Any thoughts or input about the list below would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Laconda Amarosa- http://www.amorosa.it/ Siena
Castello del Nero- http://www.castellodelnero.com/ Chianti
Tenuta di Ricavo- http://www.ricavo.com/filosofia-e.htm Chianti
Poggio Piglia- http://www.poggiopiglia.com/ Macciano
L'Andana- http://www.andana.it/en/l-andana Grosseto
Castel Monastero- http://www.castelmonastero.com/en/ Siena
Villa Bordini- http://www.villabordoni.com/ Chianti
Villa Fontelunga- http://www.fontelunga.com/index.html Arezzo
Villa La Massa- http://www.villalamassa.com/en/18/the-hotel.aspx
Villa San Michelle- http://www.villasanmichele.com/web/o...an_michele.jsp
Villa Borgo Santo Pietro- http://www.borgosantopietro.com/en/#/1_0_0 Chiusdino
Castello di Vicarello- http://www.vicarello.it/ Grosseto
Castello Banfi Il Borgo- http://www.castellobanfiilborgo.com/ Montalcino

Not much to go on as to what you are actually looking for. Where do you actually want to go, what will you be doing, for how long and how many hotels ? E.g. do you want a week in one place, maybe with daytrips to other places, or are you doing a tour of Tuscany and maybe thinking 2 or 3 hotels in different places over 10 days, 2 weeks or whatever ? Sightseeing, just relaxing or a combination ? Do you want to be in town(s) or in the country ? Will you have a car ?

You are persistent!
I have no idea where you got that list but it does not serve you well---as several Tuscany experts have already told you.

Get a good guide book and a map and decide WHERE you want to be first. It is not about hotels, it is all about location.

I know I must seem very scattered but I am really having a hard time wrapping my head around the layout of the Tuscan countryside, proximity of towns to one another, driving distances, etc. I compiled the above list from recommendations from friends, articles from Travel & Leisure, Jet-setter properties, and other on-line sites. The options are endless but I want to make sure that we have an authentic experience, albeit in an upscale setting.

We only have four days in Tuscany and I do want to have time to relax , breathe and not cram too much in. Our hope for this trip is to rent a car and drive from town to town, exploring, eating, drinking, resting by the pool in the afternoon and oh, did i I mention eating? I realize that we have a VERY short amount of time and I don't want to try to do too much.

I am beginning to think that Chianti might be our best bet in terms of what area to stay in. I gather it is close to both Siena and Florence but also not far from Rome (where we will spend the last two days of our trip). The two properties near the coast are magnificent, but a little far and I gather the Ducasse property is stunning but not really "authentic Tuscany".

What are your thoughts on Chianti as a place to call home-base for 3 days/nights? It sounds like there are a lot of places to explore within the area and no shortage of restaurants, hill towns, wine. I also think we could drive to the coast one day, which also sounds lovely.

Someone suggested to me that upon arrival in Rome on Monday, we take the train to Florence, see the city, spend the night and then rent a car the next morning and head towards the countryside. I know my husband only wanted to stay in one place, but I think the above plan is good, especially since we'll be jet-lagged when we arrive.

Ok, more info to go on this time, I hope and maybe a bit clearer about what I'm looking for. Thanks...

You have 2 primary location options.
Chianti is the area BETWEEN Siena and Florence. It would be better for access to Florence, but is not the most scenic part of Tuscany nor does it have the best "Hill towns".
If you want Chianti then Tenuta di Ricavo is a good choice, but I also like this place--Fattoria Tregole.

I prefer south Tuscany--south of Siena and the Val d' Orcia with the classic medieval hill towns of Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano etc. But, forget a day trip to Florence from this area--just too far. A compromise location that is east of Siena---and is quite lovely---is the Locanda Amorosa. You can go either direction from here and also include the hill town of Cortona which is further east.

I would take Florence out of the Tuscany equation by going there first by train and get the car as you leave there. Your dilema is common. Hoping to include Florence causes people to compromise their Tuscany location and they end up in northern Chianti just to accommodate that scenario.

I hope this helps. We are going back for our 17th trip to Italy in May and have chosen to stay a week in Montepulciano. There are advantages to staying in one of the villages. Look at Locanda di San Francesco for yourself--it is a more upscale B&B in Montepulciano. Good luck !

Bob- That is extremely helpful. Thank you!

Tenuta di Ricavo was recommended by my cousin and was one of the places I was leaning towards, however Laconda Amorosa was also high on my list. I gather south of Siena is also closer to Grosseto/Maremma which I am very drawn to as well. I am going to look into both of your lodging recs and possibly look at other places in the Val d' Orcia. Do you think that this area would be less crowded with tourists than Chianti?

Thanks again...

Residenza Il Poggiolo
53027 - San Quirico d'Orcia (Siena)
Tel. 0577/899074
www.poggiolo.info

we stayed here and loved the ambiance and location.

In your short time I would forget the Grosseto area. Have I mentioned La Saracina before? Next trip plan to spend a week in Tuscany--it takes at least that much time.

I agree with bob on all counts. Southern Tuscany is the quintessential experience for this area of Italy. I've stayed at both Locanda dell Amorosa and La Saracina many times. I highly recommend both. Locanda dell Amorosa is larger and less personal but is a stunning, relaxing place to stay. La Saracina is a better location as its closer to Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino, etc. It is a smaller, more intimate inn with a charming, gracious owner. I would say either is fine, but I prefer La Saracina. I hope this helps.

I get the sense you're more interested in the property than where it is in relation to the rest of Tuscany. If you don't care what is within exploring distance, then just pick the property that appeals to you.

The Val d'Orcia is lovely and would be a terrific area for exploring towns like Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, etc. But if you had intended to go to Siena, Cortona, etc., they are about an hour away. San Gimignano is probably 90 minutes away, and others like Volterra, Lucca, Pisa and anywhere on the coast are two or more hours away. How crowded an area (and roads) would be depends a lot on what time of year you're going.

"...drive from town to town, exploring, eating, drinking..." One of you can drive or drink, but not both.

Jean, we have never been to Italy before so this is all very new. I began my search looking at properties but am now trying to narrow it down by area. Bob has been very helpful describing the the difference between the areas. In fact, I have taken many of those properties off of my list and am going to focus on southern Tuscany. And thanks for the advice, but both my husband and I know better to not drink and drive!

As for when we are going, we will be there in July and we only have a week for our trip because we have three young children who we really can't leave for more than that.

act - looks like a good decision.

you'll be spending more time outside then in, [hopefully] so it's location that matters, IMHO.

hav a great trip!

July will be crowded, especially in the more tourist-popular places like Florence, Pisa, Lucca, San Gim, Siena, etc. The more you can resist the urge to go where everyone else is going, the fewer crowds you'll encounter. But do investigate market days and festivals because there might be one you'd like to experience, even if it will be exceptionally crowded.

This newsletter, created by a Fodorite, lists the days for antique markets and weekly markets throughout Tuscany.

http://www.florencevillas.com/newsle...letter_25.html

And I'm sure you can google for a list of festivals in Tuscany in July.

I only made the no-drink-and-drive comment because Italy takes this issue even more seriously than the U.S. (where I live). First-time visitors don't always get the message.

We stayed at Amorosa about 7 years ago and absolutely loved it. We used a tour guide for about 4 days so we did not have a car. That said, it is in a pretty isolated area (not far from many of the hill towns) if you do not have your own auto but the restaurant was good so we didn't suffer.

Here is another that I had forgotten--about 2 miles from Montepulciano and very nice:
http://www.villapoggiano.com/en/index.html

Ok, NOW I understand why you all thought I was crazy! I was literally all over the map! Now that I have a better feel for the region, we've narrowed it down to 4 or 5 places. I think we are going to stay in Southern Tuscany. However, I have also heard that Chianti is nice so I am a little conflicted. We only have four full days and will be ending our trip with a weekend in Rome (our arrival and departure city). My husband wants one home-base in Tuscany and he's already been to Florence, so we may skip it this trip. We don't want to over schedule ourselves and try to fit in too much. So the plan is to fly into Rome and then rent a car and head to Tuscany, returning to Rome at the end of the week. I would like to see the classic hill towns (Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano) as well as Siena. Is it a terrible mistake to skip Florence? We are from NYC and will be getting a taste of Rome and I much prefer to have an easy pace on our trip rather than running around and cramming in too much.

I am pretty sure we are going to stay at Laconda Amarosa, but Poggio Piglia looks nice too as does La Sarcina. I also found Castello delle Serre through a friend and she always picks great spots, but I am not sure if that is in the best location! And Tenuta di Ricavo still calls to me, mainly because my cousin stayed there and loved it, but I know that is in Chianti further north. Are any of those properties within walking distance to a village/town with restaurants/shops? We had fallen in love with Villa Cicolina but they are fully booked for the dates we wanted.

Thanks again for all of your help, comments and suggestions!

in July, you will need to pre-book and pretty soon, and IMHO you want a place with a swimming pool and a/c, if you want to be able to sleep.

unless you like being hot and bothered, i would give florence a miss. there are loads of other less crowded places to visit.

as for the car rental, what a lot of people do is to get the train from Rome to Orvieto [or somewhere else near to where you're going to be based] and pick up the car there, doing the same on the way back. this avoids having to drive in Rome, which is not good for the stress levels. Orvieto is popular because it is such a lovely place to visit.

if you are heading back to Rome, I assume that you are putting your Rome stay at the end of the trip - ie

Day 1, fly into Rome, get train to Termini, get train to...say Orvieto

Day 2 - pick up car, drive to .......

day 3 - day 9 - stay Tuscany

day 10 - drive to....... drop car. get train to Rome.

day 10-14 - Rome

While traveling to Tuscany we've rented cars at both Orvieto and Chiusi...another option to consider.

My husband and I are planning almost the same trip with the exception that we also wanted to stay in Sorrento for about 3 days. Would it be easier to fly into Rome, take the train to Sorrento, from there take the train to Rome for 3 nights and from Rome take the train to Orvieto as mentioned and pick up the car for our Tuscany stay. Or, would starting in Tuscany be easier.

sbfrench1-

I am assuming you are flying in/out Rome. So, as I see it, you have a couple of choices, both eliminate the need to stay in Rome twice-

1. Upon arrival, take the train (or a taxi) from the airport to the central Rome train station. From there, take the train to Naples and change there to the commuter train to Sorrento. When you leave Sorrento, rent a car in Sorrento to drive to your base in Tuscany. After Tuscany, return car (either Orvieto or Chiusi, or in Rome) and finish your trip in Rome.

2. Upon arrival, pick up your car at the Rome airport and proceed to your base in Tuscany. When ready to move on, drive to Sorrento and drop off the car there. Return to Rome via train.

There are probably other alternatives, but these are the ones that I see as the simplest.