My wife and I are traveling to Tuscany at the end of September for a little over a week. We are thinking about staying in Siena and making day trips around the area to Montalicino, Florence, Chianti ect. We would also like to work a harvest for a day. I would love to hear any advise or ideas who I should ask about this. Am I right to stay in Siena? Any help or advise would be great.
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- Go to Badia a Pasinagno (Antinori) for a visit and lunch. 5 course gourmet meal with wine pairings. I highlight for us.
- Avoid Fontodi. They were less than pleasant.
- We didn’t get to Felcina but heard great things.
- A few out of the way small places we loved: Lornano, Castello della Paneretta, Poggio Amorelli.
Get a driver for the day so you can enjoy yourself.
We just stayed on Fontodi’s property right on the Conca D’Oro vineyard. It was a nice property with a very helpful manager/concierge and had beautiful views. Easy walk to nice restaurants in Panzano. But it is a good 90 minute drive to Montalcino.
For myself, I would prefer to stay in the places where I would be spending most of my time walking around and seeing things)–in this case Florence and Montalcino. Otherwise you’re spending too much time in the car…twice as much time as compared to a “straight line” or one-way trip. Siena is pretty to see, and great for a day (or maybe more if you just like to “hang out” and eat/drink). However, there isn’t much to actually see or do there, beyond taking in the beautiful duomo and city center.
I would spend several nights in Florence, then overnight in Siena on the way to Montalcino, and spend a night or two in Montalcino (or even skip the overnight and just stop in Siena for 3 hours on your way).
I would spend 3-4 nights in Florence (with at least one solid day of that for a drive through the Chianti hilltowns, with a lunch at one of the winery restaurants) another day dedicated to the Uffizi and Boboli gardens, and another day to do “other stuff” (museums, galleries, churches, etc.). You really need at least 3+ hours to visit the Uffizi in any meaningful manner…And Boboli is a must-see.
Then you could drive from Florence to Siena, with a stop for 2-3 hours (maybe lunch) in San Gimignano…and overnight in Siena. You should be able to see everything in the town that evening and the next morning, before heading on to Montalcino for a couple of nights.
It would be a mistake to visit Montalcino without a detour (or day trip) for an afternoon in Pienza. It’s a beautiful tiny town filled with the smell of great Pecorino cheese (you can make a meal just by going shop to shop for samples…Each shop has many, many varieties,with different rinds, aging, etc.). AThere are a couple of great abbeys/monasteries in the area worth visiting–in particular Sant’Antimo and Monte Olivetto…both are beautiful spots to just hang out for a bit, and also have some cool artwork to see. Also, FWIW, you might consider swapping out Montalcino for Montepulciano, which is actually more “picturesque” and “beautiful” than Montalcino, but of course the wineries (an wines) aren’t as impressive. Both are definitely worthwhile, though.
Remember that driving in Italy will often take more time and effort than you think and doing that drive twice (roundtrip) in a day will destroy your day! What appears on a map to be a simple 30 minute drive (for example, 45 km…seems short, right?) will ALWAYS take you a lot longer than you think. And when you arrive, just finding a public parking spot on the edge of a town or in a garage, and getting oriented and walking from the outskirts into the city center will eat up time, not to mention enjoying a nice lunch, if that’s part of your plan…(Lunch in Italy can easily eat up several hours, but I love having a leisurely lunch with wine in Italy). In Florence and Siena, you can’t drive your car in…you’ll have to park outside the city…You’ll see plenty of cars driving into Florence, but you’ll get a ticket if you follow them in, unless you happen to have a resident’s permit…That’s why my suggestion is to travel in a straight line and overnight in different spots rather than doing everything from Siena. If you have extra time, there are any number of other worthwhile stops in the area (for example, Arezzo is a very cool “real” (non-touristy) city in the area with a great town center/square.
Matt,
Be sure and check out the Tuscan coast. Check out my blog for some ideas: Toscana (Tuscany) | Wine Travel Around The World
Marilyn
Matt,
Lots of good advice here so far.
To add to that, I am over there almost every year visiting wineries. Here are the blog posts from my last two trips, with visits, restaurants, hotels, etc.
If you have specific questions feel free to pm me and I’ll be happy to help however I can…
Cheers!
We took a three day side trip to Elba where at the end of the road in Fontavia(sp) everything is more reasonable and less crowded even in the summer.
Thank you all so much for your feedback. This is a big trip for me, my honeymoon and my first chance to visit a wine region I love.
Is working a harvest something I should try to pursue with a few winery’s or would my short time be better spent just being a tourist?
My wife and I recently had a great trip in Tuscany. Montalcino was a bit “touristy,” for us; most of the restaurants have very similar menus and seem to cater to what they think people visiting for the wine expect to eat rather than showcasing the amazing ingredients their lands has. Nonetheless it is an amazing place.
We visited some very diverse vineyards but our favorite visit was Pian del’Orino; their story and the work that went into the property is amazing. Poggio di Sotto was another great stop and a long time favorite of ours; were glad to see things haven’t changed since ownership shifted hands a couple years back. Alot of people have recommended Poggio Antico; neither my wife nor I overly enjoyed the visit and suggest skipping lunch.
For a real treat visit one of the natural hot springs in Tuscany; was an incredibly relaxing experience, we wish we had spent some more time there. Alot of Montalcino is also focused on wine shipping; La Fortezza or the fortress up at the top of Montalcino is fantastic; as for Sergio he’ll treat you well and you’ll be able to taste just about any producer in the region.
I just got back from a trip to Italy which included 3 days in Montalcino (+ 3 in Rome and 3 in Florence).
I rented a car for the Montalcino part. If you can break up your trip and want to stay in the heart of wine country it might not be a bad idea if you want to concentrate part of your trip on wine. I did not stay in the town but outside of town in Castello di Velona which might be perfect for you for such a special trip. The views and rooms are amazing as is the pool and spa and proximity to the wineries. They helped with some of my visits and I made some of my own reservations.
Casanova de Neri (great tasting of many top wines but steep tasking fee of 60Euro)
Siro Pacenti
Il Poggione
Valdicava
Ciacci
Poggio di Sotto
Uccelliera (tasting of the trip-amazing and unexpected maybe tasted 20 wines including barrel samples-It was the David Arthur of Montalcino)
Most places charge a fee now even if you buy wines