Description
This Pienza and Montepulciano tour from Siena takes a full day of about eight hours, and the road is part of the show. You cross the Crete Senesi, a bare, rolling landscape often compared to the surface of the moon, on the way into the Val d'Orcia and the small medieval town of Pienza.
Pienza was drawn on paper by architects and artists of its time, on the wish of Pope Pius II, who wanted to renew the town where he was born. Lunch follows at an organic farm, on a terrace when the weather allows: three courses of fresh local ingredients and a pecorino tasting, with wine.
In the afternoon the van climbs to Montepulciano, a big hill town by Tuscan standards, once under Siena and later under Florence, so its architecture carries both marks. The views stretch over the border between Tuscany and Umbria. Here you walk to Piazza Grande, go down into one of the cellars dug beneath the town, and taste the local Vino Nobile. After that you are free to explore palaces, churches and streets alone, and to picture the Bravio delle Botti, when barrels are raced uphill along the main road.
- Round trip by air-conditioned minivan
- Three-course lunch and pecorino tasting at the farm
- Cellar visit and wine tasting in Montepulciano
Museum tickets and tips are extra, and hotel pick-up is not included. Comfortable walking shoes are a good idea.