tuscany, and quite frankly I could happily spend six whole days in Florence. The only problem being the very expensive hotel prices coupled with their lousy reviews at Booking.com. In the end I did something unthinkable, I booked a two star hotel with very good reviews (Hotel Crocini) and we were delighted with our stay there - though it was a 15 minute walk to the centre of town every day.

That was eight years ago. Ever since people have been telling my wife and I how great Siena was, and how most preferred it to Florence. We went to Siena last year, and though it was fine, we didn't think it anywhere near as good as Florence.

Pisa - very nice, but I received a 120 Euro fine for driving in a street that I wasn't supposed to (darned if I saw any such sign). I'm never going back there.

I don't know if it is still the case now, but one highlight of our trip to Florence was that every night we'd go for a romantic walk down to the river to look at the city, saying "Buona Sera" over and over again to all the Policemen and Carabinieri carrying sub-machines guns in the area - we were in the safest spot on the planet - it transpired that our hotel was very near the American Consulate.
Regards,
Renato

 

[lovetravellingoz]

snip from another thread:

Do tell me more pls lto?

We did two cycling tours with two different companies.

One was an evening tour of Florence (I often do this in new cities as it orientates me giving me the lay of the land making it easier to explore on foot over the next few days. As it turns out we were the very first customers of a new company in 2011 and we were the only 3 on it. Their website no longer works and so they may not have survived. It was excellent.

With the one day trip the tour started and finished in Florence. so it included some commentary on the outskirts of Florence. We road out into the countryside (note it is not flat! It is rolling with the occassional steep section. If you ride occassionally you should not have any problems) stopping at various sites including two wineries and lunch in a small rural restaurant. It was a great way to take in the views, including late in the afternoon where we stopped high above Florence gaining a great view over the city. I cannot remember the name of the company. However there are many different providers with a number of different itenraies and budgets. Checking in TripAdvisor should alert to any dodgey ones. Cycling in the countrisde was a nice break from the very busy Florence.


tickitaly.com, Italy - online ticket booking and reservation for the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, the Accademia (David), the Colosseum and Vatican, Rome, opera tickets, and other Italian museums and galleries. is a good site for information and booking tours or entry to place like the Uffizzi (the major art galley) and the Accademia plus many, many other tours/tickets/activties.

In Italy the popular sites are very busy and so I suggest booking the "jump the queue" for just entry (DIY) or tours for a much better experience.

* David is in the Accademia a very small museum and so IMO a guide is not necessary. We just booked entry, but booked fr the very first time. As we knew where David was we walked straight to the statue and had a good few minutes where it was just our party of 3 and David. David is an amzing stautue, justifying the hype and being alone with him before others arrived was special.
* Uffizi: Is mammoth and attracts hordes of tourists. Having a knowledgeable guide and a booked entry time (one still has to wait a little while, but not the hours that just arriving randomly can incur) is highly recommended. Indeed unless you are an art expert yourself IMO it is pretty pointless visiting a museum like the Uffizi. The guide also knows where the best works are and so this saves time. The tour finished inside the gallery and so you were free to wander more if you wish.
* We also did this in Rome due to the crowds and for the Sistine Chapel it was fantastic being in there with only about a dozen people and true quiet! We poped back into the chapel at the end of our tour at about 11 and it was sardine city and despite the museum staff yelling for silnce was a cnstant babble.
* Leaning Tower of Pisa: We booked a slot. This allowed us to catch the train from Rome to Pisa, check our bags at the station, walk (we enjoy walking and it allows us to experience the town more. You could graba taxi ir bus instead though)) to the Tower & up as we had booked a time to do this and then walk back to the station, get our bags and then catch the train to Monterosso where we we were staying for 3 nights.


Cinque Terra: We stayed at Monterosso for 3 nights as our base to explore the 5 villages of the Cinque Terra which are all connected by train and walking paths along the cliffs. It makes for stunning walks, both along the coast and up into hills behind. The southern most walk is wide and well maintained. The others vary and are sometimes almost goat tracks-but the views are stunning.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

That was eight years ago. Ever since people have been telling my wife and I how great Siena was, and how most preferred it to Florence.

One of the universal laws of travelling is that you will be told by people that where you went was not as good as where they went. Unfortunately the next universal law is that such advice is wrong more often than it is right.




One reason is that we all like different things, and so unless you really also know why they thought it was better you might be disappointed. Another just seems to be "one upmanship" even it is was unconscious.

Like Goldilocks we each need to find the one that is "just right" for us.

 

[mark4217]

Greve in Chianti, Cortona and Assisi are In Umbria area which is on the edge of Tuscany, a short drive. Got this villa for $140pn next to Assisi. Just stunning.

 

[boomy]

Subscribing.

Will be there myself in April for 5 nights. So far only reserved hotels in Florence but will most likely stay at least two nights in one of the smaller towns, just need to decide which one.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

infinity spent ~week in Tuscany last Jun / Jul - clearly he is keeping his discoveries to himself?

 

[JessicaTam]

If you make it to Florence, say "Hi" to David for me.

FLR is a great city just to wander around. I agree about the main tourist sights as others have said. Either pay to 'skip the queue' or get there early.

 

[peanutz]

OK, I visited Tuscany for the first time in 2013 so I did a tour/local stay kind of thing. We stayed in an agriturismo, can't remember what it's called exactly but something with Pietriccia, in Chianciano Terme. The place was lovely and at the bottom of a hill where Chianciano is. We could walk to Chianciano to visit old town, wine tasting, shopping, etc. There's a really lovely spa which we could get there by a taxi. We did a few sightseeing trips to nearby towns Montepulciano, took train to Florence, rode bicycles to another agriturisimo for lunch & swim, and a few other places which I can't remember

I also did travel on my own to Siena, Lucca, and Pisa by train. They are all very lovely and I prefer them to Florence which is quite busy.