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One Week in Tuscany

Posted by (Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA) on

My boyfriend and I are staying at the Agriturismo Cretaiole, just outside of Pienza, for one week beginning Saturday, July 5. The agriturismo has group activities (farm tour, olive oil tasting, Etruscan tomb visit, pasta-making class & communal dinner) planned for certain times (designated as AC [name of activity]), so we are working around those. We might skip either the Etruscan tomb tour or the olive oil tasting to give ourselves a bit more freedom to explore on Monday. We have a rental car. Here's a tentative itinerary that I've come up with so far, but I would love your input:

Saturday night: check into agriturismo, unwind with our fellow guests
Sunday morning: Pienza for a few hours in the early morning (how early do the shops open?); AC farm tour at 11:15am; Siena for the late afternoon/evening
Monday: AC Etruscan tomb tour in the morning; Montalcino winery tour in afternoon OR Montepulciano (I'd like to do both but doubt we will have time); AC olive oil tasting in the late afternoon (not sure what time)
Tuesday: Florence
Wednesday: Civita and Orvieto
Thursday: Volterra [or another hilltown since Volterra is about 1 hour & 45 minutes from our agriturismo]; pasta-making class and communal dinner at AC in the evening
Friday: Florence [or another hilltown if we decide on Tuesday that FLR is too crowded!]
Saturday morning: head to Chiusi to drop off our car and take a train to Rome!

Instead of Volterra, we are considering visiting Cortona, since it's about an hour closer. However, I know that Rick says Volterra is his favorite hilltown and Cortona has become a bit more touristy. Any thoughts on this? Is Volterra worth the extra two hours' round trip in driving? Also, any recommendations as to where to park in or outside of Florence? I've never been to Italy, so I am very much looking forward to this trip! Thanks in advance!

Posted by
16240 posts

You have a lot planned. It's hard to give advice since it's really a matter of personal taste.
Shops opening hours are liberalized therefore they might vary. Generally, in summer, most open from 9 to 1pm in the morning and 4pm to 8pm in the evenings. Big stores don't close at midday.
Siena, I think deserves a little more than just a few hours in the evening.
Everything else is subjective and depends on your tastes.
In Florence, if you come from the Siena Firenze freeway, park at either Porta Romana or near Piazzale Michelangelo.

Posted by
176 posts

Hi Amy, what a great trip you have planned! Since you say you want to do both Montalcino and Montepulciano, I'd consider skipping the second day in Florence, which would free up time to do both. And if you go to Montalcino, nearby is Abbey Sant' Antimo, which is accessible by car. One of my favorite spots from our two weeks in Tuscany a couple of years ago! We stayed in a villa just outside Volterra - loved the town but haven't been to Cortona so can't give an opinion on which is better. You could always leave Thursday open and decide the night before, depending on how tired you are. We found ourselves exhausted from the heat and driving, and some of our favorite days were the ones where we stayed at the villa and hung out by the pool, only going out for dinner. It's always nice to have a down day in the middle of a busy week. My sister and her husband did two trips to Florence from Volterra…the first time, they drove in and parked somewhere just outside the center. That was so stressful that the second time they went in, when we were with them, we drove to Certaldo, parked for free at the train station, and took the train into Florence. I highly recommend the second method! It was easy peasy and so much less stressful, and the train was a direct 45 minutes or so. Hope you have a great trip!

Posted by
176 posts

Looking at Roberto's post, I remembered that my sister and her husband parked at Piazza Michaelangelo:)

Posted by
35 posts

Deanna, do you remember what kind of issues your brother had parking in Piazzale Michaelangelo? Was it difficult to find? Already full when he got there?

Posted by
16895 posts

Rick has always characterized the Piazzale Michelangelo parking option as "easy." But as a caution, there has been a rumor of parking being reduced or closed at that site in the future. News on this issue is hard to find online.

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