We are renting a farmhouse (from La Bella Toscana)October 6, 2001 through the 13th near San Gimignano. Have narrowed down the towns we would like to visit, but want input on whether we have made the best decisions, and then what towns can be visited on the same days. Plans for now are: Siena, Volterra, Assisi, Cortona, Montepulciano, Orvieto, Civita, Montalcino, Chianti region (any suggestions on the better towns there?). We have been to San Gimignano before and think we will visit that on evenings when we venture out for dinner. Have also been to Siena, but the couple traveling with us have not. We like to get an early start in the day and go pretty much all day...then get back in time for a late afternoon siesta. Thanks for any help.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kim,

Siena, Volterra, Assisi, Cortona, Montepulciano, Orvieto, Civita, Montalcino, Chianti region (any suggestions on the better towns there?).

Chianti Region This might be a nice tour of Chianti:

From San Gimignano area drive north to San Casciano Val di Pesa. This is a lovely town.
Then head east to Impruneta. There is supposed to be a ceramics or clay tile factory near here - that might be interesting.
Then south to Greve, my favorite Chianti town. There is a good restaurant in Lamole, at the end of a narrow country road. You go past Villa Vignamaggio where they filmed the movie Much Ado About Nothing. Or drive on to Osteria alla Piazza just south of Panzano. At least have a coffee in Greve and explore the main piazza.
South to Panzano - you might want to stop here there are interesting food shops, a famous butcher, a place where they make expensive custom-made shoes.
South to Castellina. By now you will be seeing greater number of tourist most likely. Castellina is a popular town. It also has good restaurants.
If you still had time, you could drive east to Radda, another nice town, then onto Badia a Coltibuono for lunch where you sit outside overlooking the vineyard.
You could easily cut off the Radda portion and don't bother with Gaiole - it is a very nice town if you are in the area, but it is a little out of the way for you.

You could plan the Chianti trip around where you will have lunch. Remember you have to be seated and ordering by 2pm. Better to aim for around 1pm.

Assisi, Cortona I would do these on one day. Maybe straight to Assisi which will take over an hour - maybe 1 1/2 hours. Spend the day there and stop in Cortona on the way back. Feel free to skip Cortona - it has become overrun with us Americans since the Frances Mayes book. But it is still a pretty town (but so are lots of others).

Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino You can do these three towns in one day and do it on the day we are having our Slow Travelers potluck lunch near Pienza.

Orvieto We have been to Italy many times and have never seen Orvieto. I think we will make it on this trip, but only because we will be staying close to it. This would be a full day trip for you - a long drive down and back.

Civita Haven't got a clue where this is and my road atlas lists several towns of this name!

Volterra This is not too far from where you are staying so might be nice to do on a day when you explore western Tuscany. Don't bother going south from Voltera - Ponarance is particularly boring and the area south from there gets that strange smell from those mineral mines. But, it might be nice to see some of the small hill towns west of you: Casole d'Elsa and Colle di Val d'Elsa are probably the best ones.

And leave time to have a whole day in Siena. San Gimignano in the evenings sounds great. You might want another day in the south to also see Monte Oliveto (the frescoes) and Sant'Antimo (the abbey) - or work them in with your southern drive.

See my restaurant list: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/food/restaurant_list.htm

See my Things to Do, Tuscany: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/todo/tuscany.htm

You will send us a review won't you?? Can I put you on my future reviews list?

Hey Pauline:

Those itineraries are gonna be helpful for me too. Thanks......

David

Many thanks for the great suggestions. I did not identify Civita properly, it is Civita Di Bagnoregio and we can combine it with our Orvieto day trip.

Will folllow along to see what date you decide for the Slow Travelers potluck, and if it works, incorporate that into the Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino day!

Have you ever heard of San Galgano near Siena? Has a shell of an ancient abbey built in 1218 and a beatufiul chapel and a special legend.Someone has recommended a visit there.

Our rental is a Tuscan farmhouse that has been converted to 4 apartments. I see that someone has already reviewed one of the 1/1 apartments. We will be 2 couples in a 2/2 in the same place, so if we can add anything, I will be glad to do so.

Again, thank you for your help!

Nancy, I will add your dates to my thread about the potluck. I would like your review even if there is one already. I think several reviews for one place is good - everyone has different feelings about a place and wants different things. If you could read a few reviews about one place, you would really have a good idea of what it is like.

I have not been to San Galgano, but have read about it in the Eyewitness guide - they have a nice picture. It is a bit out of the way, which is why we have never got there. Probably well worth visiting.

That town is just called Bagnoregio on my Italian Road Atlas. South of Orvieto, east of Lake Bolsena? I don't see it mentioned in any of my books. Isn't this the one recommended in the Rick Steves books? I really need to get one of his books.

We will be staying near there for our last week of our trip (Oct. 13 - 19) and will check it out. If you are down in that area, don't forget the Monster Gardens in Bomarzo. We have not been there either - but will get there on this trip. A garden of huge stone carvings from the 1500s - supposed to be grotesque. Maybe you can visit that area on the day you arrive or leave your vacation rental. Say, if you were going to Rome after your stay in Tuscany.

Nancy, I just added you to my list of future reviews - so now you are committed!! http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/reviews/future.htm

Nancy,

We have been to Bagnoregio and it is worth the
stop. It is truly an impressive site - especially
climbing the bridge to get there.... You can easily
stop in the afternoon after spending the morning in
Orvieto. We also thought the town of Bolsena was
charming but didn't get a chance to check it out
on the last trip. Lake Bolsena was beautiful!!!

Regards,

Leslie

Thanks, Leslie, will definitely make the stop there. Pauline, yes it is one that Rick Steves lists in his book. Supposed to be a town of 15 actual residents, but is being bought out by Italians who have discovered the town. It is connected to Bagnoregio by a pedestrian bridge.

Sounds great - I am going to go there in October! Thanks for telling me about it. Other interesting towns in Lazio:
Sutri
Nepi

We will be checking those towns out too. We are staying on Lake Bracciano for a week.

Nancy,

Are you by any chance staying in La Bella's property #47, apt Ginestra @ Fattoria Il Piano during the week Oct 6 - 13??? If so, we will be your neighbors. Apt 47 is on the upper floor; our apt 48 is on the ground floor. My husband says to bring soft-soled shoes (ha, ha)!

Re: Chianti trip, the Michelin Green Guide for Tuscany includes a good map for the area and lists three excursions throughout Chianti which all follow the Via Chiantigiana (SS-222) . In my opinion, this guide and others overlook one great village; Montefioralle. This hamlet is located 5 minutes from Greve in Chianti up a steep windy road. It has only a single elliptical street, encompasses a few tower houses and a pair of Romanesque churches.

Another great Chianti town is Castellina which is one of the more medieval feeling hill towns in the region. The town started out as an Etruscan center. It was later fortified by the Florentines and served as an outpost against Siena. On the perimeter street, Via delle Volte, there is a tunnel street with open windows facing out to the valley below--it's a soldiers' walk. Castellina also an imposing crenellated Rocca and several enotecas.

According to my Italian friend, during Sept/Oct there is a Chianti market where you can taste and buy the best Chianti has to offer. She was not specific as to the location of this market but I doubt it will be hard to find.

One more suggestion--have you been to Monteriggioni? It is located about 12 miles NW of Siena. It is one of the most perfectly preserved fortified villages in Italy. I highly recommend dining at its Il Pozzo restaurant 0577.304.127 (closed Sunday evening and Monday). It is also open for lunch. It is a pricey restuarant but is well worth it. It was written up in Bon Appetit magazine, spring 2000.

Mare:

Thanks for those great suggestions. We're going to be in Chianti in August staying at a vacation rental kind of in between Radda and Siena, but I've had Monteriggioni on my list of places to visit for a while. It's good to have confirmation from you about it being very worthwhile. And we'll have to check out Montefioralle as well -- it is mentioned in both Cadogan and The Rough Guide. I'm suspecting that you use The Rough Guide from your direct quote about the town !! I'm kind of partial to it.

Thanks again.

David

Hi Mare! Yes, we will be neighbors for that week! How did you figure that out? The place sounds wonderful...we will make sure we dance lightly while celebrating our Tuscan vacation.

Thanks for the many good suggestions on day trips. Will take some time this weekend to check those places out.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Nancy,

It truly is a small world. I figured you were staying at the same place because you made reference to the fact that someone had already reviewed it. We look forward to meeting you and your friends. I hope we will be able to meet all fellow slow travelers @ Pauline's potluck.

Nancy & David,

Here's a couple of web sites for Chianti region: www.chiantiturismo.it and www.chianticlassico.com. Information includes hotels/villas, B+B's, restaurants, cooking classes, wineries, private drivers and some great photos.

See you in October!

David,

You caught me.....yes I use the Rough Guide (one of my favorites). If you enjoy it too, take a look @ Signpost Guides, Tuscany and Umbria, Your Guide to Great Drives. It includes a few of the major tourist stops but most trips (2-3 days) follow rural countryside and mountainous areas. We plan to follow several of the suggested routes in Umbria.

I do not have the Cadogan book. How does it compare to the Rough Guide?

See my response above for web sites for Chianti region.

Re: Civita di Bagnoregio & Orvieto

A suggestion for those who plan to combine a trip to Civita and Orvieto--be sure to allow sufficient time to see Civita. I don't believe Rick Steves book covers the fact that the long pedestrian bridge (only access) takes 30 minutes to cross one-way. We missed the town on our last trip either due to limited hours or loss of daylight (sorry cannot remember).

There are hundreds of Etruscan and medieval caves beneath Orvieto. If you are interested in archaeology, I highly recommend the underground tour. Also, the Archaeological Museum across from the duomo is wonderful. You can get a good photo of the duomo from one of the museum's upper windows. Also, try Rick's favorite gelato (to the left side of duomo when facing the front of duomo).

Thanks Mare for all that great information. I get this potluck organized very soon. We are even thinking of having one each week we are in Tuscany (3 weeks) so that we will get to meet everyone. I cannot believe that you and Nancy will be neighbors. Isn't that an amazing coincidence?

Mare:

The Cadogan guidebooks are, like The Rough Guide, very well-written. They go into much more detail than most standard guidebooks and have both a point of view as well as a sense of humor. I've enjoyed both. I've used The Rough Guide more. Pauline tends to use Cadogan, although she continually spells it incorrectly (yes, Pauline, we still love you!). You should go to your local bookstore and have a look. In some cases where The Rough Guide gives less attention to a particular place, attraction, artwork etc., Cadogan will give more. And vice versa. If you do compare them, I'm curious what your opinion is.

David

How do I spell it?? Cadogen. Do I write Cadagen?? Or Cadogon?? Probably Cadogon - that looks good to me. I swear I have piece of my brain missing when it comes to spelling. I have a strong geographic memory - I can remember where things are in towns we haven't been to in 10 years.

Maybe I should switch to the Rough Guide because I can spell it! I am going to take my Cadogen Tuscany guide and my new Rough Guide for Tuscany both with me on this trip and I will do a comparison. Cadogen is British and Rough Guide is American - maybe there will be big differences.

As Liz suggested - we need a spell checker for the message board.

No matter how you spell it, I will pick up a copy of the Cadogan book. It will be interesting to compare it to the Rough Guide. Last trip, I used Frommer's Tuscany and Umbria. It is not as complete as the Rough Guide but I thought it was much more user friendly for accommodations and restaurants.

Our 6 week stay will be done via carry-on bags only so I better pick the best two guides!

I recieved a pretty good Chianti Classico road map with a list of all of the wineries that belong to the Chianti Classico Consortium. Has secondary roads etc. I got this from Agricola Monterinaldi (they have an estate)and they just ask that you send them back a postcard of your city or area. The web site is www.monterinaldi.it for anyone interested.

Mare, the 2 wives in our group of 4 are pretty well behaved, however the husbands have been known to belt out a tune from some of the best balconies in Europe. We do have a terrace! Luckily their repertoire is limited, mainly songs with the same word repeated, i.e Feelings. Will work on finding an Italian song for them, maybe O Solo Mio.

Appreciate the info on Civita di Bagnoregio and Orvieto! And we will have to check out Rough Guide as well, I have never really looked it over in the past.

Yes Nancy, it is a great map, and a really good web-site as well with tons of info. I especially love going through the postcard section which all of us have sent in to get the map. It only took about 2-3 weeks to get, so if any of you are going in Sept-Oct you still have time to get one.
Have a great trip!

Thanks again for more resources!

Pauline, you are too funny -- FYI the correct spelling is "Cadogan". You tend to spell it "Cadogen".

And I think you're incorrect about The Rough Guide being Amrerican published. I know that the headquarters is in the UK. I wouldn't be surprised if they now have a US office (as well as Austrailia, Canada, New Zealand), but if you look at the list of their editorial staff, 15 are in the UK, 1 is in the US.

Then again, each book in the Rough Guide series has different authors (so are some of the authors of some of the books Yanks?)-- Anyway, for that reason I think that the quality and writing style can be variable. I've used them for a number of different places and by far, the Italian ones (the Italy one as well as the Tuscany/Umbria)are my favorites.

Digression: One of my favorite passages in The Rough Guide to Italy is the description of the mosaics of the Emperor Justinian and his wife/consort Theodora which are in a church in Ravenna. Sorry can't remember the name of the church and I don't have a copy here with me right now, but what they've written is TOTALLY the kind of writing I like to read in a guidebook. The authors describe the story of Justinian and Theodora's relationship -- how she was a performer in some kind of traveling show that featured live sex acts(!), who came to his attention (I'm sure....), married him and basically took over the Holy Roman Empire! It was a particularly entertaining passage to read while standing in a church looking at 8th Century mosaics! (Ok, so now you all know that my sense of humor is twisted....)

Back to the subject at hand: I think that Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls have written all of the Cadogan Guides. Correct me if I'm wrong. So there'd be more consistency there. FWIW.

David

Nancy,

Perfecto.....one of our Italian favorites, O Solo Mio!

Thanks for info on where to obtain a Chianti region map.

Whoops!! Sorry, I'm sensitive to both language and classical music errors.

"O Sole Mio", not to mention "perfetto"!

Sorry, Mare and Nancy. Please pardon my picky language stuff. Just wouldn't want you guys saying "O only mine" instead "O my sun". Wouldn't want to think about the implications

David