It was 4-day trip with 5 people in the autumn of 2021. It is worth to travel to Tuscany in autumn, because in this time there are not so many tourists, but the weather is excellent: the mornings are cool, but in the day it can be over 28°C. We traveled by train and we rented a car there. The accommodation was in Lucca (1 night) and in Siena (2 nights). On this trip we have seen all the important towns of Tuscany and the famous landscape..
10.09.2021 – Prato, Lucca
The trip starts at Zurich Main Station early in the morning. Go to Florence Santa Maria Novella train station with one change in Milan [I]. Rent a car there and drive to Prato, where you can find the famous church Santa Maria delle Carceri [completed in 1495] by Giuliano da Sangallo. It is one of the most important renaissance churches in the world. Go further to Lucca, which is a nice Tuscan town with an eye-catching, ellipse-shaped main square. It is worth to have an accomodation in an old pallazzo house with a courtyard in the middle.
11.09.2021 – Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena
Drive to South, to Pisa [photo], where the world famous Cathedral District is waiting for you. The Cathedral, the Sanctuary and the Leaning Tower [Campanile] are sorounded by the middle-aged city wall of Pisa. The district was completed in 1372. Go further to the San Gimignano [photo]. On the way to the town, famous from its middle-aged residention towers, you can see the hilly Tuscan landscape. End of the day you arrive to Siena, which is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The shell-shaped main square with the city hall has a pleasant athmosphere with many local youngsters in the evening.
12.09.2021 – Siena, Pienza
Pienza is a tiny town in the middle of the typical Tuscan landscape, but it is very important because of its architecture. Piazza Pio II [the church square in the town] was planed by Bernardo Rossellino [a student of Leon Battista Alberti] in 1462 and it was a part of a urban ideal of the Renaissance. The town has many nice stone houses, too, and it is always full of tourists. Go back to Siena [photo] and visit the cathedral, which was never completed and you can see nowadays near the cathedral the unfinished walls. Tip: there is a very nice view to the town in the sunset from here: Vista Panoramica de Siena on the Via Bruno Bonci.
13.09.2021 – Siena, Florence
On the last day go to Florence and take a brake on the Piazzale Michelangelo and you can see the whole city from above. It is a nice end moment of the tour, because you need more time for Florence. Go back to Zurich by train.
ADAM BALOG 