Hi

Looking for a base in Tuscany. Ideally a place in a small, charming town that has nice restaurants to try.
Saw Hotel Borgo Pretale and Hotel Relais La Suvera on the net and both look nice. Pretty sure Borgo Pretale is in the middle of nowhere though - not sure about La Suvera.
Problem is that both my fiancee and I like to go out and try little authentic restaurants where we are (rather than eating in hotel all the time) and since we both like the odd glass of wine, don't want to have to drive after it - so would like to be within walking distance.

Any reccomendations?

Thanks

Martin

Martin, see www.lacosta.it
Your 2 choices are both remote.

Spent 2 great nights at La Suvera in 2001...spectacular! Beautiful rooms, great restaurant, gorgeous grounds. And the staff was wonderful; the manager gave us (2 couples) a private, guided tour of all the buildings, about 1 1/2 hours.

It was a bit remote, but not terribly inconvenient if you have a car. Monteriggione (not sure of spelling) was only about 10 - 15 minutes away, Siena about 30 minutes, and San Gimignano about 40 - 45 minutes.

Wish we could have stayed longer.

Just re-read original post, and hadn't noticed the part about "would like to be within walking distance" of other restaurants. Under those conditions, La Suvera wouldn't work...without a car, you're pretty much stuck there. No real town to go to within reasonable walking distance.

Near Pienza is a great location. Maybe look for a place in Montalcino. We stayed in a farmhouse that gave us the option of dinner, but you couldn't walk anywhere else, had to drive.

Hope this will help you. Hotel Vecchia Oliviera in Montalcino am staying there May 2004. I chose this hotel as it is in a small town in tuscany with great wine tasting and great restaurants in town that you can walk around to.

try lucignano. i think it would be a perfect match for you. it is a small medieval walled town overlooking the valdacino (valley) in eastern tuscany.

it is convenient to all the wine towns and pienza, arrezo and cortona. siena is a bit more of a trek but the views while driving are great.

it has a few very good restaurants within the walls. it's like a miniature san gimignano without the throng of tourists.

I stayed in Motalcino about 2 weeks ago in Affiticamera Anna which are rooms rented by the local Il Giglio hotel. I had a car and parking was available for free overnight at the Fortezza (castle) nearby. I found Montalcino a good base for the south west corner of Tuscany. There are plenty of restaurants in town and it's not overrun with people. For lists of other places to stay in Montalcino look at the Castello Banif website http://www.castellobanfi.com/montal.html or the local tourist office http://www.prolocomontalcino.it/Nuov.../indexing.html Have a good trip.

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