10 days in Tuscany
Discussion
As in the title, I'm going to Tuscany for 10 days at the end of August with my girlfriend. The plan is to book a few different hotels and hire a car so we can see as much of the area as possible. Now I've never been to Italy before and apart from the obvious places (Pisa, Florence and possible Rome) I don't know too much about the area, though I do have visions of drinking lots of red wine in secluded restaurants with stunning views of never ending vineyards 
Really I was just wondering if there is anyone on here who has spent a bit of time in the area and give me some ideas of things to do / see or recommend any good restaurants or hotels.
We both want to spend a bit of time seeing the sights but also spend a few days relaxing outside of the cities.
We're budgeting around £100 per night for accommodation and will probably have a similar amount to spend each day (after petrol) so while I know we won't live in absolute luxury we are hoping for a little comfort and indulgence.
Really I was just wondering if there is anyone on here who has spent a bit of time in the area and give me some ideas of things to do / see or recommend any good restaurants or hotels.
We both want to spend a bit of time seeing the sights but also spend a few days relaxing outside of the cities.
We're budgeting around £100 per night for accommodation and will probably have a similar amount to spend each day (after petrol) so while I know we won't live in absolute luxury we are hoping for a little comfort and indulgence.
We're flying into Pisa on the 17th so will just miss out on that unfortunately.
Siena is one place that I'd already picked out as a point of interest and we had been thinking of using it as a base for a couple of days. in terms of driving around the countryside, is it quite easy to find nice places to stop and eat or are we better off sticking to the bigger towns?
Siena is one place that I'd already picked out as a point of interest and we had been thinking of using it as a base for a couple of days. in terms of driving around the countryside, is it quite easy to find nice places to stop and eat or are we better off sticking to the bigger towns?
In August you'll probably be fine for finding places to eat but maybe book your hotels in advance as the whole of Europe pretty much goes on holiday (Italy will be heaving with Germans).
Siena (climb the tower), San Gimignano, Lucca, Volterra are all ok. If you go to Florence, go by train as driving is a nightmare. Same with Pisa (if you're based in Siena for a few days you can take the train to both, trains are pretty decent and reasonably priced) http://www.trenitalia.com
Over on the coast, I like Castiglioncello.
It's hard to go wrong in Tuscany really, there's plenty to do and see.
Siena (climb the tower), San Gimignano, Lucca, Volterra are all ok. If you go to Florence, go by train as driving is a nightmare. Same with Pisa (if you're based in Siena for a few days you can take the train to both, trains are pretty decent and reasonably priced) http://www.trenitalia.com
Over on the coast, I like Castiglioncello.
It's hard to go wrong in Tuscany really, there's plenty to do and see.
from Pisa to Siena I'd go via Volterra (night stop+visit), then to Massa Marittima, (which is a gem, night stop & visit) a great driving road. From Massa to Siena via San Galgano (visit): another great driving road.
Close to Siena the Chianti area is a must: just wander around Radda, Gaiole, Castellina and enjoy the area (although more expensive).
I'd forget hotels and look for agriturismi or b&b: Tuscany is plenty with, mostly nicer and cheaper.
Have a nice holiday.
Close to Siena the Chianti area is a must: just wander around Radda, Gaiole, Castellina and enjoy the area (although more expensive).
I'd forget hotels and look for agriturismi or b&b: Tuscany is plenty with, mostly nicer and cheaper.
Have a nice holiday.
Some great advice, thanks guys. So far it's sounding like it will live up to my expectations and I'm really looking forward to it. Any advice on how to find the smaller B&B's? That's the kind of thing I'd like to do but looking on Google it tends to show the well optimised, bigger hotels. I've found a few on the Lonely Planet website but any tips would be great
Thanks for all the advice so far. It's helped us to put a planned route together.
Going to stay one night in Pisa then head straight down to Massa Maritima for a couple of nights with the hope of hitting the coast for a bit during the drive down. We'll then spend a day ambling over to Montepulciano via San Galgano where we will stay for another two nights with the intention of doing as little as possible. After that we'll try to find somewhere quite central between in Siena and Florence in the Chianti region for four nights to give us a chance to explore the two cities a bit and also enjoy some rural living before heading back home.
I have to say that every place that's been recommended we were tempted by but as we didn't want to be packing and unpacking every day we decided to try and avoid moving on every day.
Just spending this week booking up our hotels, the agritursmi toscana Google tip has really given us a whole world of choice!
Going to stay one night in Pisa then head straight down to Massa Maritima for a couple of nights with the hope of hitting the coast for a bit during the drive down. We'll then spend a day ambling over to Montepulciano via San Galgano where we will stay for another two nights with the intention of doing as little as possible. After that we'll try to find somewhere quite central between in Siena and Florence in the Chianti region for four nights to give us a chance to explore the two cities a bit and also enjoy some rural living before heading back home.
I have to say that every place that's been recommended we were tempted by but as we didn't want to be packing and unpacking every day we decided to try and avoid moving on every day.
Just spending this week booking up our hotels, the agritursmi toscana Google tip has really given us a whole world of choice!
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