9453 Holiday in Tuscany

I would suggest a stay in Lucca, good location, not overcrowded with tourists, beautifully walled city full of monuments and places of interest, Puccini's festival, centrally located train station with good links, charming cafes and restaurants.... It's got the lot....

What do you want to do? If you want 'culture' and to explore the back alleys of one of the larger towns (Florence, Pisa or Siena) then stay anywhere inside one of these cities - preferably a hotel with car-parking. It is so much nicer to mooch about Siena/Pisa when the coachtours have decamped to Poggibonsi for the night. Even a Holiday Inn if you are on a budget - just be as central as possible in my opinion, and explore on foot.

I think culture rather than sun worshiping, we can do that here.
Anna's been to this area but I've not

Stribs

Well sure it isn't about sun worshipping! Just try and work out what you want to do in the evening, and if it is your first trip to Tuscany and you are interested in looking at 'the monuments', and getting a real feel for Renaissance city living, then ignore the (very beautful) minor destinations like Lucca and go for the full immersion stuff offered by Siena or Florence. Neither of these cities is very large, so even if you are in a hotel 500m from the centro storico you can amble back after a good dinner on foot with no problems. But don't think you can do a 'drive past' in any of the cities you have mentioned - that is nightmare stuff. Just plant your roots, drop off the car, and wander about. That's my advice! These places were built for pedestrians (or maybe horse riders) and a car is an embarrassment.

Hi Stribs

Why not Arezzo, as you say you want to spend a few days in Tuscany.

It is equidistance between both Siena and Florence. Florence 40 mins. on the train and Siena a very easy 55 mins. drive. You also then are within easy reach of many other lovely hill towns, culture, wonderful food, Chianti, Montalcino and Montepulciano for wine and breath taking scenery

Arezzo itself, Etruscan, Roman and Medieval stuff all around but has the buzz of a busy, content with itself, city. Loads of art - Piero della Francesco, Vasari etc.

Also if you come the second week you could go to the Medieval Giostra (Joust) Arezzo's answer to Siena' s Palio.

Aretina

Arezzo is lovely but still I feel does not offer nearly as much as Lucca. The walk around the wooded wall which takes around an hour offers on one side views of the magnificent Tuscan countryside and on the other the actual very pretty small city. So different and special.

Good restaurants abound, pedestrian precinct in the centre, Tower Guinigi with it's unique trees on the top, [url=http://www.luccatourist.it/]Sito ufficiale APT Lucca - Homepage[/url], fewer tourists than Florence, Pisa and Siena. There is also Italy's fairly new National Museum Of Comics plus of course Puccini's house which is now a museum dedicated to the composer.

It all depends on how long you intend to stay and whether you'll have a car.

If you don't intend to drive, then Pisa, Lucca and Florence have easy rail connections between them. Siena's train station is quite inconvenient, so I've tended to use the coach. My recommendation would be to stay in the centre of Florence and make day trips to the other cities... or not! There's so much to see in Florence that you could easily spend a fortnight there without being bored. Well, I could anyway.

(As an economy tip: Tuscany's spa towns are overprovided with hotel accommodation, so you can often get real bargains. Montecatini Terme is on the rail line between Florence and Lucca, and is pleasant enough as a base.)

If you intend to have a car, you might consider taking some rural accommodation. It's what I've tended to do in recent years -- you can take a break between fighting the tourists in Florence and spend a day relaxing by the pool instead.:smile:

I love Montecatini Terme also. The public gardens in the centre area are so pretty. Here too is a link from an interesting website that was posted on another forum, to an hotel there - [url=http://www.grandhotelnizza.it/]:: GRAND HOTEL NIZZA - MONTECATINI TERME ::[/url]

Although Montecatini Terme is very well located, the beautiful part of the town is the upper, old area which is quite a distance from the lower area where the station is located. Also, it does not have a lot of atmosphere and I would recommend either Lucca or Florence for a Tuscany experience. I do not know Arezzo.... not as yet.

No the point Steve was making is that the hotels compared to Lucca ot Florence are less likely to be fully booked in the summer and has a very good rail link if I remember correctly. There are many fine "Liberty" buildings in the centre.

[quote=Sally Donaldson;88631]....The walk around the wooded wall which takes around an hour....[/quote]

Really? Are you on hands & knees or doing it backwards? :biggrin:

Well, I'd fall in with Steve, if you've a car then most places are reachable and with the Cinque Terre to the north, the beach & market of Forte dei Marmi, wonderful scenery & villages of the Mugello & all the other places in a Tuscan "must see" book, it almost doesn't matter where you are (but I'd go for Lucca :yes:)

[quote=tuscanhills;88659]Really? Are you on hands & knees or doing it backwards? :biggrin:

Well, I'd fall in with Steve, if you've a car then most places are reachable and with the Cinque Terre to the north, the beach & market of Forte dei Marmi, wonderful scenery & villages of the Mugello & all the other places in a Tuscan "must see" book, it almost doesn't matter where you are (but I'd go for Lucca :yes:)[/quote]

(Hey David, careful now or Juliancoll will be on at you again!!!. Just kidding)

Hi Gala Placidia

You still haven't got to Arezzo, that's a shame.:sad:

Far from making this into a 'Where's best in Tuscany' competition, Arezzo - as stated before is equidistance from Florence and Siena - the third point of the Tuscan 'Golden Triangle' - so perfectly placed to enjoy so much culture, art, the countryside and of course wonderful food and wines.

I rest my case for Arezzo with UNESCO's statement that within a two hour radius just to the south of Arezzo (near to the point where Hannibal slaughtered the Roman troops after devising a fantastic ambush) you can visit 20% of the world's heritage!:yes::yes::yes:

Rome, Florence, Siena, Perugia, Assisi, Orvieto, Arezzo, etc etc etc.

Where ever you choose to go Stribs, Have a wonderful trip.

Aretina

Sorry Aretina, Arezzo is on my "must see" list and I do intend to get to the antiques market one day in the very near future. I think that with all our advice we are getting Stribs confused. It is very difficult to tell people where to go as there are so many lovely places in Italy. And regarding train services, we always catch one at either Lucca or Pistoia whenever we want to go to Florence. It is the best way to go there as the railway station in Florence is at Santa Maria Novella and it is just a short walk to get to all the interesting places in Florence (and much better than driving and having to park the car). By the way, that train goes through Montecatini Terme and there is always a large contingent of tourists catching it, so I imagine that it must be because accommodation is cheaper. Anyway, if you have limited time only it is better to be at the most convenient place, even if you pay a bit more. By the way, a couple of interesting places to stay in Lucca

Piccolo Hotel Puccini, Via di Poggio 9, [url=http://www.hotelpuccini.com]Alberghi: Piccolo Hotel Puccini[/url]

Casa Alba, Via Fillungo 142, 2nd floor, [url=http://www.casa-alba.com]Casa Alba - Camere - Rooms - Zimmer - Chambres - Lucca Italy[/url]

Both very well located within the walls, but with a small number of rooms, only. So early booking is essential.

Apologies. I was thinking of Sansepolcro which is vabout 20km from Arezzo and very lovely but also very small. Arezzo is much bigger. When I first went to Italy as an adult in 2001, my friend and I stopped off there on our way to France from Rome. We had dinner in a really beautiful old square.

ps Still prefer Lucca!!!

For me, for a first few days in Tuscany, any of the above will do.
We've been going to Tuscany for fifteen years, and still find something new every time, as well as doing the things we've always done.
I guess for a first timer I'd suggest Florence, but only for two or three days at a time, otherwise heritage fatigue sets in and you get into a tick list frame of mind.

I would recommend Viareggio which has beautiful beaches and a long relaxing promenade.
If a bit of culture is required hop on the bus to Lucca or train to Florence.
There is always a boat trip to the Cinque Terre, again very worthwhile.

We have stayed at the Grand Hotel Excelsior on a number of occasions, a bit old fashioned and still family run I believe but nice.

JaB

[quote=Stribs;88615]Hi All
We are thinking a spending a few days in Tuscany in June, in the Pisa/Florence/Siena region.
Has anyone got any recommendations on areas to stay/hotels?
Any help gratefully received.

Stribs[/quote]

venere.com is a pretty good site for hotels.

Pisa[the main attractions] and lucca could be done in a day,and don't forget to go up to the roof garden [forgot which church] in lucca for a gretr view.

Florence is a day to do most of the sites and siena half a day..sort off.

So with a 3 to 4 day stay,you could take in alot of culture and sightseeing,and don't forget volterra or san g.. whatever its called.

we did siena, volterra, and the place with towers in a day.OK a bit of a rush but not impossible and there all well worth seeing.

Have a good time wherever you decide to go.....

Unless you really want to stay in Florence I would recommend staying at an agritourismo away from the heat.
To my mind it's pretty expensive in the cities and much better value elsewhere.

If I'm allowed to recommend we stayed near Vinci alot before we bought our apartment and the link

[url=http://www.agriturismocolombaia.it/eng.htm]english[/url]

is an ideal base for most places. You can drive to Lucca or Sienna and Empoli has the station for Florence & Pisa. the apartments are much larger than hotel rooms and there is a pool to cool off. I love the cities but it is good to get away from them aswell.

Maybe you have to decide what you can fit in to a few days eg countryside, beach, heritage. We have visited Tuscany several times and think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world. :smile:

I would make the following suggestions for just a few days:

Stay one night in Pisa, you can see the heritage sites in a day. Try [url=http://www.venere.com]Hotel reservations - Hotels venere.com[/url] for hotels, we have got good prices right in the centre of Pisa and on the doorstep of the heritage sites.

Drive to just outside Siena - Castelnuovo Berardenga - 100 miles - 2 hrs drive. There is one of the loveliest hotels we have ever stayed at - Villa Curina -[url=http://www.villacurina.it]Ville resort bed breakfast b&b Siena e dintorni Chianti ville resort Chianti Siena Bed Breakfast B&B[/url]. You are 12 miles from Siena, 50 miles from Florence and the whole of the beautiful countryside of Chiantishire is on your doorstep. This hotel is not cheap but neither is it extortionate. I think they still have a weekend special offer on. It is right in the countryside though, about 3ks to nearest village.

I have to disagree with some others posting here - we have visited Lucca a couple of times and were disappointed. We didn't like it half as much as Pisa and Siena. I cannot speak about Florence as we are visiting there for the first time ourselves this year - we have always thought that there is so much to see that we couldn't see even the major heritage sites in less than 5 days.

Whatever you decide to do, have a great holiday.

Regards. Aurelia

Just as a followup
We have just come back from a few days in Tuscany.
We finished up staying in Montecatina Terme at the Hotel Cappelli (Best Western).
Went to Lucca for a half day, very impressed, not too much walking as it was one of the first days after all the rain we've had so had to get used to the heat again.
Most of the time was spent in Montecatina and its sister up the hill, we needed to chill out for a few days so Pisa, Florence etc will have to wait.

I'm not trying to advertise but the hotel was central to everything, very clean, good food and there was a nice little bar/restaurent next door (seperate owner).

A very enjoyable few days

Stribs