I am planning a trip for 2 to Tuscany in June. It will be our first trip to Europe, and we want to spend most of our time enjoying the countryside and scenery that Tuscany has to offer. We are renting a place at Fonte de Medici in Chianti for a week, and will take day trips from there. After reviewing guide books and alot of your posts, this is what we have so far:

Day 1 - arrive at Villa
Day 2 - Spend time in Chianti hill towns; Radda, Castellina, Greve
Day 3 - a day in Florence
Day 4 - visit Monteriggioni, then Siena
Day 5 - San Gimignano
Day 6 - leave open since it is Sunday, and spend time at the villa
Day 7 - open
Day 8 - check out

Please advise on this rough-draft itinerary. I would love any ideas you have to offer. Thanks!

topping

You certainly don't have much scheduled. San Gimignano won't take an entire day - perhaps 1/3 of a day. See Volterra on that same day. What about Southern Tuscany - Montalcino, San Quirico, Pienza, Montepulciano, Monticchiello, & the beautiful countryside around there (I think it's prettier than Chianti)?

Did I send you my Italy Itinerary, which had a heavy dosage of Tuscany? If not e-mail me at [email protected]

Stu Dudley

One of the most enjoyable things we did in Tuscany was to tour a vineyard. We had wines paired with food and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We visited Dievole but there are a number of others with similar tours. If you like wine, you might schedule a vineyard visit.

I know you are looking forward to your trip and hope you are enjoying the planning process as well! We loved San Gimignano and actually think a day there is perfect. Of course, it depends on individual interests. We spent quite a while studying the frescoes in the chapel, climbing the tower right next to the chapel, a wine tasting was going on in the rooms connected to the tower, frescoes to study in those rooms as well. We then walked to the outside walls of the village where we climbed up for more photo ops. We purchased a beatiful large tapestry which hangs above my piano. In addition to San Gimignano, we found Pienza & Montepulciano to be most worthwhile. On the other hand, we were disappointed in Greve- to each his own. I agree with the suggestion of a visiting a winery. The one we enjoyed was called, I believe, Barbi where, had we known, was also a recommended lunch spot. Hope this helps!

I don't think you need a whole day in Radda, Castellini, and Greve, unless it's market day in one of those towns. These towns are very small, and although they do have beautiful scenery, it might be best to simply schedule a lunch or dinner or winetasting in one of them.

As for you the rest of your itinerary, I agree that you should split the day in San Gimignano with a visit to Volterra. Again, San Gimignano is very small, and a half day should cover it pretty well unless you stop for a long lunch.

Here are a few suggestions to consider:

1. Try to schedule a drive through the Crete on S437 from Siena going South. The road has magnificent scenery.

2. A wonderful stop along this route is Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore. This is the cloister founded by St. Benedict and the artwork is wonderful...and the abbey itself is nestled in a tranquil, unspoiled landscape.

You can follow this route down to Montalcino, a lovely hilltown with many fine restaurants. If time allows, consider visiting Abbazia di Sant’Antimo where the monks still have daily chanting.

3. Windery tours can be fun. We had a wonderful tour and luncheon at Castello di Verrazzano and then stopped at Greve and Radda afterwards. Castellina could be your last stop for dinner.

4. Siena is worth spending the day. It is a lovely town with a beautiful camp, and a magnificent Duomo. You can easily spend a relaxing day here just wandering. We also loved San Gim, tourists and all.

You will have a wonderful time whatever you choose!

Thank you for your great suggestions. We definitely want to tour a winery - is this something we have to schedule in advance?

Also, is it a good idea to purchase tickets to museums before we arrive in Italy? If so, where do I find these?

I, too, would be interested in more information about the winery tours especially those at Dievole and Castello di Verrazzano. Thanks.

I would definitely purchase tickets for the Accademia and Uffizi in Florence. I purchased through weekendinflorence.com which charges a fee but I appreciate the convenience of ordering online so the fee was worth it for us.

I researched vineyards and came up with a list in the areas we were visiting. My husbanded narried down the list to his top five favorites, and I then e-mailed them and made decisions based on availability. We eventually visited Avigonesi and Castello di Verrazzano and enjoyed both. If you decide on Verrazzano, ask for a tour with Gino. He was so much fun and made the tasting and lunch a highlight of our time in Chianti.

Avignonesi Vineyards
[email protected]

Poggio Antico
Montalcino
Tel. +39 (0577) 848044
Fax +39 (0577) 846563
Email: [email protected]
www.poggioantico.com

Verrazzano Vineyards
Gino Rossi
Email: [email protected]

Volpaia Vineyard
Email: [email protected]

Ciacci Piccolomini Vineyard
Castelnuovo Dell Abate
Montalcino
Tel: 0577.835616 Fax: 0577.835785
www.ciaccipiccolomini.com

Good luck!

yes to purchasing the tickets. Do a search for the ones you want,plenty of info in there,also on Iras thread.

I strongly recommend you buy a copy of Top 10 Tuscany, one of the Eyewitness Top 10 Travel Guides. We found it to be an invaluable resource when planning our trip to Tuscany.

Julie,

We chose the wine tour at Dievole from an article about Tuscan vineyards in Wine Spectator (probably a 2001 issue). Dievole is a Chianti Classico vineyard and estate with a bed and breakfast about 15 - 20K north of Siena. You can see it at www.Tuscany.net/dievole. Unfortunately, I can't find the winery e-mail address that I used to make reservations. We first went to the deconsecrated chapel which has been on the property for centuries and heard an overview and had a delicious rose. We saw the vineyards - we were there in the fall so saw some harvesting. We toured the winemaking facility and at each of the stops, sampled a different wine with some food. The estate has a restaurant but we didn't have a meal there. The tour was very interesting and a lot of fun.