Hi spending 4 days here and day trips to Siena, San G, Pisa and Chianti. Any must-sees in any.? We like good wine and interesting unique areas with beautiful views and VG food (not too pricy). Suggestions please?
Posted by
67 posts
We walked from Pienza to Montepulciano. Easy pathways; at slow pace it took us less than 4 hours. Beautiful. Something special about walking into these villages rather zipping around in a car.
And we took the local bus back to our car on Pienza.
Posted by
Seattle
2 posts
Hello Daniel,
Your walk from Pienza to Montepulciano sounds terrific. How did you pick the walking route? Did you have a resource like a route description or map from a book or from the Tourist Office -- or was the walking route well-marked and self-explanatory?
Did you do any other walks in the Pienza or Montepulciano area? Thanks!
Posted by
NY
120 posts
In Siena Prètto Prosciutteria. I have to say it was one of my favorite places to eat. Enjoy!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
How many different day trips is this? Those destinations seem to me too far away from a base in Montepulciano if the plan is to drive roundtrip on consecutive days. Pienza and Montalcino are the closest and popular hill towns that you probably "should" see while in the neighborhood. You can easily spend a full day in Siena. Pisa being the furthest distance takes at least 2.5 hours drive time each way. Pre-plan the drive into Pisa if attempting that; I tried to just navigate by following signs to the train station and that lack-of-plan took forever on circuitous one-way streets.
Posted by
174 posts
In Siena, definitely at least go inside the Duomo. It is a truly amazing art packed cathedral. I would also give the Civic Museum a look. Some really amazing somewhat non religious frescos... nice change of pace from the Italy norm. If you can squeeze it in, I’d do the all th Duomo complex (Museum/Facciatone, Baptistey, Crypt, Church/Library) has to offer or at least consider doing a Porta del Cielo tour (Gate of Heaven). You get some truly amazing views into the church and surrounding area. The Facciatone in the Museum allows you to see all of the surrounding countryside around Siena, Il Campo, and the Duomo. And you don’t have to wait in such a long line as for the Il Campo tower.
As for recommendations for eating, my mom and I enjoyed Osteria Cice immensely. It came at the recommendation of our AirBnb host and didn’t disappoint. Cheap too.
Pienza and Montepulciano both offer good vantage points for your desired beautiful views. The RS Florence/Tuscany book has little maps of both towns marking where they are. Pienza was my favorite of the two towns but I’m sure everyone’s mileage varies there.