joan

8 of us will be going to a villa south of Sienna in July. We love art, food, wineries, not necessarily in that order. Any must dos you can suggest? How about a one or two day cooking school in the area? Thanks. Joan

elaine

I haven't done this drive, but here is some info
For the Chianti region, there's a great, detailed map available free on the web.
www.monterinaldi.it/en/. Click on "The Map of Chianti Classico area", fill in your name & address on the next screen, and you'll get a map in the mail in a few weeks. It's 1:80,000 in scale,
so it's quite detailed. As a bonus, it shows exactly where all of the Chianti wine estates are located.

the turnip

For a truly memorable meal, eat at the Cano e' Gato which is just a few blocks from the main square. There is no menu. You just get whatever it is they're cooking that night. They have maybe 6 or 7 tables total so it's a very intimate atmosphere. It was course after course after course of wonderful food. The bill was very reasonable I thought around $50 per person including drinks. For us it was the best meal by far of our trip.

Cheers, the turnip.

corinne

Visited tuscany in oct.2000 for first time and stayed at the Castello di Vicciomaggio, half way between Sienna and Florence and on the main road between these two cities (the scenic route, not the autostrada). Can't recommend the restaurant too highly and they throw in a tour of the cellars (in English) if you're dining there on Tuesdays. Drink the Ripa del More wine - far better than Chianti Classico! They have a web site but I haven't tried it so I don't know if it's in English!

Plenty of good places to eat in the area - visit Valle Col d'Essa to the west of Sienna and Volterra further west again; you'll need strong leg muscles for both but you won't regret it!

joan

Thank you all for your input. Joan

bella

Joan...do try to go to Montepulciano...we actually stayed there because of last minute accommodation probs in Sienna and ended up being very pleased about that, although I hasten to add, we did like Sienna very much on our daytrip. I think you will find all your interests catered for there (not sure about art) but the red wine there is famous and there are old cellars amongst the shops which you are free to visit....underground caverns from centuries ago...just forget the historical significance without looking up my journal.
Have a gret time..what a fun thing to do with friends...do let us know about it on your return.
Bella

Eileen

Don't miss San Gimignano. It's not far from Siena (and that's one N everybody). I cringe when I see people spell it Sienna.

Simon

Hmm - why? Do you cringe when you see people use Florence instead of Firenze, Rome instead of Roma? Sienna with two 'n's' is simply an anglicised form - if it was not so (deliberately) 'wrongly' written on so many web sites than an awful lot of people would get very little back from the search engines.