NAVIGATING IN TOSCANA?A TRIP REPORT
By BOB the NAVIGATOR

OVERVIEW: Tuscany in October can be magical. The weather was nearly perfect as we arrived at the Rome airport to pick up our Autoeurope rental car?a Ford Focus wagon?to begin the 15 day adventure. It stayed that way for the most of the trip, with a two day interruption of cool and rainy about the 10th day. Roberto and Susanna[we adopt new names as we travel Italia] were ready for an in-depth experience in Toscana.

It was our 12th trip to Italia, many of which included parts of Tuscany. So, our agenda was not at all typical?this trip was planned with these goals in mind:
1. To see some new destinations in Tuscany, and others in more depth.
2. To personally experience some interesting hotels and B&Bs for client referral.
3. To meet some of my cyberspace friends
4. To finally find that elusive leather jacket for Susanna

The budget was set at $4900---a British Air fare sale helped to make that feasible.

It was a 15 day itinerary with 6 destinations?all within a radius of about 100 miles. I would never suggest this itinerary for others?hardly a ? slowtrav? experience. The ideal scenario would have been 3 locations, but consider my # 2 goal above. And, I do need to justify a tax write-off. So, here was the master plan:

Arrive FCO?get car?drive to near Orvieto for 3 nites at Locanda Rosati
[explore the Etruscan villages of Pitigliano, Sorano etc. and return to Orvieto and Civita]

To Montalcino via Bagno Vignoni & San Quirico?stay 3 nites at Albergo Il Giglio
[ experience Montalcino area in-depth and meet Isabella Dusi]

To Fiesole via Monteriggioni?3 nites at Pension Bencista
[ experience the Fiesole/Florence scenario?see more of Florence, and find that jacket]

To Chianti via outlet shopping mall?stay at Borgo Argenina near Gaiole for 2 nites
[ explore the wineries and villages of the Chianti region in more depth]

To Montefollinico near Montepulciano to stay at La Costa for 2 nites
[see new areas of Tuscany, including Chiusi, Santa Anna in Camprena & photo ops]

To Porto San Stefano via Maremma region for last 2 nites?Hotel La Caletta
[ explore Monte Argentario and stop at Ostia Antica prior to departure]

LODGING REVIEWS: These were hotels/B&Bs that had been suggested by others that we wanted to experience personally?and were glad that we did:

1. LOCANDA ROSATI?NEAR ORVIETO: This is the ideal place to start or end an itinerary when arriving or departing from FCO. It is a fairly new facility that is easy to find on the main road into Orvieto?about 6 miles west. The cordial host is Giampiero, and he and the chef Paolo make it a memorable experience. It is also ideally located to explore the Etruscan villages of the region and all of southern Umbria. All of the meals are served family style, and that is another good reason to stay here. We really enjoyed dinner with the other guests. One nite we ate with a Swedish couple, a young Belgian couple, and 2 Italian men?we all conversed fluently in English?quite amazing to me. Strongly recommended: www.locandarosati.orvieto.tr.it

2. ALBERGO IL GIGLIO?MONTALCINO: This is a typical 3 star local hotel in the very heart of this wonderful wine town. The price is right, the location is perfect, and the owner is very helpful. We wanted to stay in town this time and this was more than adequate. We had room #1 that was small but had a large balcony with a fabulous vista. Good value?in town location [email protected]

3. PENSION BENCISTA?FIESOLE: You can see more detail at the Karen Brown site about this old world classic hotel with fabulous views over Florence. We were not that impressed. Half-board is mandatory, and the food reminds me of my fraternity house.
And, the bus stop into Florence is a good 300 yard VERTICAL walk above the hotel. We chose to drive into Fiesole and park at the commune lot and catch the #7 bus into Florence. Great vista?Too dated--not impressed. [email protected]

4. BORGO ARGENINA?IN RURAL CHIANTI: What an impressive location on a hilltop in rural Chianti?take your camera. The charming owner, Elena, has created a wonderful rural B&B with most impressive décor and ambiance. We liked it all with one major exception. She does not serve lunch nor dinner and the location is somewhat remote. The nearest good ristorantes are :15 to :20 away?not a good idea on rural roads after dark after consuming your share of the local chianti vino. However, it is worth a long look for confident drivers. The facility is very nice and perfect to explore the wineries and villages of Chianti. Charming B&B?no food. www.borgoargenina.it

5. HOTEL LA COSTA?MONTEFOLLINICO: This is a great location to explore south Tuscany from an impressive medieval hill town. The hotel is fairly new and is very nice.
The hilltop views from the hotel rooms and terrace are a major asset. The food was good if not a bit pricey. The village is small but you are within :15 of Montepulciano and Pienza in one of the best locations in Tuscany. A great base for hill town exploration.
Charming Inn in great location?recommended. www.lacosta.it
I have never been labeled ? Bob the Gourmet? nor ? Roberto the Foodie?. We prefer the local trattorias and seldom spend more than 60E for any meal. However, here are some locations where the meals were memorable:
San Quirico?Il Vecchio Forno
Montalcino?Taverna Grappolo Blu
Montepulciano---Caffe Poliziano
REFLECTIONS & OBSERVATIONS

OBSERVATIONS& REFLECTIONS: Dorling Kindersley [Eyewitness] has a wonderful book named TOP TEN TUSCANY that I would highly recommend. In one section they rank the top ten hill towns of Tuscany. We had not been to 3 of their top ten before but now we have. Interestingly, none on their list was in the Chianti region, unless you count Siena as in Chianti. This trip was about seeing new venues in Tuscany and staying at some places that I can hopefully recommend to others. These are my observations:

1. It makes good sense to us to stay in hotels and B&Bs that offer a good half-board option. It is certainly more convenient and allows you to meet your fellow travelers. This would not be true in larger cities where you have many good eating options.

2. Staying 3 nites per location is our preferred style. Of course, we could easily have rented a villa or apt. and spent a week in one location on this itinerary, and that is exactly what I would suggest to others. However, we opted to stay at these specific places for the personal experience.

3. The best place to buy leather in Italy are the shops around Santa Croce in Florence. You need some patience and negotiation skills to get the best deals, but the products are diverse and good quality. We had been shopping for a red jacket for Susanna for years, but we finally decided on a fitted white one. It looks fabulous on her.

4. The designer shopping mall south of Florence is a joke! I know I will take some heat on this, so let me admit now that I just do not get it. I bought a very nice sweater last year from Norm Thompson aptly named ? the Toscana? and paid about $75. I swear I saw that same sweater in one of the shops on sale for only 250E. Sorry, I do not get it.

5. We were very pleased to be able to meet some of our cyberspace friends from Fodors and Slowtrav. We regret that we missed seeing others because of schedule conflicts?including Dario, Judy the Diva, and the Sutherlands from Montefollinico. However, we did enjoy a nice lunch in Bagno Vignoni with the delightful Ann[from Hawaii] and her husband Paul. We also had dinner with Deb E from Albuquerque and her husband Peter. And, we were delighted to spend a Sunday morning in Montalcino with Isabellla Dusi, the author of the book VANILLA BEANS & BRODO. She was very gracious and charming.
We had made a modest contribution to the restoration of the local church at San Pietro and she was kind enough to have the church opened so we could see the progress. She also said that her new book is now at the publisher and should be out in April.

6. Some of the new venues that we especially enjoyed included Pitigliano, Fiesole, Santa Anna at Camprena, Porto San Stefano, Ostia Antica, and Montefollinico. After 12 trips to Italy, we are ready to admit that perhaps we have done it now. I still would like to see more of Sicily and add Malta to that trip, but not until we travel some new places in the good old US of A and stop procrastinating on the inevitable trip to New Zealand.

Good to have you back. Since you were gone for my long-winded trip report, I just wanted to send you my thanks about the Stella d'Italia in San Mamete.

Really a nice place with a delicious menu. Great view. Looking forward to more from you.

New Zealand won't disappoint. Go!

Bob,

You beat me to the trip report! It was great meeting you and Susan. Peter & I really enjoyed Grappolo Blue as well. I wish I could have shopped for that jacket with you. I looked around a little, but got turned off by the prices I saw. Perhaps I should have pursued it a bit more. Oh well, something to save for next time.

Thanks for the report!

Deb

Grazie Tom, We love that place and have stayed there twice. The first time we walked in from the rain and said to Mrs. Ortelli at the front desk " buona sera--Karen Brown sent us". She seemed to think that we were the " inspectors" and gave us their best room.

Bob, since you mentioned staying a week as preferable, could you recommend one or two places in the Chianti region of Tuscany? My wife and I did a two week trip with car two years ago and spent 3 nights in the San Gimignano area and 3 nights in Florence proper. We used SG as a base to drive around the Chianti area and fell in love with the area. We would like to hear your suggestions on where to base ourselves for a week.

Mille grazie Bob!

Your navigational tips are always terrific. So after all your many travels, which Toscana hill town is your absolute favorite?

Let me try to answer both questions in one post. First, Chianti is not our favorite part of Tuscany. We find it to be more homogenized than further south in Tuscany. We also prefer the landscape of the region between Montalcino to Montepulciano. If you definately want Chianti, then the area near Radda and Gaiole is my pick. Now, my favorite hill town--that is tough !
Let me drop Siena from the list--it is really a big hill town but too big to count. So, that leaves me with 2 choices. Montalcino is my choice if you plan to stay there or nearby--so much to see--and did I mention brunello? However, the most authentic and historic hill town to me is Volterra. I hope this helps. Tuscany is really 5 geographic regions to me and you cannot see it all from one location. If you want one location for a week I would locate at the La Costa hotel in Montefollinico as a good centro base camp. You can even include Cortona and Assisi from there. If you want to spend more then Locanda Amorosa near Sinalunga is a wonderful choice. Good luck--Tuscany is wonderful.

Bob - Welcome back. Hey - do we have to call you Roberto now?

Pitigliano is a delight, isn't it?
A dear Italian friend took me last year on a day trip from Rome, and we included Sorano and Sovana too.
A great day!

We also went to Porto Santo Stefano, and Roselle - an intriguing Etruscan sight near Grosseto.

I'm ashamed to say I STILL haven't made it to Volterra
I must put it high on my list next time after your recommendation!

Have you finished the Brunello yet?

Steve

Bob, this is such great info. One thing I'm curious about after reading your trip report is in regards to Montefollinico. I haven't been able to find too much information on this town elsewhere, and I'm wondering how big it is, in terms of what is actually in it (i.e., several hotels, a grocery store, etc.) Also, how far is it from Montefollinico to Siena, in terms of actual time, and how much of that time is spent on really winding roads?

Thanks so much!

The village is very small--I would guess 1K people. The attractions are the La Costa itself, the panoramic vistas from the town, and the La Chiusa gourmet ristorante. However, it is only 10 to 15 minutes to both Pienza and Montepulciano and the whole S146 route which is my favorite drive in Tuscany.
Siena is about :40 I would guess and you can drive there two ways---s-146 to S-2 to enter from the south. Or, to Sinalunga and then the big road into Siena--which is under construction.

Thank you, Bob -- that's very helpful!

topping by request

topping for Ralph

How sad Bob that you missed Dario, he's such a nice guy. Be sure next time you get to Tuscany to try and get to know him. Did you read his book? he has a new one coming out in Easter, I think he told me the title was 'A Green Existence'

This information was very helpful! I hope to get a room in Montalcino. Glad you enjoyed your trip.

Bob

I am very interested in staying in Montalcino, and the Albergo Il Giglio sounds like it fits our needs... except, it doesn't appear to have ac. We will be in Italy late August, so I assume ac is a necessity. Can you recommend another hotel in the village or close-by (1 or 2 km) which might also be a good choice. We need accomodation for only 2 nights, so an apartment won't work.

I've been doing searches here, and on other web sites but having a difficult time finding something recommended by other travelers. Do you know anything about Vecchia Oliviera Hotel?

Any advice you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

The Vecchia Oliviera is a very nice 4 star on the edge of town and easy to access. It would be my choice if I wanted to pay the price--about 150E.