Getting ready for my trip and like some great ideas from fellow travelers!

Buy the DK book by Reid Bramlett named TOP 10 TUSCANY and you will be well served--about $10 on Amazon.com.

Some suggestions-San Gimignano, Siena, Pisa, Florence! Have fun!

Montepulciano, and justr enjoy the beautiful countryside.

Travelatte

In no particular order:

* Sit near the entrance to Chianciano Terme and count the number of people under age 70 who come in or out.

* Sit on the balcony of Cafe Poliziano in Montepulciano and look over the Tuscan countryside.

* Gaze upon San Biagio in Montepulciano at sunrise or sunset

* For a refreshing change of pace from seeing churches, go to the synagogue in Florence

* Climb the Duomo in Florence. Read "Brunelleschi's Dome" by Ross King first.

One day just don't go anywhere at all. Pretend you live in the town and have the day off work. Sleep in, go to the local cafe for capuccino and read the paper. Take a walk around town -- not just the main streets but the side streets too. Chat with the locals.If you have a kitchen, shop in the local meat market and greengrocer. Enjoy riposso and when you wake up, cook dinner at home. After dinner, go out, buy a gelato and take a leisurely walk around town while the sun sets.

I wholeheartedly agree with bobthenavigator about Top 10 Tuscany. It's invaluable in planning a trip to the area.

Assuming you have use of a car, get lost. Take back roads until they end in some little village you never heard of. Park and walk around, have an espresso or a gelato.

Ritaly - Lots of good ideas on Dean's infamous thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1325569

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Mille Grazie
Wonderful ideas! The reference to Dean's post was fabulous. Everytime I go to this board I learn more. Let's keep it going! Since this is not my first trip I'd like to post some things in no particular order
* Stopping when I see a vendito diretto sign and buying great wine and olive oil and best of all having a great conversation
* Volterra- the scenery driving there is the best I've see
* Sitting on the rocks at water's edge in Vernazza
*Out of the way trattoria's without menus they just tell you what they cooked that day
*Cheese and salumi shops

I second the Montepulciano recommendations. What a beautiful place. And the Cafe Poliziano terrace is terrific.

Also: the Duomo cupola climb in Florence, if you can handle the 436 or so steps. Fabuluous.

San Gimignano. Spend an easy half day there shopping, dining, walking around. Lovely.

Thank you for the suggestions. I'm also looking for current trattoria recommendations for Montepulciano. Basically we usually walk around find a menu that looks good and give it a try. That has worked very well, but I know there are some places that are just worth seeking out in all parts of Tuscany. Anyone with favorites you'd go back to?

Osteria Acquacheta on via del Teatro, 22 was our favorite Montepulciano restaurant. It's at the South end of town, up the hill. We had dinner there 3 times.

Diva e Maceo on via di Gracciano nel Corso, 90/92 is also an excellent trattoria. It's located at the North end of town, right inside the gate. You can't go wrong with either one.

Pecorino in Pienza, and the drive from San Gimignano to Volterra is spectacular.

Visit the Fortezza in Montalcino. Have a glass of Brunello and climb to the top of the fort. The views are spectacular! =)

Agree with books; Also check out contextrome.com. We used them for all travel/pickup arrangements during our recent trip through Italy; they made our reservations at various museums in Italy: no lines for us! And their guides are fabulous. I have been to the Vatican three times and ONLY this last time, with a guide named Cecilia from contextrome.com did the trip come alive! FABULOUS/reliable and reasonable.

Check out contextrome.com We were in Italy for three weeks recently and had excellent assistance from them; we had a party of 13 people coming and going at different times with different needs, etc. They made our reservations for us at the Uffizi and the Academia in Florence (no waiting in line) and we had a Ph.D. in Art History for our Vatican Museum/St.Peter's/Sistine Chapel guide; she was ABSOLUTELY fabulous; Our group agreed she was more than worth the cost.

We had them arrange train tickets, etc and all the pickups at airport/train station, etc. They also do hotel reservations and restaurants.

Excellent service! Check them out!
SKW

I agree with others that Osteria Acquacheta and Cafe Poliziano in Montepulciano are musts. We went to both several times. If you can (even if you share a table) try to sit out on the little balcony at the Poliziano overlooking the fabulous scenery. We didn't particularly care for the restaurant called Ai Quattro Venti in the square.

If you do go to San Biagio, wait till the church is empty of worshippers, stand on the round stone directly under the dome and clap your hands once, really hard. Then listen as it echoes 18 or 19 times around the church.

We loved Pienza and walked around there on more than one occasion. We were hoping to try the restaurant at one end of the main street (sorry, can't remember the name but it's NOT the end of town with the archway) but didn't have a reservation.

If you want a very special (but not inexpensive) dinner, go to Poggio Antico about 5km outside of Montalcino and down a long, cypress-lined road. Beautiful place, very formal but warm service, excellent wines (of course) and amazing food.

Finally, if you're going to Florence, we had two suggestions from Ira and both were excellent. Have dinner at Il Ritrovo on Via Dei Pucci -- lovely place, nice family, good food. Order the Appetizer Fantasia and share it. Also, take the #7 city bus (1E) from the train station up the hill to Fiesole and have a drink at the Bar Blue. Nice to do this just before sunset. You'll have a fabulous view of Florence as the lights come twinkling on.

SKW - sounds like you are advertising. Makes me want to stay away from that website.

Dear Budman and others
Thank you for the great tips. I will try the restaurant recommendations especially in Montepulciano. I've just got confirmation that we'll be staying there 3 nights. I'm going to try and find the copper place that Budman mentioned on another thread. The San Biagio tip is GREAT, I'll let you know how many I counted! Unfortunately, we are not doing Florence or Volterra this trip. Anyone been to Pitligiano (sp??). We're looking for some different out of the way hilltowns in So Tuscany.