Best location for a base in Tuscany

Finding the best place to base yourselves for your vacation in Tuscany can play a big role in just how much you enjoy yourself while you’re here. I always recommend keeping the number of places you stay to a minimum.

There are interrelated two reasons for choosing just one or two bases for your visit to Tuscany:

Firstly, almost all corners of Tuscany are accessible from anywhere in the Region during a reasonable day excursion by car and, within limits, by public transport. If you’re staying for two weeks you might want to be based in Chianti for a week to explore the central part of Tuscany, and then either in the Val d’Orcia to explore southern Tuscany and Umbria, or around Lucca to explore the northwest, the Garfagnana and the Cinque Terre in Liguria.

Secondly, you can lose a lot of your valuable vacation time, really a lot, locating your accommodation, checking in, unpacking and then the reverse procedure when you leave, for each place you stay. This is essentially wasted time would be much better employed making day excursions. Remember, part of the fun, especially in Tuscany, is getting there.

Obviously, if you’re without a car, you’ll want to base yourselves in or near a town with good transport links, usually meaning trains. This is because bus routes generally radiate out from the provincial capitals, making cross country travel or travel to another province difficult without going through the main city. You can still rent a place in the country if you’re without a car, but see our notes on getting around in Tuscany without a car for tips on how to do this, together with a list of recommended vacation rentals and B&B’s that are practical when it comes to exploring Tuscany by means of public transport.

Once you have an idea of the town or area for your stay, you need to decide on exactly what kind of accommodation will suit you best. For more useful tips on this subject, see our notes on where to stay and our  notes on the different kinds of vacation accommodation available in Tuscany.

Here’s the list of our recommended vacation rentals in Chianti.

These webpages might also be useful:

Anna Maria Baldini on why Tuscany is Europe’s top budget tourist destination.

Anna Maria Baldini on the best place to stay in Chianti.