Castellina in Chianti

We rented a house in the Castellina area for many years and love the area. We liked Ristorante le Tre Porte, which is right on the main street. Farther down the street, after it becomes a pedestrian-only area, there is the Ristorante Fondaccio, directly across from the Hotel Squarcialupi. If you love the thin crust pizza, for which the Italians are famous, Fondaccio does a terrific job. They have seating inside and out, which is nice if the weather is good. We love San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Volterra, and just taking the unknown road and seeing what we find. May is a lovely time in Tuscany and, hopefully, you will be treated to the fields of poppies which are so beautiful. Buon viaggio!

Had a very good meal (lunch) at La Torre http://www.anticatrattorialatorre.com/ once. It is up in the main piazza (Castellina is very small). I love Castellina - tiny but still a real working village, real wine town. There is also an interesting small Etruscan site just outside the "town". You have a lot of interesting day trips/towns to visit all around - Siena and Florence of course are not too far, but closer and much smaller are Gaiole, Panzano, Greve, Radda, etc. All good wine towns and lots of beautiful country side. Do some searches on those names for more info. Visit the Castello at Brolio, or the winery at the Badia Coltibuono. For a really memorable meal try Dario Cecchini's butcher shop in Panzano - http://www.dariocecchini.com Good luck -