Our 6 day trip to beautiful Tuscany, Italy was phenomenal. Such an amazing place to visit, with all the green space and beautiful nature. Personally I preferred smaller, authentic places south from Siena, over Pisa and Lucca. Cinque Terre is another must see and experience place.
4 of us rented a car at the airport. Driving was smooth with no problems. We rented an apartment close to Lucca. Our itinerary was pretty busy:
Day 1 and 2 : Lucca and Pisa
You can't go to Tuscany and not go to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It is a touristy place, where everyone is trying to take a cool picture with the tower. Cathedral is beautiful and worth visiting. There are multiple options for tickets depending what you would like to visit. If you buy ticket for any of the monument you also get entrance to Cathedral included. You can check prices on the website. We decided not to go in the tower, as the line was pretty long. Baptistry is another beautiful architecture, and has a great view of the Cathedral. After the Pisa we drove to nearby Lucca. We didn't spend too much time. We enjoyed walking along a top of the walls which is made as a pedestrian promenade. Few other places to include would be the Piazza of San Michele with its beautiful Church of San Michele in Foro, the Basilica of San Frediano as well as the Clock Tower and Guinigi Tower.
Day 3: Florence - beautiful city, but little bit too touristy for my taste.
By the day 3 we became comfortable driving around Tuscany, and we drove to Florence. Driving and parking in the Florence is complicated, so we used parking lot outside but with walking distance to the city center. We parked at Piazzale Michelangelo, on a blue marked spot. It is a paid but affordable parking lot. Florence offers amazing art, architecture. Few to mention: Uffizi Museum, the Accademia, Palazzo della Signoria. We had very nice dinner and great bottle of Chianti at the restaurant Scala, at the Costa Scarpuccia.
Day 4: Cinque Terre - gorgeous, I can't say enough how beautiful this area is. Must-see.
Again, driving through little towns is not a possibility, at least not for tourists. We parked at the big parking in Levanto. From there, there is a train that takes you from town to town. We went to the furthest town at the first, and then spent some time in each and used the same train to commute in between towns. Each one of them is beautiful on its own way. We had absolutely amazing lunch i Manarola, in Nessun Dorma Can't say enough how beautiful it was.
Day 5: Siena - beautiful old city. Amazing to just take a walk, small streets with no cars. Great restaurants. Again, cars are no no in Siena, so we parked in one of the parking lots at the entrance of the Siena main city. In the heart of the city there is a beautiful Piazza del Campo. You can walk to Piazza del Duomo and Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Pretty much any street you take, you will see something to admire.
Day 6: Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano/Winery - See my blog for more details about winery.
Simply, Tuscany is absolutely fabulous. Where ever you go, whatever you do, it will have special charm. Same with those little towns. I love them the best. So peaceful, not touristy, with small streets, cafes, trattorias. Many wineries, to many of which you can just visit and spend some time with wine tasting.
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