Florence recommendations?

August in any of the cities in Tuscany will be fairly hot (usually). Siena has loads of old winding streets so it didn't seem as bad as Florence. We stayed in a villa complex with a pool, up the hills close to San Gimignano and after Florence kept our city sightseeing to mornings/evenings.

I am just back from florence had a lovely time, weather was mild enough it is such a compact city we walked everywhere, plenty to see Uffizzi museum, Doumo, San Lorenzo Cathredal and Santa Croiche.

We stayed on Via Cavour hotel was very central a few minutes from the Duomo it was called Hotel Colomba, very cosy and good size room & bathroom and staff where nice. A relaxing holiday as it was so compact and no stress from metro and buses as in some other cities in europe.

We flew with Ryanair and on our last day we got the train to Pisa it was only 5 euro and was a 1 hour journey and when you arrive at the train station No 1 bus outside will bring you right to outside the leaning tower or Pisa and same bus across the road will bring you back to the airport so you get to see 2 cities then

Great, thanks everyone for all the tips.

Think we might revise the trip to 3 days each in Verona, Siena and Bologna or something along those lines.
Am tempted to drive but know I'd wuss out in the end so suppose it's trains then!!

Michelle.

If you go to Verona, try to take in an opera. Unforgettable, even if you're not a fan! And you might as well get some milage out of the 'glad rags'...

True, and I do like a good tragedy. As all good Operas are

I have to disagree with those complaining about the trains. I've travelled by train a lot in Italy, and in general (with a few disastrous exceptions) the system works well....and is very cheap.
2 big disadvantages to renting a car: (1) driving in Italy is not a lot of fun, especially in towns (2) assuming you're staying in city centres, parking will be a nightmare or just expensive.

There's no getting away from the fact that the cities (wherever you go) will be HOT in the summer. Florence will be jointed in the summer. I visited there in March 2 years ago and found it too busy to be comfortable. Agree that 2-3 days is all you need there.
I am very partial to Verona.....although watch out in the restaurants, as horse appears to be big local delicacy! In August, day trips to Lake Garda will keep you cooler.....buses run regularly and it's only 10-15 miles to the nearest town.

Thanks for the tip, I'm a vegatarian so hopefully won't be trying the poor horse