Marego

We plan to tour Tuscany (from Montepulciano) for at least 6 days in Spring of 2014 We are only two adults 60 plus and have toured the big cities previously (Rome, Pisa, Florence ,Venice etc) Can anyone give a iternery to see the most stunning mountain towns ? Also - will it be possible to not pre-book but just arrive and look for a place to sleep?

Thanks
Marego

zoecat

You probably could just look for a place once there. Although, I would book ahead because I wouldn't want to waste time looking for a place. If you decide to wait to book, do some research prior to your trip so that you have some ideas. Here's a list to get you started-

http://www.fontebertusi.it/eng/ (fantastic location and place to stay)

http://www.santamariapienza.it/index.php?lang=ing

http://www.agriturismocasalpiano.it/index.html

http://www.cretaiole.it/index.en.php
(Excellent location)

http://www.cretedisiena.com/Casa_Picchiata/english.htm
(Excellent location)

http://www.terredinano.com/pages_eng...o_toscana.aspx

http://www.lafonte.toscana.it/2006/ita/
(Excellent location)

http://www.agriturismosangallo.com/ENG/home.html

http://www.tobruk.it/agriturismo.php?lingua=en
(Incredible views and a beautiful property)

http://www.casafrati.toscana.nu/
(Well priced)

http://www.lupaia.com/location.html
(A beautiful B&B located in the valley below Montepulciano)

http://www.lafoce.com/
(Beautiful apartments/houses/villa/property- very special)

http://www.lacasadiadelina.com/index...t&id=9&lang=en
(A small, lovely B&B located within the small, lovely town of Monticchiello)

http://www.lemaribelle.it/intro.en.php
(3 apartments located in Monticchiello)

If none of the above works for you, consider searching these two websites-

http://www.cretedisiena.com/english/

http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals...cany/valdorcia


Some of my favorite towns/villages to visit in the area (they aren't mountain towns- there are no real mountains in the area)-

Pienza
Montalcino
Montisi
Castelmuzio
Petroio
Castiglione d'Orcia
Rocca d'Orcia
Sarteano
Radicofani
Lucignano d'Asso (have a simple 15 euro lunch of local cold meats, cheeses and wine there at the small alimentari, located at the end of the village near the old church. Especially nice on a sunny day when you can eat outside)
Trequanda
Monticchiello
Montefollonico (lunch at Osteria La Botte Piena. Owned by a brother/sister, the food is great and the local wine offerings are expansive)
Cetona
Citta d. Pieve (Saturday is market day)

Further south (1 to 1.5 hour drive)-

Piancastagnaio
S. Fiora
Roccalbegna
Sorano (have lunch at the beautiful and inexpensive Cantina L'Ottava Rima, located within a cave in the town. Open weekends only. Local simple food, cold meats, cheeses, beers, wine- one of my favorite places to eat in southern Tuscany)
Pitigliano (Spectacular!)

Favorite sights-

Abbazia d. Monte Oliveto Maggiore
Abbey S. Galgano (I love it! Located southwest of Siena)
La Foce garden tour
Bosco della Ragnaia (an enticing park cut out of the landscape by artist Sheppard Craig, located just north of San Giovanni d'Asso)

Marego

Thanks Zoecat! This is a lot of informatiom. Will look through everything How many days would you expect to travel to all these little towns? Your average cost in Euros for a nice B & B per person?

mcburja

Depending on where you end up, I would recommend visiting Cortona. Lovely mountain views from above Cortona, and the town itself is quite lovely. We did a cooking class with Allessandro Federici, which was worth every penny and was a highlight of our week in that area. We rented a house above Cortona for a week that I wouldn't recommend, but also spent a week at Villa Gallinaio, a former chicken coop that is part of a castle property next door. Unbelievably charming and fun. The Val D'Or area is spectacular, and we used this as a base for visiting Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino.

http://www.trustandtravel.com/tuscan...gallinaio.html

Enjoy your trip!

maitaitom

Here is a five town driving trip (link below with photos) we did in one day. Beautiful towns and beautiful views. The driving was easy. Enjoy!

http://www.travelswithmaitaitom.com/...2_Entry_1.html

zoecat

I suggest you get a good map and visit the towns by groups, based on location. Most are small, so you can visit a few each day. In addition to exploring the towns, be sure to take some drives and walks on the white (country) roads in the Val d'Orcia for some beautiful countryside scenery. The roads will be indicated on your good map. The Rough Guide for Tuscany has some good info on many of the towns, so that will help on choosing which to visit.

Grouping together by location-

Pienza
Montisi
Castelmuzio
Petroio
Trequanda

Montalcino
Castiglione d'Orcia
Rocca d'Orcia
Lucignano d'Asso

Sarteano
Radicofani
Cetona
Citta d. Pieve

Montepulciano
Monticchiello
Montefollonico

Piancastagnaio
S. Fiora
Roccalbegna

Sorano
Pitigliano

I don't know the average costs for a b&b. The range for a double in a b&b or agriturismo is probably 80-400 euro. Most will be in the 100-150 per night range.

If you want to make it easy for yourself, I highly recommend staying at Fonte Bertusi. It's a lovely property, great hosts, a fantastic breakfast, and it is surrounded by the most beautiful countryside in the area. Sunsets are amazing. It's located just 3km outside of Pienza and very central for exploring.

DonnaD44

The SS2 from Radicofani to Montalcino passes through some stunning, almost unbelievable, scenery and also the towns of San Quirico d'Orcia and Bagno Vignoni, which is too cute to be believed. We travel this route frequently when we are on a mission to taste the famous brunello wines of Montalcino.

StuDudley

Here is something I posted last year.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...y-171368-2.cfm

Stu Dudley

Henry

Marego,
This may help http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

Marego

Thanks to you all! This is far more feedback than I expected Will take time to explore and plan

Regards

packed

Zoecat, we have been to this area many times and you are right on. You even have some information that is new to us. And StuDudley, your driving tour information is legendary! Also a simple, small family-owned hotel with fabulous views in Pienza is the Piccalo Hotel La Valle.

Marego

Hi Zoecat-

I have been trying to find the town Castelmuzio on the map without success Can you help?

Thanks

Marego

StuDudley

Get the Touring Club Italiano map for Tuscany. It is quadrant N 14. Just a tad north of Pienza.

Stu Dudley

Dickie_Gr

Use Zoecats list it is fairly extensive and buy a local road map like from a good book shop in Siena.

The small scale one we have is only available locally and includes everything, paths and cart tracks.,we have had some jaw dropping ( and hair raising) drives in the Chiusi, Siena , Grosetto triangle.

Dickie_Gr

The maps are made by Kompass.

I still have the 1:50,000, my wife literally binned the 1:25,000 as it was causing too much marital strife, due to the hours we spent down cart tracks and dead ends.

bilboburgler

lol, Dickie you should via bianchi on bici on blackberry gps, almost binned the thing

Dickie_Gr

I have taken cars back to Pisa airports, they look like cast offs from Paris/Dakar.

The Hertz people just inanely ask if we have been off road.

Remember heading south in Montisi, turned right and ended up in fields. There was a shooting party, lucky the car was red.

Don't anyone try driving over Monte Amiata, it takes two days and is so bendy you end up sea sick.