Small Tuscany town, not Medieval walled city - for 3+ weeks? Camucia?

[travellight]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and very excited to meet and connect with fellow slow travelers! Thank you in advance for any help and insight!

Later this year, around the September timeframe, I am planning 6 weeks in Italy, with 3 weeks hunkering down in one home, likely in Tuscany (or Umbria). I would appreciate suggestions on liveable cities (that are not necessarily Medieval walled cities), in the region. More requests/requirements detailed below!

Background:

• This is my first "real" visit to Italy. Previously, I spent a couple of weeks in Sardinia, and overnight in Milan. I'm trying my hardest to research!
• We are a group of 5-6 adults, seasoned travelers, no kids. For most of the trip, there will be 3 of us. We are walkers, eaters, makers, and experienced travelers. We will learn some basic Italian.
• Prior to Tuscany/Umbria, we will spend 4-5 nights in Bologna, 4-5 nights in Florence, and possibly 3-4 nights in Lucca before settling down for 3-4 weeks in a vacation home (house, farmhouse, small villa) in Tuscany.

Yes, we will have a car, but walkability is most important to me. A large objective is to have the ability to walk and bike, particularly to a small village or town where I can purchase fresh produce, bread, etc for meals. Sit and have a coffee. Write. Sketch. We will do some driving tours and weekend side trips, but my goal is to settle in and get to know an area well. I will decompress after a difficult few years and want a (charmed, perhaps) experience of "living in Italy."

In doing my research, I have come to realize that I would like to visit Medieval villages for a couple of days during this 3 weeks, but I don't want to stay inside a village, nor be dependent on my "daily bread" by having to walk uphill for a mile into a walled village. I want to stay near a small village/town that is walkable.

My goal is slow travel rather than rushed sightseeing. However, we would like access to a train station (by car) so that we have the option to connect to other cities for broader travel.

This is a summary of my "wants":

1. A smaller town or village (I think smaller than Lucca, for example, which has a population of 88k), ideally located in a scenic area with vineyards, olive orchards, etc.
2. I'm looking south of Florence, north of Rome
3. Ideally not a Medieval walled city, but if it is walled, I would like the option of not having to climb straight up hill every day for basics (e.g. some stuff outside of the wall, or a less hilly city); I also want an authentic place where Italians live, rather than streets of souvenir shops.
4. **Walkability or bike-access to village for groceries and a cafe and a bar, needs to have at least a market, a couple of family restaurants, a cafe, and a bar. This is the vision for my holiday, so it's the most important thing to me!
5. Scenery and good nature/scenic walks -- elevation change is okay, but I'd like it to be relatively easy to bike. I'm not a mountain biker!
6. Access to easy routes to other must-visit locations in the region, ideally a train station within a short drive.

I've looked into these areas:

1. Panzano - this area seemed ideal, but it is sold out for my dates due to there being a wine festival in the middle of September. Population is 1.2k, so small. Too small?
2. Greve in Chianti - I read it is not charming, but I later realized that "charming" often means "Medieval walls"; a second look shows it might work for me. Any advice on this area? Population is 13k.
3. Camucia / Montalla / Cortona - I have found a home that I like in this area, walkable to Camucia (which is where the Camucia/Cortona train station is located). My big question: Is Camucia worth visiting/living in? Cortona is just a few km away, but I do not want to be dependent on climbing to Cortona daily (and it feels touristy though I know it has a large residential population). Camucia population is 6k.
4. Siena - I know it's a walled city, but I have read it's very liveable and the food is obviously good there. At 53k population, it's larger than I pictured. (We would stay outside of the walls).
5. San Donato - this is another walled city, but it seems more liveable in that area (we would stay outside of the walls), and the elevation change is not that great from the home we're looking at.

I'd appreciate any advice on the places above, as well as any suggestions for other "liveable" Tuscan villages with the services we're looking for. Or even ideal vacation rentals if you're familiar with homes (my thought is a house on farmland or similar, outside of a neighborhood).

Thank you for any help, advice, ideas!

 

[Ian Sutton]

Welcome!

Tuscany not my speciality, but I'll offer what I can, and I like your thinking about location and a point of difference to the rest of the holiday. I also like the aim for 'inner charm' rather than superficially attractive tourist locations. Small town Italy off the obvious tourist trail can be amazingly rewarding, with hospitality that is special. Hence finding that right location might mean throwing guide books away, and using google maps to virtually tour candidates.

Lucca oddly would have been a thought, as the walking is easy, it's all flat, and it never feels massive, but you'll get to experience that yourselves.

Siena does offer some good walking nearby, and noticeably energetic city walking as it's surprisingly lumpy in profile. Slightly surprisingly, we didn't especially take to the city, as a combination of high levels of tourism, plus the somewhat aloof nature of a banking city, made it all feel 'at arms length'. Even the food was somewhat disappointing, excepting the stunningly good farmers market in the old market square below il campo on friday morning. Every stall we tried stuff on starred.

Montepulciano is wonderful, but yes walking out from the centre will require a steep walk back. Whilst tourism is important, it still retains good character. What might work better is to find a lovely village nearby, with the option to head in for a meal or afternoon.

Colle val d'Elsa (seemingly simply called Colle by locals) impressed us, as charming but not over-touristed. Not sure on the size, but it felt like it had genuine (not picture postcard touristy) character.

We only spent a day in San Miniato (for the truffle fair), but that might be worth a look.

One final comment re: close to rail. Tuscany is rather unusual in Italy, in the trains are generally less convenient than the buses / coaches (the latter referred to locally as Pullman). Getting you head around bus/coach routes should really open up the region in the way the trains don't. A shame as I love Italian trains.

 

[Mom83]

Maybe give a thought to Pienza…flat and small (population @ 2,000), but it has several good restaurants and the hiking/walking in the area is excellent. It is a short drive to other towns in the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany….Montepulciano, Montalcino, and even north to Siena. The closest train stations would be Montepulciano Stazione (a minor train station…30 min drive), Chiusi-chianciano Terme (45 min drive), or Siena (about an hour drive).
We have stayed in this area and think it is the most beautiful area of Tuscany.
La Fonte is an highly recommended agriturismo nearby…2 kilometers from Pienza…

Home - Agriturismo La Fonte a Pienza

Agriturismo La Fonte Where time seems to stand still and the way of life is slower AGRIRISTORO Set in the hills above the Val d’Orcia Our kitchen is full of fresh local ingredients typical of the well-known Tuscan dishes. The dinner are served in our restaurant where you can enjoy this unique...

www.lafonte.toscana.it

 

[travellight]

Welcome!

Tuscany not my speciality, but I'll offer what I can, and I like your thinking about location and a point of difference to the rest of the holiday. I also like the aim for 'inner charm' rather than superficially attractive tourist locations. Small town Italy off the obvious tourist trail can be amazingly rewarding, with hospitality that is special. Hence finding that right location might mean throwing guide books away, and using google maps to virtually tour candidates.

Lucca oddly would have been a thought, as the walking is easy, it's all flat, and it never feels massive, but you'll get to experience that yourselves.

Siena does offer some good walking nearby, and noticeably energetic city walking as it's surprisingly lumpy in profile. Slightly surprisingly, we didn't especially take to the city, as a combination of high levels of tourism, plus the somewhat aloof nature of a banking city, made it all feel 'at arms length'. Even the food was somewhat disappointing, excepting the stunningly good farmers market in the old market square below il campo on friday morning. Every stall we tried stuff on starred.

Montepulciano is wonderful, but yes walking out from the centre will require a steep walk back. Whilst tourism is important, it still retains good character. What might work better is to find a lovely village nearby, with the option to head in for a meal or afternoon.

Colle val d'Elsa (seemingly simply called Colle by locals) impressed us, as charming but not over-touristed. Not sure on the size, but it felt like it had genuine (not picture postcard touristy) character.

We only spent a day in San Miniato (for the truffle fair), but that might be worth a look.

One final comment re: close to rail. Tuscany is rather unusual in Italy, in the trains are generally less convenient than the buses / coaches (the latter referred to locally as Pullman). Getting you head around bus/coach routes should really open up the region in the way the trains don't. A shame as I love Italian trains.

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and thoughtful response. I definitely feel like I have found my people! Finally!

I've started digging into Colle and agree that it does look promising. You're absolutely right that this is the kind of place that doesn't show up in any guidebook.

Up to this point, I've been entirely dependent on Google, Google Maps, Google Earth, and Airbnb. Google Earth has been useful in exploring a location and its terrain, but identifying the locations is harder.

I'll check out San Miniato too.

I also appreciate the note about the trains. My hope Is that I will have somewhat easy access to the high-speed rail that runs between Florence and Rome. To explain, I have a traveling buddy who is not as into slow travel as I am. He is a "mark everything off the listen one trip" kind of person. When I mentioned Italy for 6 weeks, his immediate response was, "Great, while we're there, we'll go to Norway!" (I'm not kidding, and yes, he does know geography!)

And when I told him I'd landed on Tuscany, he pointed out how close we would be to scratching San Marino off his list.

So if he has access to one of the major cities, he can fly off wherever he wants to. I'm going to stay put!

I also find the idea of being able to take a train to Rome for the day incredibly European and romantic. We will see if that happens!

Thanks again for the advice.

By the way, I added Umbria to my original post, recognizing that the Umbria region is also between Florence and Rome. I'm not as familiar with it, research-wise, but it also looks beautiful and I understand that it might be less touristed.

Mil grazie!

 

[travellight]

Maybe give a thought to Pienza…flat and small (population @ 2,000), but it has several good restaurants and the hiking/walking in the area is excellent. It is a short drive to other towns in the Val d’Orcia region of Tuscany….Montepulciano, Montalcino, and even north to Siena. The closest train stations would be Montepulciano Stazione (a minor train station…30 min drive), Chiusi-chianciano Terme (45 min drive), or Siena (about an hour drive).
We have stayed in this area and think it is the most beautiful area of Tuscany.
La Fonte is an highly recommended agriturismo nearby…2 kilometers from Pienza…

Home - Agriturismo La Fonte a Pienza

Agriturismo La Fonte Where time seems to stand still and the way of life is slower AGRIRISTORO Set in the hills above the Val d’Orcia Our kitchen is full of fresh local ingredients typical of the well-known Tuscan dishes. The dinner are served in our restaurant where you can enjoy this unique...

www.lafonte.toscana.it

Incredibly helpful, thank you so much. I have watched a few videos on Pienza and agree that it could be a possibility. I will look into the lodging that you mentioned as well.

Thank you so much!

 

[Tina]

To be convenient for the main train line you could look at the Lago di Bolsena area, we only stopped for half a day in Bolsena but thought it looked promising. Easy to get to Orvieto too. On a previous holiday years ago we explored the Viterbo Vetralla area, some lovely places and a lot fewer tourists than Tuscany.

Bolsena and Manciano in May

A blog about travel, vacations and holidays in Italy and Spain with advice, tips and trip reports

slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com

 

[Alpinista]

If looking for hiking opportunities, would do some research on towns that lie along the Via Francigena (which includes Lucca). There is a small exhibition in Lucca which provides insight into the trail experience (although I see when looking for link that it is marked as "temporarily closed"??).

 

[travellight]

If looking for hiking opportunities, would do some research on towns that lie along the Via Francigena (which includes Lucca). There is a small exhibition in Lucca which provides insight into the trail experience (although I see when looking for link that it is marked as "temporarily closed"??).

Thank you, this is very useful advice! We are walkers and I had it on my list to look at long walks. We did a week on a portion of the Camino de Santiago (the Northern route) in Spain 10 years ago for our 10th anniversary, and part of this trip will be our 20th. Walking from town to town is one of my favorite things! Thanks again!

 

[travellight]

To be convenient for the main train line you could look at the Lago di Bolsena area, we only stopped for half a day in Bolsena but thought it looked promising. Easy to get to Orvieto too. On a previous holiday years ago we explored the Viterbo Vetralla area, some lovely places and a lot fewer tourists than Tuscany.

Bolsena and Manciano in May

A blog about travel, vacations and holidays in Italy and Spain with advice, tips and trip reports

slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com

Thank you so much for these ideas. I will eagerly check them out. And thank you for sharing the trip report!

 

[Alpinista]

Thank you, this is very useful advice! We are walkers and I had it on my list to look at long walks. We did a week on a portion of the Camino de Santiago (the Northern route) in Spain 10 years ago for our 10th anniversary, and part of this trip will be our 20th. Walking from town to town is one of my favorite things! Thanks again!

We often see pilgrims moving along the trail. Hope you get a chance to enjoy. I was once a long distance hiker and climber (who now is happy just to get up the stairs) -- did a solo hike across Scotland one year and the Hadrian's Wall Trail another time. Life is always wonderful when you are outside.

 

[Tina]

About via Francigena, some parts are apparently a little monotonous and others really scenic. This website has itineraries you could copy since they do selfguided tours along the best bits

 

[travellight]

About via Francigena, some parts are apparently a little monotonous and others really scenic. This website has itineraries you could copy since they do selfguided tours along the best bits

Thank you so much, Tina. It's almost eerie; I was just searching for the walking segments when I thought to come here and see if anyone had responded to my post! We are thinking we may want to do 3 days on the trail, navigating between villages for overnights. (We did 5 days on the Camino de Santiago for our 10th anniversary and this is our 20th, so it could be a tradition.) I will eagerly look into the resources here. Thank you for the thought!

 

[Alpinista]

This just popped up in my FB feed. No personal knowledge, but might be another hiking outlet?