We are arriving at Florence on Sunday 9/22 and hope to take a bus to Siena that afternoon. We can't find a bus schedule and we understand that buses do not run very frequently on Sundays. Does anyone have information on bus schedules on Sunday afternoons.? Should we take a train instead of a bus and would you suggest that we reserve online our train ticket. We prefer a bus but are concerned since Sunday may be a problem with buses not running frequently.
I’ve read and seen that car rental places are closed on Sundays in Bolzano. We will be taking a train from Florence to Bolzano - or at least we had planned to. And then drive to our hotel in Badia BZ. What would you guys recommend to do? We can’t get the car on Monday because that’s our wedding day. Is there another city close by where the train station is near? Where we would be able to rent a car on a Sunday?
TIA
Just noticed there is a train strike on Sunday, FYI
“Trains and local transportation personnel will be on strike! Trains for 24 hours starting from 21:00 on June 20th. Local transportation for 24 hours with different starting times depending on the specific location (no further details are available). Please check with your ticket office whether this will affect your journey.”
Hi
We are planning to visit Sicily next May. We will base ourselves in Trapani then would like to spend a few days in San Vito lo Capo but timing wise that would mean getting a bus there on a Sunday.
Do buses run in May there?
Thanks
We are arriving in Venice on the 19 th, 4 nights. Then on the 23 rd transferring to Florence for 5 nights.
We would like to do the Bologna food tour which starts at 7 am. The train schedules now are little help. Is there normally an early morning high speed train from Florence? Would it be better to do the tour on the 23 rd, leaving Venice very early? If so is there somewhere to store our luggage in Bologna?
Thank you.
Hi All,
we are leaving on a Tuesday at 5pm, and taking the PCR test on Sunday at 10am.
Will it be accepted since it's 2 days before but 55hrs before not <48 hrs ?
The Lab closes at 5pm on Sunday, just want to be sure it's processed in time.
Thanks :-)
Hello,
My husband and I will be arriving in Florence on November 30 after 4 nights in Rome. On our trip booked for last September we were planning one night in Siena at an Agriturismo. Now that we are coming during late Fall would you recommend just staying 4 nights Rome/4 nights Florence and just taking a day trip to Siena/Tuscany? Is there anything still growing or in bloom in late November? I already have a voucher for 2 nights at San Firenze Suites but have not rebooked with them yet.
Thank you for sharing your travel wisdom. This will be our first trip to Italy.
Training from Trieste to Florence in October. We have a 7 minute transfer in Prato. Has anyone traveled this route and made that short connection time? Traveling with 4 adults and luggage.
Just wondering if Platforms are close so to be able to make that connection? Also if we miss it, are we able to hop on another train to Florence with our same ticket?
Thanks!
As is I posted my first question on the group couple of days ago, regarding my next trip to Italy, and I felt so warmly welcomed and thoughtfully advised, I felt like sharing with you all my plan.
We will be travelling from the 2nd till the 7th of October, from Lisbon to Pisa. We are a group of five (42, 58, 60, 67, 78) and we have been traveling in Italy together 2 times, in pre covid reccent past.
And our next plan is :
Arrive in Pisa on the 2nd of October, at 11am, store our luggage, grab a taxi to piazza dei miracolli ( visiting only the duomo), have a short walk through piazza dei cavallieri, cross borgho stretto, and end up on the riverside Arno, to visit santa maria della spina. From there we will grab a taxi, pick up our luggage and our car in pisa airport around 16h and drive to Lerici, where we will stay in a beautiful airbnb, meters away from the sea and centro storico. We hope to see sunset there, have dinner and a little walk on the centro storico.
Next day we plan to depart very early in the morning and go straight to Vernazza, where we can reserve a parking spot in advance. From the parking lot they have free buses that take us downtown.
From here we will start our journey in cinqueterre. We will buy the boat pass, and concentrate mainly in Riomaggiore, Manarola and Vernazza ( just to enjoy the towns and views, and skipping the amazing trails - since via dell 'amore seems to still be closed) . If we have time, maybe have a short glance on Monterosso or Corniglia ( in a dream we would also see Portovenere, but if we' ll be able to enjoy the 3 main goals we have set, I'll be more than happy). To end our journey we plan to take the train to Vernazza, get our car back, and drive straight to Florence. I am aware that it would be cheaper and maybe easier to park in la spezia and take the cinqueterre tram. But we do prefer to have the boat rides, and we prefer to focus on the 3 i mentioned and try to avoid la spezia at the end of the day, from where i believe many people will be heading and departing from after a sunday daytrip in cinqueterre. I also think this will make it easier if unexpectedly we decide to depart earlier to Florence.
I expect we will be arriving in Florence around 21/22h, park the car outside ztl, and grab a taxi straight to our place near Ponte Vecchio. Leave our luggage and just try to eat something simple ( i'll do my research on where) and then stroll around those beautiful and so missed streets.
Next day is totally for Florence. 4 of us know the city very well, and we have already visited all the main attractions at least one time. I still want to wake up early for the sunrise, visit the uffizzi ( i plan to buy tickets in advance for 8.15h), and along the day visit Santa Maria Novella Basílica, the duomo (eventually the battistery) and end up our day visiting San Miniato al monte and watch sunset in piazzale michelangelo.
On the 4th of October , we will start our departure before 8h, taking a taxi to our car, and driving to Certaldo or straight to San Gimignano (depending on traffic conditions, time we spend on our way). Here we plan to visit palazzo publico and the collegiata. Monteriggioni and Cole di vale d'elsa were also on our sights, but this may take us too long to arrive in Siena, and we don't wanna rush in SG. We plan to depart from San Gimignano somewhere after lunchtime, to arrive in Siena around 3/4 pm.There, we have rented an airbnb, just by one of the city gates, with private parking for our car, at a short walking from Siena centro storico. There we will focus on Siena Duomo, which by then will have their floors uncovered, and the visits are extended until 7pm( if we have time left we will also visit the battistery and crypt (obviously skipping the museo and porta del cielo tour), then, we hope to end our day in piazza del campo.
Most of us also know well the city so i believe this is doable, even if we take a longer time driving back from SG.
Next day, in the early morning, I will visit palazzo publico( i really want to see the good and bad government frescoes, which i missed the last time) as part of the group will visit Santa Maria della Scala, and then say goodbye to Siena.
From there we will drive to Abadia Monte Oliveto, then pass through Asciano (probably just pass through) , and after drive back to Florence, through the Chiantigiana , with eventual stops in Greve in chianti or Radda.
We would love to go a little further down south , to Montalcino or Montepulciano, but i think that to keep a realistic plan, we must have to include Vale d'Orcia in another trip.
We want to be in Florence by night, and again park the car in a non ztl zone, grab a taxi to our airbnb, which will be steps away from the duomo. Next morning we will still have time to wake up early, for a walk along the centro storico, some little shopping, and a sneak into santa trinita church to see one of my favourite paintings ever, in capela sasseti, and then saddly say goodbye. See you soon, dear Firenze.
We hope to start driving to Pisa around 13h, to be there at maximum 15.30h, to catch our plane at 17.40h.
It may seem a bit ambitious plan, specially adding the variant car in the equation, anyway, i have also plan b's for each day, and there is always space for last minute adjustments.
Despite how difficult, and expensive, driving, parking, and all around it, may be, it was the only possible way for us to visit all these places in such a short time. In terms of costs, as we are 5, in the end we would spend quite the same, or even more, in train tickets, transfers, luggage storages, etc ( which would also take us some extra time and specially takes out our freedom of moving and even adjust plans at last minute). Also, 2 in our group are in their 70's, and i believe a car makes part of the trip more comfortable for them.
The actual covid situation is also a worry for us, and despite the fact that we are all vaccinated, being the elders in a risk group, we would be more comfortable avoiding as much as possible closed places with crowds, like trains, buses and so on.
We may have settled a lot of things to do/see in a short period of time, but we have been travelling together for a while, with "ambitious" trip plans, and all have been running smoothly, in a good pace and without much adjustments needed.
We usually save some time by not having big stops for breakfast or lunch, but having instead some grab and go simple food, and snacks during the day, and then have a good dinner where we stay.
After our return i will be happy to share with you how it went.
Hello! I'm feeling overwhelmed trying to find the right area and accommodation type for our first visit to Tuscany.
We do not want to stay in Florence and are absolutely willing to rent a car (not sure where we would pick one up). We will be coming from Rome by train and heading to Venice afterwards.
Would like to be in a country setting, but close enough to access some restaurants in the evening and convenient to visit/do the following:
Florence - 1 full day
San Gimignano
Siena?
Wine tasting
A cooking glass
Our budget: moderate. Willing to spend more for a something special (ie: winery property, a view, etc)
Thank you so much!!
Hi,
I am trying to buy tickets on the high speed train from Rome to Florence in late November, but it appears as though they aren't running. I can buy a ticket for a high speed train up until November 2, but after that date, all of the non-stop options are either 3h 45 mins or just over 4 hours. Does anyone know why this is the case? Are high speed trains not running in after October? Is this a COVID thing? Am I trying to buy my tickets too early? Thanks!