My family is planning a trip to Tuscany this spring. We want to stay either in a small town (ideally some place not too touristy) or right outside of a small town that we can walk to. We would like to be the area between Siena, Florence and Cortona.
Any suggestions?
I recommend Greve-In-Chianti. We stayed there last September and loved it. We stayed on a farm (Casa Nova) which was with in walking distance of Greve. Greve is a medium size town with a wonderful Piazza, stores, grocery and a great Saturday Market. From there you can catch a bus to Florence (north) or Siena (south)- the bus ride is about an hour each way. We were surrounded by vineyards and farms and took some wonderful walks. Our apartment was very nice and large and it was a fabulous trip. (My sister wanted to throw away the rest of our planned trip and just stay there) Anyway:try this web site for info on Greve-it lists many choices of where to stay-just make sure you are with in walking distance of Greve. We were about a 10-12 minute walk away from town. http://www.greve-in-chianti.com
Try this website to see what looks interesting and not too expensive. http://en.bbplanet.it/ look at Tuscany or Umbria to see what's out there. We are using this site as the base to plan accommodations for our trip farther north (Piemonte-Lombardy-Veneto). Good luck.
Tony:
Our favorite Tuscan village is Panzano. It is exactly between Florence and Siena on the Chianti Road. It is a wonderful hill town with some great restaurants, Italy's most famous butcher (Dario Cecchini) and lots of great wineries nearby (Panzanello and Volpaia are two favorites).
On our three trips there we have rented a villa about 1Km from the village. It is called Il Palagio. It is run by Monia who is very helpful - speaks wonderful English - and keeps the villa absolutely spotless. The individual apartments in the villa are quite comfortable and the outdoor areas (and the views) are spectacular. The website for the villa is www.infochianti.com.
I am an early riser - and it was such a treat for me to get up and walk into the village as it was waking up - have a little coffee - read the Int'l Herald Tribune and maybe pick up some pastry for the sleepy heads back at the villa.
Have fun.
I concur that Panzano is magical-- I prefered it to Greve but I may not have given Greve enough of a chance.
Panzano is smaller and quieter and less touristy so I just love watching the Italians go about their way of life. You may prefer a larger town with more "activities."
