I am going to take a daytrip to Rocca D' Orcia for lunch at Cantina Il Borgo.Is there parking in Town? We will have A Fiat Punto. San Quirico seems to be the largest town(parking?).Do you think it would be too much to do in a day to explore San Quirico D' Orcia in the morning,lunch at Rocca D' Orcia and Castiglione D' Orcia in the PM? RR
You have to park outside the walls and walk to Cantina Il Borgo. Not a problem, but be ready to climb some steep inclines to see the castle ruins. Do a web search for Rocca di Tentennano.
At Castiglione, the walls are still in good condition and the church has a Lorenzetti Madonna and Child. The piazza has interesting paving with bricks and small stones. Also, search Aldobrandeschi Castle.
San Quirico d'Orcia's church dates back to the 12-1300s. The towns are so small, you won't have trouble finding where to park.
You definitely can visit these places in one day. San Quirico and Castiglione can't be much more than five miles apart. But save your energy for climbing.
San Quirico has 2 churches. The older, smaller church is to the right after you enter the main gate of the town. You can usually find parking along the outside of the walls. On your way to the older church, you will pass a bakery on Via Dante and then there is a cheese shop which has incredible sheep's milk cheeses. The pecorino sott'olio is amazing. Sharp, herbal and tangy. I don't remember if the cheese shop is before or after the small church.
On the subject of San Quirico d'Orcia, a new magazine arrived at my door the other day with a nice feature (with lots of pictures) about San Quirico d'Orcia.
Actually not exactly a new magazine, but the successor to the English language version of Bell'Italia. The name of the magazine is Beautiful Itineraries...they will still focus on Italy but they did slip an article in about Paris in the April/May 2005 issue. There are also articles about Citta della Pieve, Cremona, Urbino, Padova and the Alta Murgia in Puglia. And included was a special issue devoted just to Roma.
The magazine attempts to match the extremely beautiful Italian edition of Bell'Italia but I think it falls somewhat short in the editorial contact and the quality of the pictures and the reproduction. But it is still worth a look....
Coincidentally, the most recent issue of the Italian Bell'Italia that I have received (Aprile 2005) has cover story about San Quirico in val d'Orcia (with a standard gorgeous shot of a lone farmhouse in the green countryside). The article has one of Bell'Italia' trademark detailed maps of the town and great shots of churches and palazzi.
Other articles in the issue deal with L'abbazia di Viboldone in Milano, the Scala dei Turchi near Agrigento, Il Parco naturale del Beigua in Liguria, and Il giardino "tropicale" di castel Trauttmansdorff in Merano. Another gorgeous issue....
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