Wine country base in Tuscany and Amalfi coast recommendations? Help please!

I suggest renting a car and basing near Montalcino or Montepulciano. Either one is fine for visiting the other, as well as Orvieto and Pienza, all of which fit your criteria. I also advise, as I've done before here, not to waste any of your very limited time on Civita. You have some options for getting to the AC . . . drive to Sorrento and drop the car there; drive to Orvieto, drop the car and train; drop the car back in Rome and train. However you do it, it will eat up most of a day. I suggest you look at the Autoeurope site and check the cost of each, keeping in mind that trains are not free. You can get an (optimistic) estimate of driving times at viamichelin.com. We recently went from northern Tuscany to Sorrento. We found that dropping the car in Sorrento was $500 more than dropping at the Naples airport and taking a bus (another option). You need to also consider how complicated each option would be. Staying in Amalfi has the advantage of putting you in an interesting town with a bus station from which it is easy to access the other places of interest. Sorrento is best for visiting Pompeii and Herculaneum. Don't miss Ravello. You can pm me if you have other questions.

Jay, For the hilltowns in Tuscay you need a car see http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm for ideas. You can fly into Rome and train to Chiusi or Orvieto to pick up the car for Tuscany and return it to either place and train to Sorrento (via Naples).
Sorrento is the best transpotation hub.

Rosalyn has great advice! I would lean toward Montalcino only because we enjoyed it so much. Check out this B&B http://www.montalcinoitaly.com/home_cesira.htm as a base. Very romantic, well-located, free parking. You can use Montalcino to see Pienza, Montepulciano, and some amazing abbeys. A car is a good idea in Tuscany, but I'd drop it before heading south. Maybe drive to Orvieto and catch the train to Naples from there. You do not need or want a car on the AC. Let the trains do the work for you. We spent a week in Sorrento without a car and found bus and train more than adequate to get us where we wanted to go. Sorrento makes a great base.

Another vote for Montalcino! Especially if you enjoy Brunellos. Castello Banfi isn't far from there and an amazing place. I agree that you need a car in Tuscany and you can it for the Amalfi Coast.....or if you are adventurous- keep it. We had our car for 5 days in Ravello and it came in handy to drive to the mountain towns as well as to Pompeii. Yes, driving in Italy is adventurous, but we enjoyed it. Amalfi, Positano and Sorrento are all great tourist towns. We love Ravello and this last time stayed at Villa San Cosma. I have also stayed at Punta Civita in the past and would highly recommend both of them again.....with one caveat- you be need to be in shape. There is tons of hiking to be had here, but we liked it because it gave us a chance to work of the pasta and wine. Also, both places I mentioned have free parking and amazing views. Congrats on your first trip to Italy. And don't worry; no matter what, you will get it right. And of course you will be back!

Thanks to all for the replies!!! I really appreciate your insight. I have an additional question or two about Montalcino... It looks fantastic from a scenery perspective outside of town...how is the scenery/vibe in town? Are there the crooked narrow little streets that we daydream of in Italian towns? In looking at photos of town online, I do not see many taken from the streets. Also, I know it is kind of a sleepy hill town, which we want, but is it too sleepy? Just want to make sure there is a little bit of natural bustle going on with the people in town. We are thinking of spending Day 1 in Montalcino, day 2 in Siena or another town around(recommendations?), and the morning of Day 3 in Orvieto(we leave on train out of Orvieto) Bus will take us from Rome to Montalcino and Montalcino to neighboring towns, including Montalcino, right? sorry for allowing the cold feet to set in, but just want to make sure I am fully on board before booking the room. Thanks again to all for reading and in advance for your posts! Jay

Jay, Did you notice that everyone said to get car for the hilltowns? You can get a bus from Rome to Siena, just over 3 hours travel. Then local buses are at http://www.trainspa.it/train04/extraurbano.pdf
Good luck.

Hi Jay, Yes, Montalcino has those streets that you are looking for. I think that you will find that you will want to spend time there and then perhaps day trip (with your car!!!) to other places. I wouldn't move from town to town each night as you suggest. It takes half the day to do that and then you miss the whole point of Italy, which is not to see as much as possible; but to slow down and experience il dolce far niente. Cheers.

Yes, the other trips I was speaking of would just be day trips. We will be staying in Montalcino the entire time we are in Tuscany. Relaxing is at the top of our list. Recommendations for day trips out of Montalcino?