Bilby88

Hi, I am looking for recommendations on which area to stay in Tuscany during a 1 week visit in November (2 adults and a toddler). We will have a hire car which we will pick up from Venice, and return somewhere (?) before going to Rome.
Our main interests are visiting historic villages and countryside (including San Gimignano, Monterrigioni, Montepulciano, Volterra), as well as Siena and possibly Florence.
We wish to stay at an Agriturismo in a self catering apartment.

So the areas I am thinking are Chianti or Val d'Orcia, or somewhere near Siena. What are these areas like in November?
Any advice or suggestions much appreciated.

jamikins

We spent a week in montepulciano over NYE last year - not November but you can get an idea of what val d'Orcia looks like in the winter from my photos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7639164500734/

The places you want to visit are quite spread out - we don't like to do day trips that take longer than 1.5 hours each way so you might want to use google maps and determine how far these places are from your selected base. Perhaps consider two bases? Tuscany is quite large.

Happy planning!

bilboburgler

The lesser agris will probably be closed as you are in the quiet season but it should mean that you get good prices. Best question is do you want to be in the country, small town or in a city.

I'd look at somewhere like Buonconvento rather than the countryside and the bigger cities but it is up to you. With a baby you will find people at least want to talk to you.

kybourbon

I think I would split the visit to two locations. Somewhere in the San G area a few days so you can easily visit Volterra and Monterriogioni, Siena and then move to somewhere in the Pienza area for southern Tuscany to visit Montepulciano/Montalcino, etc.

I would consider staying in a self-catering in a small town instead of in the countryside. Most small towns have B&B's/apartments which have kitchens. Pick one with easy parking. For example, I stayed in an apartment in the center of Pienza (pedestrian only area), but it was only a few minutes walk to on street parking (less than 5).

It will be dark early so if you look for places in the countryside, check the roads. Some can be quite remote locations and on gravel roads (white roads).

Henry

Bilby,
This may give you some ideas http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

Check Chiusi and Orvieto for car return.

hulio

We were in Tuscany this June and stayed at a Villa just outside of Panzano. We LOVED the location and the villa itself CasaNove del Torre . Throughout the week we travelled around all of Tuscany (all the places you mentioned) but agreed that we loved the location of our villa to use as a home base. I would stay there again in a heartbeat. The villa has different sized units available

http://www.to-tuscany.com/casenuovelatorre/armidobasso/

kloolezz

We just came back from Italy a week ago. We were staying in Tuscany (Impruneta - 30 mins by bus and 15 mins by car to Firenze). Was supposed to be there for a week, but we cut it short and drove back to Nice. Do not drive into Firenze. They have ZTL zones that would cost u 99 euros. Make sure the villa that u will be renting has a/c or electric fans. Where we stayed didn't. If we opened the windows, the mosquitoes came in. If we kept the windows closed, it got so stuffy. They had mosquito nets, but they didn't help. I had over 30 bites our 2nd night.

kloolezz

Also, Impruneta (where we stayed) was a mere 10 minute drive into Chianti.

nytraveler

The OP is going in Nov - so I don't think AC or fan will be an issue. What will be more of an issue are the shorter days - limiting the distance of towns you want to visit unless you are willing to do LOTs of driving versus seeing towns. Also be aware that in some of these smaller towns everything closes after lunch until a late afternoon opening - or some have days or half days when shops are all closed You will need to coordinate that.

Jean

Shorter days AND a toddler....

I would stay in one place and limit the exploring to what's within a reasonable driving distance (for me, that's less than 90 minutes one way and at that time of year might be less) and know that I wasn't going to see everything. I would stay in an apartment in a small town and not out in the middle of nowhere.

FYI, it won't be fully light until after 7:30a, and sunset will be before 5:00p. You could return the car near the train stations in Siena, Chiusi or Orvieto. If you're experienced in driving in Italy and/or have confidence and GPS, you could drop the car in Rome and then taxi to your hotel.

tuscanlifeedit

I too would stay in a small town rather than the countryside. It's dark and fairly lonely and even boring in Tuscany at night in November.