flygirl..you may have inadvertenly answered a question I hadn't yet asked! :)

My daughter and I have one day to "do Tuscany". We are arriving Siena early afternoon on a Sunday. We will do Siena that afternoon and spend the night. In the a.m., we were thinking of either taking a guided tour [Lucca Garapa not available :( ] or doing Tuscany on our own. We have seen so many posters here tell us that it is very possible with the frequent and inexpensive bus system there. (Do you agree?)

Anyway, I was thinking Montepulciano. But my daughter mentioned Montalcino. I see that the Poggio Antico has wine tours and tastings, in addition to the restaurant. So we could certainly make at least half a day out of it. :) I was just wondering (I looked at the website)...what could I expect to pay, in dollars or euros, for lunch or dinner for two (including at least 2 wines...I KNOW my daughter!) :)haha
Thanks!!!

P.S. to all posters on this thread..could you please post expected price of dinner for two, including wine, at these fabulous faves? Thank you!

Sarge, as I recall, I paid 70 E last May for myself. I believe I had two glasses of wine.

When I take my Mom this May (in 4 weeks we will be IN Italy!) I expect we'll get a bottle of wine with the meal so it would be a little more than double. Last year, I bought 3 bottles of 99 Riserva for 41-42E each. (at the store, not the table).

I can't tell you about bus service, alas. I had a car.

I also would suggest La Porta in Montichiello, which is near Pienza where I stayed. The drive to Montichiello is magnificent (all those cypress trees you see in postcards) and while I have not been to La Porta yet, it's high on the list because my friend Traviata above visited there and gives it high marks - also for the view.

In Florence, the new restaurant from the Ferragamo family, "Borgo San Jacobo" within their hip new hotel group, Hotel Lungarno, on the Borgo San Jacobo-, huge high ceilings, and an open mezzanine with views right onto the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, looks pretty fab, although I've not checked it out as yet:

www.lungarnohotels.com
(click on bars and restaurants-Borgo San Jacobo)

In Rome, the OPPIO CAFE with its fabulous views of the Colosseum lit up at night, right in front of you, from its outdoor terrace, which is supplied with heat lamps in colder weather so you can still sit outside. This cafe/restaurant serves all day, at night it becomes a great cocktail bar, but with a full food menu-good pizzas and pastas, open every day, (except Monday, when they don't open until 8pm) and they serve until late-as they are open until 2am.

Via della Terme di Tito, 72

flygirl, thank you very much for inviting me to your thread... I kept thinking since, but I'm afraid I'm not particularly good at view dining. My experience is that nice views don't enhance the food quality... an example, if you allow (maybe useful for others to avoid the experience): in Vernazza, Cinque Terre, there is a restaurant with two or three tiny terraces tucked into the big rock that shelters the little harbour from the sea, and the view is indeed unforgettable. I had dinner there several years ago, and though I'm tempted to say the food, on the contrary, was "forgettable", in fact I didn't manage to forget it till now...
A similar experience was an upscale restaurant on the Amalfi coast (I don't recall the village, but don't worry, you don't miss anything) with huge windows and a stunning sea view. The food was modest, to say the best.
What I can recommend, though not wholeheartedly, is the restaurant of the Europa & Regina hotel in Venice. Their terrace is on the Canal Grande, opposite S. Maria della Salute, and it's hard to imagine a more splendid city view. The food on my one and only visit was quite good, clearly above the average. I can't report on the prices, since I dined there on invitation by a friend, but having seen the ambiance, I know that I wouldn't want to have to pay the bill.

Ah. Just thought of one -- Villa Athena at Agrigento. Sitting on the terrace under the stars with the night time view of the valley of temples all lit in a sort of odd amber glow. Memorable! Food was OK, as franco says, which I think is sort of typical of such places.

The outdoor pizza place right under the Accademia Bridge in Venice-- 8-euro pizzas and a fantastic view of the canal. But we were there in late November-- maybe it's not as nice when hot and crowded.

Sarge, you can see the prices I paid at the restaurants I listed on my web site: http://www.luvtotravel.homestead.com/italyrest.html

Monica

PS: Montepulciano is a fabulous town to visit!

Author: ira
Date: 04/11/2007, 08:34 am

Bar CinCin, in Naples. Up near Catel St. Elmo with great views over the city.

Ira: Directions leave on Thursday. Thanks

There are beautiful views from the terrace restaurant at Hotel Porto Roca in Monterosso. The food is exceelent too-ravioli in fish sauce was incredible.

Boccon Di Vino just outside Montalcino

These are wonderful, keep 'em coming!

Ira, do you have directions to the restaurant you like?

Another second for Porto Roca in Monterosso.
http://www.portoroca.it/hotel_e.htm

Another fave of mine is Osteria Bancogiro, Campo San Giacometto 122, San Polo (00 39 041 523 2061) in Venice.

It is so lovely to sit there around sunset and see the beautiful colors dance off the buildings along the Grand Canal. Even better is watching a lone gondola glide genty by on the darkened water at night while sipping a nice vino at a quiet candelit table.

Osteria Bancogiro is probably my favorite casual restaurant in all of Venice.

Bookmarking

All of my choices reflect not only the view but the excellent food and friendly service that we've encountered on our visits.
1) Here's another vote for La Porta in Montechiello, already mentioned a few times - great view over the Val D'Orcia toward Pienza.
2) If you want to look back at Montechiello from Pienza, behind the Duomo there is a street along the ramparts - don't know the name - but there's a family-run bar and in the late afternoon townsfolk and tourists alike gather to have a glass of wine, sit along the wall and just gaze quietly at the view. It's a Kodak-moment type of experience. We're going back to Tuscany in a few weeks and intend to visit this bar again on a late afternoon.
3) There is also the outdoor terrace at the Hotel Florence on Lake Como in Bellagio.
4) Far from the beaten path, in a vineyard a few miles outside Greve is La Cantinetta di Rignana. You'll need a Michelin map and good sense of direction to find it. Here's a review on "Sidestep" - http://www.sidestep.com/travel-resta...a_chianti_ital
y. It's at the end of a dirt road - family run, friendly, well worth the detour.
5) A personal favorite in Venice is Ristorante Riviera, in Dorsoduro along the Giudecca Canal -http://www.ristoranteriviera.it/. Not the best view in Venice but outstanding cuisine and it can be interesting to watch the large barges and cruise ships go by from your canalside table.
6) Just about anyplace in Ravello, but the aforementioned Villa Marie fits the bill well.
7) In Cortona, you can watch the life of the town unfold below you from the balcony at La Loggiatta, on Piazza della Repubblica. And above town, a few miles to the east, is the casual Castel Giraldi,a family-run trattoria with views that go on forever out over the Val di Chiana.
8) Rome is Rome, so you win just about anywhere you go and everyone has his/her favorites. I've enjoyed eating outside in a small street or vicolo, hearing the noises from nearby homes, watching the world and its people go by. Two favorites: Osteria del Pegno in Vicolo Montevecchio, off via dei Coronari (http://www.osteriadelpegno.com/); and Ristorante Scanderberg (it may have been renamed recently but can't miss it on this short street) in Vicolo Scanderberg off via Dataria (between Trevi Fountain and Palazza del Quirinale).

I totally agree that the view is meaningless if the company, the food and/or the service are not up to expectations. But conversely, when they all come together, the view can add magic to the dining experience.

From my Rome trip report:
... taking the elevator to the roof where we were met by the maitre d’ and shown to our table overlooking the Imperial Forum. We spent a leisurely 2 ½ hours over bunch, enjoying the view and the food. The street below is closed to traffic on Sunday and there were strolling bands and stilt walkers, fire eaters and jugglers – what fun we had that afternoon. We both decided on the appetizer buffet which was fantastic. A partial list: roasted oysters, shrimp oreganata, risotto, stuffed mushrooms, roasted peppers, cheese (including boccacini knots of fresh buffalo mozzarella), cured meats, melon, proscutto (the most beautiful I saw in Rome, still on the leg bone and served like a steamship roast by the chef), olives; as I said, a partial list. The buffet was also quite lovely to the eye with grand serving platters. We both then had Veal Sorrentino and dessert from the dessert buffet. We tried the panna cotta, cheese cake, baba rum and fruit salad. I again had a split of Frascati, sis enjoyed her coke. The check was E117 and was really well worth it. We had a lovely afternoon on a beautiful day with a vantage over Rome and a birds eye people-watching view - and the food was great!

Just one, obvious question, Margaret - where were you? The Hassler? Another hotel with rooftop restaurant?

oops! Hotel Forum - via Tor de'Conti, 25.

bkmk for Sept trip to Rome and Venice, only one night in Venice, unfortunately!