Tuscany hotel for honeymoon?
 

My fiance and I are planning out honeymoon in May 2006. We're planning to stay in Tuscany for a week before heading to Paris. We'd like to spend around 200 Euros a night (some flexibility there) and want to explore the region by car, bike, walks, etc. while we're there. We've been to Florence and want to avoid the "big city" on this trip. Suggestions?

Here are 3 excellent choices in south Tuscany that are ideal for honeymoons:
www.lasaracina.it
www.palazzodelcapitano.com
www.franceslodge.it

Locanda Amorosa is superb but out of your budget range. Good luck !

My suggestion in the Chianti area:

www.lalocanda.it

Karen Brown publishes two guidebooks for Italy that a lot of people find very good, these have sample itineraries for different regions as well. One is for inns and one is for B&Bs. For her hotel reccos without suggested itineraries, you can also look on her website at karenbrown.com . I believe you can buy the books through the website.

For other hotel suggestions, try Relais & Chateau as well, take a look at http://www.relaischateaux.com.

There is a very good walking guide to Tuscany published by Sunflower books. Their website is http://www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk. They rate hikes by difficulty and time it takes to complete all or each section, and give good directions on how to reach each walk. They also have suggestions for tours by car with short hikes.

I second Palazzo del Capitano! We were there a couple weeks ago, in the Capricorno room, and it was amazing. There's not much to do in the town of San Quirico itself, but since you'll have a car, that won't really matter.

We stayed at 'Il Falconiere', just outside the town of Cortona. Wonderfully romantic, fabulous restaurant, and ideally suited for day trips to the smaller cities of Perugia, Siena and Gubbio.
It's on the web at www.ilfaconiere.it

You'll certainly be spoiled for chice in this area. Good luck !

Hi Alisa,
Have seen wonderful reviews of this property here and elsewhere. It's on my list for our trip next fall....see what you think.
www.tuscany.net/vignamaggio
The rates may be slightly more than 200, but the area is spectacular.

I've just returned from a trip to Tuscany and while we didn't stay in this hotel, it was located in the little village where our villa was and we did dine in its excellent restaurant. The hotel is Locanda Del Castello (www.lalocandadelcastello.com) in San Giovanni D'Asso. The village is very tiny (though it did have a restaurant, cafe, bank and a small market) but it is in a great location for exploring Tuscany. We managed trips to Florence, Siena, Pienza, Montelpulciano, Montalcino and Cortona. The hotel looked beautiful and the restaurant was very good (even for a tiny village it was quite popular with locals and tourists). Just beside the hotel was the most beautiful place to sip a drink and watch the sunset over the rolling hillside - very romantic.

I'm going to Tuscany for a week on my honeymoon too. I booked a private villa from www.tuscanynow.com and they're also helping me with renting a car. You can search on their web site by location and size of villa. They've been really great to work with so far!