Tour ideas
Montepulciano is located on the borders of Lazio and Umbria, borders that have remained so for centuries, helping to safeguard social, economic, political and cultural differences; a biodiversity that today is an extraordinary richness, all to be discovered.
Just take the car and move for a few kilometers to find yourself in the countryside of high Tuscia, with its tuff villages, or in the sweet and quiet Umbria.
Montepulciano is also located between two valleys: the beautiful Val di Chiana, with its millenary history and the equally beautiful and famous Val d'Orcia.
The small villages that characterize this area, are like islands in the Tuscan countryside. Each one is different from the other, each one has a soul of its own, so you can have fun discovering them one by one.
Ideas for one-day itineraries
The castles
The most imposing one is the Longobard castle of Radicofani with its village clinging to the majestic medieval walls. In addition to the castle (which can be visited) you can get lost in its twisted streets, the Jewish quarter and if you are lucky, you can eat together with the pilgrims who are traveling along the Via Francigena, a way of traveling old and new, which many people are rediscovering and is giving new dignity and new life to the villages, the villages born on these directives of march in the early Middle Ages before the decadence started with the Black Plague of 1348.
From Radicofani you can move towards Rocca d'Orcia and still visit Campiglia on the slopes of the Amiata, wonderful and massive perched towers, stone monuments, expression of a great architectural and urban school that developed from the eighth to the fourteenth century.
The villages of Val d'Orcia
Pienza, Ideal City wanted by Pius II and made real by Rossellino in the second half of '400 and then San Quirico with its magnificent Collegiate Church and the Horti Leonini, Monticchiello small but interesting village with a living community, with its beautiful Garden of Peace in the upper part of the village by the master Andrea Cresti.
The Val di Chiana
In the other valley, Cortona, a beautiful town nestled in the foothills of the Apennines, with its beautiful views of the Val Di Chiana, Lucignano, Sinalunga, Torrita and their small but beautiful old town houses and streets of red brick and beautiful churches with paintings by the Masters of the 400 Siena.
The Spa
Here we are in a thermal area thanks to our blue giant: Monte Amiata, an isolated, beautiful mountain, full of woods planted in the 8th century by Benedictine and Circestensian monks, wood was used for the construction of churches, castles and villages and today the chestnut trees of Monte Amiata are protected but there is a need for constant control to protect this territory, beautiful, famous but with a fragile and delicate ecosystem.
Monte Amiata is an ancient extinct volcano and gives us every day its hot waters from the natural pools of Bagni San Filippo or Bagno Vignoni, or you can relax in the modern Theia pools of Chianciano, built about 3 years ago or those of Rapolano.
Taking a bath in the warm thermal waters is a beautiful and relaxing experience, especially in the coldest months of the year.
For those who have children in tow
In every village there is a playground or a small garden where children can relax, there is a bar where you can have an ice cream, benches where you can sit and many restaurants where you can eat together...
In Montepulciano there is a beautiful playground for children right next to us, in front of the fortress with beautiful big cedars of Lebanon that have been creating a very pleasant shade for about 80 years.