Tuscany Travel Forum

We are planning a stay in Tuscany and will not be renting a car. We will be traveling from Rome on the train. We want to know the best town to stay in that has easy access to a taxi from the hotel to the train and train to Florence/Pisa for day trips. Prefer not to use bus as we understand it can be difficult to use. Thanks so much in advance!

We usually drive, but when we're visiting a city, we nearly always take a bus from wherever we are renting. Don't discount the buses. They are inexpensive, clean, as on time as any trains and go right into the heart of the towns. You can also take the bus a lot of places trains don't go. The tickets are usually available at the tabac or news stand nearest the bus stop and often available at your hotel or on the bus. Ask at your hotel and they will give you all the information. If you choose a hotel at a bus stop, it's the easiest thing in the world to take the bus. They also run more often than the trains in many cases.

If you take the trains only, Siena would be a fairly central spot although I would prefer Florence. There's more to do there and the train connections for other sightseeing would be more convenient. The buses also leave from the central Florence train station so that would give you some more options. It's usually an easier walk from the Florence train station to many hotels than you may find in Siena. You can get little maps at http://www.viamichelin.com

Have you considered staying in Florence? It is the easiest place to use as a base to go on day trips to other places such as Lucca, Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano etc. plus there is so very much to see in Florence itself. Taxis won't be a problem in a city like Florence.

What you can do, is: Stay in Florence (you need at least two full days (or three). Try to book a hotel far and close to the centre: Far, less expensive, close, you only need a few minutes walking to the centre.

From Florence, there are trains to Pisa and Lucca (I visited both cities the same day. And for Siena an San Gimigano, it's beter the bus due to the train station in Siena is far from the centre.

The bus and railway stations in Florence are literally just a few meters apart (just cross the street) and at e few meters from the centre itself and one of the tourist office.

There are train from Florence to Pisa-Airport.

For info about everything, I recommend you to visit my pages (or the others, thery are excellent).

Santi

Hello If you can afford train tickets then plan to stay in Florence.
You can get Euro star tickets from 35 Euros to and train travel is 1:30 hrs.
Pisa is 1 hour by train from Florence and its cost you around 10 Euros return ticket. For more details you can visit my blog
Bye
meghana
http://traveller1234.blogspot.com

Don't ignore the bus trips. They are timely and clean and very easy to use. The bus from Florence to Siena is easier than the train. The bus to Lucca and Viareggio--a seaside town on the Italian Riviera are both convenient and easy to use and very reasonable.