A Guide to a Tuscany, Italy Road Trip
Tuscany is one of the 20 regions of Italy and is famous for its beautiful countryside. It’s the setting of many movies, including “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Letters to Juliet”.
Now let me tell you, NOTHING will prepare you for seeing the gorgeous rolling hills of Tuscany. Although road tripping can be more of a high-effort method of travel, I think everyone needs to experience Tuscany by car. Here’s my exact itinerary – use it so you don’t miss out on any spots!
Throughout this post, I have linked out to the Google Maps pin of each location. However, to make your life easier, I have also put everything into a Google Map that you can find here and see embedded in this article.
Navigate:
RENTING A CAR (check out my posting on renting a car in Europe)
THE ITINERARY
COST BREAKDOWN
The Itinerary (3 Days)
DAY ONE:
We started off our trip in Rome, meaning we started south and drove up north. Rome is obviously a larger airport hub in Italy, making it relatively accessible, and also making it an easy spot to rent a car. I wish we had more time to explore the city, but since we only had a few days for the trip, we immediately started driving. It takes two hours driving on the coast to reach Saturnia, where we stayed in the Hotel Albergo Poggio Bertino. If you want any photos at the coast while in Tuscany, get them at the start of your trip, since the rest of the roadtrip takes you inland.
I’d highly recommend staying at Albergo Poggio Bertino, since you’re going to want to wake up super early the next morning to catch sunrise at Saturnia’s thermal springs. The closer to the springs that you stay, the more you’ll get to sleep in the next morning. Plus, staying in the more crowded city center means you’ll have to drive through tight roads. The whole city is on a bit of a hill, and it’s definitely more of a challenge if you aren’t skilled with a car… especially if you’re driving manual.
The staff at Albergo Poggio Bertino were the sweetest ever. They ran us through a list of restaurant recommendations, including some spots in the nearby city center. We ended up going for the restaurant next door, La Solina. If you go, please order the tiramisu. It’s THE BEST tiramisu I’ve had in my life. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the opportunity to go back, but if I did, I would skip the meal and order 5 tiramisus.
Now head to bed as early as possible, since you’ll regret missing sunrise at this next spot.
DAY TWO:
The next morning we woke up bright and early to drive 5 minutes over to the famous Saturnia Thermal Springs. You have to park in a parking lot 5 minutes away and pay for parking with euros, so factor in this time if you’re looking to catch sunrise. You’ll know you’re getting closer as the smell of the sulfur from the springs increases.
Don’t make the mistake of routing to Terme di Saturnia. The image associated with this location on Google Maps is incredibly misleading. That location is a paid resort. The real hot springs are free to access. In order to route to the correct location, route to Cascate del Mulino - Hot Spring. Like I mentioned, it’s a quick walk from the parking lot.
At the hot springs, enjoy the water! It’s hotter the higher up you go, so you have a lot of control over your relaxation experience. You don’t need a permit to fly a drone here as long as the drone is <250g like the DJI Mini 3 Pro.
When you’re feeling satisfied, return to your hotel for breakfast and make sure to take a shower and wash your swimsuit. There are small red worms that live in the springs, only 3 millimeters long, but they can get in your swimsuit. I personally didn’t find any in my swimsuit, and found as long as I moved around a bit, the waves would push the worms away. However, I do feel obligated to mention it as I know people who did find them in their suit after!
After enjoying the springs, we drove over to Strada Provenciale del Pecorile to snap pics of the iconic winding road of Cypress trees. There are two iconic photo spots along the Tuscan hills. Obviously Strada Provenciale del Pecorile is one of them (the one with the curved road), but there’s another famous one that’s a straight road called Viale di Cipressi. Be prepared to run into other tourists trying to snap a picture, so budget in some time to wait for your turn if you care about having other people in your pictures! Just a note, there is signage at these locations asking tourists to please not use their drones.
The last spot we explored on the road was the Diborrato Waterfall, which is right outside the gorgeous city of Siena.
Next, our roadtrip took us into the province of Liguria. I have been dreaming about seeing the gorgeous, iconic and colorful buildings of Cinque Terre. These buildings inspired the setting of the Disney movie “Luca”.
In order to get to Cinque Terre, you do have to drop off your car, as you can’t drive into Cinque Terre without a specific permit. The easiest place to leave your car is at the garage at the train station in La Spezia.
From there, it’s a quick train ride to Cinque Terre where you’ll have time to catch the sunset at this famous viewpoint in Vernazza. The viewpoint isn’t marked on Google Maps, so navigate to these coordinates to get there: 44.136602, 9.681347. It’s a relatively quick and easy hike from the actually city center, maximum 20 minutes! Once you’re there, you do have to climb under a little structure to get to the outlook.
Hot tip: For the best photos, have someone stay on the trail above you and shoot at a downwards angle! It’s the best way to capture both the view of Vernazza and yourself.
For dinner that night, we ate at Il Gambero Rosso so we could enjoy being by the water. The food was amazing, but if you’re there during a busy season, prepare for the service to be a quite overwhelmed. Outside of the obvious choice of ordering seafood, I would highly recommend ordering the trofie with pesto ligure sauce. Even if you don’t go to this specific spot, you should try trofie pesto, as it’s a staple of Ligurian cuisine.
We stayed the night in Vernazza in an Airbnb. If I had to do this trip again, I would likely choose to do the same! In my opinion, it’s the most picturesque of all of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre. Don’t forget to use deltaairbnb.com if you want to earn Delta miles with your Airbnb booking!
DAY THREE:
No driving this day! We spent our third day exploring the 5 towns of Cinque Terre. In order to navigate between the towns, you can either use the train (the same train you took from La Spezia connects all 5 towns).
During a peak season, it takes quite some time to get on the train, and the train can run quite late. So here are my thoughts on all 5 towns so. you can budget your time accordingly:
If you’re hoping to lounge at the beach, Monterosso is the only town with a true beach/coast. It’s home to the iconic green and orange parasols. If you’re going to spend a decent amount of your day at the beach, get their early so that you can claim your spot. If you want to enjoy one of the lidos (the umbrellas), they are first come first serve for around €25 and managed by the beach bars and restaurants. The most photogenic lidos are at Nuovo Eden Bar & Gelateria next to the iconic Scoglio di Monterosso rock outcropping. There are free stretches of the beach if you don’t want to pay for a lido.
Vernazza is my favorite town for the views. The viewpoint I mentioned earlier is the most ionic in all of Cinque Terre and absolutely took my breath away. It’s also the specific town that inspired Disney’s “Luca”! Outside of the viewpoint from above the town, you can also snap a cute photo at the end of the Marina here.
If you want to hike any of the famous trails between the towns, the hike from Manarola to Riomaggiore is easiest to fit into a quick trip. All of the hikes require an intense uphill and downhill, since you are hiking the mountains between towns. If you do decide you want to do a hike, make sure to bring comfy shoes and note that there is a day pass with a fee of €7.50/adult. I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for not having the pass (and we were unable to snag one since the hike was a last minute decision and had no issues).
Manarola is also home to the Instagram-famous Nessun Dorma, which is a light-eats restaurant nestled high up in the mountains with a stunning view of the rest of Manarola. This place books up fast, so get a reservation in ahead of time.
Corniglia has the only view you can get from land of all 5 of the town of Cinque Terre. Outside of this, it’s the quietest of the 5 towns. If you want to hop in a water but don’t need a beach to lay out, there is a cute cove called Spiaggia di Corniglia.
While in Cinque Terre, you can do wine tastings, eat good food, and take a boat out to explore Cinque Terre from the water. Regardless of what vacation activity you opt for, I’d highly recommend picking up some focaccia–one of the other signature dishes of Liguria. I would highly recommend Il Massimo della Focaccia in Monterosso. The rosemary & potato and pesto focaccias blew our mind!
Outside of that, you will obviously want to find some gelato. Make sure to try the lemon gelato, since lemons grow fresh all over Cinque Terre. Trust me, it will be the best lemon gelato you’ll ever have.
We then returned to La Spezia to pick up our car. From there, we headed toward Florence to catch our flight out of Italy. On the way, we stopped by Pisa quickly to snap a pic with the iconic leaning tower.
Cost Breakdown:
STAYS:
Hotel Albergo Poggio Bertino (Saturnia, 1 night): $117.2 $57.20
We had a $50 credit with Safara, and then got 10% off our stay in credit. For $50 off your stay and 10% off all future stays, book with Safara.Vernazza Altido Airbnb (Cinque Terre, 1 night: $341.91 + $5 (tourist tax for 2 people for a night)
Total: $202.06/person
FOOD (for two):
La Solina: $55
Il Gambero Rosso: $75.88
Il Massimo della Focaccia: $11.44
Gelato 2x: $7.70 + $6.60
Miscellaneous Snacks/Meals: $50
Total: $103.31/person
TRANSPORTATION:
Car Rental: $113.27
I’d recommend using Discover Cars to quickly aggregate and compare rental company offersGas: ~$90
Parking in La Spezia train station: $36.29
Train ticket from La Spezia to Cinque Terre: $5.50/person
Cinque Terre Train Day Pass: $20.01/person
Parking for the Leaning Tower of Pisa: $5.50
Total: $148.04/person
ACTIVITIES:
Saturnia Hot Springs: FREE
Photo Spots in Tuscany: FREE
Hike to Diborrato Waterfall: FREE
Hikes in Cinque Terre: €7.50/adult
(would be cheaper for kids and for a multi-day hiking pass)Enjoying the Beach/Water in Cinque Terre: FREE
Total: $8/person
TOTAL PER PERSON: $461.41*
*Flights not included, since we flew out of Vienna, and the cost of flights varies greatly on the airport of origin.