Beyond Florence

Great sidetrips and day trips from Florence

Fiesole

An Etruscan hilltown just a city bus ride away from downtown Florence...

Via Portigiani 3–5, just off Piazza Mina da Fiesole; tel. +39-055-596-1311 or 055-596-1323; www.fiesoleforyou.it; www.comune.fiesole.fi.it

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Pisa's "Field of Miracles" is a grassy lawn sprinkled with some of the most gorgeous Romanesque architecture in Italy, from the Duomo (in which local luminary Galileo discovered his law of pendulum motion by watching the swinging chandeliers) to the statue-studded Baptistery (home of an intricately carved pulpit and near-perfect acoustics). Oh, and there's also a famous church bell tower that just can't seem to stand up straight, giving pizza restaurants the world over something to print on their delivery boxes...

Take a tour: Take a guided daytrip to Pisa with an expert guide and transportation provided:

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Siena

Though it's possible to do Siena in a day trip from Florence, I'd say do it right and take an overnight. This Gothic antidote to Renaissance Florence is an overgrown hilltown of fine food, brick palaces, and a laid-back lifestyle. It's civic buildings and the mighty zebra-striped Duomo are filled with some of the greatest examples of late Gothic painting in Europe, and its streets are crowded with strolling locals, not blattering automobiles

Take a tour: Take a guided daytrip to Siena with an expert guide and transportation provided:

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San Gimignano

The "Medieval Manhattan" is unique in Italy for being the only town to preserve more than a dozen of its medieval stone towers, holdovers from the bad old days of the Middle Ages bristling the skyline above vineyards producing one of Italy's finest white wines...

Take a tour: Take a guided daytrip to Pisa with an expert guide and transportation provided:

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The Chianti

Arguably the worlds most famous grape-growing and wine region fills the tall, closely-gathered hills between Florence and Siena

Take a tour: Take a guided daytrip to Pisa with an expert guide and transportation provided:

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Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre is a necklace of five tiny fishing villages strung along the southern end of the Italian Riviera. It is a place to kick back and relax, to take a break from Italy's cultural treadmill and lounge on the beach, or hike the goat paths from village to village, or just sit back and let la dolce vita wash over you...

Take a tour: Take a guided daytrip to Pisa with an expert guide and transportation provided:

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Let someone else do the driving (and the guiding)

If you'd prefer to leave the planning, guiding, and transportation to a professional, here are the escorted day trips from Florence offered by our partners Viator or Context Travel: