Tiller

If you have spent some time inside the walls here I would appreciate your feedback.
Searching here on Fodor's I've read mostly about the wine shops, a few restaurants and cafes, but not much regarding atmosphere or ambience. Is it bustling and busy? What is it like in the evening? How challenging is it really driving in and getting around?
What kind of shops are nearby, other than wine and cheese? I think I have read there is more going on at the base of the town? before you enter the walls? Are there common areas to sit out and enjoy the views like the park in Pienza? Thanks for any info!
Tiller

ekscrunchy

We were there last month. Because it was January, the atmosphere was not bustling at all. It is a little hard to drive inside the walls. We just parked the car outside our hotel and walked everywhere, which is most likely what you will do as well. Aside from the food and wine shops, of which there are quite a few, the notable buy here would be copper in all shapes and sizes. Good prices. At the base of the town there is a little congregation of shops, at least one hotel, and a few restaurants. There are outdoor cafes on the main piazza which is at the top of the town. Along the street linking the bottom with the main piazza at the top, the Corso, you will find shops and places to eat. The town is stone with narrow winding streets and steep inclines. Regardless of what Montepulciano is technically, I would class it as a town rather than a city.

Eloise

I would not say that Montepulciano is bustling and busy, night or day. It's very quiet in the evening. Driving is challenging. We were in a tiny Italian car and still had to have Italians help us out a few times with instructions: "You have a centimeter on the left and two on the right," etc.
I'm not a shopper, but I don't recall much beyond the wine shops (the cheese shops I remember were in Pienza). The church of San Biagio outside the walls is worth a visit, but I don't recall that there was that much more activity there. The best place we found to enjoy the views was the terrace of the Caffe Poliziano.

ekscrunchy

Agreed. There is at least one covered car park outside the walls. Unless your hotel can give you a parking pass, just leave the car and walk inside the city. When we were trying to find our hotel, my partner got so annoyed at the steep narrow streets (and my lack of clear directions) that he stopped the car and refused to drive one more minute. Luckily, we were not far from our hotel.

Tiller

SO: It is challenging to drive in and out of and not very lively? As compared to the other nearby towns? I know it's bigger in area and population
than surrounding towns. As a base it would be good? But outside of Florence-
Siena would be the liveliest? People here love Pienza and Montalcino and talk about the "good atmosphere" how does this compare with Montepulciano?
Tiller

amyb

Tiller, I have spent time in Siena, Pienza and Montepulciano. Most recently I visited all three last May. I found them to be busy in the order I listed them. Siena was quite busy, Montepulciano was almost empty when we were there, Pienza somewhere in between. There isn't much to the town like there was in Siena.

I'm not sure why you'd have to drive in the town itself, as it is extremely small and very walkable. We were on bikes, so we parked outside the walls, walked around for a couple hours, ate and shopped, and were back on the road again. I think Pienza has a bit more to see and do, and Siena would be worth a couple days easily.

ekscrunchy

I would think Siena is a city and the other two are towns. But Pienza and Montepulciano are within 20 minutes drive of each other.

Tiller

amyb:

Thanks for your thoughts and experience there-to use the town as a base we would drive in and out of the walls, that's why I was curious about that part. I am surprised Pienza was busier, perhaps because it is more touristed? Thanks!
Tiller

Tiller

ekscrunchy:

Appreciate your input-I read your trip report too-Asking about Siena as well because I know there's alot going on there and wondered how the other towns compare to(one another) in regards to being lively. My daughters would probably love Siena... and spending time (days )in some of the towns smaller too..
just trying to get a better picture. Its different when you have teens to think of- what my DH and I would be thrilled about could be a little dull for them after a few days....
Thanks,
Tiller

jd_dallas

It is definitely not a shopping destination, but my wife enjoyed exploring small shops that sell ceramics, linen goods, etc., and she bought quite a few small items as gifts. There is a weekly market that is worth wandering through, but no designer stores that I am aware of.

You definitely don't want to drive inside the walls any more than necessary. We parked at our apartment and used the car only to leave and return to town.

When we were there in early June, most of the visitors were European, and primarily Italian.

Diz01

Pienza is small town/large village which gets overwhelmed (IMO) during the day by tourists.

Siena is a large city with all that you would expect.

Montepulciano is reasonable size town roughly the same size as Montalcino. It is quite a walk up to the square at the top. But it is also easy enough to drive up (it's largely on a one way circuit from memory) and park in the car parks right at the top by the square. Just don't bottle out and follow the one way signs.

The town has wonderful views over the surrounding countryside, lots of shops devoted to wine (unsurprisingly), church, tower to climb etc. Surprisingly few decent looking restaurants within the walls but we had a good lunch (can't recall where). One of my favourite memories of our last trip was spending an hour over a capuccino with the newspaper in the square watching the world go by.

Diz01

Barb

While I thought Montepulciano was beautiful and our apartment was wonderful with great views, I would not stay there again. In my opinion, you could do it in one day. It was just too quiet for me. The town pretty much closes up from 1 - 4 and then in the evening everything pretty much closes up around 9:00. There are a few good restaurants, but not much in the way of "shopping". I would much rather stay in Pienza, which I really enjoyed, or even some of the smaller towns. Montepulciano just felt a little cold to me.

ekscrunchy

I had the opposite experience. Granted, this was in January, but it seemed to me that Pienza was very dependent on tourism while Montepulciano, which is much larger, has other streams of revenue. The only shops I saw in Pienza were those selling pecorino and other food products. After lunch we walked around Pienza and I could count the number of people I saw in the streets on two hands. Take all this for what its worth, cause the entire region was not exactly crawling with people in January! In season, there are quite a few (at least a half dozen) restaurants in Montepulciano that, to me, seemed worth at least one meal. The Corso, which winds through town, is lined with both shops aimed at tourists and those selling things like lingerie and shoes that look as if they depend on local custom.
But do keep in mind that these two towns are within 20 minutes of each other with a car so you can shuttle between the two. I believe that Montalcino is much smaller than Montepulciano but I have no numbers close at hand to double check.

Tiller

Barb:

I'm curious to know if you spent a week there in an apartment-if so, what towns did you visit? I have read it is a good location, but I appreciate all of your input because it's not really information I will read in a guide book. What time of year did you stay?
So, you are saying, if you were to stay in that area again you would choose another town with "more" happening? A smaller town? I'm confused? Did you mean a larger town? You really like Pienza, you felt it had more to offer while you were there,
I do understand that it is smaller. We are seeing Venice and Rome and this area will be the inbetween time. Thanks for your thoughts, anything else you would care to add, feel free!
Tiller

Tiller

eksrunchy:

Did you get to Siena to visit? Montalcino?

Tiller

ekscrunchy

Tiller: I had been in Siena in the past. We did not get to Montalcino, as we had only two nights in the area and we stayed both of them in Montepulciano. I did lots of reading beforehand and chose that town over Montalcino which, from what I read, is pretty heavily oriented toward wine and the selling of wine. Not that this is at all negative, we just did not have the time to explore all that much. We went to Pienza for lunch and a walk around and also to a winery near Montepulciano. Forget the driving around if yu stay there, it is small enough that you can park someplace and walk everywhere you want within the walls. Pienza, too, has parking outside the walls and is easy to walk everyplace as it is really small.

JWard

We spent a morning in Montepulciano a few years ago, we toured the town, bought a bottle of wine and a copper pot and then walked through San Biagio outside of town, then ate a great lunch at La Grotta, next to San Biagio, We then had enough time to do Montalcino that afternoon, where we walked around the very small town and drank wine at the fortress.
I do agree that Montepulciano seems to survive on more than just tourists. We did not spend a night here, but I would think a night or two here would be wonderful.

Barb

Tiller: This is obviously just my opinion, as others really loved staying in Montepulciano. I normally prefer cities rather than smaller towns, just for the ease of walking around different neighborhoods, soaking up the atmosphere and in the evening going out to dinner and then walking around afterwards and back to my hotel/apt. After one day there, I had pretty much done this and it was pretty dead after dinner and in the afternoons. I was there for a week and stayed in an apt. the name of which has totally slipped my mind, but it was at the top of the hill. If I did another trip to Tuscany, I would either base myself in a larger city like Siena, or I would stay in a smaller, more charming town, which was a little livelier like Siena, or even a small town that was just plain charming, warm and beautiful like San Quirico D'Orcia and then do day trips from there. I guess the bottom line is Montelpuciano just didn't do it for me. Although I LOVED the La Grotto - had a wonderful dinner there.

Barb

That should be smaller livelier town such as Pienza, not Siena.

Tiller

Barb:

I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts and experiences. I don't know what time of year you were there, but we will be there early spring and one of my concerns was having enough to do for everyone in the family if we didn't want to get in the car and head off down the road every day if the weather is lousy. Lots rave about Pienza but have also said Montepulciano had more to offer for an extended stay, but your experience does not reflect that, just the opposite. I understand as you said, just your opinion. By the way, you didn't mention your daytrips, did you have a car?
Thanks,
Tiller