stay near Siena but central location for day trips
Ciao Ally,
So I take it you're stationed on the base in Pordonone and taking a family trip down to Tuscany?
How about close enough to Siena - either at
Palazzo Malaspina or at
Casolare di Libbiano and use that as your base for day trips?
Both are to the west and place you closer to Pisa, making your drive shorter.
You will have 3 full days here, so I suggest the first half you spend it in the local area where you stay at as well as your last day. If you're in either of the two above, you can visit
San Gimignano.
On your first full day you can go to
Pisa and spend a half day there, then go on to
Lucca for the rest of the day. The drive there and back, if you take internal roads, is definitely much more scenic than if you take the FI-PI-LI.
On your second day go to
Siena - beautiful town and very different from Florence. The gothic church is beautiful, visit the inside to see the mosaic pavements. You can visit Monteriggioni on your way there or at the end of the day.
On your third day you can head either spend it in
Chianti, driving and stopping at the main towns (Panzano, Castellina, Radda, Greve) or head down south of Siena, to the
Valdorcia area. The towns of Montalcino, San Quirico, Piena and Montepulciano merit a visit. Both Chianti and Valdorcia offer spectacular views of the countryside and great food. Just have an idea of what you could do each day, head out and remain flexible. You likely won't be able to visit everything, decide as you go. With children, you sometimes have to adapt and just being out should be a great time to spend together with your family! Most of all, have fun and enjoy the days out - hopefully you'll catch great weather and sun
