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-   -   Lodging near Montalcino and Montepulciano (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/lodging-near-montalcino-and-montepulciano-708951/)

pattkark May 29th, 2007 03:24 PM

Lodging near Montalcino and Montepulciano
 
My husband and I are traveling to Italy for the first time in June. We have 4 days to explore Tuscany/Umbria by car on our way from Florence to Rome. Thought that somewhere around Montalcino looked like a good base for two nights. Any suggestions for a wonderful place to stay with a real Tuscan feel? We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary and would like a memorable place to stay. Thanks!

bobthenavigator May 29th, 2007 03:40 PM

Try halfway between in cute San Quirico at www.palazzodelcapitano.com

Peggyann May 29th, 2007 04:26 PM

I second this suggestion. San Quirico is so well situated between Pienza and Montalcino. The town is very "authentic", very few tourists but small emough that you feel at home pretty quickly.

Henry May 29th, 2007 04:40 PM

pattkark,

Try La Crociona http://lacrociona.com/

Henry

spinesrgn May 29th, 2007 05:50 PM

My wife and I absolutely loved Locanda dell'Amorosa which is in Sinalunga. From what I recall it was not far from Montalcino. Beautiful place in the country. Would love to go back !

pattkark May 30th, 2007 02:25 PM

Thank you so much for your suggestions. The assistance from the people on Fodor's is fantastic and much appreciated.

I am continuing to look at properties (I tend to over-obsess when planning trips). Right now I have it narrowed down to L'Olmo, Locanda del Amorosa, Vecchia Oliviera and Palazzo del Capitano. Just trying to pick the best location. I welcome any more suggestions!

StuDudley May 30th, 2007 02:32 PM

The place in San Quirico is much better located than Locanda del Amorosa, IMO. I hope you're planning for June of '08. If not, you may have to take what you can get. Lots of people going to Europe this year, and Tuscany is one of the top spots.

Stu Dudley

carolsc May 31st, 2007 03:46 AM

I recently got back from a week's stay (apartment) in San Quirico. I adored the town and would stay there again in a minute. Because it's a little off the tourist track it wasn't 'overrun' as some of the other 'better known' towns. It is also in a great geographical location.

Kaleida May 31st, 2007 04:59 AM

I literally got back from Italy yesterday. We drove all the way from the UK to Pienza and visited both Montepulciano and Montalcino while we were there. We stayed at the San Gregorio Residence Hotel.

http://www.pienza.net/hotel_ingl.htm

For 100 euros a night we had a huge air conditioned suite with jacuzzi bath, separate bedroom, living/dining room with kitchenette. The price included breakfast and the staff there were lovely. There is an underground car park too which kept the car lovely and cool.

Pienza is a beautiful renaissance walled town, re-named and rebuilt in honour of Pope Pius II who was born there. It's a little bigger than San Quirico so there are more shops and more places to eat, but still has the charm of a small place without hordes of coach tours. It's also a lot less hilly than Montepulciano (I could have done with oxygen by the time I reached the top - I made do with gelato instead ...)

You are quickly in the glorious tuscan countryside if you want to be, and the views from the walkway around the town are breathtaking.

If you visit Montalcino, be sure to take a slight detour and visit the monastery Monte Oliveto Maggiore

http://www.monte-oliveto.com/

which has amazing frescos around the cloisters.

Siena is also within easy reach of a day trip - go on Wednesday if you can, there's a huge market under the walls of the fortezza, with lots of fresh food stalls if you want to grab picnic food, or plenty of touristy eateries in the famous Piazza del Campo.

I'm about half way through blogging the entire trip from the UK, you can read all about it at:

www.artylicious.blogspot.com.

It was our tenth wedding anniversary present to ourselves as well! Have fun wherever you end up, and look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.

Kal

pattkark Jun 1st, 2007 07:51 AM

Thank you so very much for all the helpful suggestions. We have decided on Palazzo del Capitano. Yes... we are going in June 2007 (leaving in less than two weeks for London, Paris and Italy) and we were lucky enough to find availability at all of the hotels we were interested in. Thanks again!

bobthenavigator Jun 1st, 2007 08:40 AM

Have fun and say hi to the old farts at Bar Centrale.

elamurr Jun 1st, 2007 11:20 AM

I strongly urge you to consider Fonte Bertusi, just outside of Pienza, and about mid distance between Montalcino and Montepulciano. My husband and I have just come back, and it was a real find. the highlight of our 10 days in Tuscany. http://www.fontebertusi.it/
Beautiful property, self-catering accomodations and lovely staff. You can read my posting on tripadvisor. I just posted yesterday, so not sure when it will be up, but there are several postings on slowtrav that you can read.

hlocke1 Jun 1st, 2007 11:25 AM

Hi Pat --

We *loved* staying in Montalcino at Il Giglio in 04. At the time, they didn't have AC which made it a bit warm in July. But, the location and view from our room made it up for it completely.

Good luck!

tanya0070 Jul 13th, 2007 08:53 AM

CAROLCS, what was the name of the apartment you stayed at in San Quirico? I am looking for an apartment either there, or in Montalcino. It sounds as though you recommend where you were?

scrb Jul 14th, 2007 11:35 AM

Kaleida, San Gregorio sounds real good.

You paid 100 euros for a suite instead of just a room? Their web site makes no mention of the kitchenettes, which would be good just to have a refridgerator handy.

How much was the covered parking?

Any ideas on the Internet access situation? They list modem connections which could be generic or they could be actually talking about dial-up modem ports.


It seems Pienza would be better situated for visiting Umbria as well, since it's more to the east than the cluster of villages around Greve.

Plus, after reading about lack of AC in agriturismos and bugs and such, I'm thinking I might prefer more of the amentities of a in-town accommodation. Especially being able to connect each night to check weather and some sites about Tuscany/Umbria destinations, including Fodor's Forums.

:D


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