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Florence then Hill Town to Cinque Terre in late September

Posted by (Far East, Canada) on

Hi All:

We will be in Florence at the end of September for 3 nights. We then hope to stay in a hill town/countryside for 3 nights, then Cinque Terre for 2 nights. Our plan is to rent a car when leaving Florence and do some touring around the country side in Tuscany. The car will be dropped in Pisa or La Spezia on our way to the CT. We are having some trouble deciding where to stay. We are trying to decide between the area around Poggibonsi/Colle di Val d'Elsa and the area further south around Pienza/Montepulciano.

Can you give us some advice to help decide between these areas? It is our first trip to Italy and we do know that we will want a break from the cities. This is the middle part of our trip, we start in Venice and leave from Rome, 16 day trip including travel.

Thanks

Posted by
11362 posts

We really like the areas from Montepulciano to Montalcino, including Pienza. The drive between Montepulciano and Montalcino makes a great day trip, stopping in Pienza, going to the Abbey di Sant'Antimo outside Montalcino. You could stay in one of the two "M" towns or in an agriturismo. We've found parking in Montalcino to be easy. There's a big lot where many B&Bs pay for your parking by giving you a pass.

Posted by
20 posts

Laurel is correct that's a great area , we also like the Chianti area with access to alll those magical hills towns . Least year we spent a week north of Siena and a week south. Regardless of where you decide do yourself a favour and from Florence take Route 222 running through the rolling Tuscan hills . It goes all the way to Siena . It's awesome .

Posted by
125 posts

Okay, we will look at the guide books again and decide. Google Maps indicate the two areas are about 1.25 hours apart by car so in theory we can visit both areas on separate day. It also indicates that Montepulciano is about 3 hours from La Spezia where we drop the car, this might be a factor too.

We would like a B&B or an agriturismo. Recommendations are welcomed!

Posted by
96 posts

Regarding driving in Tuscany:
I was there several years ago and rented a small car. Coming back from Siena to the agritoutrismo it got dark. The roads are narrow and no shoulder. AND the headlight didn't automatically go on. A little panic as there was no place to pull off the road to see where the switch was for the lights. Finally found it ... It was one of the highlights of my trip !!

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