We are going to Florence in March and thought to take a day trip to Volterra which I had heard described as an "undiscovered gem." Today I read in a guide book that the city is gray and gloomy, and the unspoken word was "foreboding." We have been to Florence before, many times, also to Siena, Lucca, San Gimingano, but were intrigues by Volterra. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Am I totally confused? We made a trip to a town in Tuscany that was called Volterra, but it must be another one from the one you're talking about. This Volterra was beautiful, with a wonderful little "piazza" up near the center and an even more glorious park way at the top of the town with beautiful views out into the Tuscan hills. There were charming shops and cafes, and although we didn't stay for dinner, it looked like many wonderful choices. The only possible negative was that it was very, very busy with tourists during the day.
So I doubt this is the foreboding, gray, and gloomy undiscovered gem you are talking about. None of those words fit the town we visited at all.

We enjoyed Volterra, also. Because of my interest in the Etruscans, we went there and were glad we did. The museum was wonderful. We found the town/village (?) charming, and it was not as crowded as San Gim, Siena or Florence(July). The country side is different than the typical Tuscan hills, but lovely all the same. They are known for their alabaster, and I picked up some lovely little dishes. It was worth the relatively long trip from Castellina in Chianti.

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks Patrick. I don't thnk you are confused, I think the guide book was. I had read that Volterra was charming until I saw that review. The only thing was, the first thing I read said that there were few tourists. Of course, compared to San Gimingnano, few could be a hoard.I am talking about Volterra on S68 which I assume is the same one you visited.

Volterra is fantastic as is the drive from San Gimignano.

What is the name of the guide book - I want to make sure I don't buy it. Been to Volterra many times - wonderful.

Stu Dudley

The description you saw in the guide book does not apply to the Volterra (Tuscany) I know. As described by previous posters, the town is picturesque, has good restaurants, museums and a shop with superb alabaster items.

It is reached thought a winding road but once up there, it's beautiful. I was there on market day. The town square was filled with merchandise and food of all kinds. I have fond memories of Volterra.

Ginny

We first visited Volterra about 20 years ago. Twas a gray day and the town seemed less active than other places we had visited. My husband found it gloomy. Well...we went back two years ago and what a change. Even tho it was pouring cats and dogs the town seemed lovelier and livlier. AND.. in contrast with the past there is now underground parking! (Guess that says something about its development.) Perhaps your travel guide writer visited 20 years ago on a gloomy day -
(The ride from Siena was beautiful even with some rain and fog.)

Ginny -- any chance that you remember which day was market day?

Thanks.

Tries: I don't remember, but according to the information I got on this site, the market is on Saturday.
http://www.takeoffitaly.com/tuscany.colle_sights.html

Ginny

We spent a day in Volterra in summer of 2000, a lovely sunny day and the view was spectacular. We thought the Etruscan museum was quite good and the kids loved playing with the tortoises in the garden. We had lunch as a picnic in the central "park" area, a bottle of chianti from plastic cups, bread, ham and cheese from a local shop and followed up with Gelati. My 10 year old son spent about an hour in a shop selling replica armour,cross bows and huge swords, the shop keeper was happy to show him how everything worked ! Every local we dealt with there was very friendly.

Ginny -- thanks for the info. We try to get to as many markets as possible.

Of course--we love Volterra. But it is hardly undiscovered. It is always listed on the list of top Tuscan hill towns, and gets many tourists.

I rented a villa near Volterra and some of the days Volterra was gloomy and foreboding. We were there for the months of April and May and most of the gloomy days were in April. During the week there were not many tourists and we didn't find a good restaurant right in town, but some on the outskirts. The market day is not as picturesque as you might have imagined, it is alot of trailers which roll in with cheap goods for sale. Some of the other days there are vegetables and flowers for sale on the streets.

There are some good alabaster shops and a few of the factories where someone might demonstrate the art of chiseling for you. Some of the best shop/factories are around the outskirts too. I really liked the museum (I bought some really lovely 18k earrings that I wear most every day) and the park area with the views. There is a prison in one of the palaces right in town (at least it was there a few years ago), two British friends who were staying in the villa as our guests for a few days found it fun to flash in inmates from the road below. Late at night you can walk the stone paths and streets in complete silence and solitude.

Volterra is lovely. Go there in the morning and on your way back don't miss San Gimingano. The later you arrive in SG the better. The town is full with bused tourists. They leave around 4PM. If you arrive after this hour, you will really enjoy it.

Agree with others that we loved Volterra.Of the two ,the 4 of us that traveled together, liked it more than San Gim.

Thanks for all your replies. Volterra is not mentioned at all in the 2005 Frommers guide to Italy. The book with the negative review was Codagans. I was just browsing in Barnes and Noble and couldn't find any anything else. The Michelin Guide listed hotels and restaurants, but nothing about the town itself. I should have know that the best information is to be found on this site. I appreciate all the responses.

I just read my Cadogan guide for Tuscany & Umbria, and I did not intrepret anything negative. The Michelin Green Guide to Tuscany has 3 1/2 pages about Volterra and gives it a 2 star rating.

Stu Dudley

Reply to Stu Dudley. As I said in my post, I was browsing in Barnes and Noble, and read what they had. The Michelin Guide they had was red and I assume deals only with restaurants and accommodations. The Codagan Guide they had was of Italy. It described Volterra as gray and gloomy. To me that is a negative. Perhaps I read from a different guide from what you have. I am glad to hear that what I read was not the opinion of this group, but I did read it.

As I posted, for about four out of the eight weeks we were there it was grey and gloomy but that didn't make it a bad place to visit. It just isn't that cheery all year 'round but it is an interesting city.