My husband and I will be traveling to Italy in October. Part of the trip will be spent in Florence, and from there we are planning on renting a car, and touring Siena on our way down to Montepulicano. (We will stow our luggage at the bus station in Siena.) Montepulicano will be our home base for 3 nights. After that we will travel to Orvietto for 2 nights, drop off the car, and then take a train to Rome.
I was planning on getting a private tour guide for the Chianti and Tuscany regions and wine tasting for two days. My question is this, should we hire a guide for 2 days and have the car, or can we visit the wineries on our own, and meet the winemakers? We make wine ourselves, so we really would like to speak with the small wine makers. And I don't know how plan this on our own.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Rent your car as you're leaving
Florence. Visit Verrazzano outside of Greve as you're headed to Siena. Park in the Stadio lot. Are you then headed to Montepulciano, or spending the night in Siena?
If you have the time stay in Siena, totally different in the evening after the day trippers have left.
The next day head to Montalcino, look at the wine words wisdom site for wineries in this area. Some of the best wines in the world are produced here. Be sure to make reservations for the wineries you wish to visit.
Plenty of tasting rooms, but don't drink and drive. Italy's limit is much less than here.
Then wind your way thru Pienza on your way to Montepulciano. An interesting winery to visit here is
Note, a fabulous winery to visit from Florence is Antinori. There is a tasting room in Florence, but the winery is stupendous. Bus or van tours are available.