Tuscany. The aircraft decides the airport, and the villa decides the car.
Florence has a short runway and a restricted centre. The Val d'Orcia has gravel drives and forty minutes between anywhere and anywhere. Both are easy once somebody has thought about them properly.
The essentials
Tuscany at a glance
- The city airportFlorence Amerigo Vespucci (FLR)One short runway, well under 2,000 metres, about fifteen minutes from the centre. Turboprops, light jets and some midsize types only.
- The one without limitsPisa Galileo Galilei (PSA)Two runways, the longer around 3,000 metres, so it takes anything. About an hour from Florence and forty minutes from the Versilia coast.
- The country fieldSiena Ampugnano (SAY)A single runway of about 1,400 metres south west of Siena, with handling available. Useful for a light aircraft going straight to the Val d'Orcia.
- Florence to SienaAbout 1 hour 15 by the fast roadOr two hours and more by the Chiantigiana, which is the point of driving it rather than a delay.
- The Val d'Orcia45 minutes south of SienaPienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano. Beautiful, spread out, and reached at the end by unmade white roads.
- The coastForte dei Marmi and the VersiliaAbout forty minutes from Pisa, with the Carrara marble mountains behind and a very different summer to the hills.
- Restricted centresFlorence, Siena and the hill townsLimited traffic zones with camera enforcement. Cars set down at the edge and guests walk the last part.
- Peak weeksMay, June and SeptemberThe countryside's best months. August is hot and the coast is full. The Palio fills Siena on 2 July and 16 August every year.
Flying in
Florence is close. Pisa takes the aircraft
Florence's airport sits a quarter of an hour from the centre, which is wonderful, and has a single short runway hemmed in by the plain, which is the constraint. In practice it handles turboprops, light jets and a limited range of midsize aircraft, and the types that operate there most are exactly those: the smaller Citations, a Phenom, a PC-12. Anything larger, and any intercontinental arrival, goes to Pisa, whose longer runway takes everything and which is about an hour from Florence and forty minutes from the Versilia coast.
The third option is Siena Ampugnano, a modest field south west of the city with a runway of around 1,400 metres and handling available, which for a light aircraft heading straight for the Val d'Orcia saves a long drive across the region. Which of the three you use should be decided by the aircraft and by where you are actually staying, not by the name on the ticket. See Florence airport, light jets and turboprops.
Getting around
Realistic drives
| Between | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Florence (FLR) and the centre | 15 to 30 minutes | Set down at the edge of the restricted zone, then a short walk |
| Pisa (PSA) and Florence | About 1 hour to 1 hour 20 | Straightforward motorway, busier on a Friday evening |
| Pisa (PSA) and Forte dei Marmi | 35 to 50 minutes | The Versilia coast, and slow along the seafront in August |
| Florence and Siena | About 1 hour 15 by the fast road | Two hours or more by the Chiantigiana, which is worth the time |
| Siena and the Val d'Orcia | 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 | Depending on which village, and on the last unmade stretch |
| Florence and Bolgheri, on the coast | About 2 hours | The Maremma side, and further south again for Grosseto |
Realistic ranges, not promises. Distances in Tuscany are modest and the roads are not, so nothing here is as quick as the map suggests.
On the ground
Gravel drives and camera enforced centres
Two things catch people out in Tuscany, and neither of them is distance. The first is the restricted traffic zones. Florence, Siena and most of the hill towns are camera enforced, and a car that drifts past the sign collects a fine weeks later. A chauffeur who works here knows where the boundary is, where the legitimate set down points are, and which hotel entrances have an arrangement. Guests walk the last two hundred metres and nobody minds.
The second is the last mile. A great many of the best houses in Chianti and the Val d'Orcia sit at the end of a strada bianca, an unmade white gravel road that can run for a kilometre or three, rutted after rain and dusty after a dry fortnight. A long low saloon is not always the right answer, and knowing the drive before the day of arrival is what keeps a transfer from becoming an event. Tell us the address and we will check the approach rather than discover it.
Planning it well
What regular visitors do
- Choose the airport from the aircraft and the villa, not from the city name. Pisa or Siena often beats Florence by an hour on the ground
- Send us the villa's exact location and the approach, not just its name. The last kilometre is the part that decides the vehicle
- Hold a car and chauffeur for full days in the countryside. Places here are twenty minutes from each other and not from a taxi rank
- Expect to be set down at the edge in Florence and Siena. Every historic centre here is restricted and enforced by camera
- Drive the Chiantigiana between Florence and Siena once, deliberately, with the time to do it. It is the road, not the detour
- Keep 2 July and 16 August in mind for Siena. The Palio fills the city on both dates every year
Nearby
The rest of Italy
Start planning
Tell us the dates and the house
Dates, how many of you, and where you are staying, with the approach if you know it. Tell us the aircraft if you have one and we will tell you honestly whether Florence will take it, and what Pisa or Siena would save you on the ground. Nothing is booked or charged online.
Prefer to talk? +44 2030 048300 or WhatsApp, at any hour.
Questions people ask
About Tuscany
Can we fly into Florence?
If the aircraft suits it. The runway is short and hemmed in, so it takes turboprops, light jets and a limited range of midsize types. Anything larger goes to Pisa, about an hour away by road.
What is Siena Ampugnano for?
A small field with a runway of around 1,400 metres and handling available, south west of Siena. For a light aircraft heading to the Val d'Orcia it can save a long drive across the region.
Can the car drop us at our hotel in Florence?
Usually at the edge of the restricted zone, sometimes at the door where the hotel has an arrangement. The centre is camera enforced and your chauffeur will know the difference.
Our villa is at the end of a gravel road. Is that a problem?
Not if we know about it. Some of those drives run for kilometres and are rutted after rain, which changes which vehicle we send. Give us the approach when you give us the address.
Are these your own cars?
Our own fleet and our own chauffeurs are in London and Manchester. In Tuscany cars are arranged through operators we know, and one person at Odyssey holds the itinerary together.
We deal with problems before you know they exist