Tuscany/Umbria Questions
 

My wife and I are looking at a 5 or 6 night stay in Tuscany/Umbria in the middle of a 3 week trip to Italy (Venice, CT, Tuscany, Amalfi Coast, and Rome). I have been to Florence once before and thought it was nice, but we aren’t huge art fans and don’t plan to visit Florence on this trip. We are town between staying in one centrally located place (Montepulciano area?) the entire 5 or 6 nights or splitting it up between two places (we will have a car). We are also town between staying in an agriturismo in the countryside or staying in one (or two) of the towns. On the one hand we really like the idea of being in the countryside and having a view over the rolling hills, but it would also be nice to be able to be able to walk to dinner so we can have wine and enjoy ourselves. I know 10 different people probably have 10 different preferences, but any thoughts/advice you can pass along would be greatly appreciated. W plan to take day trips to surrounding cities/towns, and the ones we are most interested in seem to be Sienna, Assisi, Orvieto, Volterra.

Thanks much.

We stayed in Pienza a few years ago at here: http://www.hotels.com/ho250334/hotel...-pienza-italy/. It is inside the walls of the old town so you can certainly walk to have dinner in the evenings and the distance to Montepulciano, Montalcino and other cities/villages are close. The hotel has an excellent restaurant itself, a little expensive compared to the other restaurants in town. But the food was great! If you want to rent a house, check out this one: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p445398 It's located right outside Pienza, about ten minutes to walk into town. If you want more agriculture style I recommend this one: http://www.poderiarcangelo.it/ It is close to San Gimignano, not walking distance, but a very nice place. Have a nice trip!!

You will need to get a good map and plot out your "must sees". You will also need to chart driving distances and times from locations to these destinations--Viamichelin is a very useful site. Your listed destinations are all accessible from one location but some would be a long drive to and from--Volterra is a long way(drive) from Assisi of example.

In 5-6 days you won't be able to "see" all of Tuscany/Umbria and our experience is being in and around the countryside of these provinces is the real attraction. Visits to these towns are nice but the ambiance of the rural settings is what is most attractive. Our preference is to slow down and get into the rhythms of the area--and visit a few places.

Depending on your itinerary-(where you are coming from and going afterwards)-you could stay 2/3 nights in Umbria near Spello/Bevagna and visit Assisi and others. Then move on to a place near San Gimignano for the next 2/3 nights for visits to Siena, Volterra and possibly Orvieto. Each of these locations have many, many more attractive villages and sights.

BTW--Most agriturismos rent for the week beginning on a Saturday.
Good luck-Paul

Montepuliciano is quite a distance from Volterra (2 hours)and Siena (1 hour). I would visit Volterra after leaving the CT as you are headed to your next agriturismo.

No one location will satisfy that wish list. See Orvieto going or coming and the same for Volterra. I would stay at 2 location--perhaps Bevagna and San Quirico.

We stayed in Pienza and did day trips to Volterra, Assissi and Siena. It worked well for us, but we love to drive around, so for us the trip is as much a part of the enjoyment as the destination. We were glad to be in Pienza where we could walk to dinner after the daily excursion. We spent two nights in the Orvieto area before Pienza, so didn't try that as a day trip.