Montalcino or Greve in Chianti?
 

Which would you chose? I realize they are no where near each other, which did you prefer? Any recommendations for either place? We are interested in wine tastings and relaxation. We will not have a car but might rent scooters.

Personally...I like Montalcino alot. You will have the opportunity to taste wines in either place but I think the Fortezza di Montalcino is a better experience overall than the large wine tasting store in Greve. Montalcino is a small charming hilltown..Greve reminded me alot of a &quot;suburban town center&quot;..We drank and ate at the fortress in Montalcino..oh for the Brunellos..but here are some recommendations handed down to us before our trip to Italy: Poggio Antico ..4 km south of town (numerous signs) described as &quot;Italian Country dining at its best&quot;..in an old renovated farm house with beautiful views of the hills. Sciame( in the town of Montalcino..&quot;good solid food, the usual tuscan specialties..trattoria frequented by the locals. and in town..just down the hill from the Fortrezza is Grappolo Blu..we checked it out then menu looked great. One thing you might do since you are thinking of renting scooters is to look into a tour at Sant'Antimo.. we did not go thre on our last trip and I regret not having done so..this is an old abbey where the monks sing gregorian chants(mass) I think only on Sundays.<BR>In closing..Montalcino and Montepulciano(along with Siena) were my favorite of the towns in Tuscany we visited..Greve had a bit too much &quot;grape souvenir&quot; feel to it for my taste.

I agree completely with the above poster. In addition, the whole area around Montalcino has more to offer than the area of Tuscany further north near Greve. Stick with Montalcino and have the 1997 Brunellos.

I really liked Montalcino (better than Montepulciano also). And yea, that 97 Brunello was real good :)

No comparison--Montalcino is authentic.

PamSF<BR><BR>You have really piqued my interest re: Sant'Antimo. I will do a search on Fodor for this to learn more about it. In the meantime, if anyone wants to tell me about their experiences there, I would appreciate it!<BR><BR>Michelle, we have been to Montalcino and Castellina in Chianti, not Greve. We enjoyed both places. However, we LUVVVVV Brunello wine--and you must go to Montalcino for that. We absolutely enjoyed our tour at Banfi and the wine tastings in the Banfi castle. I would recommend Montalcino over Chianti if you can only do one place.

I agree with everyone else, Montalcino all the way! Enjoy!!

I've been to Sant'Antimo afew times. Awesome setting and lovely abbey, very old. If you want to hear the monks chant, (they are mostly chanting in Latin but with a touch of French accent) you can do this on Sunday at 11 or any day of the week at certain hours all thru the day. We got there once on a Monday and found out that the next chanting was to be in an hour, so we went back down to the square and had a bite. The chant the &quot;office&quot; at regular hours throughout the day. Beautiful.

I was in Tuscany last week - stayed in Radda in Chianti - very nice, with LOTS of wineries nearby. You can get a mao when you are there and it identifies all of the Chianti Classico wineries - many of which you can drop into without an appointment. I preferred that are to Montalcino. AND I preferred the excellent Chianti Classicos to the Brunellos - those big boys were too rich for my blood. You would need a car though - the hills are way too much for scooters.

Radda is also one of our favorite small towns, but Montalcino is fast becoming the #1--and one reason is because of the Brunello! If you like red wine with a full body, then you have to go there and stay! We happened upon a tasting and I don't know when my wine self has been happier! It's a sweet small town anyway. <BR>But I prefer Radda to Greve in that dual!<BR>

Can't recall if we drove through Greve or not but we loved Montalcino, and the nearby area, especially the abbey of Sant Antimo (sp?) which is a bit south of Montalcino. <BR><BR>The Chianti area was very nice, but much more wooded than I had expected so we didn't get the grand -- and, IMO, classic Tuscan -- vistas that we got south of Siena.

I am planning a trip next year and plan on spending 4 days Montalcino. I have decided to stay in town at Hotel Vecchia Oliviera??? I am also planning 6 nites in Chianti. I would like a place close so I could see Radda, Siena, Castellina, visit winerys, San G and maybe Florance and eat great food. I have also considered Castello di Spatenna or Podere Simpatico. Has anyone stay at either of these and would you consider their location good???