Staying in Montepulciano (Orvieto too) in March

Did you find hotels willing to take your reservations?
Easter is the end of March, so that may result in businesses being open.
Good luck!

Pat, I'm staying in Airbnb's in both places. My trip is earlier in the month, so I'm not sure Easter would make an impact.

I’ve stayed there (and in Orvieto) in March and everything was open. People live there.

Rachele, thank you for responding. The blog was written in early 2022, but updated just last month, so it seemed reliable. I like your opinion better!

Both towns are real towns with people living there-not just tourist destinations

We were there in March for two weeks in Montepulciano when attending Italian school at Il Sasso.

We were busy all day at school, and then the after school activities and most nights were happy just to eat dinner in our Airbnb or hang out with our new friends from school.
The few nights we did go out there were restaurants open, but basically the town was really dead. We were so busy during the day either hiking, and all the activities and classes, that we didn’t care that there wasn’t a big nightlife.

I remember one of the Saturday nights we decided to have our big night out and we found a restaurant open and then we went to the plaza and there were only a few people walking around.
But there is enough to do during the day with the wine and day trips, and hikes that can tire you out, so you won’t mind a quiet evening. But if you were looking for a Tuscan town with people hanging out in the town Square at night having wine, etc., this is probably not a good place to go in March.

We leave next week for Italy, and are spending most of our time with a rental car hopping around to small Umbrian towns and doing wine tasting along the way. Although we're not staying in Montepulciano, we are going there for the day. In my research, I've not had a hard time finding several restaurants, wineries, wine bars, etc. that are open in Montepulciano, although it does look like the Civic Museum is now only open on the weekend (not sure if that's always the case or not).

On a prior trip, we stayed in Orvieto in January and although it was certainly less touristy, it was by no means dead. We had no problems eating (very well!), shopping, or visiting museums, churches, etc.

I hope you have a great trip!

I'm not interested in late night activities, but do want a variety of options for restaurants (nothing fancy, but more than just a pizza joint) and I enjoy wandering in to various stores to do some shopping. I also like the general hustle and bustle of a community when I leave my apartment. Of course, I need fairly easy access to a grocery store, mostly for breakfast foods and snacks, but usually only once when I arrive in a new place. Overall, it sounds like I can still get most, if not all, of that.

It's interesting that the blog straight up said Jan, Feb and March aren't good months to stay in Montepulciano, but it sounds like that's not necessarily the case. Just one more reason to spend plenty of time researching a place I suppose.

I appreciate all the input so far. This site really is so helpful!

We were in Montepulciano last April and it was quite busy. It would seem strange to me if March was deserted and then suddenly April is slammed. If anything I would happily accept some closed restaurants for smaller crowds.

I will say there were a lot of day trippers so the town quieted down significantly after about 5-6pm, but still lots of restaurants were open.

Ksea, good point. I’ve decided to keep my reservations as planned.