I have always found great advice in this forum and am hoping to get some more...

My friend and I are heading to Italy for two weeks in September. We both have been there before but have not driven through Tuscany. High level we have planned the following:

Rome - two nights (been there before)
Cinque Terre (Manarola) two nights
Siena - one night
Touring through Tuscany/Chianti 3 nights
Florence - two nights (been there before)

We are arriving from Cinque Terre to Siena and will be picking up a car there after spending a day and night. We will be dropping off the car in Florence.

We are planning on going to San Gimigiano, Montalcino, Monepulciano and Cortona and then heading to Florence.

Here are my questions:

Other then one night in Siena, we have not booked any hotels for the other three. Good idea? Bad idea? If bad, what would be a good home base?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Since you've both been to Rome and Florence, I would scrap both.

Arrive Rome, train to Orvieto for the night, pick-up car.

Tour Tuscany (which includes Chianti and Florence). Drop car off in Pisa and train to Cinque Terre for two nights.

Train to Pisa or Florence for return flight home.

I've based outside of San Gimignano for two nights at
www.tenutaquadrifoglio.it/inglese/index.php, which we loved. Visited Volterra and San Gi, etc.

We next based in Siena for two nights, which we did not enjoy. It was too big, too bustling, too busy for us. Others love it.

We then stayed four nights (I think) in the Val D'Orcia (sp?) in the small village of Montefollonico at ww.lacosta.it/index.php , and loved, loved, loved it. We toured Montalcino, Montepulicano, Cortona and many others from here.

Everyone will have their favourite spots. I just wouldn't move around as much as we did.

I like the plan by Linda. And, you really only need one hotel in Tuscany, but I would have reservations in Sep for sure.

Linda,

I just emailed Tenuta Quadrifoglio and am wondering if you can tell me how much you paid when you were there? The prices are not on their website. It looks amazing but I am afraid it is out of our budget. Thanks! Heather

We had a large double bed + twin bed room in the main house, with a lovely large marble bathroom. We were there 4 years this October and we paid something like E75 a night. Really reasonable.

It's a beautiful property with a great restaurant down the road. We were referred by the manageress, who slipped us plates of food from the afternoon wedding which was taking place.

Please report back if you stay there.

Cheers,
Linda

P.S. La Costa was very reasonable as well and was a perfect base for visiting southern Tuscany. I think we paid E95 for a suite which the manager upgraded us to from a double room.

I'd give this a lookin.
http://www.tenutailcorno.com - it's on the way back from Siena to Florence.

You could also check this site that has a wealth of information, http://www.tuscany-villas.co.uk

Thank you for the advice Linda and the links webmaster. I have some great points/sites to ponder. Cheers!

Thanks Linda, we are pretty sure we will book the property at Tenuta Quadrifoglio, they offered us a triple room for E116 pn for 4 nights.
Did you walk to the restaurant down the way or was it driving distance?
It seems like a very nice place with a great location. I was hoping they had dinner service as well because the photos I've seen of other AT's show all the guests eating at a long table with wine and food and fun!

D, we drove to the restaurant - I remember it being a couple of clicks away. It had a very generic name and was very boring on the outside but the food was excellent at great prices. No one spoke English but don't let that deter you - we recognized lots of dishes from the menu and we just pointed our way thru the evening.

The TQ is a beautiful property with several pools, vineyards, small kid's playground, and gorgeous views. Hope you enjoy it.