The Hill towns of Tuscany

Check out anything in Montepulciano or Cortona. Two wonderful Hill Towns that are very convenient to all the great attractions of Tuscany.

NAMAJAN,
I have information on the hilltowns and would be happy to send it to you . e-mail if you are interested.

I too have into on hill towns in Tuscany. Our closest friends live in one, and we've spent many weeks with them scouring the area for places to visit. I've developed a 20+ page itinerary that's I've sent to over 800 people on various travel boards. E-mail me at StuDudley@aol.com if you want a copy.

Stu Dudley

Thank you for the replys and they were very helpful. We are now looking at a place called Villa Montecastello. It sounds very nice. Has anyone ever been there and what did you think of it. Any input would be greatly appreciated

We have stayed in hill towns in Tuscany on several occasions. I think what is ideal is a town that has small shops and a restaurant or two, big enough to have a fairly active culture, but small enough so that staying there for a week you'll get a sense of that culture. We've stayed in Casole d'Elsa twice and find it perfectly suited for our needs. A location fairly close to Siena makes it easy to get to Florence, Volterra, San Gimignano. There are probably other hill towns that fit the bill, but some don't have as much community activity as others. Stigliano, for instance, is pretty and also small, but you don't see the residents strolling through town the way you do in Casole. Cortona and Montepulciano are much bigger, although certainly great places to explore. Invitation to Tuscany (www.invitationtotuscany.com) has many rentals in the area; we've used them a few times and have been happy with properties sleeping about 4 in the $900-$1400 per week range. E-mail me if you have more questions.

Stay just south of Florence at the "Poggio ai Merli" and do day trips all around Tuscany. The owner, Verena Merlot, is so helpful and will help you plan everything and makes your stay magical. The location is central and wonderful to come back to each evening. Verena has great suggestions for restaurants and maps for all your daily excursions. Driving is easy and so beautiful. Enjoy! www.poggioaimerli.it

Montepulciano is my absolute favorite, although Volterra is also wonderful. Montepulciano: Story-book beauty & gorgeous views--you can see the Val di Chiana from the piazza at the top. There are beautiful mosaics (& a mosaics school in the town). The 11th-C Temple of Biagio at the foot of Montepulciano, outside the old wall & the alley of cypress trees that leads to it is not to be missed. Have dinner at Il Grotto, the wonderful restaurant near the grounds of the temple; there's also an enoteca near the temple, more gorgeous views from the grounds that surround it. Volterra is in wilder, more open countryside, western Tuscany I think, an archaeological museum/park there. We were there just for a day.

I can't wait to go back. My husband & I were there in June several years ago but it will be stunning in October.

I would recommend renting an apt./small house to use as a base, & making day trips, rather than hopping from one small hotel to another, where you may wind up with a sagging mattress & a sore back. You might try parkercompany.com for rentals. We have had great success with them in the past.

We have just rented the Politian in Montepulciano after reading great reviews here. I know that last week it was still available for the first week in October. We are paying 450 euros for a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom for the last week in September! Do a search for Politian here. So excited I can't stand it!

I stayed in Lucca with some friends last year. one of the oldest walled towns in Italy. Its a great location too. About an hour train ride to Florence, about a half hour drive to Pisa.

We just returned from Tuscany....we stayed in Montalcino but our absolute favorite town in that area was Pienza. It is a beautiful town and very close to visit other towns in the region. The detour from Montipulciano to Pienza via Montichiello is the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. We stopped for lunch in Montichiello and had our best meal of the trip at the Osteria La Porta. The arichokes with melted Pecorino were to die for. It is a lovely area and other good choices for a base would be Montipulciano or San Quirico d'Orca. Montalcino was our least favorite town but we had a very nice view from our room at the Hotel dei Capitani overlooking the valley. We had a nice private tour of the Altesino Winery outside of town which was a highlight of our visit. The scenery around San't Antimo monastary and also near Mont Oliveto Maggiore were stunning. We also stayed a few nights in San Gimignano arriving later in the day and spending the night hours and next morning exploring the town...then driving around Chianti the next day....arriving back into town late afternoon when the daytrippers are leaving. We fell in love with this area as well but you are advised to be out of San Gimignano from 10am until about 4pm when bus loads of tourists make it impossible to enjoy the ambience of the town. The early morning walk we took around the walls was breathtaking and so tranquill..you forgot you were in a tourist town. I think few people know about these paths or take the time to wander out of town but it is well worth it.

We have been to Tuscany several times. The last time was in October when we stayed in a lovely rural resort called Sant Angelo, near Montepulciano. You can read all about it on my web site. Here's the URL of that trip:
http://www.travel.stv77.com/tuscany2005/tuscany05.htm

And here's the URL of the main page where there are several more trips to Italy:
http://www.travel.stv77.com/

And I agree wholeheartedly with CRAZY4TRAVEL as we also love Pienza and always visit it when we are in Tuscany!

Look at www.slowtrav.com. Lots of onformation on renting villas, reviews of individual villas and villa rental agencies. In fact, lots of information about traveling in Italy.

Are you going to spend the whole 2 weeks in one spot?

lOOK INTO AGRITOURISM.APARTMENTS OR VILLAS OR COTTAGES.YOU CAN FIND THEM IN ALL AREAS OF TUSCANY.IT ENABLES YOU TO MARKET AND BUY SOME GREAT CHEESES,BREADS,SALAMIS-GOOD LUCK.

just got back and stayed at il-poggiolo (www.il-poggiolo.it) the agriturismo is wonderful and the owner will do anything to make sure you are comfortable. It's about 2 miles up in the valley of Serpiole (Tuscany) small winding roads and quaint little town. check it out.

Pienza, Montisi, Castelnuovo, Montalcino... you can't go wrong.

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