Tuscany is a MUST SEE, and by Tuscany, I don’t mean Florence or Pisa, I mean small, traditional Tuscan towns that bring an authenticity to your time in Italy. Tuscany has a uniqueness in its beauty. Without any posted signs, you know the second you enter the region. You see it in the cypress trees and sunflower fields. You get distracted by the detail of the magnificent villas that dot the vineyards. You see it in the fields, that have been around for centuries but are somehow perfectly divided like they were separated by a giant’s meter stick. You enter Tuscany and all your cares float away, your shoulders relax, and a smile plasters itself to your face. You would think that gorgeous field after gorgeous field would get old after a while, but it doesn’t. Much to my sister’s chagrin, I couldn’t stop myself from pulling over on occasion to take pictures.
WINE TOUR: If you’re going to Tuscany, you MUST take a high-quality wine tour. We found the perfect tour in our guide, Todd. Todd’s tour: http://www.tuscantrails.com/
He picked us up at our villa in Chianti in his van and drove us around all day to a variety of vineyards. He’s an American who married an Italian, so he speaks perfect English for us and Italian with the families that run the vineyards. He hand-selects vineyards based on group size and interest. He introduced us to Montalcino and Montepulciano and a variety of other small wine towns. On this trip, we discovered our favorite wine of Italy and our favorite restaurant in Italy.
Great Vineyards:
- Le Chiuse Winery: This is where we found our favorite Brunello. Small and family owned.
- Poggio di Sotto Winery: This winery’s grounds gave us our best views of the landscape of Tuscany.
- Capanna Winery: This is a beautiful, family-owned winery with great tradition. They also have my new wine obsession- SanGioBi, a white wine made from red grapes.
MONTALCINO
Montalcino is a classic Tuscan town. Complete with a walled city of history, culture, food, shopping, and most importantly, WINE! Montalcino is so well-known for its wine that its most famous wine includes the town in its name, Brunello di Montalcino. It’s small enough to be done in one day, or intricate enough to make a week-long trip to the surrounding area. We chose to do a long weekend that included the Wine and Jazz Festival, time relaxing by the pool, eating delicious food, visiting amazing wineries, and exploring the adorable shops.
MONTALCINO TIPS and INFO
HOUSING:
Borgo Canalicchio Di Sopra Relais Hotel: Booking.com
This hotel is an 8-minute drive into Montalcino. It serves breakfast onsite and has a beautiful pool. It has a really nice set-up if you’re staying with a group or family. They have 2 bedroom suites with a kitchenette and a small living room. All suites also come with an outdoor eating area.
WINE SHOP: Enoteca Pierangioli Piazza del Popolo 16, 53033 Montalcino- The owner of this wine shop is an adorable old Italian man. He has an immense collection of wine from Montalcino and he sells it with pride. You’ve never seen anyone as enamored with Brunello di Montalcino! I was able to impress him with my knowledge of Brunello’s from Todd’s tour, which helped when I disappointed him by asking to ship home 5 bottles of my favorite $10 Vermentino. You can compare the shipping rates to other enotecas (wine shops) around Montalcino, but his were very fair.
PARKING: Your best option for parking is to put the address for La Fortezza in your GPS- Via Ricasoli, 54, 53024 Montalcino. This allows you to park in the main part of town and then walk throughout the town. You will need to pay at the metered parking on the corner of the lot. If this is full, there is also side street parking as you enter the town from the rotary. Make sure to pay that meter, which is up the hill towards La Fortezza.
SHOPPING: Quaint shops line the main roads of Montalcino. You’ll find countless enotecas, handmade pottery, perfume shops that your nose will guide you into, lovely boutiques, and awesome jewelry shops.
Corrine di Braconi Paola- Via Mazzini, 33, 53024 Montalcino: An adorable boutique that carries stones unique to Tuscany called Termal or “Pietre Idrotermale”, which are beautiful gemstones that form in the hot springs of Tuscany and are of varied colors depending on the temperature at which they cool.
FOOD: Ristorante il Leccio – Via Costa Castellare, 1, 53024 Sant’Angelo in Colle. 10 minutes down the road from Montalcino is a tiny little town called Sant’Angelo in Colle. There’s not much to see here except MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT IN ITALY! Now, I hesitated to even write about this restaurant because it’s so good, I’m tempted to keep it to myself. Unfortunately on my most recent visit, I discovered that a very famous travel writer included this restaurant in his book, so the secret’s out.
Trattoria Il Pozzo – Piazza Castello, Sant’Angelo in Colle. Right next to Il Leccio is Il Pozzo. Todd convinced me to take one night off from Il Leccio to give Il Pozzo a try and I’m so glad that I did. This place was awesome! They have fantastic cuts of meat and all-around delicious food.
I don’t know how one tiny piazza in one pint-sized town has such good food, but I can’t express enough how much you should go there. If not for the food alone, then for the incredible sunsets.
CORTONA
Cortona is your quintessential Tuscan village, with its arches, alleyways, and boutique shops. Yet unlike most medieval villages, it’s unique because it’s crafted into the side of a mountain, instead of being placed on top of a hill. You see Cortona coming from miles away and can’t get there fast enough. It’s absolutely stunning from the outside and just as quaint inside. AND it also has incredible views looking out over the valley that surrounds it.
Unlike many set on a hill Tuscan towns, Cortona has accepted the modern amenity of escalators! As you approach the town, there is a large parking lot, with two levels. Walk across the road, towards the town, and take the escalators up.
Once inside, you can spend hours walking all of the little alleyways, popping in and out of adorable shops, and eating delicious food. Cortona is an absolutely awesome day trip! And I would imagine staying there would be pretty great as well.
VOLTERRA
Volterra was one of the coolest Tuscan towns I’ve been to. I wish we had gone for more than just a day trip because I’m sure there’s more than meets the eye. It’s a combination of Roman ruins, Etruscan ruins, and a medieval village all rolled into one.
VOLTERRA TIPS AND INFO
Parking: This is a town where you can get your steps in! If you’re going to Volterra for a day trip, go early! Although there is a lot of parking, it fills up quickly. We didn’t get an early start and ended up in the RV lot, an acceptable option if you’re ok with ALL the stairs.
Food: We had a fabulous lunch in Volterra, at a restaurant overlooking the edge of the village. Osteria Fornelli had fabulous food and a gorgeous view. It’s a little bit away from the main piazza and all the hustle and bustle and that’s part of what I liked about it. Go to Piazzetta dei Fornelli to find it.
Roman Theatre: Just outside of the walled part of the city are the ruins of a Roman theater from 1st Century BC. It’s amazing how intact they are, considering how close they built the wall during Medieval times. As you get closer, you’ll notice a ticket booth. Don’t buy the ticket! The views from above, which don’t require a ticket, are even better than the ones you get inside. They will also try to get you to buy a ticket for ruins inside the park as a combo pack with the theater, and neither is worth it.
LUCCA
I LOVE LUCCA! We went to Lucca because our Italian teacher is from there and raved about it, with reason! You walk through Lucca’s famous walls and become instantly relaxed. It’s an adorable small city with the feel of a town. Because of that, Lucca has become my new favorite Tuscan city. I wish we had stayed longer than we did because there is so much more to Lucca than we were able to see in just an overnight.
LUCCA TIPS AND INFO
Housing: Inside the Wall Santa Maria: Booking.com
This cute boutique hotel is, as the name implies, just inside the walls of Lucca. That made for a great spot because most of the parking is outside the wall and it allowed us to drop our bags and then park right on the other side. It had great air conditioning and a nice shower. Two things that are very important when choosing a hotel in Italy in the summer.
FOOD: Ristorante L’Angolo Tondo is located at the end of Piazza dell’Anfiteatro. This was one of the best meals we had in Tuscany. The food was delicious and the service was great too.
SHOPPING: Lucca has lots of shopping throughout the city. In particular, there are a lot of shops on Via Fillungo. They have a great Cuoieria Fiorentina that had more inventory than most of the stores we saw in larger cities, if beautiful Italian handbags are your thing.
SIENA
Siena is a place to go if you want shopping and The Duomo di Siena is the most beautiful and intricate church I’ve seen in Italy, and that’s saying something. It alternates layers of black and white marble throughout, a feat that boggles the mind given that the church was constructed in the 1200s. I’ve included pics of the lovely modesty shawls they provide you if you’re visiting in July and it’s a million degrees outside. The good news is that they can also be turned into capes.
SIENA TIPS and INFO
Parking: The best parts of Siena are in a ZLT, limited driving zone. That means that finding parking is crucial for visiting this awesome city. The good news is this area is large enough that there is a parking garage just outside the limited zone. It’s right across the street from the PAM (grocery store)- Piazza Rosselli, Int.1, 53100 Siena. From there you can take a cab toward the Piazza del Campo. You can always try to get closer parking, but it may not work out well for you.
Shopping: Siena is filled with bakeries, gelaterias, boutiques, jewelry shops, and much more. You could never get to all of them in one day, but that simply means you’ll have to make multiple day trips here.
Main square: Piazza del Campo- Il Campo, 53100 Siena is an enormous square surrounded by beautiful architecture and great restaurants. Spend a few hours of your time in Siena simply sitting in the square, eating good food, and drinking good wine.
CHIANTI
Chianti is a great location for a home base in exploring Tuscany. It’s a day trip amount of time away from Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano, and many more. For this location, you’ll want to rent a place on Airbnb or their partner website, Luxury Retreats, if you’re not on a budget. There are also agriturismos that I’ve heard great things about. Experiencing Tuscany while staying in a villa just gives your trip that extra touch. There are very nice hotels available in Tuscany, but they just don’t have the same feel, especially if you have to deal with the bored teenager of the inexplicably selfish people who drag their unwilling children on their vacation with the justification that they’re learning about another culture. (Soapbox- done)
I was fortunate enough to stay at a villa in a little town called Gaiole in Chianti. The countryside was breathtaking. The town itself wasn’t anything special, but its location and the beauty of its outskirts truly did make it a great choice. One thing you need to know about Chianti is that it’s actually a large area made up of small hamlets with Chianti in their name. There’s also Greve in Chianti, Radda in Chianti, ect. All of the Chiantis are near each other, and therefore all are a great base point for you.
ORVIETO
Technically, Orvieto is in Umbria, but right on the line. You can see Orvieto from the Autostrada and it draws you in. We only had 2 hours in our schedule, but we had to stop and check it out. A classic, walled city on a hill, it stands out as the epitome of a place designed for protection. The people who designed and constructed this town were not messing around when it came to their security. They came together to build an intricate series of tunnels beneath their city. Still proud of this level of construction, they offer tours throughout the day, in a variety of languages, that take you beneath the city and through the detailed and well thought out city beneath a city.
What stands out most in Orvieto is their duomo. We entered the main square in a way that had us at the back of the church. It’s this massive square and we were looking for lunch, so we were comparing names of restaurants to review scores on our phones. All of a sudden we rounded the corner to the front of the church and stopped in our tracks. The level of detail on the outside of this church rivals the level of detail on the inside of the Duomo di Siena. It’s incredible.
ORVIETO TIPS and INFO
- Parking: https://goo.gl/maps/JGsrMtepjpw – You have to drive up to the city and park in one of the lots outside the ZLT. There is also parking at the bottom of the hill with a funicular that will bring you to the top, but the parking lot works as well. It doesn’t have a specific address, so I’ve copied that google maps link. From there, you walk toward the tall, walled perimeter of the main part of town.
- Cave Tour: https://www.orvietounderground.it/index.php/en/ You’ll find this in the corner of the main square. If you’re looking at the front of the duomo the ticket office is in the back right corner. Tell them your language and they’ll tell you when the next tour is leaving in that language. One thing of note, this is not a tour for people who have any sort of physical disability or anyone who’s built like a linebacker. There are some parts of the underground that I feared some members of our group would not fit through or be able to make it through, myself included with my bad knee.
