Tuscany & Liguria Itinerary – The Lion Voyager

Inspiration

ELEVEN DAYS ITINERARY - Tuscany and Liguria

TheLionVoyager

If you’re looking to take a road trip to Italy, one of the most iconic regions to do it is in Tuscany and Liguria. If you want to fully enjoy those two beautiful regions on the west part of Italy, you will need at least one month, but I have design an 11 days itinerary that covers the most beautiful cities.
You can land in Genoa or Florence, if you start the trip from Genoa you can finish even in Rome; if you land in Florence you can start going south for then finishing in Genoa. This area is very well connected with trains, so if you don’t want to hire a car you will be fine.

Day 1: Arrival at Genoa airport, hire a car at the airport, if you land in the morning, you can start the day visiting the city of Genoa (very famous for the aquarium), then start your way south to the beautiful villages of Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo and the famous Portofino – (sleep in this area)

Day 2: Visit of the villages Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, Rapallo and the famous Portofino. They are all very close to each other, you can visit them all or choose and pick – (sleep in this area)

Day 3: Visit of the Cinque Terre National Park (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore and Portovenere) – (sleep in 5 terre National Park)

Day 4: Visit of the Cinque Terre National Park by foot, by boat or by train – (sleep in 5 terre National Park)

Day 5: Start your day driving south approx. 1 hour and half to visit Pisa and Lucca – (sleep in Lucca)

Day 6: This area of Tuscany is amazing, every half hour you have a beautiful town to visit so you can get lost, a very nice town is Volterra that you can visit in the morning for then finishing the day in San Gimignano – (sleep in San Gimignano)

Day 7: Visit San Gimignano and a winery around the area – (sleep in San Gimignano)

Day 8: Start you day with the visit of Florence – Cathedral, Ponte Vecchio, Santa Croce Basilica, Uffizi and Accademia Gallery – (sleep in Florence)

Day 9: Visit of Florence – (sleep in Florence)

Day 10: In the morning visit the beautiful town of Arezzo and after lunch Siena – (sleep in Siena)

Day 11: If your flight is in the late afternoon, you can leave early in the morning and head in the direction of Montepulciano, the great Mediaeval town. Flight back from Florence or Rome. *

* If you have few extra days, you can visit Saturnia Thermal Spa and Porto d’Ercole located in the Monte Argentario

Some cool tips you should know about Tuscany and Liguria

01.

Palio di Siena

If you will be in Siena during the summer, you can be part of one of the world's most famous and storied sports/cultural historic events. The Palio di Siena is a bareback horse race that feels like a Gothic time capsule. The 10 horses and riders are decked out like, knights of yore, in the medieval colors representing city wards; flags hang from the balconies and buildings in the city. It's one of the most exciting 90 seconds in sport, the riders cling desperately to their horses for three laps of Siena's packed Piazza del Campo, and often, a few are thrown especially at the tight turns along the way, with riderless horses running into the crowds in the middle of the square or crossing the finish line with the other horses. The Palio is run twice a summer, on July 2nd and August 16th, and the Corteo Storico, precedes the race.

02.

Cinque Terre National Park

The best way to visit all the villages inside this National Park is by train or bus, just buy the "Cinque Terre Treno MS Card" that will give you the access to all the regional and regional fast trains in the route Levanto - La Spezia (and vice versa) The price are for 1 day - adults: € 16,00 and for 2 days - adults: € 29,00

03.

Spend half day visiting a winery

Spend an amazing afternoon seeing the beautiful Italian countryside, learning about managing a vineyard, and having FANTASTIC food and wine experience