Where to stay in Tuscany in November near Rome?
Question by Nadine: Where to stay in Tuscany in November near Rome?
My husband and I are planning an anniversary trip to Italy in November for 7 days. We’d like to visit Rome and somewhere in Tuscany. Any recommendations for a location in Tuscany fairly easy to get to from Rome?
Best answer:
Answer by conley39
Florence is extremely easy and has a lot of interesting things to see and do. There are frequent trains between the two cities – the high speed trains will get you there in 1 hr 40 min. Depending on exactly when you’re here in November, there’s a very good truffle festival in san Miniato that runs over 4 weekends. San Miniato is a small hill town between Florence and Pisa; it would be very easy to visit from a base in Florence. You can get to the station on the train from Florence and then there’s a shuttle bus up to the town (I just walk, but it’s a couple of kilometers).
Arezzo has a very nice old hill town – it’s on the line between Rome and Florence. Pisa/Lucca is another good possibility. You could also easily get to Siena on the bus or train.
You can find train prices and schedules here: http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html
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If you are renting a car and plan on exploring Tuscany more, I’d recommend where I stayed last year- Casale di Villore. It is a farm turned to vacation rental apartments. I stayed there for about a week and it was i *think* an hour drive from rome? It is in the town of Poggibonsi which is in between Florence and Sienna. There are some really cool old Hill towns around like San Gimignano. Unique shopping with great food too.
Rome is too big and full of interesting things to see to be visited in one or two day trips from Tuscany. If you want to visit Rome, I think you’d have to stay there at least 2-3 days. An idea might be staying 3-4 days in Rome and then 3-4 days somewhere in Tuscany. Or giving up Rome and visiting thorough Tuscany.
Florence is very well connected by regional trains with the other main Tuscan cities (Pisa, Siena, Lucca, Pistoia, Prato, Arezzo – besides Livorno, which is not especially beautiful). Staying in Florence would be the best to go around the area. If you have not so much time, I suggest not to miss Pisa and especially Siena.
From Rome, the best connections are with Florence and Arezzo on a side, and with Pisa and Livorno on the other side. There are no direct connections to Lucca, Pistoia and Siena.
Definitely San Gimignano for the Tuscan hilltop town experience.
look at tuscany.net for more information. another good site is initaly.com