If we were to spend 5-7 days in Tuscany where would you advise to base ourselves

We have never been to Tuscany besides Florence and Pisa
We do not plan on going into Florence or Pisa during this time
We do plan on renting a car
We will be 2 adults 14 & 12 yr old
We will be traveling in the summer months sometime, probable end of June or early July in 2009
We would like to see a winery or two
I do speak enough Italian to get by
We do enjoy to just ramble around at our own pace wherever the day may take us
We have rented a car in Italy before and driven in Sicily

We don't have any city that we must see but would like to choose a base and explore the area in and around it, with no set itinerary in mind

Would not like to drive more then 2 hours one way to reach any particular spot

Any ideas are welcomed

An agriturismo in the Val d'Orcia (Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Quirico area) will give you what you are looking for, including Brunello wineries and, as a lovely place to visit, Sant'Antimo Abbey. In two hours, you can also get from the Val d'Orcia to the Chianti area.

I'm writing this from one of my favorite places and what I think is an excellent base for Tuscany -- Montepulciano. Each year we spend time in Florence as we love the art and the city. Montepulciano has become our south Tuscany base. We love its location (easy to visit all of the southern Tuscan towns and much of Umbria as well within your time constraint) but we also love it for what it offers in the way of restaurants, shops, wine bars, etc. Not to mention the beauty of it all.
We like to wander around as well and we find Montepulciano to be the right size for us. That is to say it's not too small. We are now travelling as a couple with an eight year old daughter. She loves it when we get out to the "country" part of the trip. Her brother used to accompany us but he is now a college senior and too busy with his own life.

I agree with the above comments--hard to go wrong in that part of Tuscany. Also look at the classified ad on slowtrav.com for Bella Casa in San Quirico. I love to stay in a small village and day trip from there, and San Quirico is the perfect location.

We loved Montepulciano and based ourselves there for a week, in an apartment on vrbo.

Bob - Bella Casa is no longer available for renting. Mark & Georgia sold it about 2 weeks ago. It got too hard for them to maintain it from the US. The new owners are using it as their home - they run the new "spa" resort in Bagno Vignoni.

I'm the fourth proponant of the Val d'Orcia area.

Stu Dudley

Thanks everyone - this is exactly what I am looking for

Does anyone have any hotels, farm houses, etc that they can recommend?

Is air conditioning a must during the summer in this area? When we last visited Italy it was 90F in Rome every day and we were very happy to have a/c. In Venice it was only in the high 60's during the same vacation. Sicily was in the 90's and again needed a/c

>> Does anyone have any hotels, farm houses, etc that they can recommend? << Yes...

We (3 of us) stayed for a week in this agriturismo - generously sized, two floor, two bedroom, free standing house with terrace, just outside Montalcino.

http://www.larasina.it

Just to confuse the matter. . . I know you said Tuscany, but have you thought about the Italian Ligurian coast? There are nice small towns and cities on the water, which afford easy day-trips by public transit, for instance to the Cinque Terre, Portofino, etc. We stayed three nights at Santa Margherita Ligure and loved it. We basically prefer seeing the water, whenever possible, because we live in land-locked Colorado. Just another possibility for you to consider. You could do 4 days in Tuscany, 3 days at the coast, for example.
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Try San Gimiagno...it's a great town, though dining is a bit pricey. Famous for its towers, it was featured in the movie Tea with Mussolini. We stayed at Pondere Montese, a wonderful agriturismo just about a mile from town. They have cooking facilities, are extremely cool, have a pool. We found the price to be extremely reasonable--90 euros for 3 which included a good cooked breakfast. I've recommended this place to a number of friends and none were disappointed.

We were there for the 4th of July and had the kind of evening you hope for when you set out on a trip. We sat around a big table with Austrian and German guests, drinking wine made at the farm, listening to their songs and stories and laughing like crazy. It was travel at its best.

While in San Gimiagno, you should visit Monteriggioni as well as Sienna. And any drive through the wine country will be memorable. There are lots of places to stop and get a sample but you might also enjoy driving to Montepulciano.

I have more information and links posted at www.eurfirst.com/europe/italy.htm

We stayed at Le Manzenaie this past summer in La Viola apartment. Perfect size for family of 4. Great location, wonderful hosts. They get very nice reviews on www.slowtrav.com.

AC is not necessary. It was 104F when we were there. Nights were cool, and as long as we kept sun and hot air out during the day the apt never got too hot since it's in the countryside.

www.lemanzinaie.it/homei.htm

Hi ga - Last month I spent 3 nights at Terre di Nano. Beautiful setting about 1km from Monticchiello, close to Montepulciano, and Pienza. Georgio was just finishing the harvest when we checked in and the setting is lovely. Check out their website and see if that's what you're looking for. http://www.terredinano.com/ We used Stu's driving tour (including San Antimo), went to Cortona one afternoon, and just loved the peacefulness and views.

Thanks Stu---I am disappointed.

Thank you

MaureenB - this trip will be to see parts of Italy that we haven't seen. Even though I think the Ligurian coast is lovely and a place we haven't seen yet we are looking to spend it in Tuscany. The other areas we will be visiting are 4 nights in Venice and 3 nights in Bologna. We don't like to move around too much and would rather spend more time in one area then packing and unpacking

We will do the Ligurian coast one year combined with a visit to the South of France

GA, we just stayed in a wonderful apartment in the Chianti area of Tuscany. It is Tenuta la Cipresseta and it is every bit as lovely as it looks on the website, which is: www.tenutalacipresseta.com. Rosita is a lovely host, price very reasonable, apartment quite large with 2 bedrooms, livingroom, kitchen and bath. Terraces, gorgeous views and quite accessible by car.
We were there for a week and easily visited Assisi, Volterra, Siena, Montepulcino, etc., etc. I highly recommend it. In fact my husband and I plan to return in the, hopefully, near future and spend more time in Tuscany, based at La Cipresseta.

bellini1 - thank you

Palazzo del Capitano in St. Quirico d' Orcia. We absolutely loved this place in 2005, and friends stayed there a few months ago and also raved about it. Nice garden, great staff, neat rooms. 140 euro for a double (room, not martini).

http://www.palazzodelcapitano.com/

GA9497, combining the Ligurian coast with the south of France is what we did, too. We stayed in Nice after being in Santa Margherita Ligure. We really enjoyed Nice, too. Have fun planning this trip to Tuscany.
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Based on my last holiday in Tuscany I would suggest La Nievolina http://www.nievolina.com, a villa set in the country hills next to the thermal baths in Montecatini Terme.

We chose it mainly for its location and its free wifi internet access but we also discovered an hidden side of Tuscany.

We were able to be in Lucca within 30 minutes, the seaside in 40 minutes, Cinque Terre in an hour, Sienna in 90 minutes as well as San Gimignano.
Vinci, where Leonardo came from, is just 25 minutes away.

We had a good time.

Just bringing this back to the top for hopefully more hotel, farm, villa suggestions

We have decided that the area that most appeals to us is the Val D'Orcia one. Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Quirico areas. The bonus for us is that we will be able to visit some of Umbria too by being based here

Thank you to those that have supplied their favorite places to stay. I am hoping to get more suggestions in these areas

I have been doing some reading but there are so many choices that it is hard to decide

Also want to revisit the question about air conditioning. My husband will be very uncomfortable if it is very hot and the place we stay doesn't stay cool or have a/c.

We will be visiting in late June or July 2009 sometime

Thanks again