Tuscany agriturismo: near San Gimignano, Siena or Montalcino?
 

We are two couples heading to Tuscany in October. We fly into Rome but head immediately to Orvieto to spend the night, see the town, and pick up a car. We have 5-6 nights to spend in Tuscany and would love to stay at an agriturismo. We'd ideally like to have breakfast included and be within walking distance to a town (this could be 1-2 mi). We'd like to visit hill towns between Montalcino south and San Gimignano north. Not sure about driving distances, so unsure where to stay. Should we stay centrally around Siena? We would like to spend a day there but not stay in the city itself. We could then go north and south from there...but not sure this is necessary if driving between the towns is not far. I found an agriturismo named Guardastelle (sp?) that looks fantastic (walking distance to San Gimignano), but might be too far to drive south to Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano. From Tuscan countryside we head to Florence and then to the Cinque Terre (hoping the towns have recovered from the tragic flooding).
Would appreciate any advice or recommendations!

leslieq,
This might help http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

and this http://www.prolocomontalcino.it/inde...id=102&lang=en

I would rather stay in the Montepulciano/Pienza/Montalcino area than San G.

I'm not sure it would be very safe walking from Guardastelle as there is really nowhere to walk on those roads. The roads are very windy/hilly with vespas, cars and buses zipping by.

Stay south as your base and then hit San G. as you drive north to Florence. I like your plan. Look at Terre di Nano and Fonte Bertusi.

Stayed at Le Caggiole just outside of Montepulciano and it was wonderful. Very convenient base for touring southern Tuscany. We did do a day trip to San Gimignano and Siena with no problems. The area around Pienza, Montepluciano, Monticchiello, etc. is absolutely stunning. Bobthenavigator's suggestion to hit San G on the way to Florence makes sense.

Thanks so much for the wonderful people who took their time to respond to our question. Am going to look into all of your suggestions. Great way to start out the new year!

A great place to stay on the outskirts of Siena is
www.fullinonero.it
They offer very nice apartments with a view, well outside the city but easy access. The website doesn't do it justice.
If you do stay in or near Siena, I highly recommend the Brunello wine tour with Donatella at www.winetourintuscany.it. She is rated #1 Siena wine tour on Tripadvisor, and she's really good.

We stayed at Terre di Nano and loved it ~ easy access to many towns, but not sure you could walk to a town unless it was Monticchiello, which was charming, with a wonderful restaurant.

At Terre di Nano we stayed in Cassetta, 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, it was perfect.

Thanks again for more responses! Am looking carefully at all suggestions. Does anyone have an agriturismo with breakfast to recommend near Siena? I checked crckwc1's suggestion of Fullinonero but don't think it includes breakfast. My friend wanted me to ask, as her daughter spent some time there and loved the city (we don't want to stay IN the city, however). Happy New Year!

Podere Bagnolo is 10 miles south of Siena and is well placed for all the hill towns you would want to visit.

I cannot think of better hosts than Antonio and Lucia. The farming operations are very, very small scale as their land is farmed by other tenant farmers. The apartments are supposed to be B&B but we ended up with a no cost AI some days. Drinks, Ice cream and evening meals appeared at no extra charge. They just appear to be wealthy Tuscan land owners who love to entertain but leave you in peace if you wish.

Their website doesn't do the place justice. It sums them up, they are not flashy people but the apartments are of a high standard.

I would look no further.

Bookmarking! Am thinking of a trip to tuscany in 2012. Thanks for the suggestions!

hi lelsley,

here's a website which allows you to search a whole load of agriturismi in the whole of Italy.

http://www.agriturismo.it/en

you can put in various parameters eg B&B, swimming pool, restaurant, etc. etc.

Was just checking some Fodor responses on other questions and realized that I never responded as to our final choice of agriturismo near Siena. We are staying at Frances Lodge, which got great reviews on TripAdvisor. Near Siena, but not in town. We plan to visit many of the hill towns south of Siena, plus San Gimigiano and Volterra north. This seems like a nice central location.

Thanks for your help; will let you know how the trip goes.

Good choice---we will expect a review.

We stayed here

http://www.fontebertusi.it/eng/

outside Pienza. The most fantastic breakfasts ever. Just loved it here. Very welcoming and friendly hosts. Would definitely return.

leslieq, if time permits, try to spend a day exploring Chianti. Last October, we found more locals than tourists in most towns we stopped in (Castellina, Radda, Gaiole, Panzano, etc.). The roads between towns had almost no traffic.

Jean, great advice. I do have Castellina and Radda on my list of towns we'd love to see, so will not check out Gaiole and Panzano.
Bobthenavigator - yes, definitely a trip report when we get back and reviews on TripAdvisor for the B&Bs. You have been very helpful (to everyone, not just to me!) so thanks again.

We leave Sunday!!!