Buon Giorno Fodorites,

Got a car reserved from Florence for September 29 (on a monday dues to the fact that museums are close) to ride through Tuscany especially in Chianti area. We want to visit vineyards and tasting; any route recommandations will be appreciated.

Grazie

Frommers has a book entitled "Tuscany and Umbria's best loved driving tours-25 unforgettable itineraries" It's good. Siena and San Gim should be on agenda. Good thing you plan on visiting vinyards as driving a car in Florence will drive you to drink.

The autostrada between Florence and Siena has a parallel road to it, the SS222 (?) that is the Via Chiantigiana. It's the road that links all of the main Chianti cities -- Gaoile, Greve, Radda, and Castellina -- with Florence and Poggibonsi (where you can pick up the autostrada for Siena). Needless to say, that's the main tourist route.

An alternative route is to enter Chianti not from Florence or Siena, but instead from the southeast via Castelnuovo Berardenga. That road is much less traveled than the main SS222. From Florence, take the A1 south to either the Sinalunga or Valdichiana exit (I can't remember off the top of my head which is which -- it's the road that continues onto Perugia as an autostrada) and then head west toward Siena. Somewhere in "suburban" Castelnuovo Berardenga you turn right, and are on the main road between C.B. and Gaiole. You'll know when you're in Chianti country when you see large black-rooster signs on the side of the road with the phrase "Siete nel mondo del gallo nero" ("Y'all are in the world of the black rooster&quot written on them.

You'll pass plenty of wineries. Look for one that says "vendita diretta" (direct sale) if you want to buy wine from their warehouse directly.

You'll want to take the Chiantigiana ss222. there is a map of all the voneyards in chianti classico region you can get mailed to you at no cost from the consortium. It helped us on our trip last summer. We stayed in a farmhouse at a vineyard locatedon the ss222 in gaiole. There are so many, it is hard to go wrong, but I'd concentrate in gaiole if time is an issue.

Grazie all,
To Jilld, I went on the web at chianticlassico.com under the consortium, didn't find where we can order the map, any help will be appreciated.

For a map, try Monterinaldi's web site: www.moterinaldi.it (The vineyard, near Rada, is worth a tasting visit on its own merit). Don't worry about the SS222 being a winding road. It was made so especially for the benefit of vineyard visitors - after a few vineyards it feels all of a sudden as straight as a ruler?

ttt

Are the Chianti vineyards open to tourists every day? We'll be driving through there on a Monday.

The most important thing to be aware of is that many places are closed from noon until 2PM or so...except for restaurants.