Gerald

My wife and I will have 6 nights in Tuscany in May and are trying to decide on which towns or areas to use as our bases. We are prepared to stay in one hotel for all 6 nights or split it up. Our goal is to make it as convenient as possible to visit different towns on day trips. We will have a car with us, so proximity to rail lines isn't important.

We will be in Florence for a few nights prior, so we won't be using any of the rest of our time in Tuscany to visit Florence.

One thought is to stay in or near Sienna for part of the time and then maybe Cortona for the rest, although I've read here that perhaps Cortona isn't a convenient base.

Any help on where to base ourselves and the must-see day trips from each place would be greatly appreciated.

Mario06

You can stay in Chianti countryside; by car you can visit different towns in Tuscany.

Here is suggestion of accommodation:

http://www.tuscanweb.com/property/?ID=4405

http://www.tuscanweb.com/property/?ID=4260


Here is suggestion of day trips:

Lucca - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=189

Fiesole - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=71

Siena - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=121

Cortona - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=78

Arezzo - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=107

Volterra - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=100

San Gimignano - http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=97


Hope it helps.

starrsville

http://www.letorri.com/eng/activenew...ayout=standard

This is where I'm going to stay

kate12

We had a similar trip to Tuscany. We stayed in a wonderful hotel called Locanda dell'Amorosa near the small town of Singalunga. www.amorosa.it
It is a tiny hotel that was once a small village and is very charming and peaceful yet convenient to travel the whole area. We did day trips to Asisi, Cortona, Montepulciano, Pienza, Siena, San Gimignano. The staff at the hotel recommended places for dinner that were all wonderful and not touristy. To come back to the hotel and sit in the piazza at the end of the day for a drink, or for coffee in the morning was so lovely. It was really the highlight of our trip.
The only negative was our dinner at the hotel. Pretty spot but not the best food and quiet expensive.
I loved all our day trips. San Gimignano, Pienza, Cortona (tour the little chapel the art is amazing) Orvieto (which we did on our way up from Rome) were my favourites. The Duomo in Siena is worth as visit and even better is the small chapel behind it.
Be sure to take home some olive oil from this region. I wish I had brought more than one bottle! Enjoy.

Gerald

Thanks very much for your suggestions!

dorkforcemom

Hello Gerald! We've done trips both ways - one trip we stayed 3 nights in San Gimignano (Hotel Antico Pozzo) then 3 nights at the previously recommended Locanda dell Amorosa in southern Tuscany (loved the Amorosa, by the way!). On a different trip, we stayed the entire time in southern Tuscany between Pienza, Montalpulciano, Montalcino, San Quirico at La Saracina. Loved that place, too! In retrospect, I'm not sure I prefered one way or another - just different with wonderful, wonderful memories of both. I don't think Cortona is the best base, personally. Hope this helps...

Henry

Gerald,
I would stay in southern Tuscany to see Siena, Pienza, Montepulciano, Bagno Vignoni, Sant Antimo, Monte Oliveto Maggiore, Buonconvento, Murlo, Montalcino. I would stay in Chianti area to see San Gimignano, Volterra, Greve, Radda, Castellina,Siena.
Look at agriturismo (an apartment on a farm or vineyard). If you need more help feel free to e-mail me

Henry

Dayle

HI Gerald,

2 different trips, staying in 4 different places.

Staying in Chianti (4 Nts), tiny village of San Sano, at Hotel Residence San Sano 4*: day trips to Greve, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, wine tasting and lunch at La Badia di Coltibuono.

Staying in Orvieto (3 nts) at Palazzo Piccolomini 3* and daytrips to Deruta and Todi, Civita di Bagnoreggio.

Staying in Montalcino at Il Giglio 3* (3 nts) day trips to Pontepulciano, Monte Oliveto, Sant' Antimo, Pienza, and lots of Brunello.

Staying in Spello (2 nts) at Plazzo Bocci 4* & Assisi (1 nt), daytrip to Montefalco, visited Cortona on the way to Gubbio.

Loved everywhere, but found staying in San Sano in Chianti required lots of backtracking and driving on the windy roads so travel times were rather long to SG and Volterra. Residence San Sano & Palazzo Bocci were the very best and I can highly recommend!

Buon viaggio!

Gerald

Some great ideas here. Thanks!

caroltis

We are spending a week in Tuscany this May and are basing ourselves in a little village just outside Montepulciano called Montefollonico. The farmhouse is called Le Capanne di Sopra. The website is www.capannedisopra.it We plan on visiting most of southern Tuscany and perhaps will make a quick trip in to see San Gimignano as well.

BrentA100

For the Tuscany part of our trip, we stayed overnight in San Gimignano at Hotel Cisterna (http://www.hotelcisterna.it/). This gave us an excellent opportunity to experience this beautiful hilltown at night when the crowds are much smaller. Prior to arriving, we stopped in Volterra for a few hours. The next morning, we looked around town a bit more, then hit the road to spend a few hours in Siena, prior to arriving at our next stop. We enjoyed Siena, especially the Duomo, but be aware that unlike some of the other hilltowns, Siena is much bigger, and the historic core is surrounded by a more modern city. After a few hours in Siena, we wound our way through the Tuscan countryside, getting slightly lost, on our way to our next stop for 4 nights: Le Traverse, an agriturismo just outside Pienza (http://www.letraverse.it/). We loved our stay there, and found it an excellent place to explore several Tuscan hilltowns, and also take a daytrip to Umbria, where we visited Assisi, Perugia, and Deruta. If you are interested, we have some photos at http://steampark.com/italy/launch.html

If you happen to stay at Hotel Cisterna, try to request one of the rooms in the back with balcony and sweeping view of the surrounding area.

Enjoy your trip. Ciao! Brent

LucieV

Another vote for La Cisterna in San Gimignano.

Gerald

Thanks for all the further replies.

Brent, do you recall what the rates were at Le Traverse? The website doesn't mention prices.

Gerald

BrentA100

In April 06, our room rate was 155 Euros/night for a very nice room with queen size bed, nice large bathroom, and breakfast. Most of the rooms at Le Traverse are in the renovated carriage house which overlooks the lower Pienza countryside. I think there are one or two rooms in the house itself also, but we found the carriage house rooms to be very nice.

If you stay there, I recommend dining at Osteria La Porta in nearby Monticchiello. There is actually a back country road that you can walk on from Le Traverse to Monticchiello. It's about 2 or 3 miles, and we found it a nice way to get some extra walking in before and after dinner.

BrentA100

More info about Le Traverse. This photo or Pienza (and the three after it) were all taken from the grounds of Le Traverse, just a few feet from our carriage house room.

http://steampark.com/italy/slides/ci...enza%2001.html

ssbnorman

My wife and I will also be in Tuscany in May. We are staying in Radda (Relais Vignale), booked by our travel agent. We previously stayed in Gaiole. Tuscany is small enough that you can base anywhere in Chianti and day trip the whole region with ease. See you there.

job816

bookmarking

Gerald

An update and another question:

I booked 3 nights at La Locanda di San Francesco (www.locandasanfrancesco.it)in Montapulciano, and that will be our base to see the surrounding towns.

I now want to book 3 nights in the Chianti region and have found a hotel called Palazzo San Niccolo that looks very nice from their website (www.hotelsanniccolo.com)and is quite reasonably priced. The problem is that I can't find any reviews here about the place and, although there are a few reviews on Tripadvisor, I have a sneaking suspicion from the similar grammar and username formats in a couple of them, that they aren't arms length.

Is anyone here familiar with the Palazzo San Niccolo?

Gerald

bump

calville

Gerald, we are also considering basing at Locanda San Francesco. We don't want to move around too much. I've been thinking two nights in Chianti at the beginning of our trip after arriving at Florence's airport might be ideal.
I am thoroughly confused- there seems to be a problem with almost every property (especially those in Chianti) that I have seen on tripadvisor.
We like to stay in relaxed, occasionally rustic places but must be clean and fresh with excellent service.

Did you look at Villa Bordoni in Greve?
It gets excellent reviews but might be overdecorated and too formal for my taste (not to mention quite pricey). Seems to be mostly honeymooners.

I think the San Niccolo's website looks fabulous but agree with you that not having any tripadvisor ratings would make me a little nervous.

Villa La Barone in Panzano sounds quite nice but has a few problems.
The website scenery for Borgo Argenina in Gaiole looks spectacular but the place seems a little quirky and the beds look more like doubles than Italian queens.

If I see a report of rude staff, poor breakfast or bad mattresses that's it- gets crossed off my list.

I have come across some beautiful sounding properties in Arezzo and Cortona (Castelletto di Montebenichi, Villa Fontelunga and Villa di Piazzano) but they are too close to Montepulciano.

I am very interested in Lucca but there is a problem with every property I have seen on tripadvisor.

Very confusing indeed! If you stay at San Niccolo I will look forward to reading your report.