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Venice to Florance to Montepulciano to Orvieto by car

We will be staying in Venice for 3 nights and heading to Florence by car. Are there any wineries or small cities you would suggest to stop for lunch or wine tasting? After two nights in Florence we are driving to Orvieto to stay in an restored farm house and would like to visit wine country in and around Montepulciano in the morning, for lunch and after lunch. Do you have suggestions to stop between and around Montepulciano? We have from 10 am to 4 pm to do our sightseeing before checking in Orvieto.
Dean

Posted by
5955 posts

We spent 2 nights in Montepulciano and really loved that town!

It is a 1.5 hour drive from Florence to Montepulciano, then another 1 hour from Montepulciano to Orvieto.
I'd suggest visiting Montepulciano for the day- parking lots are outside the walls- walk or take bus up to Piazza Grande. Have lunch along the way and do your wine tasting right there the Palazzo Contucci (Vino Nobile).
http://www.contucci.it/index.php

We had a delicious Chianina Hamburger at a little cafe along the Corso. Best burger I have ever eaten!

Posted by
15043 posts

Since you plan to spend two nights in Florence, I would recommend that you take the high speed train from Venice to Florence (2h5min). Then after your 2 nights visiting Florence, you can rent a car in Florence and head out to your destination in the Orvieto area.

Florence downtown is closed to non residents' traffic, therefore your rental car would be gathering dust for 2 days in a garage because you won't be able to use it while in Florence. At an average $60/day for rental (including insurance, which is mandatory) plus 20-25 euro ($35) a day for parking, that is $200 thrown away for nothing. The high speed train Venice-Florence is 43 euro per person, but if you are certain about your travel plan, discounted tickets can be had for as little as 10 euro if you pre-purchase online. Train tickets go on sale 120 days prior to travel day and discounted tickets sell fast. Discounted tickets are non changeable nor refundable. The train is also much faster than driving and obviously more relaxing. Unless you are used to Manhattan type traffic, Florence is not the best place to acquaint yourself with Italian city traffic.

Near Montepulciano there is Montalcino, the land of the Brunello wine. Also the Vino Nobile is from Montepulciano. Alternatively you could drive the Chianti Road (SR222-Via Chiantigiana) from Florence to Siena and hit several wineries producing Chianti. It takes longer than the freeway, but it's a great drive to see Tuscany. It's about 1.5 hours (plus winery pit stops) to Siena (via the Chianti road), then another hour from Siena to Montepulciano.