The Best One-Day Trips from Florence

Florence (Firenze) is the capital of Tuscany, one of the most beautiful and popular tourist regions in Italy. But besides it, there are dozens of exciting places and destinations near Florence where you can go for a day trip. Depending on your interests, you can choose between small medieval cities not so popular among mass tourists or well-known Pisa, Siena, or Rome.

So, here is the list of my recommendations for the best one-day trip around Florence:

Lucca

Lucca is an old, traditional, and wonderful Tuscan city, surrounded by medieval walls and nestled between the high mountains of the Apennines and the beaches of charming Versilia.

Here, in the 17th-18th centuries, rich aristocratic families built luxurious Baroque villas with huge gardens and parks. Many of these villas are open to the public, and some families still leave in them.

You can get to Lucca by direct train. The ticket costs 7.90 EUR, and the travel time is 1 hour 19 minutes.

A few hours will be enough for you to explore the town on your own and you can take the train from Lucca to Pisa on the same day, and return back to Florence in the evening.

Pisa

It is easy to get to Pisa from Florence on your own by the Trenitalia regional train. Direct regional trains depart from Florence Santa Maria Novella (Firenze S.M. Novella) central station several times an hour. A one-way ticket costs 8.70 EUR, travel time is 1 hour.

Read guide on how to buy tickets in Trenitalia website.

To explore Pisa a couple of hours will be enough because apart from the Square of Miracles (Piazza dei Miracoli) and the Leaning Tower (La torre di Pisa), there is not much to see there. Therefore, I advise independent travelers to come to Pisa between 10:00 and 11:00 in the morning before most of the tourists arrive. It takes about 20 minutes to walk from the station to the Square of Miracles. Then, take some pictures against the backdrop of the tower, climb it if you wish, and you are done.

It makes sense to stay in Pisa for lunch, as most restaurants are open from 12:30 to 14:00, then return to Florence.

You can also go to Pisa by rented car. The journey will take about an hour. Watch a helpful video that tells in detail about an independent trip to Pisa and parking features:

Bologna

Bologna is one of my favorite cities in Italy.

Dozens of exciting sights and the city’s general atmosphere will definitely appeal to tourists who want to move to a new level of acquaintance with the land of sun and wine.

The fastest and most comfortable way to get to Bologna from Florence in just 40 minutes is by high-speed Italotreno train; if booked in advance, tickets will cost from 13.90 EUR.

There are really a lot of sights and things to see in Bologna, so I advise you to spend more time there and leave back no earlier than 17:00.

I recommend starting your acquaintance with Bologna with an individual sightseeing tour. For lovers of Italian cuisine and delicacies, an excursion to the Parmesan production is ideal, during which you can also have a chance to see a unique collection of Lamborgini sports cars.

Siena

The sights of Siena are interesting because many houses, palaces, and temples have been preserved in their original form.

Many of the buildings survived the bombings of the Second World War, which destroyed many architectural masterpieces. That is why there is no doubt that every stone in the historical part of the city, every house, and the temple is not the skillful work of restorers but a real medieval rarity that lived through the centuries to nowadays.

You can get by train from Florence to Siena in about an hour and a half. A one-way ticket will cost you 9.50 EUR.

I recommend spending the whole day in Siena, coming early, and returning to Florence closer to dinner.

Val d’Orcia

Stretching over 18,500 hectares, the Val d’Orcia is a unique, fabulous place in central Italy, recognized as one of the most picturesque places on the planet. No wonder its landscape, which has retained its original beauty to this day, inspired Renaissance artists to create magnificent landscape paintings.

To get to the Val d’Orcia from Florence on your own is possible only by car. Travel time is about 2 hours; the distance is 130 km. You can map a route through Siena or through Arezzo.

Rome

Rome deserves to spend at least a week in it. But if you have already been to the Eternal City and want to complement your cultural vacation, then you can get to the capital of Italy from Florence in just 1 hour 30 minutes by train.

For a one-day visit to Rome, I recommend the following plan:

• 9:00 a.m. – a departure from Florence.
• 10:30 a.m. – arrival in Rome at Termini Station. Walk around the city.
• 12:15 p.m. – lunch at one of the restaurants in the Trastevere area.
• 1:30-2:00 p.m. – a private tour to the Capitoline Museums, Borghese Gallery, or the Vatican Museums – you will get the perfect balance of spiritual and ordinary food in one day.
• 07:00 p.m. – departure from Rome.
• 8:30 p.m. – arrival in Florence, light dinner.

I am sure that now you know what to do in Florence, you can come here for a week. Let the capital of Tuscany be a base for overnight stays and dinners, making exciting day trips from time to time.

Share your experience in the comments – where did you go for a day from Florence?