Base Place to stay to tour Tuscany
 

We are touring Italy for 3 weeks beginning May 4th and staying mostly hotels. We are looking for a local color place to stay in the hill country as a base for touring the towns in Tuscany primarily and Umbria.

There probably isn't one place from which you can tour Tuscany and Umbria. Depending on what part of Tuscany you want to tour and how much of Umbria, you will probably need 2 bases at least. Do some research, decide how long you will have for Tuscany and Umbria and what you want to see. It will be easier to provide help if we know your interests.

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

Depending on what you want to see in Tuscany and Umbria, you might find it very convenient to stay the entire time just on the border between the two regions. That entire area is overall quite pleasant and has plenty of beautiful accommodations, and the towns have important art. If what you mean by "local color" is a feeling of locals living here rather than tourist towns, that is very easy to come by on the Umbrian side of the border, but you can also have it on the Tuscan side if you stay north of Cortona, but close to Umbria.

But it really worth the investment of your time to take a map that includes both Tuscany and Umbria and mark on it what places you want to see. If you plan to see Assisi in Umbria and San Gimignano or Pisa in Tuscany, you might prefer more than one location.

As mentioned, there is no ideal single location.
Montepulciano is the best compromise if you can tolerate a driving radius of up to 2 hours.

mamcalis..You are right..not enouhgh info Henry...Thank you so much for the invaluable information. Too much to digest for first timers. Our entire time in Italy is 3 weeks and I clearly see we can spend more then that time in any one place we are visiting.golden autumn thanks for your advice. we prefer one base as we will be travelling nonstop but we are in our 60's (late) UGH and wantesd if possible to go on a slower pace. We want to see Cinque Terra which I undestand is mostly hiking, but our daughter was there this past summer and said I can easily do the first tien. Then we planned to take a boat? to see the rest by water

Henry, we want to see San G, Siena, Pizza, Luca, Cortona and Chianti area if posible. There are others but we want to see Umbria as well.We would like to see Orvietto, AssisiPerugia. Todi and Spoletto
golden autumn Having that itinerary in mind, I am sure you will think we need 2 bases Thank you all for your helo

Forgot to mention we have 5 full days in ths region. Thanks again

Hi idelweiss,
I'm a little confused. Are you planning to visit the CT during your stay in Tuscany? From Spoleto to Vernazza is over a 4 hour drive, without stopping. Even if you based yourself directly between the two you would still have a four hour round trip drive each day to see your farthest most points.

You say you have three weeks in Italy...where else are you planning to visit? Maybe we can help you make the most of your time there, but you will not be able to visit everything on your wishlist in Tuscany with just five days there IMO. You say you want a slower pace...you will need to narrow down your must sees quite a bit in order to have a slower more relaxed trip.

And also, not to be the spelling police or anything, but it is Pisa, not pizza. If you try to research Pisa you would have a hard time finding it with that spelling.

Tuscany is a beautiful area. There is much to see. Give us a little bit more info and I'm sure we can help you make the most of your time there.

Hi idleweiss,

A great place for a base is a lovely place called San quirico in the val d'orcia. We used this as a base on our first trip travelling around Italy in our car. And this year will be our fourth year of staying there. We have stayed just on the outskirts in a nice converted farmhouse which was self catering and last two years have stayed in the walled town at a perfect B&B called casa lemmi, check the website out for this place as it has its own therapy pool that is yours free for an hour when booked, perfect for relaxing at the end of the day. We visited Assisi, montalcino, montepulciano, Siena, Florence, San Gimignano whilst staying here. It's a perfect place with great trattorias and vineyards, we go to the same one each year and fill the car up with great wine. Visiting Cortona, Orvieto, grosseto and other places would be easy from here also. Let me know if I can give you more info if your interested.

Good luck with the planning and if there is any other info I can help you with then please ask. This will be our fourth year driving from the UK to Italy so we've learnt a lot so far and happy to share.

Regards

Ride4change

I'm confused too. "Five days in this region" and hoping to see San Gim, Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Cortona, Chianti, Orvieto, Assisi, Perugia, Todi, Spoleto, Cinque Terre?????

I'm confused too!

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful advice and Henry's links were indispensable.
Firstly, let me say that we have decided not to do Cinque Terre because your advice was it was too much and we would be too busy rushing and driving to absorb the culture and beauty of the areas we visit. Thanks to Ride4change for the wonderful location to use as a base. There appears to be many spas and resorts in that area and while lovely we would probably not take advantage of with so much to see and absorb. We have 4 to 5 days to spend to tour Tuscany and Umbria. Another hub that looked interesting was Greve in Chianti for 1 of the 2 bases What we liked was that there were some agritour (sp) and B&B's. Most of our Italian tour in the cities are in hotels and this would give us a different experience. If you have any opinions let us know. My husband has worked on the mileage between all our desired towns and has a better idea of what we are doing and what we can see comfotably in the time we have.



Also, completely off the subject, goldenautumn I read in another thread you entered that the cheeses in Tuscany may not be pasturized. I have Crohns disease and this is a subject I will speak to my gastroenterologist about. Thank YOU Also off the subject,have any of you heard of Hotel Babino 181 near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It looked very contemporary and not what I expect in Itay, but sort of nice for the beginning of our time in Italy, we have Hotel Barrocco and Auberge de Senato booked. While I am interested in your opinion about this one hotel, I do not want to get off the main subject which is where to stay while touring Tuscany and Umbria

Thank you again for all your input

It looks like you want to visit 11 or 12 places in 5 days. This really isn;t possible - even if you just sit in the car the whole time - stopping only for potty breaks and quick snacks.

If you are touring from a central spot the most you can realistically see is one town per day - if you actually want to see anything. The distances may not be long - but these are country roads and speeds will be slow. Also - not everything is open all day - and you will need to allow for that in yuor planning.

I can highly recommend at the San Savernano in Vaggio, just off the A1 in between Florence and Orvieto.

http://www.agriturismosavernano.com/

It is 30 min from Greve in Chianti, a little over an hour from San Gimignano and Siena, just up the A1 from Orvieto, and less than 2 hours from Assisi. Cortona and Arezzo would be easy trips too. One advantage of the San Savernano is being relatively close to a major highway, and close to the Umbria border.

It is a lovely place, and the views are amazing. Dinner and breakfast is served outside on the terrace. Read the tripadvisor reviews. You won't be disappointed.