My friend and I will be in Tuscany for only one day on a cruise. We need to stay in/near the Chianti region. Can someone give us their opinion on the following? Verrazzano, Querceto Castle , Castellina in Chianti , Brolio Castle, Meleto Castle, Badia a Coltibuono, Badia a Passignano, and Fattoria Casaloste. Also are interested in any others that you can recommend.

I can speak to a few..Castellina in CHianti is a small but delightful town with a few very good shops&restaurants. There is a very good wine tasting shop in the middle of town. Other folks will have to give you tips on places to stay there. Meleto Castel is a place our neighbors planned to stay in the Fall of 2003. We were neighbors in Chianti for a week in the fall of 2002. They have travelled to Tuscany for 15 years..and checked out Meleto last year. They seemed very pleased with it. Badia a Passignano is a very,very small town really almost a hamlet. But...my favorite restaurant in my three weeks in Italy is there. The Osteria Badia en Passignano. This is the osteria of the Antinori Vineyard Estates. It is open for both lunch and dinner. I had the best steak(big enough to share for 2) in Italy while there. We also had small dishes of gnocchietti
there with shaved fresh porcini mushrooms,dessert(divine) and a good bottle of their chianti for 95 euros.(dinner) It is in relative close prosimity to the autostrada. You do have to wind the roads a bit but it should be pretty easy to find.

I just returned from the area and highly reccomend Brolio and Meleto. Meleto has incredible restaraunt that is reasonably priced with excellent wine selections.To visit the castle keep driving pass the parking area at the restaraunt as it is a good half of a mile of steep walking.The signs are confusing and most people were walking up and they all looked totally winded. The same road goes past the Castle is is full of great photo opps..
Just below the Castle in Brolio is a nice gift shop with local crafts, linens, pottery, glassware, clothes..etc..The lady running the shop is from Virginia and is very charming and friendly and full of insider tips..

Also the driving tour of the Chianti are is awesome. From Sienna we got on SR222 right off the autostada and followd the signs and linked toI belive SR448 and came back the other side on the Chianti area. All in all you could have one great day making the entire loop.

We just returned from the chianti area. I recommend Brolio too. Veranzzano - we did not like. We went to the wine tasting area and the we nick named the woman the "wine-Nazi". She was so rude and acted like we were interupting her to sample the wines. We also went to Uzzano. The castle was closed, but the wine was good. We tried another - I can't remember the name now, but they only did tours in the morning and we were too late. I recommend calling in advance for reservations/info if your time is limited. Good luck!

Castellina in Chianti is a wonderful town with great restaurants, wine shops, and some modern conveniences. We have stayed at the agriturismo, Collelungo. It is a 14th century winery owned by an Englishman and his Italian wife. They have made 11 aprtments there and they are beautiful. You can check out the property at www.collelungo.com. Good luck and enjoy your trip.