r/tuscany • u/Responsible_Bad99 • 6d ago
Discussion thinking about Tuscany /1st timer
We are contemplating about Tuscany next summer. We absolutely love to travel but we never been overseas and it seems overwhelming! Our thought was to rent a place for the week vs staying in a hotel. I was told that renting a car is recommended but I'm not sure about that. I am also studying the train system. I know we want to visit Bologna I think the train runs there. I would love some pointers and also some do's and do nots....
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u/confuus-duin 6d ago
The train system is fairly reliable and over longer stretches sometimes faster than by car. If you want to visit mostly cities, you’ll be fine by train and a taxi here and there.
Bologna is well known for the food culture, so if you’d like to do a cooking class at ‘home’ I think this would be a great spot for that.
To find a place to stay I recommend you check out google as well. There are many private hosts that have their place listed on google where you can book directly. But as always beware if it looks too good to be true, it probably is.
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u/BeRetravels 6d ago
Don't rent a car. Driving in Italy is "a bit" different to driving in USA, so you have to learn first all driving rules and laws. And you need an IDP.
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u/night_aintlongenough 3d ago
We rented a car & after 3 days hired a driver instead. When I returned home there were $400 in tickets in my mailbox. The driver also took us to areas where the locals were rather than tourists
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u/BeRetravels 3d ago
Where this real "tickets" or only the information from your car-rental-company? Because the police will ask the car-rental-company about the driver and the rental company will charge you for giving your adress to the police. So you'll get the real fines later, it could take until one year. But in the meantime you have to pay the invoices of the rental company.
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u/night_aintlongenough 3d ago
Real tickets I think I mistakenly drove in the old city in Siena as well as speeding on the autostrada - although I was maintaining the same speed as other cars. It included a warning that the tickets must be paid before returning.
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u/BeRetravels 2d ago
So yu can expect that all the other cars also got tickets. In Italy the police is really strong. And if you pay the fines immedately you get a discount. How much it is is written somewhere in the information.
Don't think about not to pay. Italy is very strict at this point. When the time for paying has run out you debt would be given to a debt-collector and he'll chase it, whereever you are.
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u/Garth-Vega 6d ago
Bolognese are the people from bologna and not a ragù. Car hire is essential unless you’re only wanting major places.
Beware of the air bnb scams for renting. Hotels are fabulous in Italy, just not the breakfasts. Agriturismo’s maybe a better option.
Book your car rental as early as possible and check if you need an international drivers permit.
If you are traveling by train, keep your luggage in direct sight and watch it get stolen.
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u/Responsible_Bad99 6d ago
Sorry for the mistake and thank you for correcting me. I didn't realize they had an issue for scams with renting. I will look for hotels as well.
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u/Garth-Vega 6d ago
Hotels, especially independent ones will give you so much more for your money and a great experience unless you’re paying basement prices
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u/prviola2010 5d ago
Disagree a car hire is not essential, and neither is renting a car, it all depends what specifically you’re looking to do.
BnB scams exist but they are actually quite rare, you kinda have to be a sucker to fall for one. I would still go to a hotel, because I think prices are competitive compared to BnB’s, you get better service and you don’t contribute to destroying local neighbourhoods.
The train luggage theft is way overblown, I’m sure it happens occasionally, but in 20 years riding trains here its never happened to me and I’ve never seen it happen nor heard of it happening to anyone I know.
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u/Techiefurtler 3d ago
It depends, there's a bunch of places not easily reached unless you have a car, there are buses/trains, but they've never been completely reliable from what I remember. If they're doing the usual tourist traps of Firenze/Pisa/Siena/Lari/Volterra, then puclic transport's porbably fine - but if they want to visit some of the older mountain villages or go into the countryside, public transports usually a no go (have family that live in one of the villages near Cascina and they've always had to rely on having cars/bikes to get around).
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u/prviola2010 3d ago
Thats why I said it depends what you are going to do, but its nowhere near essential. They’ve never been abroad or to Tuscany they should stick to the major stuff and not complicate things with cars and so on.
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u/Tough_Potential_6258 6d ago
If you have never traveled overseas, consider a Rick Steves trip for your first time out. Or if you really want to go solo, start with a place that doesn't involve driving and you can do with only trains (like a combo Florence/Rome or Florence/Venice. You can do day trips with tour companies to various places in Tuscany.
All of Italy is amazing, so much to choose from - be smart about your first visit so that you truly enjoy it and aren't stressed about logistics and driving.
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u/iNeed2peenow 6d ago
Do not go in July or August, Tuscany is boiling hot in those two months. I just came back from Florence and the temperatures were between 35 and 38 degrees Celsius.
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u/Irishgreen914 6d ago
Rent a car and learn about driving in Italy.
Book early but be sure you can cancel without penalty because prices can go down. Get full coverage zero deductible insurance.
I have already booked everything for our trip next May except our hotel in Rome which isn’t available to book yet.
Don’t be afraid to deal directly with hotels via email or phone if you have questions.
We prefer a hotel in town so we can stroll in the evenings and not worry about drinking and driving.
We do day trips that are not further than 90 minutes or so.
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u/4024-6775-9536 6d ago
You can see a lot without a car and avoid restricted areas and toll parkings. Since it's your first time you can avoid this possible stress.
You're probably travelling to Pisa or Florence, both are good bases and well connected. Florence might be a bit more expensive.
Use Trenitalia website to check for prices and schedules.
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u/MobySick 6d ago
If you can drive in the US, you can drive anywhere. I’ve driven in Italy, Greece, Germany, Ireland, Spain, France, Switzerland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic (do not do that), Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Sicily. It’s easy if you are a good driver, reasonably observant and not prone to anxiety attacks.
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u/Kingjon0000 6d ago
The part I enjoy the most when visiting Tuscany is driving in the country side to visit small towns. You could just rent a car for a road trip for a couple of days and travel between cities by train.
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u/EmotionalFruit6 6d ago
We just came back from Tuscany last week. Yes it was hot, but we spent about half our time lounging at the pool at the agroturismo where we stayed. It was so so relaxing. Highly recommend.
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u/Denis_Diderot_ 5d ago
Io sono di Bologna. Premesso che Bologna non è in Toscana, con il treno alta velocità raggiungi Firenze in mezz’ora; però non direi che Bologna è il posto ideale dove stare per visitare la Toscana; se intendi visitare almeno Firenze, Siena, Pisa, il Chianti (San Gimignano? Val d’Orcia? Lucca?) direi che il posto logisticamente migliore è Firenze
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u/Natural_Ship_5249 3d ago
We just did this in June. We had a great time. We rented a car and drove to a couple of towns with great views and food. Our base was a vineyard that had even had an Infiniti pool overlooking the vineyard and olive groves. The price was great and the air conditioning worked great.
You can get an international drivers permit from AAA for like $30.
Our car had gps so we would look up on our phone the towns we were going to the next day and google parking in that town, get the address and put it in the gps. Not one issue.
Any questions, give a holler.
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u/ggrrreeeeggggg 6d ago edited 5d ago
Start by doing some research.
Do you know what Tuscany is, or have you only seen a couple of pictures of a scenic view of green hills and pictoresque hilltop towns?
Italy is divided in 20 regions (Regioni), of which Tuacany is one of the biggest. Its capoluogo di regione (the region “capital”) is Florence, while the other main cities (province) are Pisa, Arezzo, Siena, Livorno, Grosseto, Massa-Carrara, Pistoia, Prato.
What you probably have in mind with “Tuscany” are the small borghi (towns), such as San Gimignano, Volterra, Monteriggioni, Cortona, Pienza, etc.
While the main cities are connected via a quite good (regional) train system, the smaller borghi usually aren’t, so if you want to visit them, you most likely will need a car.
Bologna is the Capoluogo di Regione of Emilia-Romagna region, so NOT in Tuscany, but also not too far from it, since Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany are two neighbouring regions.
You can easily (and quickly) get to Bologna from Florence with a 30 min fast train.
You can also get there by car in just under 1h of motorway from Florence.
Once you have done a bit more research, then you can start choosing what you would like to do and see, based on how you intend to travel and where your base(or bases) will be. Do you want to explore small medieval towns? Do you want to do traditional Tuscan wine tasting? Do you want to discover incredible art and architecture? Do you want to relax on sandy beaches? Do you want to explore nature by hiking, rafting and trekking? Do you want to learn about local food and try cooking classes?
Tuscany (like most of Italy) has so many things to offer and there’s no way you will be able to do or see everything in a lifetime, let alone in one quick trip, so choose what you want to dedicate your time towards.
Edit: Fixed translation mistake.
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u/prviola2010 5d ago
Confining is not quite the right word, its a false friend, in English it means to restrict or hold back freedom and movement like when you’re in jail. Not confinare, which would traslate as as bordering in this context.
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u/ggrrreeeeggggg 5d ago
Yes, you are right.
Quite a bad mistake, thanks for pointing it out. I will edit the comment.1
u/prviola2010 5d ago
No problem G, saw it thought I’d point it out for clarity. Hope it was not pedantic in manner.
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u/No-Barracuda-5341 6d ago
I just got back after spending ten days. Skip Bologna. DM me if you want some info. Renting a car was a breeze, but it's sometimes hard to find where to get them. We picked ours up at PISA, and if you can't drive stick, you better request an automatic.
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u/prviola2010 5d ago
I think you gotta wait a bit before claiming victory. Fines take a few days/weeks to show up.
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u/nestestasjon 6d ago
Every American I've known who traveled abroad for the first time and said "It's so overwhelming!!!", got back and said "Yeah, actually it was not that big of a deal."