Tuscan Discovery

Welcome to Tuscany! Arrive in Florence or Rome Fiumicino airport and go to the car rental area. Pick up your car (reserved by Land of the Gods) and drive to the apartment owner's Sant'Antonio Country Resort just outside Montepulciano. The welcoming owner sits down with you, shows you his special Montepulciano map and tells you his favourite restaurants, shops, bars and more. He tells you where to explore and answers all your questions. Meanwhile, a resort staff member unloads your luggage from your car into the owner's car. In your car, you follow the owner so you find your apartment quickly and easily. They take your luggage into your apartment for you. What a wonderful welcome!! You will have free time to start exploring Montepulciano, your Tuscan home. Shop in local stores for your groceries and start getting to know your neighbours. Dine at home or at one of the many good restaurants suggested by your host.

PLEASE NOTE: This 14 day itinerary is a suggested one to give you some ideas. ** If you'd like cooking classes, winery tours, olive oil visits, spa visit etc, feel free to call your hospitable apartment owner who will arrange it for you. You pay him direct. This morning, make yourself at home in your apartment and step outside to explore Montepulciano, a beautiful, walled town lined with Renaissance era palazzi. Montepulciano is famous for its Vino Nobile di Montepulciano wine, one of Italy's top reds. Browse in leather shops, artisan studios or art galleries. Visit wineries' stores where friendly staff offer you tasting samples. Marvel at amazing Tuscan country views from viewpoints. Sit back in lively Piazza Grande for a morning or afternoon drink and watch local life go by. Walk down to splendid San Biagio church and continue along a gravel road that takes you across the middle of the valley below Montepulciano. Magnificent, sweeping views! In the evening, cook some Tuscan dishes and dine at home with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano in hand, or enjoy one of many local restaurants.

Drive about 20 minutes to pristine, little hill town, Pienza, famous for its pecorino cheeses. Browse the shops, stop at cheese shops to taste young and mature pecorino. Taste many styles like pecorino aged in ashes or pecorino with hot peppers. Buy some local honey or jam to go with the pecorino cheeses you buy in Pienza. Take a stroll along the top of the medieval walls and admire vast Val D'Orcia views. Or take a longer country walk down outside the walls to a gravel road and across a ridge with a 360 degree view of lovely Val D'Orcia countryside. Walk for an hour and turn back to Pienza. Or walk two hours to Monticchiello and two hours back to get your car in Pienza. Or drive the road to the even smaller hill town, Monticchiello, take a walk around and stop for lunch in a trattoria. Drive back home to Montepulciano.

Drive to the hill town, Montalcino, famous for Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy's top reds. Browse the shops, stop at a bakery for tempting treats, and admire the vast valley views. Visit the wine bar and shop in the Medici fortress to taste Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino, accompanied by a light Tuscan lunch of bruschette, pecorino cheeses, Tuscan bread or other menu choices. Drive 9 km south of Montalcino to a magnficent, 1000+ year old church, Sant'Antimo, set in an idyllic Tuscan valley of winding roads lined with cypresses, vineyards, and olive trees. Pay a visit inside this Romanesque church, admire its naif sculptures of mythic beasts and just sit down to take it all in. Drive home to Montepulciano.

In the morning or afternoon, enjoy a multi-course, hands-on cooking class in the Montepulciano area, arranged by your apartment owner. Learn to cook local recipes, dine on all your creations with good local wines and get to know some local people through a fun cooking experience. By the time you eat all you made as you chat and laugh with your cooking teacher, you've spent about 3 or 4 hours. For the rest of the day, drive about 30 minutes to the older, upper part of Chiusi where they have an excellent Etruscan museum.

Drive your car about 30 minutes to Chiusi train station and park it. Take the train (about 90 minutes) to Florence. Don't drive into Florence---it's chaotic, full of frustrating one-way streets and parking is expensive. Explore Florence on your own. Take the 90 minute train ride back to Chiusi, get your car and drive home to Montepulciano. Relax at home after a long day.

After your long day yesterday, drive about 10 minutes to unwind at the "Terme di Montepulciano"---an Italian style spa. Phone their "benessere"---"well being" department in advance to book relaxing massages, facials, mud baths and more on their long list of treatments. Indulge for the morning and float out. Drive home for a light lunch. Relax at home and take a stroll in Montepulciano. Dine at home or at a local restaurant.

This morning walk beyond Montepulciano's city walls and down to visit the magnificent Renaissance era San Biagio church. Continue your walk below the church on asphalt until you reach a gravel road with a red and white hiking path map at the corner. Walk down this road and out into the middle of the valley where you're immersed in fantastic 360 degree views of Montepulciano above you and rolling land of hay fields, vineyards, olive trees and farms. Take your camera! Walk out into the valley as far as you want, turn back to walk the same route back to Montepulciano. Enjoy lunch at home or in Montepulciano. In the afternoon, since you reserved in advance with your apartment owner, visit two of his favourite wineries to learn how Vino Nobile is made and to taste Vino Nobile, Rosso di Montepulciano and Vin Santo right with the producers in their cellars. Dine at home or dine out.

Drive into Umbria on the west and north coasts of pretty Lake Trasimeno. Explore charming lake towns like Passignano or Castiglione del Lago. Enjoy lunch of lake fish or eel with Umbrian wines at a local restaurant. Drive back to Montepulciano. Dine at home or dine out.

Drive about one hour north to discover the southern part of the beautiful Chianti wine country to towns like Castellina. Ask your apartment owner what wineries he recommends and how to visit one or two of them. Savour Chianti dishes in a local trattoria. Drive back home. Dine at home or dine out.

In the morning or afternoon, enjoy a multi-course, hands-on cooking class in the Montepulciano area, arranged by your apartment owner. Learn to cook local recipes, dine on all your creations with good local wines and get to know some local people through a fun cooking experience. By the time you eat all you made as you chat and laugh with your cooking teacher, you've spent about 3 or 4 hours. In the rest of the day, since you've asked your apartment owner to arrange it, visit a local olive oil producer to learn first hand how they make fine Tuscan olive oil, how to taste it and how to buy the best quality. If you're there in November, the olive harvest is in full swing, so maybe you can see olive picking and oil making first hand and taste the coveted new, fruity olive oil. Return home to dine in or out.

Drive for an hour or so to Siena. Stroll in its beautiful, car-free, medieval centre. Visit its splendid cathedral and Piccolomini Library in the cathedral---wonderful frescoes! Climb to the top of the tower at the town hall in Piazza del Campo for amazing views and good exercise! Enjoy lunch in Siena. Drive home to Montepulciano. On the way you may want to stop at little towns like Buonconvento, listed as one of the most beautiful small towns in Italy.

Drive south to Orvieto (about 45 min), a splendid city set on a high plateau, famous for its layers of Etruscan, Roman, medieval history and its DOC wines. Learn about the Etruscans through visiting ancient tombs and its archaeological and civic museums. Browse shops and artisan studios (ceramics, jewelry and more) in the medieval centre. See excellent web site orvietoviva.com for lots of inspiring information. Dine at one of the many wine bars to learn about Orvieto wines and local food that goes with them. Drive back to Montepulciano.

It's your last day in your Tuscan home so leave it open for "dolce far niente"---doing sweet nothing. Re-visit your favourite spots, enjoy favourite experiences all over again, say good-bye to new friends and acquaintances in town. Relax in your Tuscan home and think of when you'll return.

After your last breakfast (for now) in your Tuscan home, drive back to Florence or Rome Fiumicino airports to turn in your car and fly home. Take home memories of heart to heart connections you've relished with new Tuscan friends, beauty that's seeped into your soul, authentic experiences you've savoured around rustic Tuscan food, robust Tuscan reds and fine Tuscan olive oil. You've felt part of local life in Tuscany.