Our family of 4 (2 college age children) will be in italy for 13 days next July 2022, and 5 of those days will be spent in Tuscany. We’re trying to decide whether to stay closer to Castellina or greve… we are considering renting a house/villa, and would like to be within 10-15 min drive to town w/ groceries, restaurants etc.. we’d like to visit some good wineries, see Siena, San gimignano, lucca/Pisa, maybe volterra or montepulciano if time allows… any opinions as to which town w/b better?
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Greve and Castellina are only 30 minutes apart. Greve has a larger population, (13,000), Castellina a true hill town pop., (2,800).
Either will give you shopping opportunities, Greve will give you more options.
Posted by
Boston
1698 posts
We explored both towns last trip and either is a good choice. I would choose Greve for a town a bit larger and less dependent on tourism. Do use Google Maps for (optimistic) Tuscan drive time estimates as it really adds up - just look at the routing for either town to Lucca: a formidable 90 minute drive (one way) you and your backseat passengers will remember differently.
Posted by
St Paul
10 posts
We stayed in Castellina at a farmhouse with our family and absolutely loved it. We did a lot of day trips to Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Radda, PIsa/Lucca and numerous small towns. We were there in March/April for about a month ---so it was off-season and not all restaurants were yet open. But there were plenty of places to get groceries and supplies. Castellina is much closer to major roads than Greve. Consider that every time you leave to go on a day trip, there are major winding roads and you will need to drive slower than anticipated at times.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2111 posts
Either would work fine, just look for what agriturismo works for you.
We spent a marvelous week with Castello di Verrazzano as our home base. It's a gorgeous site and the staff, especially Marco and Isabella bent over backwards to make our stay enjoyable. We were there mid-December and for several days had the place all to ourselves. This is a winery and they also raise their own wild boar and honey, as well as making a true balsamic vinegar to die for. Even if you don't stay there, consider doing their winery tour and wine and food tasting for lunch. One advantage of staying at Verrazzano is we didn't have to worry about driving after the wine tasting!
The accommodations at Verrazzano are very comfortable and the furnishings are eclectic. Think of going to visit your spinster aunt and staying in her big bedroom with furnishings from a bygone era but with a modernized bathroom. There's no TV in the room, but there is a common area with a TV. If you do it right, you don't need a TV anyway. If you do stay near Greve, be sure to eat at La Cantina.
Someone mentioned that Castellina is more centrally located and closer to main roads, which is true, but winding country roads is the charm of Chianti. Staying in Castellina may give you a 30 minute jump on a trip to Siena, San Gimignano or Volterra, but Radda is closer to Greve. Plus we did a day trip into Florence and Greve is on a main commuter bus line to the city.
Wherever you stay, I'm sure you'll have a great time! I'm jealous!
Posted by
11156 posts
We have stayed in Castellina several times and most recently rented a villa in Panzano. Also stayed in Radda. . We would go to Greve to stock up on things but preferred staying in the smaller towns. Panzano has a lower and upper town, both charming.
Villa rentals were Saturday to Saturday when we last rented. Try to get a pool in the hot summer months. The majority of rentals did not have a/c when we searched for them.