Monteriggioni

I doubt it's not mentioned because it's too touristy if San Gimignano doesn't qualify as too touristy. It's been mentioned on the forums a couple of times but it is very small compared to other hill towns - a couple of places to stay and few restaurants. Dante wrote about it but that probably doesn't mean much to non-Italians.

https://www.discovertuscany.com/monteriggioni/

It looks like the Buses from Siena to Poggibonsi like AUTOLINEE TOSCANE #130 passes through Monteriggioni so bus service should be readily available if limited depending on the day.

Hopefully someone with firsthand experience can chime in.

=Tod

We visited many years ago, 2010, I think. The draw was the intact walls and view of the countryside from them. Peaceful, lightly visited, few residents. San Gimignano is, by contrast, very fake feeling. We liked it and we had a car to make a day trip feasible along with going to Volterra.

Rick Steves doesn’t mention places his tours don’t go to and Monteriggioni is not in his tours’ itinerary, but I like Monteriggioni. It truly throws you back to the Middle Ages. It’s very small so you can visit it in a very short time, being only about 200 m (600ft) In diameter inside the town walls.

You might be able to squeeze both San Gimignano and Monteriggioni on one day trip. San Gimignano is a bit bigger, but you can see it also in a few hours. Neither place is fake, but San Gimignano is very famous so it is more touristy. If you like pretty and also truly fake I suggest you come to California and visit Solvang.

If you're passing by, I'd stop, but in my opinion it's not worth a special trip. What you see in the aerial photo is what you get. It's a set piece with no real life other than touristic retail.

As mentioned above it is bus 130. Buy roundtrip tickets in Siena. There are two bus stops with one being by a schoolhouse and the other at the bottom of the opposite side of the hill. Ask the bus drive to drop you off at the schoolhouse. When you exit the bus go about 10 yards further down the road (in the direction the bus was going) and you will find the road to go up to the town. Then when you are leaving walk to opposite side of the town and go down the very steep hill. The other bus stop (buses run more often) is located in the traffic circle by the overpass, and you may catch any bus heading back to Siena. You can use this latter bus stop going both directions, but we don't recommend the schoolhouse stop for your return because the buses run less frequent, and the stop is right on the road (no sidewalk). I recommend you do a google earth search to get an idea of where to walk to/from the stops. The town is very small, but we have enjoyed our two visits there. You can have a nice lunch and visit very some of the small specially shops.

@ Roberto, been there, done that. Thanks for the laugh!

It is not worth a difficult trip. It is so over restored that it feels fake and there isn't much there. Not a bad place to stop for lunch if you are driving by and it looks cool from the road -- but there isn't much there there. If I were in wonderful Siena and wanted to visit a place by bus I'd pick Col d'val Elsa or some other more real town. We stopped when we were driving in the area but I'd never go out of my way -- not a particularly interesting or memorable place IMHO.

You have a good variety of reviews. We enjoyed our brief stop by car, but I'm not sure about the time spent on a round-trip bus ride. I'd also worry about Siena traffic during high season, and possible hills to walk up on return from the bus.

It does have a slight over-restored air, as another poster noted. I felt the same way about the renovation of parts of the UNESCO WHS Beguiage in Bruges, where many hovels have been renovated into glamorous modern attached condo-like residences. But it's still listed as a UNESCO WHS!

If being subject to restoration means fake then lots of Italian places tourists visit every year are fake.

The Santa Trinità bridge in Florence and the entire neighborhood near ponte vecchio was totally destroyed by the German Army in 1944 during their retreat, and it looked this way the Campanile in Piazza San Marco in Venice totally collapsed in 1902 and it looked like this before it was restored 10 years later.

Monteriggioni only received some restorations in the 1920s and 1930s but not a total rebuilt like the examples above.

We had a car so we stopped as we were driving through the countryside. Spent a couple of hours, had lunch, enjoyed it, but I don't think I would make it a special day trip. Very small.

It doesn't take long to explore, just a few houses within splendid medieval walls. It's more impressive from a distance. But if you are spending most of the time in cities the bus ride through the countryside might be enjoyable too.

The same bus no. 130 goes from Siena to San Gimignano stoping at Monteriggioni along the way.
The bus takes 1h15 min all the way to SG. Monteriggioni is about 20 min from Siena.
I don’t see why one could not visit both in the same day.

Apparently, the backdrop of the video game "Assassins' Creed" was inspired by Monteriggioni. There's a small museum in the town in which you can pose for photos wearing some medieval weapons and shields which might be of interest to gamers.

I enjoyed the view of the countryside while walking on the ramparts during a morning visit a couple of years ago. We had a nice coffee and croissant at a caffè in the town square. As others have already mentioned, it's very small and not worth going out of your way to visit, unless you're a big AC fan.

Thanks everyone for the replies --- VERY helpful.

I loved this small town, of all the many towns I have visited in Tuscany, I will always remember this one. It was so picturesque, and they had a great handmade/artisan shop.