Hi:
I just got back Tuesday. I’ve taken several trips to Europe over the years and normally only have the first and last night reserved. This time I found prices going up and things booking up so I booked ahead. Since you’re planning a summer trip I would recommend booking ahead.
I stayed in an apartment just outside of Siena for 5 nights at "Antica Fonte Residenza di Siena". The website I booked on was www.agriturismo.net. The same apartment was available on booking.com. The apartment was GREAT and the location was about 1.5 miles from Siena. There is supposed to be a bus available but we used a taxi on the few occasions we went into Sinea - about $20 USD. The owners are very nice and although English is limited we had no trouble. They also clean the apartment each day which is unusual – they work way too hard. Coffee and milk were included as well. The rate was also very reasonable. The reviews on both trip advisor and booking.com were outstanding. This was one of the best places I've stayed when traveling. I had been to Italy twice before and had been to Florence. I had only done a day tour of Sinea and wanted to spend more time in Tuscany. I chose to stay outside of Siena to avoid the drive back and forth to Florence. Depending on where you want to visit it could be 1-2 hours each way.
I decided not to rent a car as I wanted to tour hill towns and vineyards and did not want to worry about driving. Driving can be challenging. People pass on both the right and left, make lanes where they don't exist and tend to drive FAST 130-140 km in a 90 km zone was pretty common. Again, totally a personal choice many people do so without any issues I just wanted to enjoy wine tastings and not having to worry about it. Also I don’t drive a manual transmission. I had found the general rule to be to pay 2X more for an automatic in Europe. However, when I checked into renting it was $130- manual vs $660 - automatic for a 5 day rental in Siena. Many locations do not have automatic transmissions available at all. If you plan on renting keep checking the sites the prices were jumping around significantly (up to $1100).
Wine Tastings/Hill towns: We booked 2 day tours from Lucca at hillsandroads.com one south of Siena the Val d'Arbia and Val d'Orcia areas, the second in the Chianti Classico area between Siena and Florence. This was a great service and also highly recommended on travel boards. The cost works out to about $50 US per hour with a 5 hour minimum. They suggest itineraries but you can change it even on the day of the tour. We met several people who rented cars and all said they wished they had rented a driver instead. It's really a personal choice.
Cooking Class: We attended a cooking class near Siena with Nonna Ciana. I found her on Trip advisor. This was so much fun! There were 10 of us in class and even though she does not speak English (I think she understands it pretty well), she had two interrupters and we had no problem. This was by far the best meal I had in Italy and one of my favorite experiences. For details visit www.lepietrevive.it or www.cookingclassesnonnaciana.com.
Florence Apartment: Residence La Repubblica. I booked through Booking.Com. This is the second time I've stayed there. The location is great, the apartment was very nice. The building was under reconstruction this time but we were only there one night. It's very close to the Dumo and Ponte Vechio bridge. Check in is at the Hotel De Lansi which is about 3-4 bloks away - not ideal but doable.
Good luck on your travels and congratulations!
Theresa - MN
