As part of our 2 week trip to Italy we will be in Orvieto for a night then planning on staying somewhere in Tuscany for 5 nights. Then Florence for 2 nights and flying out. Planning on renting a car for lots of hill town day trips while in Tuscany. Planning on siena, san gimi, montalcino, etc. Knowing that we will be staying in Orvieto and Florence also, what town or region would you suggest for a villa/agriturismo/air bnb? Or are the trips short enough that it really doesn't matter!?
Thanks
Tuscany is a very large area. Look in Chianti at Castellina, Radda, Panzano. Good location to visit Siena, San Gimi, Siena, Volterra.
Or other side of the Province, Cortona for Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano.
Anything near Siena (preferably near an entrance to the freeway Florence-Siena-Bettolle) will put you within one hour drive of the top destinations. Look for something in the general area between Colle Val D’Elsa and Siena, more or less.
If you stay in an agriturismo or country villa or hotel, plot the exact location on Google Maps, then test the driving time (using Google Maps or also ViaMichelin) between that location to your intended destination. Although some locations may seem near on the map, however some accommodations require driving long distances on tortuous and narrow country roads which take much longer than you would think just looking at a map. Many Tuscan highways are very curvy and you’ll have a hard time driving faster than 25mph on them.
We stayed a week in an agriturismo near Montalcino and found it to be a perfect location. Driving to lots of hill towns was easy. Favorites were Piensa and San Quirico. We returned the car at the airport in Florence--very easy.
