Sienna plus Lucca or Volterra?

[foxeysandy]

We're doing a RomeInLimo tour from Livorno this June. We want to go to Sienna, and their standard tour combines this with San Gimignano, but several in our group have been there and want to go to a different town. RomeInLimo has offered to take us either to Lucca or Volterra as an alternative. I've read interesting and very positive reviews from each location. Any suggestions as to which would be the best choice?

[euro cruiser]

They're both lovely, but Lucca offers more of a difference as it's a flat town, where you can walk on the walls if you want, while Volterra is another hill town. However, you can't go wrong with either one.

[CathyCruises]

Agreed--may as well see two different places--Siena is wonderful and do NOT miss the cathedral; but Volterra is kind of a mini Siena, so Lucca is probably the more interesting second choice.

 

Cathy

[foxeysandy]

Thanks so much for your input! Another question--we'll be touring from Livorno, would visiting one require much more driving time than the other (combining Sienna with Lucca vs. Sienna with Volterra)?

[ab0si]

Thanks so much for your input! Another question--we'll be touring from Livorno, would visiting one require much more driving time than the other (combining Sienna with Lucca vs. Sienna with Volterra)?

 

Not much difference in time -- assuming you are taken on the fastest route.

 

Sienna->Volterra->Livorno is just about a straight line. Siena->Lucca->Livorno requires swinging north to Lucca and back south to Livorno but it is on faster roads.

 

Personally, I'd spend teh whole day in Sienna (or Lucca or Volterra), but if I were going to do two, I agree that Lucca is a better choice than Volterra -- for the difference compared to Sienna if nothing else.

[CathyCruises]

It WILL be a lot of driving. The only advantage to Volterra is that those back roads are gorgeous! The autostrada from Siena to Lucca isn't bad, but can't compare with the winding country roads IMO.

 

We had a house in San Gimignano and spent whole days in Siena--and it was only a 30 minute drive!