In article ,
"Mimi" wrote:
> When doing daytrips from a small town, it's best to stay on the edge of
> town. Or park there. After a long day of sightseeing, it's nice to be able
> to walk to a choice of restaurants, have wine and not worry about driving
> back. And some towns are better choices than others. The historic centers of
> both Florence and Siena are very difficult to drive in. Lucca is better seen
> by train from Florence, although there are a number of interesting villas in
> the environs, for which you'd want a car. In southern Tuscany Pienza makes
> a good base for sightseeing; it's easy to drive in and out. Ditto for San
> Quirico d'Orcia, though it has a smaller choice of restaurants. Hill towns
> like Montepulciano and Montalcino are less convenient.
>
> In Umbria, neither Perugia nor Orvieto are good bases. Perugia spreads out
> quite a distance from its historic center. Orvieto is up on a mesa. It would
> be annoying to have to pick you way in and out of Perugia or up and down
> from Orvieto, every time you want to make a daytrip. The town of Bavagna
> makes a good center.
>
> Get a car where all your luggage is hidden. Then festoon it with a local
> newspaper in the back window. Hide the maps, etc.
Great advice!
Yeah the place I'm looking at in Siena is just outside the walls, so
it's still a hike of a mile into the center. But there are also suppose
to be shuttle buses too.
Especially interested in checking out the Piazza del Campo at night, so
being close to the city center is appealing. But actually being in the
center presents problems for having a car.
I suppose I could take the train from Florence to Siena and then rent
car as needed for a day or two. But then I'd have to rent the car again
to move on from Siena to Pienza/Montepulciano.
The place I'm looking at in Perugia is right by the Piazza Italia. Is
it that hard to get in and out of with a car?
I was thinking of staying there 3 or 4 nights and driving to Orvieto,
Assisi, Todi, Spoleto and some others including maybe Cortona (although
planning to go on to Arezzo and could day-trip to Cortona out of there).
I will check out Bavagna. Thanks again. |