Tuscany - help me plan holiday around wedding

[itsjustmeanon]

I'll be 16 weeks pregnant. It'll be me and husband. It's our first child. We have a wedding at the start of September.

We're making it a weeks holiday, as we can only afford one foreign holiday a year, and decided to tie it in with wedding. I want to be comfy, and not too busy, as the pregnancy to date has been horrid (sickness, tired, not sleeping at night). I also need it to be cheap.

Decided not to stay in the hotel the wedding is taking place, as too expensive. I'd prefer to just join family for the wedding day.

We're flying out to Pisa on Tuesday, so will be looking to book a hotel in Pisa for the first night. We'd like to travel to Florence on the Wednesday (by train), but would consider possibly having the two nights in Pisa, and travelling to Florence on the Thursday.

We're looking for a quiet hotel in Florence, or outskirts of Florence. If outskirts it needs to be near L'Opaco (wedding venue).

We plan on getting taxis to wedding venue on the Saturday.

After the wedding on the Saturday, we thought we might change hotels. Possibly somewhere near San Gimignano, but we're quite flexible. The flight home on Tuesday is not till 9pm, so we don't need to be in Pisa the night before flight.

After flights, our spending money for the week will be £1,000 between us, with this having to cover accommodation, taxis and trains.

Any suggestions welcome. I suspect I'll be tired, and not wanting to do too much!

Thanks in advance,

xx

A week in Tuscany - I'm very jealous! Also by then, you should be feeling better.

The train from Pisa to Florence is very easy and takes about an hour. It does go from Pisa Airport directly to the centre of Florence if you arrive at a reasonable hour. You can't book tickets in advance for the train, buy them in the airport. Pisa is worth a day, mainly to see the Leaning Tower.

Florence will be quite hot in September and it will be busy, because it always is. I would recommend booking tickets in advance online if you are going to any of the big museums like the Uffizzi or the Accademia as you can then bypass most of the queues.

The centre of Florence is quite compact is it is lovely to wander around. Many of the cafes are quite reasonably priced for such a touristy area.

San Gimignano is amazing and very romantic but not that easy to get to from Florence. You might need two trains and a bus.

I have a soft spot for Viareggio on the Tuscan coast north of Pisa. It's not bursting with historical monuments, but it can be lovely to be by the sea after a few dusty days in the city.

For flights, we have always used Easyjet or Ryanair and not had any problems but to keep costs down, take carry on baggage. For hotels, try Booking.com as they seem to offer a wide range of prices.

I hope you have a lovely time.

We have stayed at the Residenza Johlea in Florence, which is very nice - see here.

I have just come back from a gorgeous but very hot week in Florence. We got Ryanair cheap flights from
Stansted to Pisa. We got the terra vision bus outside the airport to Florence which is only 5 euros each way per person, air conditioned and speedy. You can book online or go on the next bus when you arrive assuming there is room. We stayed in this fab hotel Mulino Di Fireze just outside Florence - free shuttles in and out during the day and gorgeous rooms, restaurant and swimming pool. Eat lots of yummy ice team to stay cool. Leaning tower of Pisa also worth a visit for an hour or so

Do squeeze in a trip to Siena. My favourite place in Tuscany by far.

Agree, I love Siena, but not so keen on Florence because it's v congested. Tbh I wouldn't bother with 2 nights in Pisa, there's not a huge amount there, and would go to Siena instead.

Have a wonderful time.

Thanks all.

We're just having the first night in Pisa, as we don't arrive till 9.20pm. It doesn't sound like theres much there, apart from leaning tower.

We've decided to have the next six nights at a nice hotel, outside Florence. I've been so tired with pregnancy and work, we just want to chill with lots of books. I'd love to visit Siena and Lucca, but suspect I'd be happier relaxing. We have a budget of about £500 for b and b accommodation for these six nights. We loved the Mulino Di Fireze but outside our budget.

I like the idea of being outside of Florence, and able to get a shuttle bus in.

Thanks for all the ideas.

One night in Pisa should suffice. The buses round Florence are good, and you can use them to get to Fiesole, Siena etc.
I stayed at "Hotel River" some years ago - comes up as 1000 euros for 7 nights in Sept. It's enough away from the town centre to be quiet, yet close enough to walk there and walk/ get bus back, and some excellent non-touristy restaurants nearby. Across the river there's lots of green places to relax, too.

Hotel River looks fab. As we are staying in one place, I wanted a swimming pool for DH. He likes a swim in the afternoon, and I can read my books.

We're usually more active on holiday, but decided I just want to relax on this one. It'll be our first holiday with me pregnant. Really struggling to find somewhere. All the hotels I like are either too expensive or fully booked. I have champagne tastes with a beer budget.

yy to outside Florence. We stayed in a villa on top of a hill about 10 miles from Florence a few years ago and it was fab to be in the relative cool of the mountains but then drive down to town for dinner.

Thank you mumblechum1.

My husband and I won't have a car, which means if we're in the hills, we'll be rather stuck, except for taxis.

We've not booked yet, as I need husband's opinion (he gets cross if I do these things on my own), but I have found somewhere.

It looks beautiful, with a swimming pool and gardens. It's on the outskirts of Florence, but in an area, where we can walk for ice creams and restaurants. We can also get buses and trains to Florence centre and Siena. It costs £450 for the five nights, and taxis to and from wedding venue will be £80.

The downside is distance from wedding venue, but it does mean that we'll only be expected to attend the wedding, and not spend too much time with family day before etc!

It's not that I don't get on with family, but we prefer our holidays to just be the two of us (and this year bump)!

Just need to get my husband to agree to book it this evening.

£450 for the six nights even!