My husband and I are travelling with another couple to Tuscany in April and I am trying to figure out if there is a town we can stay in where we can easily travel to Siena, Florence, the Chianti region, etc. or if it is the case that we should travel from point to point.

Thank you for your responses in advance; I have already read many past postings for this trip. We have never been to Italy before and I appreciate all of the advice and candor.

>a town we can stay in where we can easily travel to Siena, Florence, the Chianti region, etc.<

San Gimignano!

The Siena area itself would be a good central place to be your base. You definitely don't need to move from place to place. The area is compact enough that you can easily drive to Florence, San Gimignano, Montepulchiano, even to Pisa.

I know of some really nice 4* (and far less costly than 5*) properties in Montebenici, Gaiole in Chianti, Montalcino, Monte San Savino, Siena, Radda in Chianti, Pievescola, and Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. Take a look at a good map of Tuscany and see what location work best for you. Too many details to type into this little box, but feel free to email if you need more information. I can send you links and maps.

Why not consider staying in either Florence or Siena. The train from Florence to Siena is only an hour and a half. Or, you can also rent a car and easily get between each. A fabulous drive is between Florence and Siena on the S222 through the Chianti towns and others. Of course, Florence is substantially larger than Siena, but they're both great towns to stay in. Enjoyable at night when you just want to stroll and go to a restaurant. We have a recent trip report that covers some of the area and restaurants. Let me know if you're interested in seeing those parts of it.

There is no perfect location. You have to decide if Florence and Chianti are the priority as opposed to south Tuscany, which is my preference. You can stay near Siena and try to do both, but the Florence logistics are not easy. Read your Tuscany guide book and put pins in the map for your top choices and then decide---location is the most important criterion.

I second Tuck H: San G.

San Gimignano is good only if you have a car. If you have to rely on public transportation, you may want to choose a much less charming place, but with good train and bus connections. One could be Poggibonsi, which is on the Florence-Siena railway and has very good bus connections, even with Rome and Milan.

If you still want to stay in a hilltop town, try Colle di Val d'Elsa. It doesn't have a train station, but bus connections are as good as Poggibonsi. It's even better if you want to go to Volterra.

Here is a video showing Colle, if you are interested:

http://tinyurl.com/y7eka4

With all due respect, I disagree, stefm. We've been to San G 3 times, only once with a car. We had no problems at all w/public transportation!

Lucie, I didn't mean that San G is unreachable by public transport. On the conrary, it's quite easy to reach.

I was only saying that, if you want to stay in a place from where to explore around with various day trips, it makes more sense to choose a place that is in a "hub" position, with direct connections to most places.

San G is well connected by bus with Siena. When you come from Florence, though, you need to change bus in Poggibonsi. Same thing if you want to go somewhere by train. Furthermore, choosing a less "touristy" place will offer the chance to save some money on the hotel side, which is not bad.

Why not siena itself? Or if you want to go to some less touristy place, then both Upper Maremma and Val di Merse are a good base.

bookmarking

Tuscany is quite a large province. To be within easy reach of both Florence and Siena plus the Chianti region, the midpoints are Panzano www.panzano.com and Greve www.greve-in-chianti.com (one hour from Florence to the north and Siena to the south, and in the centre of Chianti). This places you at some distance from Pienza etc and Grosseto - but you can easily do a tour of Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza by car from central Chianti in a day. You also need to decide whether you want to stay in an urban hotel or similar, or stay in the country - a country apartment can cost less than a city hotel room.