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3 nights in Tuscany region Pre-cruise where to stay?


Mc2nicho
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Hi- my husband, 19 yo daughter and myself are going on NCL Jade on 7/11 and want to stay in the Tuscany region for 3 nights prior to the cruise.  I am at a loss as to where to stay and would welcome any comments if anyone has ever done this.  Last time we did a cruise out of Civvi we spent our days pre cruise in Rome and this time decided to go into the Tuscany region - one day will definitely be spent doing winery tours and the rest of the time we haven't really nailed down.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts/comments!!

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1 hour ago, Mc2nicho said:

Hi- my husband, 19 yo daughter and myself are going on NCL Jade on 7/11 and want to stay in the Tuscany region for 3 nights prior to the cruise.  I am at a loss as to where to stay and would welcome any comments if anyone has ever done this.  Last time we did a cruise out of Civvi we spent our days pre cruise in Rome and this time decided to go into the Tuscany region - one day will definitely be spent doing winery tours and the rest of the time we haven't really nailed down.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts/comments!!

Tuscany is a large region that stretches about 9000 miles from the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Tuscany hold a magnificent repository of art from Etruscan to Renaissance and is also noted for its wine.  If you have not been, I would lean very heavily in favor or Florence - it is magnificent!

Siena, Chianti, Lucca  .... on and on, the choices are endless and the countryside is gorgeous. Still, if I had only 3 days, I would stay in Florence.

 

 

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1 hour ago, gnome12 said:

I think you have a typo in your distance.

:classic_smile:

Thank you. Poorly worded - I should have stated that the Tuscan region covers approximately 9000 square miles

Edited by dogs4fun
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3 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Tuscany is a large region that stretches about 9000 miles from the Apennines to the Tyrrhenian Sea. Tuscany hold a magnificent repository of art from Etruscan to Renaissance and is also noted for its wine.  If you have not been, I would lean very heavily in favor or Florence - it is magnificent!

Siena, Chianti, Lucca  .... on and on, the choices are endless and the countryside is gorgeous. Still, if I had only 3 days, I would stay in Florence.

 

 

thank you dogs4fun I appreciate the info!  We have only been once before and it was a day port stop on a cruise about 3 years ago.  This time we wanted to spend some additional time exploring the area.  As mentioned one day we would definitely like to do some wineries, but will do other exploring the remaining days.  Just trying to find a good spot to stay that would be good to get around from.  I ill look into Florence.  I had read about staying in the Chianti Fiorentino region but it seems difficult navigating for a good spot.  Thanks again!

 

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I'll second Florence.  It is easy to navigate, has a nice train station, and you can easily spend a day in Pisa/Lucca without worrying about getting back to the ship on time.  We also did a really nice tour of the Chianti area, including my all time favorite stop, San Bagnoregio.  

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Thank you ljandgb I appreciate the info.  Do you mind if I ask if you had a car or were you able to get to do/see things you wanted from Florence with train, etc?  (I'll also make note of your favorite stop to make sure we put it on our list!!)

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8 minutes ago, ljandgb said:

I'll second Florence.  It is easy to navigate, has a nice train station, and you can easily spend a day in Pisa/Lucca without worrying about getting back to the ship on time.  We also did a really nice tour of the Chianti area, including my all time favorite stop, San Bagnoregio.  

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Thank you ljandgb I appreciate the info.  Do you mind if I ask if you had a car or were you able to get to do/see things you wanted from Florence with train, etc?  (I'll also make note of your favorite stop to make sure we put it on our list!!)

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16 minutes ago, Mc2nicho said:
  • Do you mind if I ask if you had a car or were you able to get to do/see things you wanted from Florence with train, etc?  

If you plan on renting a car, you need to be aware of the ZTL zones in Florence. Failure to heed the zones can amount to a hefty bill if you rent a car (fines will be added to your bill).

Info here: https://www.visitflorence.com/tourist-info/driving-in-florence-ztl-zone.html

It is very easy (and economical) to use the train from SMN station in Florence. Very easy to day trip from SMN to:

Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, Bologna, Certaldo, Viareggio, Montepulciano, Montelupo Fiorentino, Cortona  .... lots of options.

Edited by dogs4fun
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1 hour ago, dogs4fun said:

If you plan on renting a car, you need to be aware of the ZTL zones in Florence. Failure to heed the zones can amount to a hefty bill if you rent a car (fines will be added to your bill).

Info here: https://www.visitflorence.com/tourist-info/driving-in-florence-ztl-zone.html

It is very easy (and economical) to use the train from SMN station in Florence. Very easy to day trip from SMN to:

Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, Bologna, Certaldo, Viareggio, Montepulciano, Montelupo Fiorentino, Cortona  .... lots of options.

Thanks again dogs4fun...we really don't want to rent a car, but were concerned about being able to get around via train but it sounds like it is totally doable...that's the way we'll go.  Again thanks for the info - these boards are super helpful!

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We only used the train.  It was super easy to use, and there is a string of nice locations to see along the train route.  In fact, our trip package included a rental car that we declined to pick up.  We did do a bus tour to Chianti, as those areas weren't easily accessible by train.  Once in Florence, we just walked everywhere.

 

Here is my all time favorite site for how to use Italian trains :https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

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4 hours ago, ljandgb said:

We only used the train.  It was super easy to use, and there is a string of nice locations to see along the train route.  In fact, our trip package included a rental car that we declined to pick up.  We did do a bus tour to Chianti, as those areas weren't easily accessible by train.  Once in Florence, we just walked everywhere.

 

Here is my all time favorite site for how to use Italian trains :https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Thanks again ljandgb that is really good information.  I would prefer train.  I will look into the bus tour for Chianti as we definitely want to do a day of that.  Again thanks for the info and the additional train link!

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Are you driving.  Three days is not much.  We would take the train.  You could spend time in Florence. Do a day trip to Chiati.

Or, one day, hop on the bus in Florence and go to Siena for the day.  It passes through the countyside.

 

Or...you might consider Umbria.

 

Why not pick up a travel book and the library and prioritize based on your preferences?

Edited by iancal
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22 minutes ago, iancal said:

Are you driving.  Three days is not much.  We would take the train.  You could spend time in Florence. Do a day trip to Chiati.

Or, one day, hop on the bus in Florence and go to Siena for the day.  It passes through the countyside.

 

Or...you might consider Umbria.

 

Why not pick up a travel book and the library and prioritize based on your preferences?

Thanks for the info....we have decided to do the train and get a hotel in Florence and go from there.  Now just to find a hotel in Florence!  

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Funny thing about this topic is we are wrestling with exactly the same issue.  We have a cruise out of Civitavecchia next October and booked our air to give us 4 nights (pre-cruise) in Italy.  At this time we can still change our air and have been debating flying-in even earlier or just settling for 4 days.  We are very familiar with Italy (having spend many months driving throughout the country and visited on dozens of cruises) but still have not settled on where to stay.

 

But just some thoughts.   At this point we have planned on renting a car for pick-up at FCO and dropping in Civitavecchia.  This gives us complete flexibility to go wherever we choose.  Florence is a great option and our normal home in that city is the Hotel David (which has free parking outside the ZTL).  But, our current thinking is to rent a furnished flat (easy to find online) right in San Gimignano (a favorite place of ours) to use as a base.  We would likely spend 3 nights there and then spend the night before the cruise somewhere closer (or in) Civitavecchia.

 

If one was determined to use trains (and not rent a car) we would suggest Florence as the best base. 

 

Why do we prefer a car to the train?  Because we really love exploring Tuscany...outside the major cities.  From San Gimignano we can easily drive to places like Volterra, Colle val d'Elsa, the S222 Chianti wine road, Siena, etc.  And if we do want to go to Florence for a day (or evening) we can either drive or just grab the train from Certaldo (which has free parking at the small train station).

 

Hank

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We rented this farmhouse in Montepulciano, vrbo.com/436049, in 2016 and it was spectacular.  I hope that you are referring to 10/20 and not 10/19 as it is fully booked this year in Oct.  It is a short walk to a bus stop which can take you to other Tuscan towns but we had rented a car to explore the area.  There is a wonderful winery about a mile down the road - Dei Winery.  We also took side trips to Assisi, Sienna, and Montalcino.  The house itself was well equipped but was on a steep, cobblestone driveway but you could park the car on more level ground by the road.  You need to be physically fit for all the walking you will be doing in the area.  We flew into FCO and rented the car and returned it to the same location.  My husband took the train to Civitivecchia and walked to our hotel.  Enjoy that area.  It is our favorite in Italy.

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