Val d’Orcia in a day: Montepulciano, Pienza and Montalcino

If you picture Tuscany as golden hills, rows of cypresses and lonely farmhouses, you are picturing the Val d’Orcia. Its landscape is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and this is the right tour for people who want countryside, hill towns and wine rather than museums.

It is also the tour where the driver matters most: the wineries are the reason to come, and whoever drives could not taste a thing.

The day, hour by hour

• 8:00 · Departure from your hotel in Rome.
• 10:00 · Montepulciano: Piazza Grande and the historic cellars dug beneath the town.
• 11:30 · Pienza: the ideal Renaissance town, the view over the valley and the pecorino shops.
• 12:45 · Tasting lunch at a winery in the valley: traditional Tuscan dishes paired with the estate’s wines.
• 14:45 · Photo stop at the cypresses of San Quirico d’Orcia and the Chapel of the Madonna di Vitaleta.
• 15:15 · Montalcino: the Fortress, the old town and the view over the whole valley.
• 16:30 · Departure for Rome, back at your hotel around 19:00.

Three towns, three characters

Montepulciano is a long hill town on a slope, with Renaissance palaces and miles of cellars dug into the rock beneath its streets. It is the home of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Pienza was redesigned by Pope Pius II as the ideal Renaissance town and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It takes an hour: the square, the cathedral, the walls with the view over the valley and the pecorino shops.

Montalcino looks down on the valley from its fortress and is the home of Brunello, one of the world’s most famous red wines.

The landscape

Between the towns the road crosses the landscape that made the Val d’Orcia famous: gentle hills, rows of cypresses, farmhouses on the hilltops. We stop wherever you like for photos, especially at the cypresses of San Quirico and the Vitaleta chapel.

Spring and autumn are the best seasons: in spring the valley is green, in September and October it is harvest time and the colours change.

The tasting lunch

The highlight of the day is lunch at a winery in the valley: pici pasta, Pienza pecorino, cured meats and Tuscan dishes, paired with the estate’s wines and introduced by the people who make them. And since our driver is at the wheel, everyone can raise a glass.

We help you choose the winery and book the lunch; lunch is paid directly to the winery.

P.S. Passionate about wine? We can build a programme with you devoted entirely to tastings: Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino and Orcia, two or three wineries chosen together, less time in the towns and more in the glass.

Price for the whole car

Per-vehicle prices, departing from and returning to Rome. On tours and long journeys the sedan takes up to 3 passengers and the van up to 7. The final quote is built on the programme: stops, timings and how long you want at each place. Best agreed in advance.

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