San Gimignano area of Italy
 

Staying in the San Gimignano area of Italy (southwest of Florence) for three days. Recommendations for things not to miss? Will have a car. Have never been there.

San Gim, especially in the evening, Volterra during the day

Chianti towns along SR222, Volterra, Colle Val d'Elsa (upper town) and some sights in San Miniato would be where I'd start. Siena.

In SG itself, the Duomo interior is my can't miss sight.

In all the small towns, timing is crucial. Either morning or after 4 or 5 when the towns come back to life.

Can you tell us more about your interests?

Colle upper town is worth the time, the town ends in a lift, down to the lower town, go to the car park at the other end and walk down through, towards the end you'll find side/covered/parallel walk ways to the main road. Read up on the history.

Monteriggioni en route to Siena is also a pleasant stop

I'm tagging on to this thread. Planning to wander Tuscany this fall, using one location as a base. Basically, we just want to wander to a different town each day, visit markets, gather food, eat a nice lunch and return to villa to relax and enjoy our gathered dinner. Would love any favorites/ recommendations.

Bookmarking, as we are staying in the same area in June.

As bilboburgler pointed out, Volterra is nearby. If you get tired of small towns and want a bigger town, Siena isn't very far either.

If you see any ceramics you like in San G (some are nice, some aren't), many places ship. I found a few pieces I really wanted and the owner said he would be adding them to their website so I decided to order after returning to the states. They never put them on the website.

Starrs, we stayed here and wished we could have stayed longer.
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...oggio+alloro&*

Lee Ann

Let's try the actual URL: http://fattoriapoggioalloro.com/?lang=en

Lee Ann

Starrs, most small towns have markets once a week. You'll want to find out what the market day is for the towns you want to visit.

Not everything sold in the markets is of high quality, so be careful. At the weekly market of my town, there is an excellent vendor of cheeses and cured meats, a good fish vendor, and a mediocre vendor of fruits and vegetables (who is not above slipping you a bad peach). The rest of the stands sell cheap imported junk, mostly clothing and household goods.

Lee Ann (ElendilPickle), That is where we are staying. My parents stayed there a few years ago and loved it.

Siena, Siena, Siena.