amamax2

Hi all,

Some dear friends are going to Italy in March - staying at an agritourismo in Radda in Chianti. I told them I would help dig up information on day trips and am hoping you all can help me.

They will have 7 full days (not counting travel there and back) and are renting a car. They are both 50, in excellent shape, love wine, photography, seeing historical/architectually interesting sites, walking, hiking, bike riding.

We went to Italy a few years ago, but unfortunately ran out of time and did not make it to this area. I thought I had gotten a "Cypress Trees road" driving itinerary off of this site that included the Abbe Sant'Antimo, but now cannot find it.

If I did indeed get that here, can someone point me in the right direction to find it again? Also, we have a map of the area, but I know it takes much longer than it would appear to drive places in Italy. Is going to San Gimignano, Montepulciano, etc too far?

What are some other towns/places that you would suggest they go? A place they can go wine tasting?

Thank you for all your help!

Balto

A wine-tasting tour would be a natural, of course. The owner of the agriturismo where we'll be staying this June, in the same general area of Chianti, recommends these: http://bit.ly/GR1G

bobthenavigator

That is in Chianti which is no where close to the cypress lined roads and Sant Antimo driving trip that you saw from Stu Dudley. Get a good map and find La Foce south of Montepulciano and Sant Antimo south of Montalcino. Both are almost 2 hours from Radda. San Gim. is fine from there--about an hour. Also, Siena is about :45. Location is important in Tuscany.

zeppole

There is more than one cypress lined road in Tuscany, and if your friends who have 7 days in Radda in Chianti are willing to make a day of driving, stopping for lunch along the way, they will have no trouble finding two of the more famous ones. This might do you for a link to cypress roads, which has nothing to do with Stu Dudley.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/cypress_roads.htm

To say the following is something of a heresy on Fodor's but your friends have a wonderful location in Radda in Chianti for scenic driving in Tuscany. (On Fodor's there is only one area of Tuscany recognized and one drive to take, lockstep.)

Heresy said, most active 50 year olds in excellent shape will find it quite simple and highly enjoyable to get to the cypress lined roads and Sant'Antimo from a base in Radda in Chianti, although they might want to do the two destinations on separate days so they can linger over lunch and photographs, and vary the route.

Your friends might want to look on Amazon for books with titles like "scenic drives in Tuscany." There are many other beautiful drives within an hour their agriturismo, and they should also look in the other direction in far less touristed places than San Gimignano like Loro Ciuffenna and other small towns in the hills of Arezzo. Lucignano is another fantastic town within reach, almost completely unknown to tourists.

http://www.abctuscany.com/arezzo/lor...enna/index.cfm

http://www.abctuscany.com/arezzo/lucignano/index.cfm

and they also might be interested in Anghiari

http://www.abctuscany.com/arezzo/anghiari/index.cfm

In addition, they have all the Chianti to explore.

abenedek

Bookmarking

JillDavis

bookmarking

nygvic

BOOKMARKING

amamax2

Thank you all so much!

They don't really have any place specifically in mind to visit - I was just trying to think of the places we had hoped to see when we were in Italy and/or that I have heard about.

They do have a map (one of the Touring Club ones) and they definitely want to spend some of their days "wandering" in terms of driving, stopping, driving, stopping, etc - spending the whole day soaking up the countryside and small towns, as well as some days spend a whole day at one destination. That is one reason I asked about reasonableness of drive time. Ending up somewhere that is two hours away, but spending the day getting there and back is very doable IMO. (We live in SoCal where an hour long one-way commute to work is normal, lol.) I also wasn't sure if drive times from places like mapquest are truly accurate for these smaller roads in Italy (so, for instance, I saw that the Abbe was two hours away, but I know when we were in Italy, every place seemed to take a lot longer to get to than mapquest indicated).

Bob, that said, since I am not familiar with the area, I do appreciate the input that perhaps StuDudley's driving tour would not be the best one for them, and zeppole, thank you so much for the alternatives. That is exactly what I had hoped to find out. If there are other places/things to see and do around that area, there may be no need to "wander" so far. So, I do appreciate any and all advise, especially of things "non-touristy" and the link to wine tours.

Please keep the ideas coming.

Henry

amamax2,
This will give you some ideas http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

amamax2

Henry,

Thank you sooo much - yours is the driving tour I was thinking of with Sant'Antimo that I saw when planning our own trip! I knew there was one that was extemely detailed.

I remember also the Cypress Tree one zeppole referenced and I think I somehow put the two together in my mind.

I will pass this on to my friends - I know it will be a huge help.

Ackislander

Zeppole, it is rarish that we agree, but you are spot-on here. We did it in the other direction, touring the Radda area from Montechiello. This is not that big an area, all of it is beautiful except the autostradi, and one could spend endless days wandering up and down back roads. My only caution is that many of these are very narrow, one lane in some cases, so they require some care.

HappyTrvlr

While they're in Radda, I suggest a visit to Ceramiche Rampini for beautifull pottery.

notbob

In Radda, they won't be too far from one of my favorite hill town. Certaldo Alto is a lovely red brick town just west of there. It could be combined to San Gimignano as a daytrip very easily, although frankly I think Certaldo Alto is more interesting. It's smaller easier to get to and more charming.

notbob

Oops forgot a link.

http://goitaly.about.com/od/italypic...alto-pictures/

amamax2

Wonderful ideas and information! I was already envious of my friends, but now I am equally excited for all they will get to see.

HappyTrvlr - the ceramics are beautiful! I couldn't tell from the website, but can you actually visit the workshop and see the pieces being made? Or can tourists only go to the shop to look and buy?

mamcalice

We stayed in a farmhouse between Greve in Chianti and Panzano this past fall. We were there for a week and had cars. The Chianti area is quite beautiful and, in fact, we prefer it to the south of Tuscany. We spent one day driving to Montalcino and the Abbey Sant' Antimo and it was a lovely drive - not too long at all. Most of the rest of the week we spent closer to our base. We loved Panzano, Greve and a hill town not far from Greve - Montefioralle. We were not far from San Gimignano and Siena both of which we drove to. To save the parking nightmare, we took a bus to Florence.

There is so much to see and do in Chianti, including cypress roads. And there are so many wineries to visit. We have especially enjoyed Dievole, just northeast of Siena, Vignemaggio just outside of Greve and Verrazano also near Greve.

jnjfraz

I do not think that Rampini tours their workshop. Rampini ceramica are beautiful but they are also some of the most expensive in Tuscany. There are quite a few ceramica shops in the area. Two that are good are Pep Bizzare in Castellina and a very small shop in Gaiole caller Colori del Chianti (she used to work for Rampini).

If you want to tour workshops go to Montelupo http://www.leonet.it/firms/ceramicamontelupo/azien.html
The ceramics are incredible and it is up the road from Certaldo Alto which notbob mentioned... and is just wonderful.

One of our favorite drives is:
Radda to Panzano to Greve, stopping at both villages. Saturday morning is Greve's market day and very fun to see. From Greve go straight up the hill to Montefioralle (Amerigo Vespucci was born there). Keep on going up the hill after Montefioralle until you find the ridge road. Time this around lunch because there are two wonderful restaurants here. The signs for both are just as you reach the ridge road. Cantinetta Rignana is miles down a dirt road and just amazing food and view. Ristorante Scuderia is in Badia de Passignana and is equally beautiful. Both are owned by different parts of the same family and both are closed on Tuesday. From this area drive down to the Florence Siena highway and go south until Monterigionni. Look around this well preserved fortified town (little touristy but interesting). Then cross under the Fi-Si and go up to Castellina in Chianti. Then back to Radda. A great day and a great drive and very doable.

Okay, can you tell that we spend multiple months in Radda a year and our destination is usually lunch. Some restaurants in the area that are great.

RADDA: Bar Dante or La Bottega di Giovannino are inexpensive fun bars in Radda. both $ Al Chiasso dei Portici $$ has great food and an amazing patio.

VOLPIA: La Bottega $$ on the patio is wonderful.

LAMOLE: Ristoro di Lamole $$ is spectacular

LECCHI IN CHIANTI - Ristorante Malborghetto $$

LUCOLENA: Ristorante Borgo Antico $$

CASTELLO BROLIO: Osteria del Castello Brolio $$

BARBISCHIO: Il Papavero $$

I hope your friends have a wonderful trip and love this part of the world as much as we do.

amamax2

Thank you all so very much - what wonderful, detailed information!!

pmuzzy17

Oh my goodness - so many options from Radda. We did day trips to San Gimingano, Florence, Siena, Montalcino, Voltara and more. See my trip report from 5 years ago. Enjoy your travels.

Mimar

So, pmuzzy, why did you resuscitate this thread from a year and a half ago?