Hi all you world explorers, I am planning a trip for the 2 of us (wife's 70th birthday) and would appreciate any information--we have stayed in Gaiole in Chianti at the Castello di Spaltenna and really enjoyed the fact that we able to walk into town-go to mass, stop in the grocery store and of course meet the wonderful residents. Has anyone stayed where they could visit other towns via regional train and or buses--I really don't want to have to drive everywhere. This is probably the first of many questions I will have, but I thought I would start the ball rolling---thanks to all Greg
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
9511 posts
AFAIK the Chianti area has no train access and buses are limited (same for most of Tuscany)
A car would be very useful if you want to see any more of the Tuscany countryside
Otherwise the best location would be Siena for better transport connections
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
2110 posts
This is good map of easy connections by train or train+bus in Tuscany.
https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/images/tuscany-rail-map.png
We stayed for a week outside Castellina in Chianti which was very nice but required a car. The town itself was nice and was trying very hard to get on the tourist circuit and I think has come up some since I stayed near there. If connectivity is high on your list you might look into someplace like Certaldo. It is connected to Florence, Siena and Poggibonsi by train and so has some decent local connections like a local bus to San Gimignano. Poggibonsi is a travel hub for the area but we passed through it repeatedly staying in Castellina and I would characterize it as "charmless".
Many times there are rural bus routes that exist but don't work for tourists - like two buses a day 2 hours apart so it doesn't give you any time to explore. I've take the bus from Arezzo to Siena which cuts out going back to Florence and saves more than an hour but I find getting reliable and complete bus information from the US to be difficult.
Just some thoughts, hope it helps,
=Tod
Posted by
seattle
2398 posts
I loved Pienza. There is a bus to/from Florence twice a week or a more frequent bus to/from Pienza to a Trenitalia train station. From there you can take trains to various destinations.
Posted by
Chicago
9737 posts
we have done a week or two weeks in Tuscany 3 times over the years, basing in a hamlet near Siena about 40 years ago, near lucignano 25 years ago and then when I retired 15 years ago two weeks in Montepulciano. we had a car and drover to abbeys, gardens and towns in the region from our base. To do Tuscany you really need a car.
Now if you really don't want to do that then an option would be to stay in Siena which is a stunning place on its own and worth a couple of full days. And there are a few tours of the region you can get from there. For example there are a number of wine tours to Chianti region and to places like Montepulciano and Montacino.
You could also get public trans port by bus to a fair number of towns from Siena. Trains don't really go to the kinds of places that make Tuscany interesting but there are buses. This is trickier as buses tend to be designed for school kids and workers but you will find buses to take you to many of the hill towns and you could combine that with a tour or two.
Another option is to stay in Florence and day trip from there. it is an expensive place to stay to leave, but there are lots of tours of hill towns, vineyards etc etc from Florence and it is the best place in Tuscany to make use of tours.