Tuscany & Umbria Questions

What city are flying into? If you are flying in and out of Rome, I would start the trip in Florence and end in Rome. It's only 1:40 by train from Rome. Spoleto seems like an odd choice as first stop unless you are flying into some nearby airport.

I think 7 nights in Florence is a bit much. Florence seems more crowded/hectic/closed-in to me than Rome.

Is there a particular interest for your 3 nights in Siena (an easy day trip by bus from Florence)?

While it's possible to see all these hilltowns by bus, it's very time consuming. There will be gaps in the schedules which may leave you stranded in a town for several hours longer than you like. Many of these towns aren't on train lines so bus is the only option. Rural Tuscany is best seen by car.

You will find much of the bus options for south of Florence on Siena Mobilita.
http://www.sienamobilita.it/EN/index.html

I just looked at Rome/Spoleto on Trenitalia and it doesn't take as long as I thought it would (1 1/2 hours). I would still start in Florence with the long stay to get over jet lag and feel settled.

Your route backtracks which takes up time.
North to Spoleto
North to Cortona
South to Montepulciano
North to Florence
South to Siena

There isn't any easy connection from Montalcino to Rome. I would try to move that to another point in the trip or day trip from Siena.

Perhaps you should invest in a detailed guidebook such as Michelin or Blue Guide.

Tuscany and Umbria are not richly endowed with Romanesque architecture. The abbey of Sant'Antimo near Montalcino is, I think, the most important and loveliest example. I'm not sure, though, whether or how you get to it by public transport.

Frescoes, on the other hand, are pretty much everywhere, although I do not recall any in Montalcino or Montepulciano or Pienza. Orvieto has the Santa Fina chapel by Signorelli and others; Spello has Pinturicchio's chapel; Arezzo is a must, with Piero della Francescxa's True Cross cycle; San Gimignano has early frescoes at the Collegiata and Benozzo Gozzoli at Sant'Agostino. I don't know Todi or San Quirico d'Orcia.

I don't see the high temple of religious frescoes in Umbria - the Upper and Lower Basilicas of San Francesco in Assisi - on your list.

You might consider a longer stay in Siena; Montalcino, Montepulciano and San Gimignano can all be reached by bus from Siena.

I am also going to suggest that you invest in a good blue guide or at a minimum some straightforward google searches ("romanesque architecture in Umbria") because Umbria has plenty of Romanesque achitecture of renown -- certainly enough to occupy an intereseted visitor -- and while Montalcino doesn't have frescoes, nearby Monte Oliveto Maggiore has a stunning cycle by Signorelli, and so it goes.

I suggest that you compare the public transportation options in Umbria vs. Tuscany. I"ve never made a project of researching it, but my guess is that you can see more in Umbria using public transportation, and I think many people find it easier to do walking tours in Umbria (using Bevagna as a base?)

I like Spoleto, but considering your descriptions of interests I probably wouldn't pick it as a base for Umbria, especially without a car.

Our resident public trans expert, GAC, recently started a thread on transportation in Umbria (link below). You'll see from the links he provided that Perugia makes a great base for exploring Umbria by public trans. Perugia is not in the spirit of your "country mouse" preference, but when you're relying on public trans you either stay in a somewhat larger town or you see less. (Ditto kybourbon's comments on seeing towns by bus and train.) I'd stay in Perugia rather than separate stays in Spoleto and Cortona. Definitely go to Assisi one day to see its Romanesque Duomo di San Rufino.

Here's GAC's thread on Umbria transportation:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/umbria-buses-and-trains.cfm

For me, a week in Florence would be heaven, but I would also be using it as a base for exploring nearby towns easily accessible by train and bus, like Siena, Lucca and Pisa (for its Romanesque cathedral). In Florence, don't miss the San Miniato for its Romanesque architecture and beautiful views of the city.

You original itinerary is actually quite good, especially if you focus on some hikes. I think sandwiching Florence in the midddle will be a nice break between your countryside visits. You couldn't pick a better time of year. However, I would drop Cortona (not the beautiful landscape for hiking as the others) and add a day to Montepulciano and a day to Spoleto.

Hiking is great out of Spoleto and Montalcino. To get to Montalcino, you'll need to take the bus from Siena.

Montepulciano- There is plenty of great hiking/walking to be found in the area. Montepulciano to Montefolenico, Montepulciano to Pienza, Montepulciano to Monticchiello, Pienza to Monticchiello, and many shorter hikes making a loop from Montepulciano and Pienza. I love hiking this area. The bus between Montepulciano and Pienza is good.

From Siena you could take a bus to Asciano or Buonconvento and enjoy hiking the beautiful Crete Senese. I highly recommend this.

Make sure you pick up this guidebook-

http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Eating-Tuscany-Umbria-Revised/dp/0141009004

Just to clarify . . . Art and Architecture are not the only reasons for my visit! I also wish to experience the Tuscan countryside. And I do have the Blue Guide to Florence.

Thanks Zoecat! I will purchase the Walking and Eating in Tuscany & Umbria Guide

Actually, I was expecting to get my Art and Fresco Experience from my time spent in Florence. Tuscany was to experience the countryside and do some hiking )

abbeygael,

How about this:

Arrive in Rome, take the train to either Spoleto or Orvieto. Stay 2 days. Recover from jet lag by hiking in the fresh air and (hopefully) sunshine.

Train to Chiusi and then a bus to Montepulciano. Stay 4-5 nights.

Bus to Montalcino. Stay 2-3 nights. I'm not sure about a bus from Montepulciano to Montalcino though. You may need to research this. Or, take the bus to San Quirico and arrange for a taxi to take you on to Montalcino. You may even be able to meet someone during your stay in Montepulciano who would drive you there. heck, if I'm in the area (and I may be) I'll be happy to do so. However, it will cost you a glass of wine in Montalcino.

Bus to Siena and then change to another bus to Florence. Stay 7 nights.

Bus to Siena for 3-4 nights. Then, take the direct bus from Siena to Rome. It is faster and easier to get to Rome by bus than by train. Here is a great place to stay in the heart of Siena- http://www.residenzadepoca.it/en/index.php

You could also just go from Montalcino to Siena, stay there, then on to Florence and from there take the train back to Rome.

I've been following your thread on slowtrav.com. While I agree and enjoy the slow travel philosophy (I just returned from 2 weeks in one spot near Pienza), sometimes it doesn't work. Without a car or convenient public transport you are limited on far out you can explore from your base. By splitting your bases while in southern Tuscany and Umbria you will allow yourself the opportunity to explore and experience more.

You will love, love, love the hiking in Tuscany!

Had to laugh at your suggestions because if you've been following the thread on slowtravel.com you'll realize that was sort of the itinerary I started with . . . trying to divide the time in Southern Tuscany between two bases.

Sorry to add to the mix but the museum in Perugia has some very interesting early religious paintings FYI.

We easily trained from Pisa to Siena, Lucca, San Gim and even Florence.

We easily trained from Spoleto to Assisi, Orvieto and Spello

We bussed or trained from Perugia to Gubbio, Nimes and others (please see my TR) but hired a driver for Montelcino and Montepulciano.

Good luck with this.

I know I'm somewhat late at the party (just catching up with what I missed over the last few weeks), but for next May, it's still not too late for some advice, I guess...

I figure that also without a Blue or Michelin Guide, it should be common knowledge that there is no region all over Italy richer in small Romanesque towns than Umbria... and (with the exception of Perugia, which isn't really large, as well) just small towns and villages, and great landscape - just the right place for you abbeygael, it seems! So perhaps you should add some Umbrian experience, and skip parts of Tuscany?
Perugia, Bevagna, Lugnano in Teverina and - already included in your list - Spoleto are definite musts for lovers of Romanesque architecture; Todi and Assisi have more excellent Romanesque buildings (though both towns are more famous for monuments from other periods), and same goes for Foligno; Gubbio is another important Romanesque town, though I admit I never fell in love with it. And exploring the countryside will reveal many other, less-known Romanesque gems, though you'd certainly need a car for quite many of them (Gualdo Cattaneo is a favourite of mine in this league).

And though I'm certainly no hiker and no sportsperson at all(too fond of Italian cuisine!), I can hardly imagine a more wonderful hiking place than Umbria's Piano Grande. abbeygael, you may want to look to this thread for more details on Umbria: http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/francos-favourite-umbrian-delights.cfm

Finally, Tuscany is not richly endowed with Romanesque architecture, huh?? Ever heard of Pisa, which is certainly the peak of Romanesque art & architecture world-wide? Lucca? Pistoia? Prato? Florence has not just Renaissance, but also some of the very best Romanesque treasures (S. Miniato al Monte, the Baptistery...). Arezzo has a great Romanesque church; Carrara, one of the best anywhere; Barga; and let's not forget all-too-well-known S. Gimignano, and Volterra... Also in Southern Tuscany, there are of course other important Romanesque buildings than just S. Antimo (which is one of the best there, it's true): Torri, above all, S. Quirico d'Orcia, Abbadia S. Salvatore (the abbey church itself is in a way disappointing due to a truly horrible recent restoration, but the large borgo which is the core of the town is worth your time and attention), Massa Marittima, the cathedral of Chiusi, Sovana, Sorano, Roccalbegna...

As a car driver, I don't know much about public transport, but if there is any, you should really combine Montalcino and Montepulciano into one stay - they're so near to each other!

Franco,

If you can get your hands on it, check out the Dec 3 issue of The New York Review of Books (Vol 56, Number 19) for Walter Kaiser's essay on saving Florence, "The Magic City."