Florence Travel Forum

Hi,

Do you recommend on taking organized tour to San Gimignano and Siena (like http://www.toursinitaly.net/tours/tourDetail.cfm?tour_id=7608) from Florence, or traveling there alone using train or bus?

Thanks,
Adam

probably the best way to see these two cities in one day as far as economy of time is to drive. by public transit, you will be on both trains and busses, without going into detail. therefore, if you do not have a rental car, a tour would be considerable easier and a more effective use of time.

we took a tour - it wasn't particularly expensive, and we then knew what we were looking at. Guide was English, probably a retired school mistress.

I'd prefer on my own and by bus.

I took a tour, we were a very small group and had a wonderful tour guide. I spent a wonderful day.

Do you remember the tour name, or how did you get to it?

I did the tour with this company:
http://www.italy.artviva.com/tours_category/14/Tuscany_Tours

I have details about it on my Florence page.I paid 120 Euro, which I first thought was very much, but it was worth every cent!

I'd looked at toursinitaly.net/tours.......
that tour goes also to Monteriggioni, nice. but they leave too late in the morning (9:00)
I would do it as I wrote here few days ago..
http://forum.virtualtourist.com/discussion-474365-1-1-Travel-0-0-Tuscany-discussion.html
Between San Gimignano and Siena no motorway in a area which is one of the best of Tuscany.

We used San Gimignano as our base for 10 days, staying right on San Giovanni Strada and, to be honest, I don't see the need for a tour guide in either city. Part of the fun of Italy is roaming the streets and shops, stopping for a gelato (of which San Gimi has an award winning gelateria in Piazza di Cisterna) and just moving along at an 'Italian pace'.

Taking a tour of the Duomo in Siena might be something you'd like if you'd like to find out more about the it. If you have a good guide book, you can get the nuts and bolts about each town and site.

Can you see both in the same day? Yes, but you'll only hit the highlights. San Gimi has great shopping, better than Firenze in my opinion, and all on San Giovanni. Great restaurants too (Don't miss Chiribiri and bring cash... no credit cards).

Siena is home to the Palio race in the Campo and you'll see small neighborhood areas called Contrada's that are the various sections that will race in the Palio. Pantera, Cicciolia, etc, etc. Look for the character in each area to find out which one you're in. The Duomo was also to be the largest in Italy but it never was completed. You'll see the other walls outside of it.

If you want to really enjoy them, take a day each.... if you want, you could do San Gimi and Volterra (known for it's alabaster) in the same day and just down the road from each other.