Please help me pick a day trip in the Florence / Tuscany region | Italy - Lonely Planet Forum

ONLINE

Tue, 02 May 2017 16:41:03 +0000

Hello, my s/o and I are trying to select a day trip in the Tuscany region. We're stationed in Florence, and we'd like to dedicate a full day to a day-trip. She has been poking around and found several options. Apparently these are ~11 hour long tours that take you around and stop at 4 different locations. All three of them afound stop in Siena, San Gimignano, and a winery, and two of them also stop in Monteriggioni. They're all priced around $60. I guess another option would be taking our own buses to different places, but I have a feeling that might be trickier with no real benefit. Neither of us have any desire to drive in Italy - seems like traffic laws / signs / patterns are hectic and different enough just to avoid it.

These are the tours we found (fyi these links don't display the proper info on mobile:)

https://www.viator.com/tours/Florence/Siena-and-San-Gimignano-Day-Trip-from-Florence/d519-24283GROUP/important-info

https://www.viator.com/tours/Florence/Full-Day-Tuscan-Countryside-Tour-from-Florence/d519-5919P49/important-info

https://www.viator.com/tours/Florence/Siena-San-Gimignano-Monteriggioni-and-Chianti-Wine-Tasting-Tour-from-Florence/d519-6367P15/important-info

Are we thinking properly about a day trip - is a guided tour the best bet? If not, what would you advise? If so, is this the tour company to use?

Are we hitting the right places? If not, what would you recommend instead? My only real condition is that I'm able to visit at least one nice winery - I really love dry full bodied reds (my g/f doesn't drink at all so I'm not looking to make a day of winery visits though.)

I can provide additional information if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

ONLINE

Tue, 02 May 2017 18:15:13 +0000

Whilst they would be not my cup of tea, they are probably good for what you want. Especially if you want a trip to winery. Personally I would just pick one town, and explore and head to a couple of wine bars where you can pick your wines, not just the ones from the vineyard you visit. Siena is good full day, or my favourite would be Lucca. Siena by bus, Lucca by train. San Gim is beautiful if not a bit too crowded in the day time and much more atmospheric in the evening.

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ONLINE

Tue, 02 May 2017 18:48:40 +0000

Tend to agree with richiavo. If you've time for a spare half day trip by train, consider Arezzo, about an hour away.

However, I always wonder why people want to visit a winery. They all look more or less the same - the vines are out in the fields, and there's some shiny equipment that helps turn grapes to wine. Its the same in Italy, California, all over Australia etc etc. Just look out for an enoteca - there's probably one a few streets away from your hotel. If the owner is any good - and most are - they'll be able to tell you about the local wines, where they were grown, where they were processed, and what gives them their distinctive flavour - the grape type, the soil and so on. They'll probably offer a sample, or 2, or 3 if you're lucky, after which it's only polite to buy a bottle , or even ask if they can ship a case home, but you won't get the product of one vineyard, you'll be able to compare several. Unless you're a fan of shiny equipment, it's much more fun comparing grapes from the north slopes of vineyard A with those from the south slopes of vineyard B. Salute.
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ONLINE

Tue, 02 May 2017 19:44:05 +0000

I'd pretty much agree with above.

If you want to see a vineyard,and don't want to drive,then this kind of tour is an option.

Personally I'd do exactly the same as suggested above..choose the most interesting place for a day trip (For me Lucca,though the others are fine too,go there by public transport and find a nice enoteca to try wines in.A lot cheaper than a tour,more enjoyable too.....

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Thu, 03 May 2018 01:00:51 +0000

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