We are planning a Spring trip 2023 to Italy. We are staying at an agritourismo near Montepulciano for a week before heading to Cinque Terre. We have two nights in between that we aren’t sure what to do with. We are driving, planning to drop off our car in La Spezia. Where do you recommend we stay in between? We were looking at the Siena-San Gimignano-Volterra-Lucca-Pisa track. Because we will be in Tuscany for a week, thinking it would be nice to be inside a hill town for these 2 nights. Would love actual accommodation suggestions. We don’t have flights yet but our trip for the most part will start and end as stated above.
Posted by
New York
318 posts
Hi Amy, Volterra is my wife and my favorite hill town. we stayed at Alberto Etruria, right in main drag in center. You can visit San gimignano from there. We also love Lucca, but a little bigger than a hill town. We would recommend La Boheme b&b. In center with wonderful hosts. Can provide some restaurant recommendations for Lucca if you need. Should be a great trip.
Posted by
11647 posts
Volterra would be more of change from Montepulciano area.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15798 posts
I can't speak to the towns, but I'd consider somewhere that you can drop the car on arrival and take the train to the CT.
Posted by
Treasure Island, Florida, USA
267 posts
You don't say how long you're staying in CT, but consider adding the two nights there. Call us crazy, but we turned in our rental car and stayed in Vernazza for 4 nights, we loved being there in the evenings and mornings. We siesta'd and partied on our beautiful balcony in the afternoons, avoiding the crowds. We rented a boat from the dock for one of our days, swam in the blue blue Med, and saw a waterfall (the rental boat gentleman showed us where to go). We're not super experienced boaters, but the boat was inexpensive, small and simple to use. We packed a lunch and watched the crowded ferry boats maneuver in and out of the harbor. Gloated a little bit since we had privacy and THE VIEWS!!!
Also, on arrival, we found an opera recital planned for that evening at 7, after all the crowds had gone. Inside a church. Just beautiful.
Posted by
OP
FL
99 posts
David - Thank you for your response. We would appreciate any restaurant suggestion you are willing to provide.
Joan - We booked 3 nights in CT. It’s a magical place for sure. You gave us some ideas about boating we hadn’t considered. Thank you.
Posted by
New York
318 posts
Our favorite restaurant in Lucca is Osteria da Pasqualino on via del moro. The owner is very friendly and generous and the food is great, as is the atmosphere. Trattoria Gigi is also good. For a little step up, Ristorante all'Olivo is also very good. For pizza, Pizzaria da Felice.