First Visit to Tuscany - Recommendations

[SamC.]

The bride (of 30 years) and I have managed to synch our schedules for a semi-last minute getaway for the last two weeks of September. We're giving serious thought to heading to Tuscany with the idea of finding a "sweet spot" to stay for the duration and use as home base. We prefer off the beaten path, unique places.

That said, I would welcome any Pelican Traveler recommendations for best small town, best agri-tourismo, best lodging, restaurants, etc.

Thanks much, Sam

[tevake]

You have a treat in store Sam. Great area to travel in.

Check out my thread "summer trip to Europe"
On pages 4 and 5 is description of our trip in the area.
Complete with recommendation of the wonderful place we stayed there.

Sorry I can't seem to make a link happen.

Happy travels,

Richard

[Crowbob]

Visit Florence! Man, I'd love to go back.

[vash]

Tuscany!! beautiful!!

i went wine tasting and had a blast. pretty much every stop had an awesome version of some balsamic vinegar. i still have some of the best ones..i'll try to remember to snap a pic of the bottle..you have to stop there!! super fun.. they told me they have wild hogs running in the fields.. now that would be an adventure. hah

i cannot remember what travel book we had with us, but it was excellent, right down to the places to eat. i'll ask my sister.

[glewis80SC]

Last minute accommodations holidays Tuscany apartments Tuscany countryside Volterra Pisa

We stayed here this past summer its is beyond beautiful the host Paula is wonderful, its is off the beaten path for sure, you can get to Florence in 90 minutes, Siena in about the same, Volterra and San Gimignano in about an hour. Paula has a local friend come in and cook a homemade meal once a week, homemade Lasagna, wine and cheese...one of the best meals I've ever had.

[SamC.]

Originally Posted by glewis80SC

Last minute accommodations holidays Tuscany apartments Tuscany countryside Volterra Pisa

We stayed here this past summer its is beyond beautiful the host Paula is wonderful, its is off the beaten path for sure, you can get to Florence in 90 minutes, Siena in about the same, Volterra and San Gimignano in about an hour. Paula has a local friend come in and cook a homemade meal once a week, homemade Lasagna, wine and cheese...one of the best meals I've ever had.

GLewis, That's great info. Volterra and Siena were already on the list. Thanks for the recommendation.

[SamC.]

Originally Posted by vash

Tuscany!! beautiful!!

i went wine tasting and had a blast. pretty much every stop had an awesome version of some balsamic vinegar. i still have some of the best ones..i'll try to remember to snap a pic of the bottle..you have to stop there!! super fun.. they told me they have wild hogs running in the fields.. now that would be an adventure. hah

i cannot remember what travel book we had with us, but it was excellent, right down to the places to eat. i'll ask my sister.

Vash, Thankyou. Re the book - "Rick Steves Italy" by chance?

[white85carrera]

Lucca, Italy between Pisa and Florence. great walled city and shopping, second best wine shop in all of Italy located here.

[Peterfrans]

Apart from the stunning landscape, the nice thing about Tuscany is that you can reach most sites is an hours drive, especially when are based centrally. Nices towns to visit are Greve in Chianti and also make sure to walk the city walls in Lucca.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by SamC.

"Rick Steves Italy" by chance?

Bear in mind if you follow his routes & resto suggestions, you will be surrounded by a whole mess of Americans doing exactly the same thing.

For a lot of great info, peruse Fodors Forums - Europe. Lots of Trip Reports & a good place to find information.

Ian

[vash]

i dont think that is the book. i remember her mentioning that she didnt like that guy.

i barely pay attention to my sister.

[OffCamber00]

Make Siena your home base. you can take day trips all over the region to all of the small towns.

[tevake]

Sorry for the brief reply this morning Sam.
I was preparing to roll out for a drive across Nevada.

Here is a link to the thread I mentioned.
Summer trip to Europe

Scroll on down the page to find pics and details of our wonderful stay there.

Staying at this place was one of the highlights of our trip.

The name of the place is agriturismo I Moraioli.

Have a fun trip

Cheers Richard

[look 171]

We spent sometime in Italy, mostly the northern part. I love the lakes region. My wife loved Lago di Grada so we decided to spent a week there. There were few tourist, and you can walk around the lake if you like, but driving around the lake is more like it. Como is damn nice but a bit more tourists so was Lugano Switzerland. It is actually not too far away. Our base was Bresica for Italy.

[LWJ]

We stayed in Greve in an agriturismo. Lovely. Started in Bellagio and ended in Bologna. Fantabulous. You really can't miss. Rick Steves is a genius as well but his locations are all "discovered" now.

[tevake]

Love Lago Di Garda !
A great spot coming down thru the alps into sunny northern Italy!

[cstreit]

Lago di MAjore (sp?) and the Palace Hotel. Beautiful views and wonderful people!

[look 171]

I'll tell you the story how we discovered Grada. It was on a Sunday afternoon in Bresica, bad enough its Siesta Time but bus strike also. With no where to go and the only restaurant open near our hotel was this Chinese place. We walked in and was greeted by a nice Chinese man in broken Italian, we assume. After some time, my wife notice they were talking about us in Chinese, something to the fact that they felt sorry for us because we had come half way across the world and have to deal with the strike. My wife got talking with them with her broken Chinese so they turned us on to Grada. We left the next day and ended up staying there for a week. We visited all three lakes as drove into Switzerland.

[Jestocost]

Renaissance Hotel. Tuscany is absolutely fantastic. It is near Lucca and the morning views are great. Good wine list to. But, Sienna is an incredible base to use to see the sights.