Florence and surrounding area - adults only

[rookiemere]

I'm hoping to get some flights to Florence using airmiles and companion ticket for next June for DH and I.
We'll hopefully go for a week in June, DS will be 17 so will stay at home.
DH isn't particularly keen on cities so thought we'd maybe spend a couple of days in Florence then head out to Tuscany. Wondering if it's possible to build up an itinerary without hiring a car - any smaller towns or villages we could base ourselves in that we can get the train to? Or indeed any thoughts on an itinerary.

We aren't particularly good in the heat, so I was hoping start of June would be ok - we can cope with about mid twenties.

Sorry, we are going end of September!

Florence is an amazing city - you can walk for miles and just take everything in. We spent a lovely day heading over the river, up the hill the other side (amazing view of sunset over the city from there), exploring the less touristy squares and streets on that side of the river too. We also took the bus to Fiesole - well worth it. The ruins were really interesting, and the views were fab.

Other places to go...
Lucca and Sienna definitely, and then some of the Tuscan villages if you can get to them - San Gimignano (sp??), Chianti, Montepulciano... there are loads. We had a car (although we took a train to Lucca) so I don't know how well served some of these are. We went to other smaller places too, but in a week, I'd stick with the tried and tested.
We also did an amazing afternoon on a vineyard, with a wine tasting/pairing. That was a top afternoon (we didn't drive that day!)

I wouldn't bother with Pisa. I know it's famous, and all that, but the other places are so much nicer so I'd focus on them.

It's a totally beautiful part of the world - we loved it!

I’d definitely recommend Lucca as a base then having day trips to all the places recommended above. My family live in Lucca so we’ve been there lots and it’s pretty laid back and you can easily fill a few days just wandering down the back streets and getting lost. Climbing the Guinigi Tower and hiring bikes to cycle round the walls are worth doing.

I don’t think anyone has mentioned Viaregio. It’s a coastal resort and it’s worth a day trip if the heat gets too much!

We spent a few days at Viaregio on our trip. It was great as part of a 2 week holiday, but if you've only got a week I'd focus inland. Also if you do go in Sept, lots of the beaches might be closed anyway (as they were when we went).

So jealous of your trip! We spent our honeymoon in Tuscany and loved all of it! We did Sienna, hen stayed in the most wonderful boutique hotel/villa in the countryside - Fontelunga, do the cooking course if you go! And the last 2 nights in beautiful Lucca.

All amazing!
Have a great time x

@ReviewingTheSituation I'm not set on September- I'd rather go June as it's better timing for us, so a break with coastal might work.

Thank you @Geranium1984 - we're not going until 2023 -but I hope it will be a good trip.

Our holidays for the last 16 years have been based around what works for DS so it's odd to be planning for ourselves.

If you want the equivalent of a spa weekend that part of Italy has lots of ‘terme’s- hot springs with hotels and lots of facilities. When staying near Siena we used to go to Rapolano Terme many years ago - hotel and outdoor thermal swimming pools and spa facilities too. I expect there are more facilities now. There are a few termes between Siena and Arezzo- with train stations in the small towns too

Here I looked it up - looks fantastic now (I went in the 1990s!)

www.termesangiovanni.it/en/thermal-pools

That looks amazing @youllneedthisfish

If you’re based in Lucca there’s also a thermal spa in San Giuliano Terme ( on the Lucca-Pisa train line) and one in Monsummano Terme with a thermal underground cave & outdoor thermal pool (train to Montecatini then bus/taxi).

Viareggio is the most convenient beach resort. Some of the private beaches that hire out the loungers/parasols will close off season but plenty will still be open in September and you can get to the sand itself year round. You can take a boat tour or train from Viareggio to Cinque Terre which are busy but stunning. The coastline below Livorno is beautiful but further and you mostly need a car although there is a train line (eg to Castiglioncello).

Barga and Bagni di Lucca in the mountains are also a quick train ride from Lucca for cooler temperatures and beautiful but different scenery and food.

If you’re more adventurous then the jeep tours of the marble quarries in Carrara are supposed to be amazing, you get really spectacular views of the landscape and the coast.

I promise to shut up now!

@LeeMiller these are wonderful ideas - thank you !
So many great suggestions and I do love the idea of a trip to thermal baths.

Sienna is my favourite place in all of Italy. Read up about the animal fountains and try and find them.

San Gimignano is pretty, but very touristy. The ice creams there are divine though.

Certaldo Alto is so pretty, remote and much quieter.

We hired a farm house a car and explored the area for 2 weeks. It was wonderful.

We just came back from Tuscany and didnt hire a care. We went to Lucca, Siena, Florence, and Montepulciano and got to all of them by train and in Montepulciano we needed a couple of taxi rides to and from the station since it's a ten min drive away and to and from a couple of vineyards. It was very easy and we ended up having a taxi driver on WhatsApp! If you want a small beautiful town and particularly if you like wine, and even if you don't, I would definitely recommend Montepulciano.

Don't stay in Cinque terre it's beautiful and is great to look at from a boat but it's horribly crowded. We went to Florence just before the pandemic. We got up early and that helped avoid crowds and also the heat. We just visited places that weren't the main attractions.

@LondonladyTTC did you base yourself somewhere or stay at the different places?

@rookiemere we stayed at those 4 different places as wanted to experience eating out and night time wherever we were, and have a variety of hotels. We did consider hiring a car just for the day in Siena and going to a few neighbouring villages but in the end had enough to do there. Although it not feeling like a big city, and it being quite charming, Siena was absolutely packed with tourists but we were there on Easter weekend (wanted to flag since you're DH doesn't like cities!) you could defintely take a day trip to Lucca from a Florence instead of staying over