Favorite Tuscan town pick for first time Italy goer?

We enjoyed Montalcino. Very pretty, great wine town, probably best for an overnight. Classic daytrip from Florence is to Siena.

Volterra all the way!!!

Medievel Siena is wonderful, and right on the way to Rome. Take the bus, walk to this B&B. You can walk everywhere in the old city. The Duomo, the Duomo Museum and Baptistery are spectacular and unique, the piazza is fabulous, and wandering the maze of streets is marvelous. The B&B below has a fantastic terrace with an incredible view. The family who owns it is friendly and helpful. The rooms are simple but clean, and we had a wonderful time there. There are no bathrooms in the rooms, but there are 5 bathrooms for the 8 rooms, and no waiting. Albergo Bernini (p477) Tel & Fax: 0577-289-047 www.albergobernini.com [email protected] Have fun.

Liz, I'd also recommend Siena. As the others have mentioned, transportation is easy from Florence by Bus, and then train to Rome. Happy travels!

San Gimignano then Orvieto. Two lovely towns!

Siena and Montalcino (the Brunello wine is fabulous).

Siena would be my choice. I also stay at the Bernini when in Siena. they do have rooms with baths. I get the same room each year with a bath.

If you really mean Tuscany (and not Umbria, where Orvieto and Assisi are), then I would vote for Siena. It's a lot of fun to explore. FWIW, it sounds like you're trying to pack too much into your itinerary, if you're trying to a single night someplace AND throw in a daytrip. You're going to eat up so much time traveling that you won't be able to really enjoy it. That said, some people do enjoy being able to check off as many towns as possible. But to me, there's a huge difference between "seeing" a place and "experiencing" a place. YMMV. Happy travels.

I am with Zoe. Day trip to Siena. Overnight in Montalcino. Try the Hotel Dei Capitani. Valley view room. They have free parking.
Easy to maneuver to the main road.

We enjoyed our overnight visit to Montalcino and had set up appointments to visit five wineries that were close in but it still involved some time and renting a car. The town itself is tiny. Siena certainly offers more. Orvieto in Umbria is a delight and a perfect size and very accessible by train on the way to Rome. They produce the wonderful Orvieto white wines (much better than what is typically exporting to the US) instead of the Brunellos but you can enjoy visiting a winery and then switch to red in town.

Our three favorite towns were Montalcino, Montepulciano and Pienza. We're in the minority, but we didn't like Siena.

This feedback is excellent! Thanks so much everyone! Seems like the majority of you are voting for Siena (which I lean toward for the day trip given its proximity to Florence) and for either Montalcino or Orvieto (which I didn't realize was outside of Tuscany at first, thanks for the info!). If you liked Montalcino and/or Orvieto, could you tell me a little bit about what you did and why you liked either/both? Also, we won't have a car, so if that will significantly reduce our ability to enjoy one town or the other, that would be immensely helpful to know. Thanks again, this feedback is tremendous and incredibly useful! Cheers, Liz

Planning for only a 1 night stay on your way to Rome and using public transportation, Orvieto is your better choice. There's lots to do and see, and it has some nice restaurants. The number of daily trains from Orvieto to Rome was reduced last year, so to guarantee seats together (or seats at all) on the direct InterCity train, buy your tickets either while in Florence or upon arrival in Orvieto.