Tuscany- Excited and Overwhelmed
 

Hi all,
My husband just surprised me with airline tickets to Florence in September. All the details are left to me and I barely know where to begin. We have reservations for a hotel in Florence for the first few days but plan to rent a car and get into the heart of wine country. Any suggestions for places to stay in or near Montalcino? I am looking for ambience and romance and wine of course! Would love your thoughts on wine tours etc.

ajpies,
If you are looking for things to do in southern Tuscany e-mail me and I will send you some ideas that are too long to post here.

Henry

In Montalcino I stayed at Il Giglio which was inside the town and very charming but it has been a few years since I was there. Also stayed in San Quirico on another trip, very quiet, wonderful hotel, Hotel Palazzo del Capitano.

We just returned from Montalcino and just LOVED it! We went with a group of 10 for my husbands 50th and rented a villa. The hotel just above our villa was Castello Di Velona www.castellodivelona.it and it is amazing. Even if you don't stay there, stop and have a drink or lunch. Very $$$, but the views are worth it. Our favorite winery was Col D'Orcia www.coldorcia.it and you will need to book a tour. The July 31 issue of Wine Spectator featured Montalcino! Get a back issue and it has loads of info.

Snap! Im going to Tuscany at the end of September, and can't wait either! Im taking my elderly parents along, they won't fly anywhere and enjoy the cameraderie of a coaching tour, so although we are going to be 'lead by the nose' which is not our style, normally, its great to get on holiday with the parents and enjoy their company. So it will all be done for us - not so exciting, but Im still thrilled to be going! We will be visiting Montalcino :-)

Thanks so much for your responses! I have been in every fodors, frommers, tuscany guide that I can find and am counting the days. I found a lot of information about various hotels, villas, etc on Tuscany.net. I found Castello di velona on it and checked into it. Looks gorgeous but was very expensive. I'll take your suggestion BCCMom and have lunch there!
Many of the places are booked when I am traveling. I was disappointedthat Il Giglio was booked because it had been recommended by so many here. I have just booked two nights in Hotel Relais II Chiostro di Pienza. It is a converted 15th centuy convent and looks just lovely. We are also planning three nights in Lucca. The Hotel Noblesse looks nice but expensive.
Any must-sees in Lucca? Thought it would be a good central location to get to Pisa, back into chianti country and then to te Florence airport for our trip back to Boston.
I'm now in search of the July 31 Wine Spectator and appreciate your info! Thanks

Congrats....what a fab surprise!

I understand where you're coming from...excited and overwhelmed.

We're doing our first trip in October for a anniversary/second honeymoon.

For months, I've weeded through site after site looking for the perfect romantic getaway and these look very appealing.

MONTEPULCIANO:
Villa Poggiano http://www.villapoggiano.com/en/index.html

Villa Cicolina (Montepulciano) http://www.villacicolina.it/

PIENZA: La Saracina http://www.lasaracina.it/home.en.php

Also, Il Giglio made my list too.

Have fun....

Thanks Adventureseeker
Those links look fantastic.
Here is a recommendation. A friend had stayed at the Villa Il Poggiale right outside of Florence. Tuscany.net/poggiale
I was so disappointed that it was booked but it might work out for you. It was exactly what we were looking for...old world charm and romance.

Good luck!

For Lucca, we really enjoyed Albergo San Martino, which, in 2001, was probably the most hotel we got for our money. The breakfast in not much at all, but they have parking, which is a plus, and it is very easy to get to the train station from this hotel; a short walk. Another plus were the bicycles for guests. Very near the Botanical Gardens, the Duomo, the museum of the Duomo, and more.

http://www.albergosanmartino.it/

I'm sorry, that should read,

"the breakfast was not much at all"