hi...my husband and I will spend aweek in Rome followed by a week in Tuscany. Accommodation options for a home-base are delightfully overwhelming (everything on web looks great!)but we've narrowed it down to a studio apt on hillside just outside of Montepulciano or a B&B in center of Pienza. Any opinions?

I am an American living in the town of Pienza, and you won't regret staying in the village. It is really a wonderful little town and has a number of great traditional and simple restaurants. I recommend two small guest houses: il giardino segreto or Antica Locanda. They are the nicest.

I love that area of Tuscany ... I assume you will have a car? We stayed in an apartment outside of Montepulciano for a week and visited Pienza frequently from that location ... they are fairly close together. We loved both towns. In terms of the options you've mentioned, I think it really depends on what you are looking for in your vacation and what your preferences are. Do you want to be in the center of a town, or outside town in more of a countryside location? Do you want to be able to prepare some meals yourself during the week, or do you want to eat all three meals in restaurants all week? If it were me I'd pick the studio apartment outside Montepulciano over the B&B in Pienza ... not because of the location but because for a week's stay we'd prefer to have access to a small kitchen so that we'd have the option of making our own breakfasts or the occasional dinner during the course of the week ... but we really like to browse in European grocery stores when we're in Europe and my husband enjoys cooking ... but it really depends upon what you want out of your week!

I like to stay in or near a small town. So we can walk to a restaurant, drink all the wine we want and stumble home without worrying about driving. I look for a not-too-small town with several restaurants. Pienza is a good choice and makes a great center for daytripping. Montepulciano I'm not so fond of (unlike many others) and would involve more climbing up the hill and down.

I vote for Pienza.

I prefer Pienza also. I just love the way the whole town smells of cheese!

It's also easier to stumble around Pienza because it's not hilly.