Florence Travel Answers

Well, as you know, Florence is indeed Tuscany - depending on where you are from, it is not like some major cities here in the USofA which all connect one with the other and blend seamlessly into one another in many places. As soon as you step outside of Florence, you will see country side. There are many day trips conviniently from Florence and you can easily google :"Day trips from Florence" to see which appeal to you. Personally, I highly enjoyed staying in Florence and it was my 2nd favorite city after Venice. You can do day trips to Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano all of which we loved and, getting there, you will see the country side, especially from Siena and San G. You're welcomed to look at some of my photography which I just updated on above mentioned. Also, as you travel by train between Florence and Rome you will pass countless miles of country side. Are you driving? If so, yes, it is relatively easy to travel around the country side. If by bus, a bit more difficult but also doable. Ed and I left Siena and just hopped on / off the bus and ended up in the middle of the country side enjoying a couple of hours worth knowing that eventually the bus would come back that way again as long as we were at the stop we had been dropped off at. Homer

Very true---Florence stops rather abruptly and there you are in the Tuscan countryside, but be aware that what direction you choose determines what sort of countryside you get. Southwards gets you that quintessential golden coffee table book landscape with vineyards and hilltowns, northwards takes you into the Appennine Mountains, which are heavily wooded and very beautiful, and Westward follows a river valley to Pisa, with small industrial towns along the way. Eastward I haven't done, so I can't comment.

Take a wonderful hotel room in Florence. We stopped at Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci (http://www.tornabuonihotels.com/), where our high-ceilinged and spacious room had a view of the Duomo’s dome. This is a great hotel. Its entrance is located several stories above ground level, giving the place a very private, almost secret, feeling. I love it here. If you are visiting in the mild weather (we were there for Christmas), take breakfast al fresco on the terraces. Italy in general has very good public transportation. We took day trips, from Florence, to Pisa and to Siena. The first by train and other by bus. We relaxed and left the driving to others. We could return to Florence at the end of the day to relax and have a fine meal. For a near-by village feeling, visit the town of Fiesole, in hills just above Florence. It is wonderful. Again, public transportation can easily get you there.

You can see all Florence and some countryside from the top of the Boboli Gardens. If you have only four days in Florence, you won't want to do more than two day trips because you want to see Florence. You can easily take the train to Pisa, usually a must-see for first timers. Then you can just as easily take a bus south into Chianti, the quintessential Tuscan countryside. Buses leave from just outside the train station so both bus and train are convenient. We stay in a small town south of Florence and park in Grassina for free and take the bus into Florence. It works out well for day trips. You could go from Florence to Siena, seeing much of Tuscany in the process, visit Siena and then bus back to Florence. Don't take the train to Siena because the train station is a bit far from the Old Town that you want to visit. That would cover a few major tourist must-see sights and give you two full days in Florence. These are easy day trips through beautiful country. Enjoy your trip.

Tuscany is well served by trains and buses if all you wish to do is travel from one city to another. Alas, the same cannot be said if you wish to explore the countryside. From Florence their are the SITA buses which run to the smaller villages such as Panzano, Greve-in-chianti and Castellina etc, but these are few and far between. I would seriously consider booking a small group tour as a way of seeing the the best bits without spending you day waiting at bus-stops. As mentioned by an earlier poster there is quite a selection of tours from Florence. Here are a couple of smaller tours to get your search started- http://www.slow-days.com/ http://www.visitingleonardo.com/

Thank you so much for your input. Your answers in this forum have been invaluable. VT is such a great help and thank you to all of you who make informed recomendations. What would we travelers do without you all!!

Just wander about I suppose. ;=)