How to travel around Tuscany
Dear Friends,
We receive many mails from the blog’s following asking what the best way to know Tuscany is and mainly whether it is necessary to go around by car. That is why here I will give you the following information:
1- If your trip is only devoted to Florence and a day dedicated to Siena and San Gimignano you should avoid hiring a car. Florence is a relatively small town which must be known on foot. Besides, the access to cars in the historic heart is not permitted, therefore hiring a car to know Florence is unnecessary expense. Besides parking is another problem. As it is a town dating back to the 16th century, it is not logistically prepared with car parks and they are not enough. The rail and road communications to Siena and San Gimignano are excellent and buses leave hourly.
2- If you want to know the real Tuscany, its little villages and its ravishing countryside, it is essential to travel by car as it is the only way to reach the most enchanting off the beaten places where no public transport can take you.
As I always have, I hope this information is useful to prepare your trip.
Best wishes,
Giovanni
We just returned from the Tuscany area of Italy. I loved the countryside and stayed in Lastra a Signa at a villa. This is a happy medium, since you are only about 15 to 20 minutes from Florence by either car or train.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned, parking and driving in Florence can be less than relaxing so I enjoyed the train which only costs a couple of dollars to get there.
Having a car was great, however, since we explored those cities you mentioned (Sienna and San Gimignano) along with the Chianti country. You can even take day trips from here. 3 hours to Venice (tiring but doable if you are adventurous) and about 1 hour and 40 minutes to Rome if you take the fast train. It's expensive, but, hey, when are you going to get back there again?
I took over 500 pictures, but of course narrowed it down...to about seven favorites.
Susan