yet another Tuscany request I'm sorry!

I am travelling alone for 8 or 9 days in Tuscany and feel so overwhelmed by all the beautiful places to stay! I would so appreciate some advice. i have quite challenging parameters such as: Poor excahnge rate from South Africa with the Euro so i need really affordable accommodation BUT i am a single girl so want to be safe and central (cant stay out of town and commute)

i am not sure how long to spend in each place and wether some should be ok as day trips. I am coming from a week long yoga holiday in Le Marche.

I am not so interested in museums, architecture and art as i have travelled extensively in Europe and studied art history. Neither are restaurants a big feature on my budget. What i would like is: A beautiful town and setting. Somewhere i can stroll around with my camera (i am a passionate photographer) and explore markets and little cafes and shops and generally watch life go by.

(The following seem to crop up as good spots but i have no idea how long to stay in each and whether there are buses and where to base myself if one of them is just a day trip)

Pienza, Siena, Montepulciano, Cortona, Orvieto and of course Florence which i have been to but 20 years ago!

Any advice would be SO appreciated.
Thank you!

I would split my time between Siena---as a base for day trips---and Montepulciano as a place to explore the town. We just got back from a week in the latter, but with a car. Click my name to see my trip report.

hi samantha:

this is where i stayed in Florence recently:

http://www.residenzacasanuova.it/

it is in the santa croce district, very nice with antiques and a terrace, and they charged me €78 per night for B&B; if I'd stayed more than 3 nights it would have been €70 i think. there is a market nearby and lots of reasonably priced restaurants, including this one: www.ilgiova.com which had the most delicious pasta and was very friendly.

the area was very interesting in itself, but only 10 mins walk to the centre.

i was able to walk all over florence and took LOADS of photos.

I do think that solo travellers perhaps need bigger places to stay in than couples as we do not have the other person for company; therefore staying in a small town unless there are many day trip opportunities can be a bit boring after a while.

i had been to Florence about 25 years ago and then again 5 years ago, but I still found loads to do without visiting many museums. I stayed for 3 nights following a language course but i could easily have stayed a week.

for a solo traveller, it's hard to beat.

[click on my screen-name if you'd like to see what I did; the bit about Florence is at the end].

I think Siena is a good site, Pienza is also good, Montepulciano is not so far from Pienza with fine views, I've stayed here a couple of times and enjoyed it as there is always something happening and once the day trippers leave the evenings can be very good

Thank you all for taking the time to respond. i have heard that i could i be based for a few days in Pienza and visit Siena and Montepulciano as day trips or should i spend a few days in montepulciano?

any comments on orvieto, cortona or any other town you recommend?

Thank you

I stayed as a single woman at the HOTEL CESTELLI. It is run by a lovely Florencia/Japanese couple. I loved it and it is on a very quiet street. You can do all you propose here. They will give you a key to enter the small hotel if you want to stay out late in the evenings as well. 12th c. small hotel. My nightly cost was approximately $90.00/night in the past couple of years. Has a website. Great location.

Cortona goes up and up. It rained while I was there and it's easy to get their from the motorway so can be attractive to the tourist. I was less impressed with COrtona rather than the towns to the West