Wherever you stay, make your way to Pienza at sunset. Bring your camera!

mcheryl...loved Orvieto and would like to go back for a few days to explore that area more such as Sovano, Pitgliano and Civita di Bagnoregio. Too many places and only so much time and money:(

Here is a link to my Tuscany photos: Pienza, Montepulciano, Cortona, Orvieto, etc.

http://travelswithdiane.homestead.co...17Tuscany.html

slangevar - I went to Terre di Nano in October and the pool was open but not sure how heated it was. We had lovely weather so you could have gotten a little sun. The property is about 1 mile from Monticchiello, and about 20 minutes or so from Montepulciano.

The property has a B&B option or a self-catering apartment option, which is the one we chose. We stayed in La Terrazza, the two-bedroom upstairs apartment with a huge terrace with wonderful views. We were out there every morning with coffee and every night with wine. The kitchen is fully equipped and they offer dining there but we found ourselves cooking for ourselves when we went out for the day to pick up things in the local groceries. You can also buy their wine and olive oil too.

I traveled with my mom and sister and we all loved it. The owner/manager Georgio was very accommodating and very prompt with email replies in the reservation process, so we had no trouble there.
We also took advantage of StuDudley's driving tour of Val D'Orcia and we were in the midst of the most beautiful area. One day we took a nice unplanned drive toward Cortona and found the area very easy to get around. Great for exploring!

CFT...great photos!

Zoe & Sheri...both of these places look wonderful.

I also love the southern area of Tuscany...
Montepulciano....Montalcino...Monticchiello.

last October we stayed at Montorio, on the slopes of Montepulciano.
www.montorio.com

I have a ton of info/images posted on my blog...under the November/December archives.
http://baileyzimmerman.blogspot.com

I love Tuscany in the autumn...the colors were spectacular!! Have a great trip!

Bailey - Montorio looks amazing.

It just proves one thing: So much Tuscany, so little time!

great links, thanks!

Guidebook towns & cities: Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Pitigliano, Sovana, Montepulciano and (I hardly dare mention it) S. Gimignano.
Non-guidebook towns: Barga, Carrara (wonderful & totally neglected - one of the best Romanesque cathedrals in Tuscany), Massa Marittima, Certaldo (hardly any "real" sights, but incomparably pretty!!), Monteriggioni, Torri (this one is REALLY unknown), Arezzo, Castiglion Fiorentino (no sights, picture-perfect small town air), Sansepolcro (important little museum, otherwise much like Castiglion Fiorentino).

luvtotravel...I so much enjoyed your journel and photos. I'm going to dream of pecorino tonight!! It brought back such wonderful memories. You've got a very good eye...your photos are amazing. Thanks for sharing them.

Such beautiful photos! It's going to be hard to narrow ourselves down to 8 or under towns when we're there in October.

Sheri-lp - we wound up booking a room at Terre di Nano, so thank you for your recommendation!

I hope it's okay - Giorgio asked where we learned about TdN and I mentioned you, along with the email address you posted here. Maybe you'll get a thank you/discount out of it?

Hi slangevar,

Below is link to my Italy trip report. Go to "Day Eight: The Five Best Hill Towns That People Do Not Visit."

We were based in San Quirico, and on this day we drove to Arcidosso, Roccalbegna (really liked it), Sovana, Sorano and Pitigliano (buy some inexpensive, yet pretty good wine at one of the caves). A long, but very fun, day. There are photos on the blog (report).

We just had some friends recreate that journey from m our trip, and they loved it.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.typepad.com/travels/

((H))

maitaitom - this is brilliant - thank you so much! These places are right around where we'll be staying for the bulk of our trip, and we're really excited to concentrate on the lesser known Tuscan towns. Thank you!

Roccalbegna is very rarely (if ever) mentioned on this board. It's out of the way for many, but the roads into and out of it are scenic, and the views from atop the rocca out onto the roofs of the town and surrounding countryside makes it worthwhile, in my opinion.

If you have time, visit the guy at the TI. He was like the Maytag repairman of TIs and was happy to share his local knowledge of wine with me. I think if I had stayed another 15 minutes, he would have adopted me.

Some people will say that this is too much to do in a day, but I have another view. After a long day of hill town-hopping and walking to the tops of castles, the wine at night tastes all that much better.

Have a great trip. Have some Pecorino in Pienza and put it on my account.

((H))

Lucca is lovely. We spent 28 days there and although it rained 20 out of 28 days, we still loved Lucca and found it charming. The food is great, the location is great for day tripping, and I love the ancient walls that have been turned into public green spaces. I was training for a marathon when we were there and I ran around the walls every morning, it's one of the best memories of my trip! We stayed in a wonderful apartment there right next to San Frediano with a great view. Email me if you'd like the info!

Roccalbegna is also one of my favorites. The drive is beautiful (I wish I could live in one of the valleys nearby).

Hey Slangevar - that's so cool! It's perfectly fine to remind Giorgio of me! (he's quite memorable himself...lol) I know you'll have a ball.

The drive isn't so bad from the Montepulciano side. San Biagio will be on the right side as you drive by, and right after that, look to your left for a little turn off and a Fiat store (a one-story dealership or garage with a Fiat sign). It doesn't really look like it's a road, and I drove by it a couple of times because there's no actual sign for via di San Bartolomeo as in their directions. Just turn left at the Fiat store, go down that narrow dirt road and after a few miles, you'll see the sign and the driveway will be on the right side. From there you're only a mile from Monticchiello and a nice restaurant called La Porta with excellent gelato...dang it now I wanna go back!

Gelato that's only a beautiful, mile-long walk away?! I wish we didn't have to wait until October!

La Porta is worth that walk for more than just its gelato. Wonderful restaurant.

When we were there on a cold November night, two couples sat down at the next table. We were the only ones in the restaurant. They were Americans and we began talking. One of the men looked soooo familiar. They were from California, we from Alabama. But I lived in Calif for 20 years, so he and I kept trying to think where we might have known one another.

When it became apparent he was somewhat of a celebrity (manager of a major league ball team), I simply assumed I'd seen him on TV...and that was almost that.

At some point I happened to mention the town where I live now. He suddenly said his brother lives there...and said his name. Voila! His brother is best friends with my niece's family and has been to my house many times! So amazing. They look just alike, including the heavy brushy mustache. So that explained why he looked so familiar!

After that, we had even more fun!

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