My husband and I are celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary in Tuscany! We fly into Florence via Frankfurt on Friday, Aug. 6. We will pick up rental car and drive to our hotel (Locanda San Francesco) in Montepulciano. We are going to be in Montepulciano for 5 nights, then driving to Florence, dropping off car, and staying in Florence (Antica Torre di Via Tuornbuoni) for the last two nights. Now that the trip is getting close, I'm trying to plan a rough daily itinerary:

* Thursday - depart Houston
* Friday - travel day - get into Montepulciano late evening, eat dinner, collapse
* Saturday - spend day in Montepulciano, exploring town, shopping, eating, drinking wine, etc.
* Sunday - Pienza / Siena - weave in Stu Dudley's one day drive through Val d'Orcia into this, skipping the Montalcino part (we'll do that Monday)
* Monday - day tour with Luca Garappa - visit winery, cheese farm, lunch and shopping in Montalcino, S. Antimo Abbey
* Tuesday - ? Day trip from Montepulciano - not sure where
* Wednesday - ? Drive from Montepulciano to Florence
* Thursday - Florence
* Friday - early flight home

My husband is 48 and loves wine and good food. I am 38 and love to shop, eat good food, see ancient architecture. We are both very active, and don't mind lots of walking. This is our second trip to Tuscany - we stayed in a vineyard in Chianti several years ago.

(1) Does it make sense to visit Pienza and Siena on a Sunday? Will shops be open? If not, what other suggestions do you have?
(2) I was thinking about doing the lunch / tour at Castle Verrazzano on Wednesday, on our way to Florence. Has anyone done this? Is it worth the cost (48E each)?
(3) Do we need a full day to explore Montepulciano (Saturday), since we'll be staying there?
(4) We will probably eat dinner most evenings in Montepulciano - restaurants I've read about include Osteria dell' Acquacheta, Trattoria Diva e Maceo, A Gambe di Gatto, La Grotta, Ai Quattro Venti, Le Logge del Vignola. Any idea whether these restaurants require reservations, and, if so, should I make them before we arrive in Italy?

Thanks so much for all the help I've already received, and that to come!

Hi

Sounds like great fun!

Not sure I'd go from Pienza to Siena in one day and hope to do both justice. It's doable, but Siena isn't small. Pienza is, though. I'd concentrate on his Val d'Orcia drive and stay in the Val d'Orcia. You have a lot to see right there. La Foce was really interesting and a few hours IIRC.

If you can, have lunch in Monticchiello which is very near Pienza. La Porta is the tiny restaurant - wonderful food and the views from her terrace are stupendous.

Since this is a special trip, why not consider a balloon ride? I've gone twice with Robert and Liz:

www.ballooningintuscany.com

You could probably visit Siena either Tues or Wednesday, on the way to Florence. You won't have much time in Florence however if you stop in Siena on the way north.

You are going to love the Antica Torre di via Tornabuoni. I've stayed there twice. You won't want to leave that rooftop terrace behind. Ferragamo's flagship store is across the street, too - stock up.

What a great trip. We too hope to stay at Locanda San Francesco next May. Did you happen to learn about it from my list I have posted here several times?
I would merely reserve that day for dinner--they can help.
Do not miss La Porta in Montichiello not far away. Ask your hosts about that castle tour---sounds pricy to me. Siena on Sunday makes good sense to me---the Duomo is my favorite in Italy--do not miss the Piccilomini library at the end of the tour--it is special. Also, I would add the Abbey at Oliveto Maggiore to your wish list. Have fun--I know you will.

I would be more flexible in what order you do things to account for heat (or thunderstorms), fatigue, whimsy, following your nose.

I'm pretty sure that they still have services in the Duomo in Siena on Sundays, which means that you won't be able to tour the church in the morning. You can go in, but you'll be discouraged from walking around.

I think if you have wish-list restaurants, you need to reserve if you want to make sure you get in.

I would try at least one day to head off in a direction nobody has told you about. You won't get lost. And you won't end up in a concrete jungle. You'll see amazing beauty even though nobody has mapped it for you. Try a restaurant down a dirt road. Have a coffee in a town that isn't on a hill. Put your feet up somewhere and relax.

Have a great time

I agree with all the answer posts so far.
Pienza is definitely open on Sundays. However, I would never try to do Siena on the same day, since it is a MAJOR experience. I would hate to have you miss the Good government frescoes and the Maesta in the Torre di Mangia museum, nor would I wish you to miss seeing all the incredible decorations of this fabulous Duomo.

In Pienza: eat at the Boca della Fatte or at the Latte di Luna, but on a Sunday reservations are a must.

Also if you go to La Porta in Montichiello on a Sunday, reservations are a must there. Everyone in that world goes out to lunch on Sunday. there is another VERY good restaurant in Montichiello called Taverna Morandi, no view, but good food, and less expensive.

I just got back from a week at a house at La Foce, so if you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask. the people on this forum are so very well informed. I could not have done it without Bob the Navigator, Stu Dudley, and many others.

Zeppole is right. Leave time to wander, you will not regret it.

In Siena: We had a magnificent and unusual lunch at Osteria le Logge, right off the Campo.

taconictraveler, did you stay at La Bandita?

Wow - thanks so much for all the great advice. Keep it coming! I know what you mean about leaving time to wander, and not planning every minute. Being a Type A kind of person, that is tough. I am trying to keep the detailed planning to a minimum, but have a good amount of knowledge about everywhere we might go...

I will definitely make a few reservations for restaurants ahead of time, for the "must go" restaurants. I'll also split Siena and Pienza into two separate days. We LOVED Siena last time we went, so I don't want to give it too little time.

Bob, I did hear about the Locanda San Francesco from one of your posts - it was a no brainer once I read all the great reviews about it on trip advisor.

Thanks again to everyone!

RE: Acquacheta--they are so popular that it has 2 seatings at 7:30 & 9:30--make a reservation (its worth it), Giulio now even serves lunch. We finally got to La Porta in Montechiello which is near Montepulciano--we were not disappointed. You will be rewarded with a reservation for the outside terrace and its nice to get out of town.

Re: Wine/wineries. The Consorzio(Vino Nobile) has recently (April) opened a tasting room in the TI building on the Piazza Grande--they have rotating wines available in their basement tasting room. The TI also provides winery tours of local vintners which were well received by a friend of mine 2 weeks ago--they can customize depending on the demand. I independently visited Boscarelli, Poliziano, Avignonesi and Villa Sant Anna two weeks ago and enjoyed them all. In addition, there are numerous opportunities to taste wines within Montepulciano.

Re: Verrazano. Personally, I can't imagine a 48 euro tour/food/tasting being of reasonable value--there is just so much available with similar offerings at a much more reasonable cost. If its food--try Mac Dario's in Panzano for lunch (12-3)--its an experience you will never forget and the food is unique and wonderful--Dario Cecchini the famous butcher.

Have fun--Paul

The itinerary sounds wonderful. I echo what others have said. Try not to plan too much for one day. I think two cities in one day would feel rushed. I just returned from Italy and was surprised that on Mondays a lot of places tend to be closed or open for a shorter period of time. I have also read that in August many Italian families go on vacation and close down for a couple of weeks at a time. This may not be so in the big citied but in the smaller towns it may be an issue. Not sure if this is still true but worth checking out. Have a great time. My husband and I fell in love with Florence and Siena.

Hi and welcome to Tuscany! Your itinerary looks great and given your preferences for food and the active life I think you'll have a great time. To answer some of your specific questions:
1) no, i don't think you need a spare day to explore montepulciano, it's not really all that exciting in itself.
2) I would set aside a morning or afternoon to visit pienza; a good lunch there can be followed by a walk downhill to a pieve (little medieval church) - ask locals or follow signs.
3) Siena on a sunday should be fine in the summer, though you may find some things closed. The duomo itself closed to tourists in the morning - it opens at 13:30, but the duomo museum is open sunday morning at 9am (buy the cumulative ticket to the museum and duomo). In the morning you could also go to the palazzo comunale (city hall) and to see the exhibit on early renaissance siena at the museum (the building is santa maria della scala and it's on pizza duomo). That said, and given point #1, why don't you go to siena on saturday!
4) for that extra day trip on the tuesday, if you're feeling really adventurous you might drive over to the maremma coast and go to the beach... it's august after all! It's 2 hours but boy the water's gorgeous - here's the driving directions on google map.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...03876&t=h&z=11

enjoy your trip! Alexandra

regionetoscana, is this the pieve of which you speak? I even have a photo of it from the balloon!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skywalk...vitaleta/show/

Thanks so much everyone. These are all great ideas - I wish my trip were sooner! I looked at the hot air balloon trip - WOW. I've put that on the wish list. And the beach idea is a good one too.

One quick question about La Porta - everyone keeps mentioning eating on the terrace. Since we'll be there in August, will it be too warm to eat outside? It looks like the evening temperature will likely be okay - low 60s (very cool to us, where it is still in the 80s at 9pm this time of year in Houston . What about lunch time?

Thanks again for everyone's great advice!

I think your plan looks fine. Enjoy yourself. It will be hot for most outdoor lunches (unless shaded).

If you want to enjoy the monks' chants at Sant' Antimo, check your guidebook or their website (they are high-tech monks!) for the schedule.

http://www.antimo.it/pagine_en/00FRAME.html

It is a lovely location; enjoy wandering around both inside and outside. There is a teeny little underground chamber near the front of abbey - go down a few steps. Inside you will find a little altar and faded frescoes featuring the sweetest cherubs.

We also had a day with a question mark and we just took a little drive around ending up at Cortona.

We stopped at a market in Castiglione del Lago and had pizza at the lake, then drove up to Cortona. It was so nice because it wasn't really planned. We had a nice stroll through town and the views are just lovely.

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