We stayed at Borgo Pignano for 3 days and our kids had a BLAST. We did a cooking class, lots of pool time, horses, ebikes and explored. You can take the shuttle to Volterra or get a driver to take you to nearby villages or drive there yourself. The kids loved San Gimignano (climbing the tower, exploring) and Sienna. We also loved a winery called Casa Lucii- they were very welcoming of our kids- made them fresh pizza, juices, fruit, etc.

I found this blog very helpful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. We have 8 nights total, so I was thinking we would pick two locations as our base, but all in Tuscany. Should we not stay in Florence at all?

Stay at least a 2-3 days inside Florence. It is great not having to get in the car for a couple days as you will be driving a fair amount the other days to visit the Tuscany hill towns wherever you base yourselves in Tuscany.

We did Florence with kids in 1.5 days. Unless you want to spends hours and hours looking at art as a family, there's not much to do. I LOVE Florence but I wouldn't spend 3 days there with kids. I suppose you could do a food cooking class one day to eat up time.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone. We have 8 nights total, so I was thinking we would pick two locations as our base, but all in Tuscany. Should we not stay in Florence at all?

Stay at least a 2-3 days inside Florence. It is great not having to get in the car for a couple days as you will be driving a fair amount the other days to visit the Tuscany hill towns wherever you base yourselves in Tuscany.

Thanks everyone. We have 8 nights total, so I was thinking we would pick two locations as our base, but all in Tuscany. Should we not stay in Florence at all?

Its a PITA to drive from Florence to the countryside and back. There are ZTL zones (Zona a Traffico Limitato) which are restricted traffic areas and you'll get a huge fine EVERY time you pass through one even if Waze/Google Maps sends you that way.

3 nights in Florence is TOO much for kids that age. Stay in Tuscany for 3 instead at a family friendly agriturismo where they can do all sorts of activities like Borgo Pignano, borgo san luigi or Agriturismo Biologico Diacceroni.

Anonymous wrote:It can be nice to pick a base, say in the Val d’Orcia, and then do day visits to small towns. Could hit Montalcino (plenty of wine shops, or there will be wineries nearby), Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, even Cortona. Maybe pick a place with a pool for the kids.

This is exactly what we did except we swapped in San Gimigano for Cortona.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It can be nice to pick a base, say in the Val d’Orcia, and then do day visits to small towns. Could hit Montalcino (plenty of wine shops, or there will be wineries nearby), Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, even Cortona. Maybe pick a place with a pool for the kids.

This is what I would do with kids unless they are into museums and churches. Florence is okay but it's crowded. I think you will get a better feeling for what's special about Tuscan life in the country side. Forever changed the way I eat and cook. The kids will enjoy all the simple things like eating in vineyards, picking fesh fruit from trees, cheese tastings and the scenery is spectacular while you're driving around.

+1 we stayed at a place with a pool in Montepulciano, visited a few of the hill towns, spent time in the pool, it was lovely.

Anonymous wrote:It can be nice to pick a base, say in the Val d’Orcia, and then do day visits to small towns. Could hit Montalcino (plenty of wine shops, or there will be wineries nearby), Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, even Cortona. Maybe pick a place with a pool for the kids.

This is what I would do with kids unless they are into museums and churches. Florence is okay but it's crowded. I think you will get a better feeling for what's special about Tuscan life in the country side. Forever changed the way I eat and cook. The kids will enjoy all the simple things like eating in vineyards, picking fesh fruit from trees, cheese tastings and the scenery is spectacular while you're driving around.

It can be nice to pick a base, say in the Val d’Orcia, and then do day visits to small towns. Could hit Montalcino (plenty of wine shops, or there will be wineries nearby), Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, even Cortona. Maybe pick a place with a pool for the kids.

Siena, if you've never been.

We are planning a trip to Tuscany with our kids (11 and 8) this June...we are thinking 3 nights in Florence. We have 4 nights to play with. Any recommendations? We will have a car and I think are hoping to do one day of wine tours but the rest is pretty open.