Possible to do Florence & Tuscany daytrip?

[criscruise]

Is there any way to do a Florence & quick drive through Tuscany/wine country in a shore excursion day trip? I am finding the tours to have one or the other. We do not need to stop and tour each Florence site, just a quick look and on to the next. Any suggestions and tour recommendations? Thanks

[Paul S]

Although you will get some sense of Florence from a "quick visit", you will be missing out on a huge amount. Florence is a jewel of the Renaissance, and much of what people generally want to see is indoors. Furthermore, a considerable amount of the centre of Florence is pedestrianised, so you would need to get out and walk, rather than just doing a driveby.

 

My suggestion is that you might get more out of doing one proper tour of Florence or one proper tour of Tuscany and leave the other for a future visit, rather than getting the worst of both worlds.

 

However, you really should liase with a professional guide, who might be able to work out an itinery that mets your requirements. If they say it can't be done in the time you have, perhaps you should accept that advice.

 

Paul S

[SteveS]

Two years ago we toured with Carla of http://www.abcwine.it We made a stop in Pisa for pictures then went to Florence. We walked around saw the sights then went to the Academia to see David. We had advance tickets which saved time!! We drove to Tuscany and had lunch then went to a winery for tasting.

[criscruise]

Thank you both for the replies.

Steve- I will check that out. Thank you. This is just what we are looking for.

[Freddy Beach]

Is there any way to do a Florence & quick drive through Tuscany/wine country in a shore excursion day trip? I am finding the tours to have one or the other. We do not need to stop and tour each Florence site, just a quick look and on to the next. Any suggestions and tour recommendations? Thanks

 

We wanted to do the same last October and booked what turned out to be the highlight of our vacation. Here is the related section from my cruise review:

 

"Next was another highlight, Florence where we had an outstanding tour guide, Pierguido 'Guido' Sarzani with Tuscany in my Pocket. http://www.tuscanyinmypocket.com/index.htm We will never forget this day. We saw the sites in Florence, including David where Guido got us in a side entrance with no lines and the leather school (http://www.leatherschool.com/www/) in the church where he actually parked in the priest's area in the back courtyard. Then we went to Tuscany (sacrificing Pisa) and had the lunch of a lifetime on a hilltop vineyard. The food, wine and friendship was amazing and was a top highlight of our trip."

http://www.tuscanyinmypocket.com/crociere.htm

You would want itinerary No. 2 at the above site, Florence and Chianti.

 

If we had drank a little less wine in Tuscany, he could have squeezed Pisa in as well. The view from the vineyard is breath taking and the people were so friendly we could not leave the place.

 

I must say, that this was the best tour and tour guide we had on any of our cruises to date and was genuinely a highlight that we have not stopped talking about. Based on your question, I think this would be a perfect match for you.

[criscruise]

Freddy,

That sounds wonderful. I'm glad you had such a good time. I will look into it. Thanks so much for the post.

[Freddy Beach]

Freddy,

That sounds wonderful. I'm glad you had such a good time. I will look into it. Thanks so much for the post.

 

You are welcome. Here are a couple photos from the Tuscan vineyard where we enjoyed great wine and food:

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2301/1805609042_fb791f4565_m.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2222/1805610760_2fb1d07043_m.jpg

 

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[criscruise]

Freddy,

Thanks for sending the photos. They are beautiful. That is so what I am hoping to get to see, I don't know if it's going to work out for our 1 day. We'll try.