Tuscany Town Day Trip Recommendations.

Posted by heidifehr on 02/04/17 03:31 AM

We are visiting Italy the end of April for 18 days and will be staying in Sienna for 4 nights as a home base. We already have 1 day scheduled for a small group wine tour to Montepulciano, but we are planning to rent a car for 1 day to visit a few Tuscany Hill Towns. I would appreciate any suggestions to your favorite towns, restaurants or cites.
I was thinking about maybe San Gimignano, Volterra & Poggibonsi. Is this to many cities to see in 1 day? From what I've read they sound to be only 30 minutes apart.

Thank you for taking the time to offer some advice.

Posted by Rosalyn

Portland

02/04/17 04:43 AM

3648 posts

Yes, it's too much for a single day. One thing you have to get used to when traveling around in Italy is that getting to a town doesn't mean you're ready to roll. You need to find parking, usually outside the historic part that you actually came to see. Then you need to walk in.

Volterra, itself, can fill half a day.There's a lot of Etruscan stuff, including a museum and an archaeological park. A Roman theater, as well. That would leave you another half day to get to and see S. Gimignano.
I'm curious as to how Poggibonsi came up. I've never heard of anyone wanting to visit it.
BTW, my guidebook gives the driving time between Siena and Volterra as 1.5 hours. That's another thing about driving in Italy. Unless you're on autostrade or modern divided highways, short distances can take a lot of time. Think of 2 lane, curving, climbing and descending roads.
Someone is bound to chime in here soon with some caveats about driving. If not, do a search on this site. Then, take them very seriously

Posted by Zoe

Toledo, Ohio, US

02/04/17 10:44 AM

11613 posts

Pigging so is a small town in the province of Siena, it has a Medici fortress, Roman ruins, an inviting city center, and is relatively inexpensive for lodging and food. If you have a car, it's easy enough to get to other towns and cities.

Posted by mreynolds

Boston, MA

02/04/17 06:10 PM

1832 posts

I think your plan is doable in a long day and would be nice but may not be what you and the group are looking for

With your plan you will be on your feet siteseeing more so than driving since Volterra and San Gim will require multiple hours of walking about in each after you park your car away from the center and walk in

Posted by heidifehr OP

02/04/17 07:48 PM

18 posts

Thank you for the input. Poggibonsi only came up because I noticed it was near the other towns. I had already read that San Gimignano was about 1.5 from Sienna, so I think two towns could be doable and still enjoy each towns charm. Poggibonsi wasn't in my Rick Steves book as a recommendation, so I will head the advice from here and stick with San Gimignano and Volterra. Any other suggestions for restaurants or must see sites would be great.
Happy Travels!