We are traveling from Florence to Cinque Terre. Have one or two nights to stay in Tuscany. We have been concentrating on southern area: Chianti, Montalcino, etc. Should we stay within the direct line to Cinque Terre? We are driving - first time in ITaly. What northern towns can anyone recommend for staying and tasting and touring?

Or should we not miss the southern area?

Also, I should mention we are planning 3 nights in Florence. Would it be better to stay those nightws in the countryside and do day trips to Florence?

I generally think of Siena as the dividing line of northern and outhern tuscany. Chianti,then, is northern.
Since you are spending such a short time,I'd stay in Chianti (Greve?) which makes it easy to get back to Florence to train to CT.

Another option is no car and stay in Lucca.

I think both the towns and the countryside in the Val d'Orcia are much prettier and more interesting than Chianti. I would stay near Pienza - and I would try real hard to spend at least 2 nights in that region - 3 would be better. I don't know how many days you have allocated to the Cinque Terra - but I'de spend more time in the Val d'Orcia (explore Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico, Montalcino, and Sant Antimo Abbey and the wonderful countryside) than I would spend in the Cinque Terra.

I would not do day trips into Florence - staying overnight allows you to see some of this picturesque city without the crowds. Driving is a pain in Florence.

Stu Dudley

What Stu said !
What you need is 9 days for those 3 destinations.

Having a car is the best way to see the Tuscan countryside. Having a car in Florence or the Cinque Terre is an annoyance. Driving and parking in central Florence is strictly controlled. There is no road connecting the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre. The best way to get between the towns is by foot or train or boat. If you are staying on the CT, you will have to park your car at some distance from the main part of town.

Don't know what you have planned for the rest of your trip or even the order of your stops, but maybe consider dropping the car going into Florence and taking the train to the CT.

I forgot to say that I too prefer the scenery in southern Tuscany, especially around and south of Siena.

But there's lots to see elsewhere in Tuscany.

I was clear but we are driving only for the Tuscany leg and doing the train otherwise. I am thinking about NOT going to Cinque Terre at all and staying in Tuscany for 3 nights. We are also doing Venice 3 nights prior to Florence. So, that is Venice, Florence and Southern Tuscany???

I'm not as familiar with the Val D'Orcia. IS that an area or a town?

Can you recommend a place to stay?

>> I'm not as familiar with the Val D'Orcia. IS that an area or a town? <<

An area - consisting of Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia, Pienza, Monticchiello, Montepulciano, etc.

It's easy to train from Florence to CT, we did it a couple of years ago. As someone who loves to hike and loves nature, I enjoyed the CT - especially after the congestion of Florence. (Which I am also glad I experienced, 3 nights was not enough there.) Did CT in mid-April so it wasn't crowded, and had good weather - which is not always the case.

Cindywho:

Now you're talking. I would skip the Cinque Terre and go to Southern Tuscany for the three nights.

I am one of the Cinque Terre naysayers here on Fodors. Yes, it is pretty. It is also difficult to reach, accomodations are somewhat limited, and there are no cultural attractions.

If you are interested in the hikes, then it might be worth your time. Of course, wine tasting in Montalcino and Montepulciano is great. Then there are the cultural attractions of San Antimo, Pienza, Bagno Vignoni, and the various forts, and castles dotting the area. Cinque Terre doesn't offer the same sort of variety. Or wine. Or well known dining.

So for me, your plan for Venice, Florence and the Val d'Orcia sounds terrific.

I do love the outdoors and hiking and Cinque Terre looks beautiful. We may have to save that for our next trip, as we are also not doing Rome this time. I don't want to plan so much that we don't enjoy.

We love the wine and the thought of visiting some of the old towns and churches is intriguing. My husband will have to chime in on this one.

Do you have a recommendation for hotel/B&B to stay? Is Montalcino the place to stay?

Thanks for your help

I like the look of your trip now.

I'd stay in Pienza; it has a good (though small) choice of restaurants. Others like San Quirico d'Orcia. Both of those would be easier to get in and out of for day trips. We stayed in Montalcino and, having reserved parking at our hotel, found it a bit difficult to pick our way in and out. And the parking was very tight.

We have decided to skip Cinque Terre and stay 3 nights in Tuscany. We were planning to stay in Montalcino - at a B&B Palazzino Cesira, I believe. What kind of problems did you have?

I don't know where your B&B is. We stayed at the Hotel del Capitano. It is right in the old town with a magnificent view high over the Val d'Orcia.

If you stay in the center of a hill town, you're up high away from the main roads in a village with narrow steep and twisting streets. To make a daytrip, you first have to get out of your parking place (usually much backing and froing), then wend your way through town, part of whose streets are pedestrian only, then drive down the hill to the road.

All this gets a bit tedious after a time or two. Maybe with only 3 nights, it wouldn't bother you so much.

I recommended Pienza and San Quirico as better towns in which to base when doing day trips, because they're down in the valley more or less on the flat and close to the main road.

All that said, we enjoyed our visit to Montalcino and especially that view. I like being in or close to a town so we can walk to a restaurant for dinner (and walk back after having wine). So I wouldn't probably like to stay in the open countryside in a resort or agriturismo.