Jean

The best argument for a car is that you can load up the bikes and drive to sdifferent jumping-off point so that your cycling trips aren't just limited to a circle around your base town. There's also bound to be some item(s) you buy that are too heavy/large to carry back to the hotel on your bike.

dina4

Montalcino has great restaurants. We loved Grappolo Blu, as it was recommended by Fodorites here. Also, Il Grifo. We really enjoyed the Dei Capitano hotel -- the views are breathtaking and the pool area is wonderful. It was a great spot to base, and we can't wait to go back.

We also loved visiting Pienza. Worth it just to buy some Pecorino, but other shopping here was great, too.

have a great trip!
dina

marigross

March 2008

gardeninggal

We were in Italy last October. We made Montalcino our base for 4 days. We stayed at a lovely little B & B called ...Hotel Giglio run by the Marchetti family. They were wonderful hosts...very friendly and helpful...just drive up to the door and they take the car and park it and bring it around when you want to leave. ?Blu is a wonderful place to eat. Walks in the early morning gave you a real feel for an authentic Italian hill village...people are out shopping in the little stores, standing around talking, etc. Very non-commercial. We loved it!

tanya0070

Thank you everyone...I have contacted many of your suggestions for availability in October. What I have determined most from this specific post is that no matter what village we choose, we will not really go wrong. That is very assuring. I will advise where we choose. Still trying to decide if we should break up the week and choose two locations...

Dayle

Tanya,

If you have 10 days, yes, break it up. Southern Tuscany and Chianti, or southern Tuscany and Umbria (highly recommend).

You can happily stay in one place the whole time, but personally I get a little tired of driving back and forth every day. I travel light, so changing hotels is not a time consuming thing for me.

You're going to love it!