Tuscany

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I sent a query to Sant' Antonio. Pauline, I seem to remember you had 2nd thoughts about staying on the Estate as opposed to the apartments in town. Or was that my imagination as I couldn't find anything to support this view when I searched old posts.

My other concern is: I always thought Tuscany was very touristy and catered to Americans. Am I wrong? Don't want to offend the many Americans who post here but....

Another question: where do you arrive/ rent car? Florence? Rome?

We would be coming from Lake Como area. Milan I guess would be our starting point. It's about a 4 hour drive but we could train it to Firenze and then rent a car...I guess we would return car and then train it to Rome airport.
Mmm seems rather complicated for a week. No?

 

[Pauline]

We were hoping to return last November and stay at Nico's apartment in Montepulciano, but the weather was so nice in the UK that we did not plan a trip.

This part of Tuscany is popular with tourists, but not as much as Chianti or Florence, or maybe even Lucca. Still, yes these are towns with lots of tourists - Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino. But it is a lovely area with much to see and do. We were there in June and had a nice time, but we know the area well and were revisiting favorite places we hadn't seen in 10 years. The upside to tourists is a great selection of restaurants and shops, well preserved towns, you can find people who speak English.

If you want to be in Tuscany but in the non-touristy parts, go into the mountains north of Lucca or go south of Montepulciano. We spent a couple of weeks in Cortona and it is not as touristy but we ended up driving up to Montepulciano many times and wished we had stayed there.

How about Le Marche? That is not as touristed and Guilia (who I know from ST) has an organic farm with B&B and vacation rentals. http://vallenuova.it/
http://vallenuova.it/
I would bet that catering to American tourists is not that much different from catering to Canadian tourists or even Australians and New Zealanders. We are all traveling these days and places in Europe are getting over-run.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Pauline,
What about my last question. Added later. Both places are quite far from Milan. Can you or others possibly suggest something closer?

 

[Pauline]

You could fly into Milan and out of Rome. Train from Lake Como to Chiusi where you pickup your rental car. @Jane wrote something for ST about picking up your rental car there. We were at the Chiusi train station last summer and it would be easy to get your car there and drive to Montepulciano. 30 minute drive? Maybe less. Chiusi is a nice town too.

Then drop off in Chiusi and take the train to Rome or drive to Rome airport and drop off there. We have done the latter many times - it is about a 2 hour drive to Rome airport from Tuscany.

Chiusi is a good station because the express trains stop there, I think.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

You could fly into Milan and out of Rome. Train from Lake Como to Chiusi where you pickup your rental car. @Jane wrote something for ST about picking up your rental car there. We were at the Chiusi train station last summer and it would be easy to get your car there and drive to Montepulciano. 30 minute drive? Maybe less. Chiusi is a nice town too.

Then drop off in Chiusi and take the train to Rome or drive to Rome airport and drop off there. We have done the latter many times - it is about a 2 hour drive to Rome airport from Tuscany.

Chiusi is a good station because the express trains stop there, I think.

you're so helpful, Pauline! Chiusi I never would have thought to rent a car there!

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I just heard back from Sant' Antonio. The apartment you stayed in is available for our dates. As well as a couple of others.I know you liked it there but was there an issue with always having to drive off the property for groceries etc. I don't think we'll do much cooking while there. A little.
I was just getting into exploring Piedmont! What to do??

 

[Pauline]

The trick of taking the train to Chiusi and renting your car there is something the ST group came up with years ago. A very good option.

We liked our apartment at Sant Antonio. One thing you will appreciate is that it is fragrance-free. Even the sheets - we did not have to use the sheets and pillow cases we brought with us. It did not have a large terrace, just a small place at the top of the steps to the front door with a table and two chairs, but had lovely views and the apartment was spacious. The bathroom is huge.

You do have to drive for groceries, but there is a very good fruit and vegetable shop and a deli about 5 mins away - on the way to Montepulciano, at the intersection where you turn to Montepulciano. Nico recommends it and it is family run. The deli food is very good and they make it. We got a few dinners there. For bread in the morning I drove out to another nearby town (5mins) to the bakery Nico recommended. It was very good.

Nico has a 2km walking trail that he uses for his runners. It is very nice and goes around the estate. At the farthest away point on the trail you can get out to a white road and walk further (we didn't try this). There are also some well marked trails in this area - better than when we traveled there 10 years ago. The trail from Bagno Vignoni is well marked. I have a few photos here - Day Trip - Bagno Vignoni. << Well that is embarrassing! I am still writing this day trip. I hope to get more added soon for Day Trips in Tuscany.

Photos of the trail signs around Bagno Vignoni.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Pauline,
I reread your trip report. Sounds wonderful. There are 3 apartments available. I think the one called Vecchio I believe sounds nicest as it has a private terrace. It seems that we would need to transfer in Firenze to catch the train to Chiusi coming from Milan. I think it's doable.
I want the time to be stress free so Sant' Antonio sounds pretty wonderful. I want to be in the countryside. I'm glad to know there are grocery options nearby.

Oh boy I'm getting excited!
Ron has a gazillion trips before then but none to places I want to go.

We may be back in Oxford for a bit in September. Stay tuned.

 

[Pauline]

The private terrace sounds good! All the apartments look lovely. It will be stress free there I think because it is a beautiful spot. There is a regular supermarket on the edge of Montepulciano where you can park easily and get groceries. Nico gives you a map with all these things marked.

There is a nice fruit and vegetable place in Pienza, just off the main pedestrian street.

Let me know your Oxford dates when you have them because we are thinking of 2 weeks away in the last two weeks of September.

 

[Roz]

Lisa, we were in Montepulciano for two weeks last spring (late Apr- May). I don't know if you saw the report I posted at the time on SlowTrav. I also have several albums on Flickr here. I know everyone loves Sant'Antonio, and if we hadn't definitely wanted to stay in the town, we would have considered it. But we really do prefer being in a town, where we can easily walk to restaurants, etc. We were very happy with the place we stayed: Politian Apartments.

I always recommend, if you can, to get hold of a book by Beth Elon: A Culinary Traveller in Tuscany: Exploring and Eating off the Beaten Track. That has been our bible for several trips in Tuscany, and has never steered us wrong. It was our source for many of the wonderful day trips we have taken. Unfortunately, it's not available as an e-book, but you can buy used copies very cheaply.

P.S.The link above is to what I wrote in the forum. I did also write a full trip report, which is here.

 

[Heidi]

I've stayed in and around Montepulciano many times - taking family and friends on adventures in Val d'Orcia. Yes, another American populating this remarkable tourist destination... We've stayed in Montepulciano several times and had two close agriturismo stays - one within walking distance of Montepulciano and my favorite, La Foce, was just a few miles away. Iris Origo's garden at La Foce is open for tours. Reading Origo's War in the Val d'Orcia is what originally drew me to this region. What a fascinating life she lived! I highly recommend this diary of a year when WWII came to the Val d'Orcia.

We've never rented an apartment within the walls but I loved our last hotel stay at Meuble Il Riccio. Like Roz, we've decided over the years, we prefer to have easy access to caffes' and restaurants. I live in the country, so I find I often desire towns/cities for holidays.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

We've rented Giotto May 30- June 6