Tuscany Exploration: Day Trip to Pisa, Siena, and San Gimignano with Wine Tasting & Lunch
4.4
3,287 Ratings
Firenze
Embark on a captivating day trip from Florence to explore the charming Tuscan towns of Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa. Indulge in a delectable 3-course lunch with wine tasting, and marvel at iconic landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Uncover the hidden gems of Tuscany beyond Florence!
Duration:
12 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Florence - There is no time to waste when exploring the Tuscan countryside! Meet your tour guide at Piazzale Montelungo Bus Terminal early in the morning. Piazzale Montelungo is located 5-10 minutes walking distance from Santa Maria Novella train station. Hop on the comfortable coach bus, choose your seat, and relax before departing on your journey! The drive to Siena will take about one hour. During the journey, your guide will entertain you with plenty of interesting information about Tuscany, and specifically - Siena! If you have any questions, your guide will be there to assist you.
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Siena - When you arrive in the medieval gem of Siena, your guide will lead you through the picturesque streets until you reach the main piazza of the city - Piazza del Campo. Here, a professional city guide will meet the group to begin your walking tour. For about an hour, the guide will share fascinating facts about this incredible city (which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and you will visit some of the most famous points of interest. The end of the walking tour will lead you to the Siena Cathedral, where you can enter to see the breathtaking decorations and unique architecture.
Please note that the “Semi independent option” does not include the guided tour in Siena. Clients that have chosen this option will have free time in Siena instead. - Piazza del Campo - During the included walking tour of Siena, your guide will show you an insider’s view of Piazza del Campo. Not only is this piazza a popular place for locals to gather, but is is also home to an annual palio horse race, which is an epic competition between the different neighborhoods of Siena! Learn all about the history of the city, and its main square as your guide unfolds the secrets of the city to you and your group in a vivid, storytelling manner. You will spend about thirty minutes learning about Piazza del Campo.
- Torre del Mangia - Your guide will lead you to Torre del Mangia, the striking clocktower of Siena. This incredible tower dominates the city’s skyline and is the third tallest tower in all of Italy! Connected to the important Palazzo Publicco, your guide will share more information about this unique tower during your tour! Enjoy about fifteen minutes outside of Torre del Mangia.
- Duomo di Siena - After your walking tour of the historical center ends, you will be given some independent time to explore the intricate and fine decorations inside the Siena Cathedral. This Cathedral has many different artistic styles, and works of art from countless famed Renaissance artists. Walk through the breathtaking atmsophere inside, and don’t forget to stop in the absolutely striking Piccolomini Library on your way out! Spend about twenty minutes exploring the Cathedral indpendently. Then, enjoy walking through the city center on your own before meeting your guide again to head to your next stop! Please note that the “Without Cathedral option” and “Semi independent option” do not includ the admission fee to Siena Cathedral.
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Chianti Road - After an exciting morning of exploration in Siena, it will be time to relax and refuel! We will drive about one hour through the rolling hills of Tuscany until we reach a lovely, family-owned winery in the countryside outside of San Gimignano. The view from the winery will leave you breathless, as you will be surrounded by sunny rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards, of course! Surrounded by the most beautiful Tuscan countryside, you will indulge in a wine pairing of high-level wines accompanied by a delicious three-course meal of a typical Tuscan meat and cheese plate, pasta, and dessert.
Then, we will drive about fifteen minutes to arrive in the hilltop beauty of San Gimignano. - San Gimignano - San Gimignano is visible from close and far, with its unmistakable medieval \
What's Included
- Expert multilingual Tour Leader
- Guided Siena tour with professional guide and headsets (optional)
- Leisure time in Pisa and San Gimignano
- Travel in a comfortable GT Coach equipped with free Wifi
- Authentic Tuscan lunch with wine tasting in the Chianti region
- Entrance to Siena Cathedral with headsets (optional)
What's Not Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Gratuities
- Guide in Siena and access to Siena Cathedral in case you select the Semi Independent Option
Additional Information
Tuscany offers experiences beyond Florence. Set off from the city to explore three other captivating Tuscan locations on this day tour to Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa. Embark on a guided exploration of stunning Siena, known for its unique horse racing event and the Gothic Siena Cathedral. Savor traditional Tuscan dishes and wines during a 3-course midday meal at a local vineyard or eatery, nestled within Tuscan scenery featuring vineyards, undulating hills, and olive groves. Subsequently, you have the opportunity to discover San Gimignano, an appealing medieval town, and Pisa, renowned for its UNESCO-protected Leaning Tower of Pisa.
- Kindly note that the Semi Independent option does not include the local guide in Siena
- Kindly note that “Semi Independent” and “No Cathedral” options do not include access to Siena’s Cathedral
- Please note that the given order of the visits may change
- Entrance into Siena Cathedral requires a strict dress code. We cannot be held responsible for entry denied due to improper dress. Please make sure your shoulders and knees are covered
- LOW SEASON (From November, 1st to March, 24th): English and Spanish languages are always available. In order to confirm the excursion in French, Italian or Portuguese a minimum of 4 pax is required
- HIGH SEASON (From March 25th to October 31st): English and Spanish languages are always available. Other languages are confirmed as follows: FRENCH: Wednesday, Saturday - min 2 pax PORTUGUESE: Tuesday - min 2 pax ITALIAN: Sunday - min 2 pax
Location
Piazzale Montelungo
TOURS & NEWS KIOSK AT PIAZZALE MONTELUNGO BUS TERMINAL
Located at 5-10 minutes walking distance from Santa Maria Novella Train Station. Look for our staff wearing a FUCHSIA CIAOFLORENCE JACKET and holding a CIAOFLORENCE CLIPBOARD!
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.4
(3287 Ratings)
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T_l
Mar 24, 2024
A wonderful trip apart from the wine tasting - The trip was excellent and well organised from start to finish. The locations were beautiful and you had plenty of time in each location to explore. The only thing that let it down was the wine tasting. It was like being on a conveyor belt, shipped in, a brief talk about the wine, taken into the meal which wasn’t very nice. When it came to the wine tasting you had 3 glasses, one for each wine. If you didn’t like the wine, tuff! You couldn’t put it anywhere and had to use the same glass for each wine. The wines were not very nice and the dessert wine was served with one Biscoti biscuit per person, which there was not enough for everyone. There were no vineyards to walk around just a shop. Apart from that, Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa were beautiful and more than made up for the wine tasting! The guides were excellent and very knowledgeable. It was a long day but glad we did it. If you could find a trip without the wine tasting that would be perfect!
Review provided by Viator
Karinacc2267vj
Mar 23, 2024
Excellent value for money! - I don't drive and couldn't afford to travel to each of the places visited on this tour individually. Under these conditions, the excursion was an excellent solution for me and my mother. Of course, I would like to have more time to explore each of the destinations, but being able to see them all without worrying about anything other than time was very satisfying. The guide was efficient, the guided tour to the Siena cathedral was very cool, the bus was comfortable and the lunch at a winery in Chianti was incredible! I found the value for money to be excellent and I have nothing but praise for Ciao Florence, whose service was attentive from purchase to service delivery.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kristina_n
Mar 18, 2024
Very good organisation,... - Very good organisation, the trip was excellent.We saw everything that is important and have a great time
Review provided by Viator
Laurel_p
Mar 17, 2024
Highly recommend, read my caveats - Our guides, Gabriel and Sarah were incredible, as was our driver, Mario. This was a great way to see a ton of sites in one day. The guides provided us great information about the towns we were visiting. Additionally, the guided tour of Siena (which is an add on) also enriched our short visit there.
A few things to note that might not be too clear in the tour descriptions. One, you will likely have a bilingual or multilingual tour. Ours was in both English and Spanish. Two, the walks from the parking lots to the actual sites are quite long, at least 15 minutes each one way. This is on top of the walking you will do in the actual towns. So be prepared for a lot of walking. Finally, because you are seeing 3 cities, you only have about 1-1.5 hours to explore each place. None of this bothered us but if this is problematic for you, then you probably won’t enjoy the tour.
Overall I highly recommend this tour of you want to get a nice overview of the various historical Tuscan towns. The lunch and wine tasting was also a welcome respite from the exploring!
Review provided by Viator
Susan_k
Mar 8, 2024
Great for highlights of Tuscany - Gabriel was an amazing guide, and his ability to switch from language to language and still remember the information was impressive. With that said, we were not informed that it would be a bilingual tour (and was actually supposed to be trilingual!), and listening to everything in two languages got old by the end of the day. However, this tour was a great way to see highlights of Tuscany in one day.
Review provided by Viator
Ron_k
Feb 13, 2024
Good trip with the Siena cathedral (inside) as highlight! - The highlight of this trip for us was the inside of the cathedral in Siena. The luch could , for us , be skipped, very simple and disappointing, compared to previous experiences.. We had hoped that the sequence of visits would have been Pisa, Siena and then San Gimignano. We knew that it would be raining later the day. Unfortunately Pisa was the last to be visited and we experienced (tropical) rainshowers , making the Pisa visit not nice and too late in the day (getting dark already) .
The visit to San Gimignano could have been skipped for us alltogether.
Review provided by Viator
Carolina_n
Jan 8, 2024
Be fast - We had problem with the tourist guide “Cato”. She was so fast and we couldn’t join her from bus stop until Siena.
Review provided by Viator
173hanyg
Mar 19, 2024
Be aware! - I read some reviews about the rudness of some of the tour guides, but I thought it could have been an exaggeration until I unfortunately witnessed it first hand.
Let me start that the tour was 77, not 63 max as mentioned.
We got lost at San gimignano, and we sent a message to our guide Gabriel that we couldn't find our way, and he was friendly and kind enough to hold the bus for us. We didn't expect him to hold the bus for us because the deal was if you were late, you would be left. And I totally understood the deal. We caught our bus while movingly, and we had to wave for them to stop. Gabriel received us with a smile and welcomed us. Till GIA, I think her name was, yelled at us in front of the whole bus... we were lost!!
The minimum thing that we look for as tourists is to be treated right. GiA, who represents her company, insulted us publicly. Why would I pay money and get on a tour to be insulted for being lost? You can leave us, but don't yell at anyone for any reason. There are different companies that they are doing the same tour. Just skip this one. Go to the one who hires the professional tour guides
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cjh542
Mar 16, 2024
This is a scam - This is a scam. We booked, and paid $160/person for a tour of 20 or less people. They gave our booking to another tour company. We ended up on a large bus with 70 other people. The large bus was uncomfortable, and due to the size a lot of time was spent checking in, out, etc. Also, since we had such a large group, we had to park far from the cities and walk, with less than an hour per location to explore. When you are on vacation, it’s sad to waste a day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bindu_m
Mar 7, 2024
Very bad experience! The tour company we went with were terrible unprofessional and they left us behind! - Will not recommend this tour company Chio Florence tours. Horrible experience with them . They left us behind even though we reached the pick up point 2 minutes before.
Review provided by Viator
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