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Tuscany/Val d' Orcia-Stay recommendations
Posted on 8/13/26 at 3:38 pm
Posted on 8/13/26 at 3:38 pm
I have just spent hours over days planning and putting our trip to Italy together. Booked Rome, Florence, Chianti, Amalfi stays and feel good about it. For some reason, I just cannot pull the trigger on a stay for 2 nights in Val d' Orcia. I think I am having a hard time with agroturismo stays for some reason and there are so many. We like higher end places but do not wish to pay splurge like rates per night everywhere we go on this trip. Any personal experiences and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
5
Posted on 8/13/26 at 4:46 pm to driftwoodtigerfan
quote:
We like higher end places but do not wish to pay splurge like rates per night everywhere we go on this trip
Does anyone not like this?
What are you looking to do? Staying outside of a town is great if you want it, but FYI a lot of the roads are crap in the country so its not exactly something you want to drive at night home from dinner. For 2 nights its probably fine.
If you are just a couple, my point was staying in a town somewhere is not the worst idea.
Posted on 8/13/26 at 4:58 pm to driftwoodtigerfan
If you like the beach…
Montalto di Castro
Hotel Margharita. Not fancy but on the beach with sufficient eats and drinks.
Montalto di Castro
Hotel Margharita. Not fancy but on the beach with sufficient eats and drinks.
Posted on 8/13/26 at 5:14 pm to driftwoodtigerfan
I have been to Val d'Orcia. Montepulciano and Montalcino but we drove there from our accommodations in Chianti country, namely a villa about 20 miles south of Florence. If you have Chianti booked, I would just stay there extra days and drive to Val d'Orcia.
We stayed at that villa twice and it was a spectacular place. Unfortunately, we can stay there no more because it has been sold as a private residence.
As for Florence we have done both. Twice we have stayed in Florence hotels and once we commuted there from our villa in Chianti which was just south of San Donatto in Poggio and just north of Castellina.
I would rather drive a half hour than keep changing hotels.
We stayed at that villa twice and it was a spectacular place. Unfortunately, we can stay there no more because it has been sold as a private residence.
As for Florence we have done both. Twice we have stayed in Florence hotels and once we commuted there from our villa in Chianti which was just south of San Donatto in Poggio and just north of Castellina.
I would rather drive a half hour than keep changing hotels.
Posted on 8/13/26 at 7:35 pm to geauxpurple
I have considered this. Having never been I was thinking it would be nice to experience a different area-scenes, wineries, and restaurants, without the drive back to Chianti. Thank you for your suggestion!
Posted on 8/13/26 at 7:38 pm to baldona
It will be our first time there. We were hoping to drive or be driven around to some of the towns, visit wineries, and experience some amazing dining. I don't wish to have long commutes back to where we stay so I guess that is why we are trying to split the two areas.
Posted on 8/13/26 at 10:16 pm to driftwoodtigerfan
The three towns I have been to in that area are the aforementioned Montalcino and Montepulciano as well as Pienza. Pienza was nice, but the other two were much more substantial.
I would recommend staying in Montalcino or Montepulciano, two fantastic and atmospheric hill towns, both specializing in exceptional wines, Brunello and vino nobile respectively.
I can understand why you don't want to drive longer distances than you have to, but you will still need to travel because there are too many attractions around there to stay in the same place the whole time. Siena is not far away and San Gimigiano (sp) is something to see. We went to all of these places, as well as Florence, from our base in Chianti Classico country.
That is one of my favorite trips.
I would recommend staying in Montalcino or Montepulciano, two fantastic and atmospheric hill towns, both specializing in exceptional wines, Brunello and vino nobile respectively.
I can understand why you don't want to drive longer distances than you have to, but you will still need to travel because there are too many attractions around there to stay in the same place the whole time. Siena is not far away and San Gimigiano (sp) is something to see. We went to all of these places, as well as Florence, from our base in Chianti Classico country.
That is one of my favorite trips.
Posted on 8/14/26 at 9:13 am to driftwoodtigerfan
We spent a few nights in Monticchiello. It is a typical Tuscan town similar to Montalcino/Montepulciano. We spent a couple of days criss crossing the Val d'Orcia, and it was amazing. I recommend getting your own car so you can control the pace. We hit some of the medieval towns, but the best part was driving across the countryside and stopping and taking pictures of farms, villas, etc. There is a small chapel seemingly in the middle of nowhere surrounded by a clump of cypress trees. It is called Capela de Madonna di Vitaleta. We also drove to the Abby of Sant' Antimo. It is a beautiful monastery down in a valley. We also visited the fortress at Montalcino. You can walk along the walls and there is a very nice wine bar (enoteca) inside the walls.
On our way back to Rome we spent a couple hours in Cortona. I highly recommed stopping there. The views from the city are amazing.
We stayed at a really cool spot in Monticchiello. We found it on AirBnB, it is an apartment built into the tower of the city walls. It has a window in the bedroom that looks over the Val d'Orcia. It was owned by a lady who also owned the restaurant in town. She was a real character. She has since passed away but I believe her daughter is running it now.
This was the view from our bedroom:
This is the AirBnB link:
LINK
On our way back to Rome we spent a couple hours in Cortona. I highly recommed stopping there. The views from the city are amazing.
We stayed at a really cool spot in Monticchiello. We found it on AirBnB, it is an apartment built into the tower of the city walls. It has a window in the bedroom that looks over the Val d'Orcia. It was owned by a lady who also owned the restaurant in town. She was a real character. She has since passed away but I believe her daughter is running it now.
This was the view from our bedroom:
This is the AirBnB link:
LINK
This post was edited on 8/14/26 at 9:16 am
Posted on 8/14/26 at 9:40 am to slinger1317
This is great information! Thank you for sharing!
Posted on 8/14/26 at 11:46 am to driftwoodtigerfan
Last Tuscany trip we did a stint outside of Montepulciano at LUPAIA.
Wow, it was nice. I highly recommend.
Wow, it was nice. I highly recommend.
Posted on 8/14/26 at 11:54 am to driftwoodtigerfan
quote:
I don't wish to have long commutes back to where we stay so I guess that is why we are trying to split the two areas.
When I said outside of town, I meant a tuscan town and not Florence, just to clarify. What I meant is that a lot of the towns are small enough you can stay in them and have basically the same Tuscan views, you are just in town and not in the country.
Some of this would depend on the time of year also. Like if you are staying for a week of summer I'd stay in the country with a pool. But for just 2 nights, nothing wrong with either option at all but I'd probably stay in a town, on the edge of a town where it would be quiet but you can still walk around to grab breakfast in the morning and dinner at night. But its really all personal preference.
The farm we stayed on was great, but the road there was a crappy tourist road and we were in your fairly normal Italian rental car so I didn't love driving to the farm at night. Its not like the farmers had jacked up American trucks with 4x4, but they had crappy cars that could take a ding and you wouldn't know. I wouldn't say its a major issue, but something to consider. Not all are hard to access either, ours was almost 2km from pavement.
This post was edited on 8/14/26 at 11:55 am
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