Small-Group Montepulciano and Pienza Day Trip from Siena

Name: Small-Group Montepulciano and Pienza Day Trip from Siena
Brand: Tabl
SKU: F66UDNB
Price: 152.00 GBP
Availability: InStock
Rating: 4.5 (10 reviews)

8 hours

Group

English

What you’ll do

Begin your day trip with pickup in Siena, where you’ll hop aboard your minivan and travel toward Pienza with your guide. Pass through the Crete Senesi along the way, clay hills with a lunar-like appearance as a result of the soil’s gray coloring. Arrive in the town of Pienza, the gem of the UNESCO-listed Val d’Orcia region. Enjoy some free time to explore here independently, strolling the streets or perusing the local shops. Head next to a dairy farm for a delicious lunch made from the farm's fresh ingredients. Treat your taste buds to a sampling of salty Pecorino cheese, a favorite in Italy, and hear about the farm’s history and production process. Continue to Montepulciano, a hill town overlooking the scenic Tuscany-Umbria border. Take a guided stroll around the Piazza Grande before wandering the churches, palaces or stores at your leisure. On request, make an additional stop at a winery for a tour of the cellars and tastes of Montepulciano’s celebrated vino. After a full day of fine food and exploration, your tour will conclude with transportation back to Siena.

Highlights

Guided full-day trip to Montepulciano and Pienza from Siena
Discover the Val d'Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Savor lunch and a Pecorino cheese tasting (included) on an organic dairy farm with spectacular views
Small-group tour with a maximum of eight people ensures an intimate experience

Itinerary

Meet your guide in front of the church of San Domenico in Siena at 9:30am, easy to find even if you are arriving from out of town with your own car, as there is parking in the vicinity.

Travel south out of town on one of the most panoramic roads of Tuscany, through the characteristic moonscapes of the Crete Senesi.

Enjoy brief stops along the Crete Senesi for for photo opportunities before visiting a quaint, non touristic medieval hamlet. Continue along this stunning landscape and reach the UNESCO heritage site of the Val d’Orcia, where you come across some of Tuscany’s most iconic postcard pictures.

Arrive to the beautiful, utopian renaissance town of Pienza, one of the first towns to be entirely planned out on paper by important architects of the time. These were called upon by Pope Pius II, the humanist pope who wanted to renovate his native town and bring it new splendor.

Spend your leisure time exploring the Romanesque church of Corsignano or the ideal, Renaissance Cathedral and walk along the scenic route overlooking the valleys and hills beyond. Browse the pretty streets of this gem of a town or some of its many shops of local crafts and products.

Visit a val d'Orcia dairy farm for a wholesome and refreshing lunch based mainly on the fresh ingredients produced on the farm. Here you can learn about the pecorino sheep cheese making processes, visit the farm animals and learn about the lifestyle of the area. Weather permitting, lunch will be served on a panoramic terrace, overlooking the valley below.

In the afternoon, visit one of the biggest and proudest of the Tuscan hill towns, Montepulciano. This town was first under the dominance of medieval Siena and then became an ally to renaissance Florence: here you can recognize the influences of both Republics in its architecture and art. Located on a steep hill, you can look over the ledge at the the Tuscany - Umbrian border.

Visit the main square, Piazza Grande, and explore one of the many old wineries carved out of the ground below the city, and taste the Vino Nobile that was produced by the many important and noble families that one lived here.After a short walk around town with your guide, enjoy some free time on a second tasting of the Nobile wine or visit the town’s many stores, palaces, churches and streets. As you follow the main road down the hill, imagine how hard the “Bravio delle Botti” town festival must be: a competition between the neighborhoods of the town that race wine barrels from the bottom of the hill, all the way to the top.

On some occasions the itinerary might vary a little. In this case, the tour could be slightly modified but will maintain a similar general imprint, of the same duration and with all the same inclusions.