Post or Pre Cruise Tuscanny and Venice

[woods5986]

Just booked RCCL Jewel for Sept and want to see Tuscanny and Venice too. We are embarking in Rome so we will spend some time pre cruise there anyway - but should we do Tuscanny and Venice before we board or at the end... 9 day cruise..

 

Thanks

 

Barb

[Hlitner]

You are comparing a city to a region! Two totally different things. Should you find the time to visit both Venice and Tuscany? Absolutely! If you can spare at least a week, we could help you plan an itinerary. Otherwise you really need to consider the logistics and geography. With a week (or more) you could rent a car after your cruise and start driving towards Venice. Your route can take you through a good part of Tuscany where you could spend a few days (or more). Eventually you would make your way to Venice....drop the car....spend maybe 2 days in Venice...and then get a flight home right from Venice's Marco Polo airport. That is one scenario.

 

If you do want to simply go to Venice (before or after your cruise) it can be done by driving or using the train. But you are talking about at least 3 1/2 hours each way (between Rome and Venice) plus the additional time to get to the station in Rome. Venice can easily be toured on your own...and a multi-day Vaporetto Pass will take you around Venice and to any of the islands in the Lagoon. As to Tuscany, much of the region is somewhat rural so having a car (or taking a tour) is the only way to really appreciate the region. Trains and public transit are not a good way to explore Tuscany although you certainly can use the train to get to a major city such as Florence.

 

Hank

[N 2 Sun]

I think the choice of before or after is really whichever works best for your own schedule.

 

Hlitner has some great suggestions.

 

Another option for your consideration would be:

 

- take the high speed train from Rome to Florence (apx 2 hours)

- explore and enjoy Florence

- take a day trip by train to San Gimignano (the train actually goes to the small town of Poggibonsi, from there it is a 6 mile/ ten minute taxi ride up the hill to San Gimi)

- take the high speed train from Florence to Venice (apx 2 hours)

 

Once in Florence there are several tour companies offering day trips through Tuscany so this is another option.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[maryann ns]

I totally agree with Hlitner. If you have time and really want to see some of Tuscany should should rent a car. You can drive from there to Venice or you could return the car in Florence and take the train to Venice. For Venice I would not bother going if you don't have at least two full days there. For Tuscany I have been three times and still not seen it all, let along had enough time to savour it ambiance.

[Hlitner]

Thought I would expand on my rental car recommendation for Tuscany. Many tourists, who are on a very tight schedule, will only have time to go to Florence...or perhaps Florence and Siena. Our first few trips to Tuscany, where as cruise ship passengers. So we did the usual Florence and Pisa tours. After a few trips we rented a car at the port (Livorno) and drove ourselves to San Gimignano and Volterra (love these towns). When we finally started taking extended land trips (always with a rental car) in Italy we expanded our travel within Tuscany and started driving to smaller towns like Cole Val d'Elsa, Monterrigioni, the S222 wine road between Florence and Siena, etc. We started to realize that much of the charm of Tuscany lies in its smaller villages and rural areas. You cannot experience this part of Tuscany on trains....but must have a car (or a decent tour).

 

The reality of cruising in Europe is that being limited to port days is, indeed, a huge limitation. We still love cruising in Europe....but also love (even more) our extended European driving trips. After nearly fifty years of extensive international travel we think that our ideal vacation is a combination of cruising and land time. Those that limit themselves to European cruises will have to settle for missing an awful lot of Europe. And those that never take a European cruise will also miss out on all that makes cruising a very special way to travel. And, of course, there are also the River Cruises which is a topic unto itself.

 

Hank

[Mickey22]

Thought I would expand on my rental car recommendation for Tuscany. Many tourists, who are on a very tight schedule, will only have time to go to Florence...or perhaps Florence and Siena. Our first few trips to Tuscany, where as cruise ship passengers. So we did the usual Florence and Pisa tours. After a few trips we rented a car at the port (Livorno) and drove ourselves to San Gimignano and Volterra (love these towns). When we finally started taking extended land trips (always with a rental car) in Italy we expanded our travel within Tuscany and started driving to smaller towns like Cole Val d'Elsa, Monterrigioni, the S222 wine road between Florence and Siena, etc. We started to realize that much of the charm of Tuscany lies in its smaller villages and rural areas. You cannot experience this part of Tuscany on trains....but must have a car (or a decent tour).

 

The reality of cruising in Europe is that being limited to port days is, indeed, a huge limitation. We still love cruising in Europe....but also love (even more) our extended European driving trips. After nearly fifty years of extensive international travel we think that our ideal vacation is a combination of cruising and land time. Those that limit themselves to European cruises will have to settle for missing an awful lot of Europe. And those that never take a European cruise will also miss out on all that makes cruising a very special way to travel. And, of course, there are also the River Cruises which is a topic unto itself.

 

Hank

 

Hank,

 

We too, are going to rent a car between cruises (from Civitavecchia) and drive to Florence where we will be staying for 8 days. The plan is to take some driving trips to other towns. Originally I had wanted to drive to Pisa for the tower and then stop for the afternoon in Lucca before the return drive. I just found out there is a large comic convention in Lucca during this time period (late October, early November). Can you suggest any other places to stop between Pisa and Florence? We hope to do Volterra and San Gimignano on another day.

 

Thanks

 

Jane

[Hlitner]

Hank,

 

We too, are going to rent a car between cruises (from Civitavecchia) and drive to Florence where we will be staying for 8 days. The plan is to take some driving trips to other towns. Originally I had wanted to drive to Pisa for the tower and then stop for the afternoon in Lucca before the return drive. I just found out there is a large comic convention in Lucca during this time period (late October, early November). Can you suggest any other places to stop between Pisa and Florence? We hope to do Volterra and San Gimignano on another day.

 

Thanks

 

 

Jane

 

In that area west of Florence (between Pisa/Lucca and Florence) there is not a lot of special places..although we simply enjoy the terrain. But there is town called Montecatini Terme which does have its charms. We have never really explored that village...but it looked cute when we drove through on our way to other places. I did mention the S222 road (some call it the wine road) and I would again mention it because this is an area really worth a few hours. There are quite a few small villages, small wineries (they mostly grow Sangiovese grapes which is the primary grape in Chianti) and a few other varieties for blending. And one should also spend a few hours in Siena, which does have a very large and interesting main plaza.

 

As to the large group in Lucca, with a car we would probably go there anyway :). There is usually not a pre walls and having more folks walking around town should just help make it more festive. We have never had a problem finding parking just outside the walls.

 

 

Hank

[ljandgb]

I just got back from Tuscany, and stayed in Montecatini. It is a nice little town, but if you go, take the time to go up to Montecatini Alto, the small hamlet on the hill above it. It's adorable. Sam Gimignano was actually my favorite place. I would love to spend time there and use it as a home base.

[Hlitner]

I just got back from Tuscany, and stayed in Montecatini. It is a nice little town, but if you go, take the time to go up to Montecatini Alto, the small hamlet on the hill above it. It's adorable. Sam Gimignano was actually my favorite place. I would love to spend time there and use it as a home base.

 

We once spend 4 nights at the Villa San Paolo, which is about 3 miles outside of San Gimignano. It was one of the most memorable hotel stays we have ever had in Europe. The Hotel is decent (not outstanding) but they have a very well maintained outside area including a nice pool. We would sit at the pool in late afternoon and see the Towers of San Gimignano in the distance. We had originally looked for a place to stay within the town, but we wanted a hotel with better facilities which led us to just outside of the city.

 

One evening we had a late dinner in San Gimignano and had to walk through the town to get to our car (parked by the main gate. As we walked down the main street (where everyone walks during the daytime) we were the only people. There was nobody within site...and it was very quiet (around 11:00pm) The lights played with the shadows and entire scene was truly surreal. It was one of those very special romantic moments and DW remarked that the view would have been similar a thousand years ago. Over 25 years later this is still one of our fondest travel memories.

 

Hank