V-Flyer

Hi Folks

Just been having a good look at our possible options for a Summer '11 holiday. We'll likely be staying within Europe for budgetary reasons, and are thinking of Tuscany. Has anyone got any comments/experiences to share on visiting Tuscany, particularly in August?

We're open-minded so willing to consider other European destinations that might be suggested?!

Thanks for any help!
James

We were contemplating similar...however Tuscany in August is ouch expensive.... B)
Although highly recommend as a destination, you will need to hire a car/drive to get the most from it. then depends on type of holiday you want:
chill and soak up atmosphere/vino
go off checking out the villages and vino
trips into main centres like Florence/Sienna etc and associated Vino/meals
(see a common theme here :w )

August will be busy,hot and its not known for being particularly cheap (although standards are generally good)
SW side of Florence can be good so you can do a bit of both, we've managed historically to find decent Villa/hotel 15min bus ride into Florence and easy day trips in a hire car out to places such as Sienna/ Chianti etc..(you won't want a car in central Florence :0 )
Pisa's an easy run, if you're flying in on a LCC, Pisa's a bit of a hole, only really worth it to see the tower.
I've heard Lucca nice, but didn't make it.
NH

Lucca is beautiful. I named my dog after the place ii) .

Yes, Tuscany in August is expensive, and hot. But wonderful and beautiful. I'd look at places that are outside of the main areas, but as northernhenry suggested, easy to access. There are good local train services to ponder when looking at locations ... a few years ago I rented a farmhouse outside Capraia, west of Florence, where we could drive down the hill to a local station and get into Florence very easily and cheaply (and the train station in Florence is wonderfully located making it easy to walk to most of the sights). We also trained down to Rome on that trip, which was so easy peasy and the fast Italian trains are really good and inexpensive!

So whether W, SW, or even SE toward Arezzo, it is possible to find a range of prices.

On car hire, it's best to book early 'cos they go ... two years ago we went with a US friend and even six months in advance we could only get a 'stick shift' - good for him though .

It is a beautiful part of the world, and not known as Chiantishire for nuffink!

Having grown up about 10 minutes from Capraia, I would recommend that area in general as "slightly less" expensive than the Florence to Siena corridor. Montelupo is very close and probably the train station that slinky is referring to, and Empoli has lots of direct trains to Siena and is only a few more minutes away.

The closer you go to the sea, the cheaper it will be. Lucca is great, and the whole area is less busy, and there are some beautiful, if somewhat remote, areas on the mountains. If you hit the seaside towns, of course, the price goes up again.

It's a challenging time of the year to do the big towns like Florence and Siena. Aside from the fact that Florence is beastly hot, and the most humid city in Italy in August, so much is closed, including my favorite restaurant there. We've sworn off going back there in July/August. I do understand that it's difficult sometimes to find a good time.

Small towns around the central and southern countryside can be significantly more pleasant to hang around in the evenings. The area around Capraia/Carmignano, Vinci, San Gimignano, Montalcino, Pienza, etc etc etc are beautiful, and you'll sleep better in the evenings

There are smaller, less popular towns in similar areas like Montespertoli, Certaldo, lots others we could list, which would be a LOT cheaper. Typically, the price driver is going to be either how popular of a place it is in itself (Montalcino or San Gimignano would fall here) or how convenient the location is to a train station (Capraia is really good for this). If you stayed in Certaldo, you would be doing a lot of driving, but the old town is wonderful, and active and lively for the Mercantia festival, usually around July end (haven't been in 11 years myself).

I'm going to stop going on. If you decide to go let me know, even by PM, and I can give you some more detailed pointers in terms of where to stay, what prices etc etc.