I have searched until my head is spinning. We intend to be in Tuscany for 7 days in June. We will be renting a car for al least part of the time. My preference would be to stay in one place and travel out from there. I am thinking that we would spend two days in Florence and at least one in Siena with two more days to drive around and see several villages/castles and at least one or two wine tours. I am concerned about driving at night back to an agritourismo or outlying accomodation. My daughter (30's)thinks that it will be no problem. I drive a manual but my daughter does not, and I don't want to spend the extra money just so she can do some of the driving. We like Greve for it's location. Suggestions?

I would stay somewhere farther south than Greve and visit the areas of southern Tuscany that aren't so close to Florence. Spend the two days in Florence and bus to Siena for your night there. Pick up a car in Siena. Stay in the area of Pienza, Montepulciano and do your day trips from there.

Like KYbourbon I prefer the southern areas of Tuscany and love Pienza as a base but if you're serious about staying in Chianti (saves driving since it's much closer to Florence/Siena) I'd recommend Castellina in Chianti. The town seems to have more tourist infrastructure than Greve and has nice restaurants (2 Michelin one stars) directly in town. Palazzo Squarcialupi is a nice hotel with its own winery and is also directly in town so you'd not have drive small roads after dinner. There would be plenty to see in the area including the walled medieval city of Monteriggioni. Enjoy.

We stayed at Fattoria Tregole in Castellina in Chianti and really loved it (www.fattoria-tregole.com/tregole_eng.htm). We found it to be an excellent location for exploring Tuscany.

Keep in mind that in June it will stay light out pretty late, so you will have a bit more daylight.

I would choose Radda (10 miles down the road from Castellina). Radda in Chianti is a wonderful little walled town with a good restaurants, a grocery store, internet cafe, cute shops and nice people. From Radda you are 30 minutes from Siena, 20 minutes from Greve (great place to catch the bus up to Florence just in case you don't want to drive in) and in the heart of the Chianti Classico wine district.

If you choose Radda there is a hotel in town or this wonderful agrotourismo 1 1/2 miles out of town. http://www.chiantinet.it/leselvole/eng.html. Good price, absolutely gourgous grounds, nice apartments and a pool.

That being said Greve is a cute town and I'm sure there are a bunch of Agrotourismo in that area.

To me Castellina in Chainti is also a nice BUT there is a really ugly huge grain elevator in town and it really takes away from the beauty.

sewitall,

My second trip to Italy included Chianti and we stayed at Hotel Residence San Sano**** for 4 nights in the TINY village of San Sano, 20 min drive north of Siena on the Chianti hwy, about 20 minutes south of Greve. Highly recommend!

We absolutely loved this tiny village and the hotel (12 rooms). It's on a hilltop (Chianti is quite hilly) surrounded by olive groves and vineyards. Nothing in the village except one family-run trattoria which was excellent. The rooms are in ancient stone farm buildings, nice pool, lovely flower & herb garden where they serve breakfast (included) and dinner by res (optional) under the wisteria vines. No tourists except those at the hotel.

That said, we did day trips to Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra (LONG day), Greve, and a wandering driving day with a long lunch at La Badia di Coltibuono (excellent).

The driving in Chianti is slow going and most of the roads are narrow and windy. I got tired of backtracking every day. It would have been OK if the places we visited were closer with shorter drive times.

On my third trip, I stayed 3 nts in Montalcino and concentrated on just the towns and abbeys in the area. Enjoyed that much more and didn't feel like I was backtracking so much.

If you want to concentrate on Chianti, I think staying in Chianti is fine. If you want to do some day trips to southern Tuscany, in the Val d'Orcia area, I would split your stay into 2 locations.

Buon viaggio!

PS - Driving the Tuscany country roads in a stick is a blast! too bad for your DD.

Another vote for Radda. We stayed at Relais Fattoria Vignale, a small hotel ( more like a B&B) on the main road in town. It was very easy to take day trips to Siena, Greve, Florence, and even San Gigmignano! We also did several wine tastings.

If you decide that you don't want to drive yourselves, I can highly recommend Luca Garapa of Hillsandroads.com, who is based in Siena. He customized our itinerary and took us to several really wonderful places on long day trips. It was great to enjoy the wine and not have to worry about getting back to the hotel.

I have been checking out all of your suggestions, and I realize that I left out a vital piece of information. I am on a budget and need to find something for 100 euros or less per night. I think we would like an apartment rather than a hotel, and they are usually cheaper. We have an apartment in Rome for 98 euros per night. Clean is important and a smidge of charm would be nice. My daughter keeps hoping for a pool but that would be icing on the cake.

sweitall,

Check out these web sites. You can put in your parameters and sort!

www.venere.com
www.italyby.com

there are others, but those are the ones I've used and come quickly to mind.

buon viaggio and have some Chianti for me!

There are numerous country apartments for much less than 100 euros listed on the Greve web site http://www.greve-in-chianti.com. Some of these are described as being within an easy walk of bus stops while others are in the hills. Staying near Greve puts you in the centre of the Chianti Classico zone and halfway between Florence and Siena, with all the places like Radda, Panzano and Gaiole within easy reach.

Hi

My wife and I went to Tuscany last year. We split this up in a few days without a car in Florence and then we rented a car and rented a room near Castellina in Chianti and used this as a base to see the small Tuscan hill towns. Check out my trip reports with pictures on http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm and http://gardkarlsen.com/tuscany_italy_travelogue.htm and maybe you will get an impression of what to expect

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

Another place to consider one mile outside Radda is La Penisola, owned and operated by an ex-patriot American woman. There is a house and also an apartment that are rental properties.
The apartment might be very suitable for yourself and your daughter. The owner, Nora Kravis, raises cashmere goats, so there are fields filled with beautiful animals.
Take a look: www.chianticashmere.com
Carol

If you are wanting an apartment for a week, look into www.romitorio.it. It is just a few minutes from Castellina in Chianti, which has several restaurants, plus they have a restaurant on site, with very good food. It has wonderful views, set in a vineyard, each with their own terrace. It is a lovely place, we are returning with friends this Sept/Oct. I highly recommend it. As for driving, this was one of the major selling points, 20 minutes to most towns, 1/2 hour to Siena, and a 1/2 hour to Florence. But if you go to Florence, I recommend not driving, traffic on the outskirts is terrible, and you can't park in the city. I would take a bus or train there. Wherever you stay, you will love Tuscany.

If you are can stay in one place for a week your price will be quite a bit cheaper than at a hotel and you can relax at home if you're exhausted from the day. Search "agroturismo" to find the places. Also Slowtraveler has a large list of hotels and apartments.


We absolutely love Radda which is why I posted earlier. We've gone to Radda each year since 2002. Here are some of the places to stay close to town.

In Radda in June for one week, Saturday to Saturday, a one bedroom apartment at Le Selvole will cost 465 euro and a 2 bedroom will be 620 euro. It's a great place to stay.... pool, beautiful grounds, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen livingroom.

Nora's place "La Penisola" is just down the road. I've walked thru her larger apartment but not seen the smaller one. (We bought our dog from her). I think Nora's prices are higher than Le Selvole.

The hotel, Relais Fattoria Vignale, is about 99 Euro per night. http://www.vignale.it/

There is also another place that I have not seen, but it's quite reasonable. http://www.poggerino.com/english/agriturismo/prices.htm

I have been out of town and without a computer for Spring vacation but will be diligently checking all of the suggestions. I would like to settle on something soon. Then I can try and find a place for three days in Venice. Thanks to everyone.

Okay - I have been checking out the recommendations and now I have a problem with availability. Is it too late to find something with a little charm and a good review? I am looking at Agritourismos. It is about 8 weeks until we will be there. I am spending so much time and am getting no availability responses or no response at all to my email inquiries. Venere has many that don't have any photos or a way to check availability.

I love the southern areas of tuscany and spend there at least a couple af weeks per year. Pienza is one of my favourite towns, but Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Gimignano are all very lovely too. I've been in agriturismo almost evrywhere and, sometimes, also in camping sites. It's always been wonderful. Moreover Tuscanian people are maybe the best Italian hosts... but since you are renting a car be very careful with speed limits: Tuscany is the only region in which I had to pay several fines. Anyway if you choose to stay in Chianti the roads are pretty large and there are many road signs.