Montalcino Travel Video Guide

Montalcino Travel Itinerary

• Flights to Montalcino
• Montalcino Hotels Comparison
• Buy the guide book!

MONTALCINO is another classic Tuscan hill-town, 20km west of Pienza. Set within a full circuit of walls and watched over by a rocca , it looks tremendous from below - and from above, the surrounding countryside strewn with vineyards, orchards and olive groves is equally impressive. Montalcino produces a top-notch DOCG wine , Brunello di Montalcino, reckoned by many to be the finest in Italy, and is a quiet place, affluent in an unshowy way from its tourist trade. For a time in the fifteenth century, though, the town was of great symbolic importance: it was the last of the Sienese comune to hold out against the Medici, the French and the Spanish after Siena itself had capitulated. This role is acknowledged at the Siena Palio, where the Montalcino contingent - under its medieval banner proclaiming "The Republic of Siena in Montalcino" - takes pride of place.

The main street, Via Mazzini, leads from Piazza Cavour at the north end of town to the Piazza del Popolo , an odd little square set beneath the elongated tower of the town hall, based in all but its dimensions on that of Siena. An elegant double loggia occupies another side with, opposite, a wonderful and rather Germanic nineteenth-century cafe, the Fiaschetteria Italiana , that is very much the heart of town life. Steps beside the cafe lead up to the excellent Museo Civico e Diocesano (Tues-Sun: April-Oct 10am-6pm; Nov-March 10am-1pm & 2-6pm; Jan-March closes 5pm; L8000/?4.13; joint ticket including Rocca ramparts L10,000/?5.16). The quality of the art on show is out of all proportion to the size of the town, and takes in a wealth of Sienese painting and early sculpture. Following Via Ricasoli south brings you to the Rocca fortress (daily 9am-7.30pm; winter closes 6pm). Impressively complete, this encloses a public park and plush enoteca . You can also get access to the ramparts from here (L4000/?2.06, or joint ticket from Museo Civico L10,000/?5.16).

Regular buses arrive from Buonconvento and Siena, most of which pass first through Torrenieri , from where connections head to Pienza and Montepulciano, and to Arcidosso and Abbadia San Salvatore. Montalcino's bus stop is at the north end of town in Piazza Cavour. The tiny Pro Loco tourist office is near the Piazza del Popolo at Costa del Municipio 8 (Tues-Sun: May-Sept 10am-1pm & 2-5.45pm; Oct-April 10am-1pm & 3-5pm; tel 0577.849.331, www.digitamiata.com/promontalcino ). Hotels are uninspiring, with the Giardino , Via Cavour 2 (tel & fax 0577.848.257; L90,000-120,000/?46.48-61.98) prone to street noise; and the Giglio , Via Saloni 49 (tel & fax 0577.848.167; L90,000-120,000/?46.48-61.98), generically renovated. Private rooms are a better bet: try Locatelli Maria Pia , Via Spagni 3 (tel 0577.847.150; L60,000-90,000/?30.99-46.48). The best restaurant is Cucina di Edgardo , Via Saloni 21 (tel 0577.848.232; closed Wed), swanky

and a tad pretentious; Grappolo Blu , on Via Scale di Moglio off Via Mazzini (tel 0577.847.150; closed Fri), is more down-to-earth. Best pizza in town is at San Giorgio on Via Saloni (closed Mon), while La Griglieria del Corso , Via Matteotti 19 (closed Mon) has a chill cabinet full of salads and meats to eat in or take out, plus wood-fired pizzas and fresh pasta. Circolo Arci is a pleasant bar-cafe in an arcaded courtyard opposite the Museo Civico.

Find a cheap place to stay in Montalcino

Your Tips For Montalcino

• Tuscany Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Tuscany harbours the classic landscapes of Italy, familiar from Renaissance paintings and TV travel shows alike, with their backdrop of medieval hill-towns, rows of slender cypress trees, vineyards and olive groves, and artfully sited villas and farmhouses. - Italy
  

• Umbria Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Often referred to as "the green heart of Italy", Umbria is a predominantly beautiful region of rolling hills, woods, streams and valleys, and despite the growing number of visitors has largely retained an unspoilt air. - Italy
  

• Sicily Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  I like Sicily extremely - a good on-the-brink feeling - one hop and you're out of Europe ? - D. - Italy
  

• Campania Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  The region immediately south of Lazio, Campania , marks the real beginning of the Italian south or mezzogiorno . - Italy
  

• Calabria and Basilicata Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  More than any other of the regions of the Italian South, Calabria and Basilicata represent the quintessence of the mezzogiorno . - Italy
  

• Lazio Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Of all Italy's historic cities, it's perhaps Rome which exerts the most compelling fascination. - Italy
  

• Emilia-Romagna Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Set between Lombardy and Tuscany, and stretching from the Adriatic coast almost to the shores of the Mediterranean, Emilia-Romagna is the heartland of northern Italy. - Italy
  

• Piemonte and Valle dAosta Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Fringed by the French and Swiss Alps and grooved with mountain valleys, there are no less "Italian" regions than Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta , in the extreme northwest of the country. - Italy
  

• Friuli-Venezia Giulia Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  The geographical complexity of Friuli-Venezia Giulia - around eight thousand square kilometres of alps, limestone plateau, alluvial plain and shelving coastlands - is mirrored in its social diversity. - Italy
  

• Liguria Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Sheltering on the seaward side of the mountains that divide Piemonte from the coast, Liguria is the classic introduction to Italy for travellers journeying overland through France. - Italy
  

• Trentino-Alto Adige Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Trentino-Alto Adige is something of an anomaly: a mixed German-Italian region, much of which has only been part of Italy since 1919. - Italy
  

• Sardinia Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  A little under 200km from the Italian mainland, slightly more than that from the North African coast at Tunisia, Sardinia is way off most tourist itineraries of Italy: D. - Italy
  

• Lombardy and the lakes Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Lombardy , Italy's richest and most developed region, often seems to have more in common with its northern European neighbours than with the rest of Italy. - Italy
  

• Venice and the Veneto Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  The first-time visitor to Venice arrives with a heavy freight of expectations, most of which turn out to be well founded. - Italy
  

• Abruzzo and Molise Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  One region until 1963, Abruzzo and Molise - previously just plain Abruzzi - together make Italy's transition from north to south. - Italy
  

• Puglia Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Puglia is the long strip of land, 400km from north to south, that makes up the "heel" of Italy. - Italy
  

• Marche Italy Travel Videos
  Italy Travel Itinerary
  Lying between the Apennines and the Adriatic, Marche (sometimes anglicized as The Marches) is a varied region, and one you could spend weeks exploring. - Italy