Is Locanda dell Amorosa a good Base for Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano area?
 

We will be spending 1 night in San Gimignano so that we can be there at night and wander around. We will then spend 3 nights in Radda at Relais Fattoria Vignale.<BR><BR>We are now looking for our base for Southern Tuscany to tour Montalcino, Pienza, and Montepulciano, (and perhaps Cortona). We plan on probably 4 nights.<BR><BR>My husband wants to stay in Pieza, as he has read how pretty it is,it seems central, and we like to be able to walk around town at night - to dinner, etc., but the one hotel we found - Il Chiostro - does nothing for me.<BR><BR>I love the look of Locanda dell Amorosa and wonder if this would be an acceptable base - driving-distance wise - to see what we want in that area.<BR><BR>We had also considered Il Falconiere, but that seems further out of the way.<BR><BR>Other considerations are L'Olmo (in Montichiello) and Montorio (in Montepulciano).<BR><BR>If anyone has other suggestions, please comment.

Hmmm ! Have we not done this before?<BR>Yes, it is wonderful. I still do not know why you want to change hotels 3 times in a one hour driving radius. It seems you are shopping hotels rather than locations. I would pick one location, and the Locanda is hard to beat as a single location.

Bob the Navigator -<BR>Good memory. Planned this before, never did it due to a sick pet....<BR><BR>We are contemplating staying at 3 hotels for the following reason. We want to see - AND experience (not just visit for a day trip) - the Chianti region, San Gimignano, and Southern Tuscany. <BR><BR>My husband feels that he would rather be IN the place we are touring for 3-4 days than have to drive to it, drive back to our hotel, drive to it again the next day, and drive back to our hotel. He feels that we will waste too much time driving back and forth - an hour to, an hour from each day rather than 15 min or driving a day. Does that not make sense?<BR><BR>We really aren't shopping hotels, but are fairly particular about where we stay. We don't need 5-star Ritz, but we like intimate, unique, upscale accomodations rather than just a &quot;clean room&quot;. To us the hotel is a big part of the experience.<BR><BR>We have only traveled to Europe once before - Paris - and stayed only in one hotel, so please tell me if I am going about this all wrong. I figured my husband was the one driving, so I would defer to his wishes.

Well, I could rationalize 2 destinations but not 3. Pick a place near San Gim. for 3 nites and do Volterra and Siena from there. Then, go to Locanda, or some other location in south Tuscany, for the balance. The beauty of that location was a compromise if you did ONLY one, or if you plan to hit Assisi or Cortona from there. Othwerwise, go further south. There are many good places to stay. I would pick location first. Hope that helps. Oh yes, look at La Collegiata near San Gim. as an option.

Bob the Navigator - <BR>Thanks for your help. If I remember, you do not particularly care for the Chianti region, but having never been to Italy, we don't want to miss it.<BR><BR>Guessing (from our reading) that the roads are winding and slow, and we will be doing some wine tasting, will an accommodation &quot;near San G.&quot; allow us to see and tour this area without alot of extra driving? We don't plan on seeing Volterra, and thought we'd stay IN San G. to avoid the tourists and experience it at night.<BR><BR>Thoughts? <BR>

You cannot go wrong ! Tuscany is a wonderful place to &quot; wander&quot;. I would meander one entire day thru the heart of Chianti as you transition from one location to the next. Have fun !

There is a new charming small hotel calle &quot;Villa POggiano&quot; www.villapoggiano.com that it is located in MOntepulciano and it has a perfect location to explore Southern Tuscany and also Umbria. It is a wonderful piece of paradise
Good luck