Florence is conveniently in the middle of quite a few picturesque places, and we took advantage of its opportune location to visit four of them. While most of them were only an hour to an hour and a half away, San Marino was three hours away, but as you will see, completely worth it. Here are my suggestions:
1. Pisa: Pisa is perhaps the most-visited place when staying in Florence, for obvious reasons. But there is much more to Pisa than just the Leaning Tower, which of course is very cool and going up it is an experience in and of itself! After visiting the tower, be sure to visit the cathedral, baptistery, Camposanto cemetery, and Sinopie museum that surround it and can be bought in a joint ticket. Also don’t miss the Piazza del Cavalieri and a walk down Pisa’s main street.
2. Siena: Siena is perhaps the most underrated visit that many people seem to skip over, which is a shame, especially seeing as its proximity to Florence makes it easy to visit. Home to St. Catherine of Siena, Siena is perched atop Italy’s many hills, as many of its smaller cities seem to be. Since no one wants to walk up a hill more than once, I suggest this itinerary, which we did specifically to avoid climbing up one hill just to have to climb up it again later on. Start with Basilica de Santo Domenico, which once, back in the day, held St. Catherine’s head; then continue on to the Santuario di Santa Caterina, where she once lived and is now a shrine dedicated to her; then its on to Campo Square, the main square where you can go up the Torre del Mangia (you can also go up the cathedral’s bell tower but it was 10 euros more expensive so…) and take in the odd shape of the square itself—it’s more like a half circle than a square; and finally, wander over to the Duomo, which features striped pillars that give it a definitely distinct feel from other cathedrals, and visit the Libreria Piccolomini, which has a unique collection of ancient books.
3. San Marino: although San Marino is a three-hour drive from Florence, the whole way is through the winding, majestic mountains and the views are spectacular the entire time. The reason I wanted to go to San Marino is that it is considered its own country (hello #38!), just like the Vatican, and it’s an easy check off the list. It is also the oldest sovereign republic in the world. San Marino is small and set on three mountaintops, each of which has a tower—indeed, that is their symbol, and you will see images of the three towers throughout the town. Climbing the main one offers fabulous views, as you can see from my pictures below. Because they don’t have much tourism except for in the summer, the museums I wanted to go (Museo delle Creature della Notte and the Sammarinese Museum of Ancient Art) were closed, but we still strolled around the center and enjoyed the views, which surrounded us.
4. Volterra: For the Twihards among us, a mere hour and a half from Florence sits Volterra, the setting for what is perhaps the most stressful scene of the second book. Although we did this trip in a half day because the town is small (10,000), Volterra has Etruscan ruins and a Roman amphitheater, so it isn’t just for the Twihards out there. Of course, there is also a bell tower in the main square, a cathedral and baptistery, and numerous winding Italian alleyways to meander down.
As if these options weren’t enough, another popular day trip option is San Gimignano, a small (population 7,700) town encircled by ancient walls and with a triangular main square. Any of these options are great day trips when in Florence, and I encourage you to do them all! It made for a busy trip, but not too busy that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves.