Snowflake25

DH and I have a week in Italy at the end of our summer trip to Europe. We will be arriving in Pisa in the late afternoon in early August. We intend to spend the night and pick up our rental car the next day. We are looking for some suggestions for a central spot where we can book a room for 5 nights and use it as a hub for day trips. Three years ago we stayed near Montalcino and did day trips from there as suggested by one of the trip reports we read on Fodors. We have been to the Abbey at Sant'Antimo, Montepulciano, San Gimignano, Siena, and Pienza. We have also visited Florence on another trip. Our interests include history and we enjoy strolling around the hill towns. Can anyone suggest another place that would provide us with the opportunity to do the same type of exploring? We are also interested in suggestions for accommodations, parking for the rental car should be included.

kybourbon

Have you been to any of the Chianti area or the area between Pisa and Siena (Volterra? San G?)?

Jean

Do you have any interest in Umbria?

Where are you going after these 5 nights?

Snowflake25

Will be driving to Rome, and will return the rental car there. Any suggestions for a place to stay in the Chianti area that would work as a hub? We have also considered booking 5 nights in Siena and would welcome suggestions of places to visit from there. Volterra and Lucca are both on our list of places to see this trip.

HappyTrvlr

We enjoyed staying in Panzano, halfway between Siena and Dlornce on historic route 222.

Jean

If you're thinking about Siena, how early in August is your arrival? The Palio will be held on August 16th, but the town will be busy the entire week prior, so you might have trouble finding lodging for dates between Aug. 10th and 18th. If you find something within those dates, you'll probably be paying a Palio premium.

We stayed in Siena for a week in mid-October 2011. We hadn't been there in several years and were a bit stunned by the increased amount of car traffic, esp. as we were leaving and returning during rush hours. We stayed at Palazzo Ravizza which has a parking lot with rather easy ingress/egress, but I have to say we decided we probably wouldn't stay in Siena again.

If you're considering Chianti, I like the area in/near the Castellina-Radda-Panzano triangle.

Unless you're heading to the airport after Tuscany, I would consider dropping the car before Rome and then taking the train into the city center. Orvieto and Chiusi are options.