We will be staying in an agristurismo in June 25 mins south of Siena. Have 4 full days not counting arrival and departure days. 5 nights. Will have a car. Wife 2 kids and I. Was thinking :
1. Pisa - lucca
2 volterra- San Gimignano and cooking class near San G.
3. Siena.
4. Montalcino. Pienza. Montepulciano. Ricks drive through that area.
Thoughts ?
Thanks
You are intending to hit the good places. Go for it. We hit San Gimignano, Certaldo and Volterra. We found Siena to be very congested and parking very difficult to find during the day.
You are intending to hit the good places. Go for it. We hit San Gimignano, Certaldo and Volterra. We found Siena to be very congested and parking very difficult to find during the day.
Pisa and Lucca are not nearby, far to the west. Consider instead a drive on the historic Route 222, the Chiantigiana, visiting Panzano, Radda, Castellina, Greve, the heart of the Chianti region, close to Siena. Rt 222 was the original road that connected Siena and Florence, a must see.
It is beautiful wine county north of Siena, charming towns, great food and wine. This makes much more sense than going all all the way west. We always stay in the Chianti region.
Is there an opportunity to visit Lucca and Pisa either before or after you stay south of Siena? They aren’t nearby at all. There are a tons of other places you could potentially visit, which are famous, interesting, and near. Bagno Vignoni, Monteriggioni, Buonconvento, Cortona, Lucignano, Arezzo, maybe even the Maremma area. I bet you are closer to Umbria (Assisi, Spello, Orvieto, etc.) than to Posa.
We will be in Orvieto prior to Tuscany. Looks like Pisa is a 2 hr drive from our place. This doesn’t seem too bad.
We stayed in Greve, which is much closer to Lucca than you will be and ditched plans to visit there since it would take at least two hours each way to drive it. I suggest you do option 4, Montalcino instead. I'd also plan on Volterra and San Gimignano which can be done in a day. Leave two days unplanned at this point, then look at unexpected options when you get there.
I also highly recommend you spend an afternoon/evening at the Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore. They abbey is gorgeous. We had dinner at the nearby restaurant, then attended vespers which are celebrated using Gregorian chant. When we were there, it was the monks, one local townsperson and us. We were invited to participate in the responses. It was a very moving worship service held in a beautiful sanctuary.
I’m sure the Abbey is lovely but I am also sure my 8 and 12 year old kids would not enjoy that. We will be visiting lots of churches on this trip. Google maps and Rome 2 rio all list the drive as 2 hrs each way to Pisa. Long for a day trip sure. My kids want to see Pisa. I would rather hang out drinking wine in Tuscany. But it’s a family trip and I will get my Sangiovese fix in montalcino and Montepulciano.
Pisa seems feasible for a full day trip.
We stayed in a similar locale for a week in an agroturismo and did day trips. Pisa will actually be easier to get to than Volterra/SG as the former is by expressway and the latter 2-lane so all it takes is one slow truck! Make sure your rental has a/c cuz in June you’ll need it.
Volterra was a favourite; it seems more real than than S.G. Siena is the best of the bunch - we avoided the parking issue as we dropped our rental in Siena.
Echoing other posters we also liked Radda and Cortona.
As for #4 we did a fab walk from Pienza to Montepulciano and then took a bus back to Pienza and our car but alas it’s unlikely your kids will enjoy a 3-4 hour walk.
Check out the Tarot Garden near Capalbio. When we were there, there were kids all over the place having a great time. We liked it, too. It’s an outdoor sculpture garden, of enormous works by quirky modern artist Nikki de Saint- Phalle.
This may be something your kids will love and could get you out of a two hour drive to Pisa (if given the choice). It's about 30-40 minutes from your lodging location.
https://www.wanderingitaly.com/blog/article/1066/bagni-san-filippo
