Have four nights in Sienna early June. Would like to rent a car for two of those days and drive around Tuscany. One day we would like to do a drive around the Chianti region. Second day would go west toward San G. and toward coast, up to Pisa, Lucca, etc., back to Sienna.<BR><BR>Looking for suggestions for a good scenic route, including driections and road numbers.

Don't drive around Italy without a map! There are some main roads and some minor roads around Siena that can be quite confusing. We had a map and still found it challenging. Get a map from your local bookstore. The Michelin map of Tuscany or the Italian Touring Guide map of Tuscany are good maps. You can get maps when you arrive but it's nice to be able to familiarize yourself with the area ahead of time.

Jim,<BR><BR>It takes much longer to get from town to town in Tuscany then you would think when looking at the distances. Trying to do San G, Pisa and Lucca in one day would be a big challange. <BR><BR>Have fun<BR>Aileen

Though I'd probably prefer a tour to visit Monte Olivetto Maggiore, Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano instead, your day in Chianti could go as follows:<BR>From Siena, on S408, to Pianella. Then, leave S408 and follow to Castelnuovo Berardenga. Next, north on S484, through San Gusm&eacute; and Castello di Brolio, to joing S408 once again, to Gaiole in Chianti. Continue north till you hit S429 and branch off left, to Badia e Coltibuono. Follow S429 to Radda in Chianti, then to Castellina in Chianti. Take S222 to return home. Total driving time is about 2:30 hours.

xxx. Is Monte Olivetto Maggiore, Montalcino, Pienza and Montepulciano doable in a day from Castellina? Looking to cover some new territory my second time around. I now also have more of a grasp of driving times versus distances. Thank you.

I'm not trying to pick on anybody, but about 90% of the people spell Siena incorrectly as Sienna. Sienna is a SUV made by Toyota-Siena is a city in Italy.

The driving time from Castellina to the Monte Olivetto Abbey (60 km) should read about 1:15. Let's suppose that you stay for an hour visit. From Monte Olivetto do Montalcino (24km), add about 35 min. You should be able to arrive in Montalcino by noon. Have lunch, visit the city, and leave around 3:30pm. From Montalcino to Montepulciano (38 km) it's another 45 min. Divide another hour or so between Pienza and Montepulciano (eventually skipping Pienza which is enroute), and head home around 5:30pm. Once the approx. 80km distance may be covered in 1:30 hours, you'd be home around 7pm.<BR><BR>Total driving time would read some 4 hours ... I've done it out from Siena, in summer, leaving at 8am and returning at 6:30pm. I think it took me a total of 3 hours driving. I spent approx. 1 hour in each, Monte Olivetto and Pienza, 3 1/2 hours in Montalcino and 2 hours in Montepulciano.

Thanks for all the replies. Good suggestions.<BR><BR>Sorry for the misspelling, must have read the word Siena a thousand times. Can't beleive I spelled it wrong.<BR><BR>A thousand lashes when I get to Rome.