So confused about tours !

Cupcake52

New member
Hello and help !

I am staying in Florence for two nights and have May 2 available to do a day trip to countryside.
I was recommended a tour guide who proposed to pick us up ( 2 adults 4 kids) from hotel at 9:30.
He will take us to Etruscan tombs. Then castle brolio and then castellina in chianti , a farmhouse and frattoria tregole where we would have lunch.

Now I think I have picked the wrong tour. This is wine lovers oriented tour. And we practice total abstinence from alcohol as we have very strict religious laws about that. So we will not be visiting vineyards or tasting wine or interested in history of wine making at castello di brolio.

I do find eating lunch at the farm 0 km vegetables very appealing idea. I somehow feel it would be very authentic Tuscan cuisine .

But then I also think it will be a waste of money as 3 of my kids won’t eat as they are picky eaters. And they will still be charged €40 per person.

I want to pick an alternate itinerary for a day trip .
The guide asked me to share what I would like.

I am thinking from these options

San gimignano
Montepulciano
Pienza
Val d’orcia
Volterra
Monterriogi

I found an amazing website which lets you custom size your trip , lets you pick out of the suggested stops on the way and gives you option to choose the duration of each stop and it gives you price point , and commute time for your choices.

I am considering this:

Florence to volterra with San gimignano and monterriogi on the way.

What do you think? How long should each stop be? My most interest is in very panoramic views that I can take my kids pictures. And the other is quintessential and idyllic fairytale looking villages with rolling hills and green grass.

What are the possible good itineraries ? We can do an 8-9 hr trip. I think kids will be tired after that. Here are the pictures that I wish to see on real life and to take pictures there
 
The pictures didn’t attach.

The other issue is am I right in believing that farmhouse lunch would be more authentic than a restaurant ?
 
Ciao Cupcake,

I agree, it makes sense to move the focus of the tour to exploring the countryside, maybe keeping the Etruscan tombs, but not focusing on wines if you're not all at interested in that sector!

While I cannot see the photos you were thinking of, I can imagine they are of the soft rolling hills with cypress trees at the top. So I would suggest another itinerary, considering you will have your own guide and driver and can make it up.

Florence to Val d'Orcia (it's an area in southern Tuscany) - in the Val d'Orcia area, you will find the postcard landscapes you're imagining. So I would include a stop in Montepulciano, a hilltop town, and then move on to Pienza with a stop in between Pienza and San Quirico d'Orcia to see both the Vitaleta chapel and the crop of cypress trees (you see the chapel and a farmhouse in Val d'Orcia on the main slideshow on our home page). Both Montepulciano and Pienza are small towns that merit a stop, if you love cheese, you'll love Pienza more as it is the home of "pecorino" cheese, you'll end up taste tasting in shops and I recommend buying some. You can most definitely have lunch somewhere in this area, whether it is a farmhouse trattoria or not doesn't change the authenticity. Keep in mind most of the local restaurants use local ingredients, most trattoria all serve Tuscan dishes so it is in their interest to always provide great tasting food. Even if Tuscany is well traveled, don't think that people here change their dishes to cater to foreigners. Tuscan cooking is pretty rustic and many offer homemade pasta (in the area, make sure to eat PICI pasta, generally it is served with either a Pecorino cheese pasta or with AGLIONE, a type of local garlic that is not too pungent made with tomatoes, both are delicious).

As you make your way back up toward Florence, I suggest a stop in Monteriggioni as it is very small and a walled city, it is perfect for a break and for the kids to see what an actual small walled fortress looked like.

If there is still time, I'd ask your driver to stop in San Gimignano. It is very charming with its medieval towers. Depending on the hour you get there, you could climb the main tower next to the duomo or do dinner before heading back to Florence. Your guide might suggest to skip one of these two last stops, I suppose he will know better with driving time whether you can fit at least one of them in. I can't give you a specific time for each location, because I highly favor the "wait and see" approach. With kids, you never know what they might actually really like. But walking in the small towns and seeing the stone houses and streets might really appeal to yours. You didn't mention ages so I hope this works for them all.

Let me know if you still have any questions!
 
Ciao Cupcake,

I agree, it makes sense to move the focus of the tour to exploring the countryside, maybe keeping the Etruscan tombs, but not focusing on wines if you're not all at interested in that sector!

While I cannot see the photos you were thinking of, I can imagine they are of the soft rolling hills with cypress trees at the top. So I would suggest another itinerary, considering you will have your own guide and driver and can make it up.

Florence to Val d'Orcia (it's an area in southern Tuscany) - in the Val d'Orcia area, you will find the postcard landscapes you're imagining. So I would include a stop in Montepulciano, a hilltop town, and then move on to Pienza with a stop in between Pienza and San Quirico d'Orcia to see both the Vitaleta chapel and the crop of cypress trees (you see the chapel and a farmhouse in Val d'Orcia on the main slideshow on our home page). Both Montepulciano and Pienza are small towns that merit a stop, if you love cheese, you'll love Pienza more as it is the home of "pecorino" cheese, you'll end up taste tasting in shops and I recommend buying some. You can most definitely have lunch somewhere in this area, whether it is a farmhouse trattoria or not doesn't change the authenticity. Keep in mind most of the local restaurants use local ingredients, most trattoria all serve Tuscan dishes so it is in their interest to always provide great tasting food. Even if Tuscany is well traveled, don't think that people here change their dishes to cater to foreigners. Tuscan cooking is pretty rustic and many offer homemade pasta (in the area, make sure to eat PICI pasta, generally it is served with either a Pecorino cheese pasta or with AGLIONE, a type of local garlic that is not too pungent made with tomatoes, both are delicious).

As you make your way back up toward Florence, I suggest a stop in Monteriggioni as it is very small and a walled city, it is perfect for a break and for the kids to see what an actual small walled fortress looked like.

If there is still time, I'd ask your driver to stop in San Gimignano. It is very charming with its medieval towers. Depending on the hour you get there, you could climb the main tower next to the duomo or do dinner before heading back to Florence. Your guide might suggest to skip one of these two last stops, I suppose he will know better with driving time whether you can fit at least one of them in. I can't give you a specific time for each location, because I highly favor the "wait and see" approach. With kids, you never know what they might actually really like. But walking in the small towns and seeing the stone houses and streets might really appeal to yours. You didn't mention ages so I hope this works for them all.

Let me know if you still have any questions

Wow!! Thank you so much for such a detailed plan and suggestions. I m blown away !

This sounds very interesting. How long do you think this would take ? Start to finish ?
 
All day, you can start early as the drive to Montepulciano does take a bit but then enjoy the way back pretty leisurely. I think you'd be can get to San Gimignano by dinner time, but you can also choose to skip if your time runs out. With a personal guide and driver, I'd choose to say this is what we'd ideally like to do but I don't want to be in a hurry to check off any boxes. Let's go and see where we get to, in the end I am sure the driver will agree it is better than having a set time frame in each spot. Although you will want to be conscious of the time at each stop, you don't need to wander around aimlessly and waste time either ;)
 
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