3 Easy Day Trips From Florence
Located amongst the rolling hills of Tuscany, Florence is probably one of Italy’s most popular and most beautiful cities. As well as having a huge amount to see itself, there are plenty of awesome day trips from Florence to take advantage of some of Tuscany’s beautiful towns.
Lucca
Getting there and away
Lucca is a beautiful walled city located around an hour away by train. Trains run from Florence train station on a reasonably regular basis, but check the day before so you can plan more appropriately. Journeys take approximately an hour, but can be faster or slower depending on what type of train you get. Trains back to Florence are as regular as those heading out, roughly once an hour give or take. We visited in August, one of the busiest times of year and the trains were surprisingly quiet.
What to do
Upon getting off the train its a short walk into city. The architecture is particularly beautiful and there are numerous small alleyways where you can easily get lost just wandering around. The cathedral and central square are the busiest locations, however away from this its generally very quiet, which is surprising considering its close proximity to Florence. There are market stalls around the towns two main squares as well as numerous small restaurants and cafes serving all kinds of delicious nourishment.
We ended up spending the afternoon cycling round on the city walls on a tandem bicycle. There is a small bike rental shop just off the central square. If bikes aren’t your thing, the city walls are an easy walk.
Sienna
Getting there and away
Like Lucca, Sienna is also around an hour away from Florence. However trains are more regular so if you just show up at Florence train station you should be able to be on a train within half an hour at the longest. Heading back to Florence trains are pretty regular until around 6pm and then the frequency drops off so make sure you pick up a timetable to plan appropriately.
What to do
From Sienna station its at least a 30 minute walk to centre proper. Sienna is bigger and busier than Lucca, especially around the cathedral and central square, where it’s legendary horse races are held. However if you walk beyond the cathedral to edge of town you will be privy to some beautiful views of the rolling hills of Tuscany. The back streets heading back up towards the station have numerous quirky alleyways that are well worth exploring.
Sienna has more to see and do than Lucca so try and get an early start to maximise the time you have there.
Pisa
Getting there and away
Buses to Pisa depart from outside Florence train station and take between 45 minutes and an hour. They are usually very regular as Pisa airport is the main port of international entry to the region.
Despite being the most famous of the three Pisa probably has the least to do (in my humble opinion). Aside from the leaning tower and cathedral, which are both extremely impressive, there isn’t much else. It is certainly a nice place to spend a morning or an afternoon.
Due to the fact that many tourists fly into and out of Pisa airport when going to Florence. Pisa is an excellent place to stop on the way to or from the airport.
