monicapileggi

My cousin Reenie and I returned from Italy Thursday the 27th. We spent two weeks visiting Lucca, Pisa; Montipulciano for a week with day trips to places such as Pienza, Montalcino, Lucignano, Cortona, Serre di Rapolano, Asciano, etc. Lots of towns in 5 full days. The towns became a blur. Each are lovely, but after a while, we asked, ?so where was that one church? Which town??

The weather was perfect every day. The countryside was absolutely beautiful in its spring colors. The rolling hills were so green with red poppies sprouting up everywhere. Everywhere we drove, it was one beautiful scene after another.

We dined well in Trattoria?s and Osteria?s. Our dinners averaged around $26/pp (with an exchange rate of 1.22 to the Euro). Simple Tuscan foods of crostini, pastas with various toppings/sauces, and wonderful wild boar dishes. We drank the house wine in most places and enjoy it every much. In some places a ? liter of wine was only 3 euros!

I bought some ceramics, but no gold on this trip. With the currency exchange, shopping was expensive for me.

Our hotels were nice. Albergo Diana in Lucca was comfortable, clean, and in a good location. I had read that the people that work there can be rude, but we didn?t encounter that at all. I won?t recommend our hotel in Florence, Hotel Guelfa (from the Great Sleeps book). Although the bed in the room was comfortable and the room was large (large bathroom too), it's an old place that needs updating, such as the carpeting and door to the bathroom ? lousy latch to close the door, and a plug so one can take a bath. The room was quiet (inner courtyard room), but? Our apartment in Montepulciano, Politian Apartments, was very, very nice and quite comfortable; good location too. Piccolo Hotel Oliveta in Siena is a place I highly recommend to anyone wanting to stay in Siena. Located just outside the Porta Romana, Alexandra and Antonio make you feel right at home. This was our second stay there and the only place I?ll stay while in Siena.

I plan to type up my journal soon and add my photos (took 16 rolls plus about 450 on the digital ? yes I went wild), and restaurant listings to my web site (with further details on the hotels) http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html. In the meantime you can view my digital photos (no not all 450) on ofoto: http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=1429hxt...&y=-spq0jg

Any questions abut our trip, please email me at [email protected] or post them here on fodors.

Ciao!

Monica

ira

Sounds like a nice trip, Monica.

jd_dallas

What did you think of Montepulciano for a base? My wife and I hope to spend about 10 days either in Tuscany or Umbria next year and would like to find a good town to stay in for most of the trip. Our one previous trip was shorter, and we did not have time to establish a base.

Did you notice any other towns that would have worked better? Our general plan next trip is to spend every other day out in the car, but also get to know the town we stay in and its restaurants, etc.

monicapileggi

Thanks Ira.

JD_dallas, I really enjoyed my stay in Montepulciano. My other choice when I was making my plans was Montalcino, but I found it to be pricier (restaurants) than Montepulciano. There are more restaurants in Montepulciano too, so that was nice having more options for the week (we did dine in the apartment one nights with lots of goodies). I also chose Montep. because I wanted to drive to Cortona and Chuisi (go in the am and not miss the museums there).

Another good base would be Siena to get a mixture of Chianti and southern Tuscany. The drive from Montepulciano to Siena was about 1 hour, 15 minutes, so Siena would be a good option too. And of course I would recommend to you (but not knowing your budget) Piccolo Hotel Oliveta, where they have their own parking. That's another consideration for Montepulciano - the apartment we stayed, we could park along the side of the building or in any parking space across the street.

And lastly, Pienza would be a good option. Much smaller town, but very nice - located between Montalcino and Montepulciano.

Enjoy your trip!!!

Monica

LaBellaDona

Monica -
Thanks so much for your report - and being able to see your photos was great!
Dona

bobthenavigator

Welcome back Monica. Enjoyed your pics from many familar places.

MaryJG

Hi Monica,

I would love to learn about the restaurants you enjoyed. Your price of "average 26E/pp" is in my price range.

I look forward to your journal and other information.

Thank you very much,

Mary

MaryJG

Sorry, I meant 26$$,not euros.

monicapileggi

Mary,

We enjoyed a lot of restaurants to include:

Lucca: Gli Orti di Via Elisa; Stefani da Benedetto (just a few miles south of Lucca)

Montepulciano: Grotta di Nano, Osteria Acquacheta, Ai Quattro Venti, Trattoria di Cagnano (great pizza!), and Diva e Maceo

Siena: Trattoria Dino, Ristorante Nello (our BEST meal), and Trattoria La Torre

Florence: Trattoria Guelfa, Osteria del Cinghaile Bianco, il Pizzaiuolo (the best pizza!), and il Latini.

If you want the names of the restaurants for the other hill towns, let me know.

Monica

tlc

Monica, what great photos! I just got back from my first trip to Italy and I am already planning the next. Someday, I hope to take a trip like you and Reenie. thanks for posting your pictures.

adrienne

Hi Monica,

Great photos...can't wait to read the whole report. Glad you had a wonderful time.

Dick

jd_dallas,

We used and apartment in Montepulciaon as a base last summer.

It worked out great to explore parts of Tuscany and Umbria. We even made a "day trip" into Florence.

We loved the town and its location. The only negative was we did a lot of driving...which we didn't mind. We put on almost a 1000 miles in one week without realizing it. We would leave Montepulcano very early and drive to a different town for breakfast and to start our day.

monicapileggi

To add to Dick's comments, you're going to do a lot of driving no matter which town you stay in. I opted for a town with more restaurants, stores and food shops.

jd_dallas

Thanks Monica and Dick.

We're just starting to think about the trip, but I like Montepulciano's location relative to areas we would like to explore. Last year we stayed in Siena and went out daily, so I understand the need for quite a bit of driving.

Is it feasible to get to Montepulciano without a car, then rent one for the part of the week we want to wander? We really want to spend some time getting to know one town, so we actually wouldn't need a car the whole time.

Also, is parking a problem in Montepulciano?

artlover

Monica,

Thank you for the wonderful trip report.

Could you tell me more about Hotel Oliveta--such as cost and if they have a website, etc.

My daughter is planning on going to Sienna next Spring quarter and we're planning to visit. We plan to stay in Venice for a week and Siena about 4 nights, but I'd rather take trains (and/or buses), if possible. We've been to Italy before and love it, but my DH's driving makes me very nervous.

Thanks for any helpful advise.

monicapileggi

Hi Jd_dallas, The nearest train station is about 10 kilometers (or around there) from Montepulciano. I?m sure there are busses from Florence or Siena, but I never checked into that, so you?ll need to research that. Parking was not a problem because our apartment had its own parking: right in front of the building (see the last photo on this web site: http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.js...d=108421182105 our car was the one in front of the white van. You can see cars on the left side) Giacomo, who owns Politian Apartments (see below if interested), owns most of the building, so we had no problem parking next to it. Across the street is also street parking and once the tourists leave town, you could park there too. If you stay elsewhere, you?ll have to ask about parking. It was great being able to drive right to the Apt.

Politian Apartments
via del Poliziano, 32
Montepulciano, Italy
tele: +39 0578 758822
Email: [email protected]
http://www.politian.com/
http://www.tuscany.net/stuart/index.html
POC: Mr. Giacomo Stuart
Quoted 400 Euros/week, apartment #1
Rentals: Saturday to Saturday

Hi Artlover,

It was really a short report, but thank you! I?m about 1/3rd done with my journal and will post to my web site (http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/home.html) soon. Here's the web site for Antonio and Alexandra's hotel http://www.oliveta.com/ where you can check their prices. If you write to them, give them my BEST regards. They were wonderful hosts. As I mentioned once before, the hotel is located just south of Porta Romana, or about a 15-minute walk to the Campo in town. They have their own private parking lot. The train station and bus station is a distance from the hotel, but you can ask either of them about local bus transportation to train or bus station. If you do go to Siena, I highly recommend the two restaurants we enjoyed for dinner, Nello and La Torre.

I hope this information helps you both!

Monica

MaryJG

Yes please Monica, I?d like to get your other dining information. I hope to visit some of the smaller towns like you did.

Loved your photos too! Thanks for sharing.

Mary

Dick

Parking can be a problem in Montepulciano. Our apt had a reserved spot so we were fine. We were told that parking limits in the lots were enforced. I would defintely check to see if parking is available.

If you are going to be in Montepulciano, I would reccomend being there on Thursday morning for market day. It is quite an experience geared towards the locals.

I posted a few pics of market day if you care to see.

http://www.pbase.com/dickp/tuscany&page=2

jmw44

Thanks, Monica. The photographs are lovely; you have an artist's eye. Might you say what kind of digital camera you use? I still favor my old 35mm, but am beginning to weaken, especially if those pictures are the products of a simple-to-use digital. How large a town is Montipulciano? J.

Grasshopper

I really enjoyed the photos! Thanks so much for sharing.