2006-07-30 07:10:01 · 7 answers · asked by jobe 1 in Travel ➔ Italy ➔ Other - Italy
i live here in florence for the last 4 years, i cant recommend you the best places aside from florence.
1. san gimignano: a MUST NEVER miss attraction, its incredibly beautiful, its completley historical, a town still held up with all the castle wall and 'muri'. about 1 hour away from florence by car, theres not train that leaves you exactly by it, you might need to catch a bus there if not by car.
2. siena: nice, for some reason, theres something i dont like about it, but thats my personal taste, it could be your favorite spot, so i recommend you visit it. by train from florence, about 1 1/2 hr.
3. luca: similar to siena, but another historical town away from florence, nice and pretty, same as siena, must go if you have time. 1 to 2 hours from florence by train
4. arrezzo: where they filmed "life is beautiful'. real nice town, i personally like it, i go there often about every first weekend of the month since they have a monthly 'antiquariato', its a huge one and they sell real antique wierd stuff. about 1 hour away from florence.
5. certaldo: i just 'discovered' this town its about close to san gimignano, and going wiht my italian bf, it was even a mystery to him to never know this little town. we went there since we heard they were having a little fair during the late evening so we went to see it. without knowing they even had this 'certaldo ALTO' we discovered by noticing they had this little tram that took you to the top. (when a town has the ALTO named after its original name, it means that the town of today, has an historial area UP on the top of a hill, meaning its HISTORICAL area) so we went up on the little tram up the hill and were like gasped. it was a tiny tiny little castle town, but incredibly beautiful. it was like 10:30 pm, everything was closed, but we got a little tour around the town, i personally LOVED it, definetly want to go back. after going back down in the little tram the regular town, we discovered there was a little train stop where you can access that town by train, a walking distance from the tram to the certald ALTO. recommended to go!
*note: here in tuscany, there are SOOO many towns never known by other residents, that everyday after year by year there is always something new to discover, my bf born here in florence, gone aroudn the areas and knowing well his town had never heard of this historical spot. wierd!
6. pisa: ofcourse you cant miss that, i dont like the city, boring and depressing, would hate to live there. i would go see the big monuments, the leaning tower and leave. by the way, it cost 15 euros just to go the top of the tower!! yes i know its ridiculous.
about 1 1/2 from florence by train.
7. montepulciano: yeah, nice town, kinda creapy, hehe..sorry just from my personal experiences. i just remember visiting this little walk in museum there where they showed you the terrorist acts they use to do to their enemies, kinda left me like...uh..i dont want to live here thanks! in florence you dont really hear that stuff even though im sure it has the same history. montepulciano has a cute town, but kinda the type out in teh middle of nowhere. for example san gimignano is 100 x more beautiful and beautifully consereved, this one is more like a little deserted, kinda kept town. visit if you have time.
8. montecattini: do not recommend. its the spot where back in the 1970's it was like the 'hollywood' of that time, except with out film making or anything. the rich and wealthy went t here with their mercedeis and ferraris, you still see that, but its lame, nothing beautiful, the hotels are all like 70's type, but not nicely kept, just ugly and old, you can go to the montecattini alto and see the historical spot, but no biggie, id skip if it if i were you.
9. pistoia: do NOT go, its just a boring town, identical to all the others, meaning it has no different type churches like arezzo for example has, pistoia has the same type of churches, identical to the ones in florence, i mean nothing different, and everythign small. my personal recmomendation, skip it and go see different towns that are diverse.
11. sansepolcro: another historical town, its aroudn the direction towards arrezzo, about 2 hours away from florence. nice to visit, go if you have extra time.
10. last but not least, Assisi! but!! that just to let youknow, isnt part of Tuscany, someone before mentioned it, and im just recommending it since its a definite spot even though its along distance away from florence. about 3 hours away. must got!! i love the area, visit the incredible church of san francesco, the town is INCREDIBLE!!
last points, someone earlier mentioned, these spots called, 'pitigliano', 'montalcino', 'sorano'. ive never heard of them, BUT like how i just told you how i discovered, Certaldo, that person might be right, check in your guide book and see!
have a good trip!
2006-07-30 23:21:54 · answer #1 · answered by sueet2b 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Montalcino and Montepulciano are about 30 minutes apart, are beautiful Etruscan Hilltowns, and great for wine tasting. Pitigliano and Sorano are only about 10 minutes apart and more off the beaten path - see Pitigliano at night! Florence is considered the unofficial capital and a must see. San Gimignano and Siena are heavily visited by tourists but both are very nice.
2006-07-30 14:49:15 · answer #2 · answered by Rick 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i really think tuscany is one of the most beautiful place to visit in italy. shortly you have to visit florencia (firenze) and pisa, but even the small pistoia and siena are beautiful and full of tourists from all over the world. the coast is beautiful and the inland is a spectacular caleidoscope of colours composed by hills, medieval towns, green land. it would takes hours to talk about it...
check out on http://www.borghitoscani.com to find small interesting places not busy by tourism and enjoy your stay.
rick's got the reason...san giminiano is another wonderful place to visit.
2006-07-30 14:52:18 · answer #3 · answered by ₪djanma₪ [a man in the maze] 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm italian, but Assisi isn't Tuscany, but Umbria, however it's beautiful. Bye
2006-08-03 01:48:16 · answer #4 · answered by neobule 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Florence, Assisi, Sienna.
The countryside is also great. You can go on wine and cheese tasting tours
2006-07-30 07:59:32 · answer #5 · answered by Rick 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Florence,Siena,Assisi,Volterra,Pisa (there's the tower)
2006-07-31 00:04:17 · answer #6 · answered by *aLe* 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
florence, pisa, sienna, san gimignano are must visits.
2006-07-31 21:05:00 · answer #7 · answered by minerva 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋