Tuscany : Pisa and Florence

Tuscany : Pisa and Florence

Our 2018 family holiday was a 10 person trip to a villa in the Tuscany region of Italy. The region is a popular gravitational point for tourists with a lot of beautiful towns and villages. We were staying just on the edge of the olive oil region of Tuscany (San Casciano de Bagni). The closest major city being Siena

Tuscany Country side and towns

The Tuscany country side is easy to navigate while driving and the roads are captivate interest as the terrain varies with every turn and the scenery is quite different and hold your attention. Conversations with the locals suggest that summer is the best time to visit (as expected) in the open areas of Tuscany it can get cold during some winters. Here are some picture of the area we were staying in.

The villages are quiet and great to walk around with amazing food, for restaurants in the villages its best to reserve a table as they can get popular during tourist months with villas and farmhouses being flooded with tourists.

Pisa

We had hired a car for the duration of our stay so we drove to Pisa, the town is easily accessible and there are some limited car parking facilities close to the leaning tower which is the mecca for tourists. The leaning tower and its attraction are pretty much across the road from the car park.

You can spend considerable time in Pisa but we were there for the tower and spent half a day scouring the grounds for all the obligatory photos. There is a ticket that you can buys for the attractions and there is usually a queue for the tower.

Florence

An hours drive away from Pisa is Florence, we took the popular option of driving from Pisa to Florence and parking just off the autostrada (motorway) in a shopping centre. There was a convenient tram from the shopping centre to the centre of Florence (20 min ride) and this proved super convenient. We spent time around Florence visiting the site but took quite a endearing horse cart ride around the city centre with the family in tow.