Any advice/hints would be appreciated

[Lauren64]

Hi there. My husband and I are travelling to Italy in May and using the train from Venice to Florence to Arezzo to Perugia to Orvieto to Rome to Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast then flying out of Naples to Greece. From Florence we are thinking of doing a full day tour to Cinque Terre (or do travellers recommend doing this trip by yourself?), catching the train ourselves and going to Pisa then on the way back to Florence hop off the train at Lucca and going for a bike ride and enjoy lunch and an icecream then back to Florence. Thinking of another tour which also leaves Florence down to Siena, San Gimignano and Greve. Greve looks amazing and by the sounds of it the tour won't be spending too much time there unfortunately. My query is - when we are in Arezzo (only for 2 nights) we would like to travel to La Verna Abbey and down to Cortona. Is it too much to add Greve into that day trip OR should we (when driving from Orvieto touring up through to Val d Orcia up to Montepulciano) - do we add Greve to that day trip OR do we take the train one day while we are in Florence down to Greve for a few hours? thank you

 

[Lourdes]

I am not sure I understand whether you're planning to use the train 100% of your time or including a rental car at some point into your itinerary.

The reason I ask is this: Greve is not along any train lines so it can't be reached by train, but most definitely by car.
Neither is La Verna. You most definitely need a car to get there.

How many days total are you in Italy? It seems to me like you are trying to fit in a little too much..... I understand the excitement to do so, particularly when you look at a map and everything seems to be close. But, for example, Cinque Terre is doable on your own by train from Florence but it is a WHOLE DAY trip by itself. I would not add either Pisa before or Lucca after on that same day.
You can most definitely do Pisa one morning, head over to Lucca by train in the afternoon and spend the rest of the day there before heading back to Florence.

How many days are you giving to Florence? You can do day trips from Florence since it is a great base -- and from here, I'd recommend a bus down into Greve if you want to fit it in, the other combos you're thinking about won't work well.

Ok -- give me some more details and I'll give you more feedback!