Homebase in Tuscany for three nights
 

We are spending three nights in Tuscany. We will have just left Florence and already visited Lucca. We want to see San Gimignano, Siena, montepulciano and Orveito. Any suggestions on a place to stay in southern tuscany or Chianti region? Specific hotel or inn names? Thanks

For the part of Tuscany and Umbria that you want to cover you're talking about quite a bit of driving. A central location is Torniella where very inexpensive and comfortable apartments are offered by www.casa-reasco.com.

Stay in Siena or in the outskirts of town. A lovely place in the Chianti area is Panzano at Villa le Barone.

Hotel Santa Caterina in Siena just outside Porto Romano. Easy access to the old part of Siena - bus or foot - with private parking if you have a rental car. The other towns you wish to visit extend in relatively short distances from it - east, west and south.

With three nights you really have only two days of touring, is that correct? If you base yourself in either San Gim or Siena you could visit Volterra, Colle val d'Elsa, Monteriggioni, too. Leave southern Tuscany and Umbria for another time or you'll be moving so quickly you really won't have time to appreciate any of these lovely places.