Traveling alone and need advice!

minus4153

New member
I'm going to be in Florence from February 28th through March 2nd, and I would love love love to go to some vineyards and do some tastings. I'm a student, so I don't have heaps of money to spend, and I don't have a car. I'd like to either find an inexpensive tour or maybe bus somewhere and stay overnight. I've also read that renting a bicycle is an option. Is walking viable? A friend said the Montalcino area is beautiful, but I'm sure I'll be thrilled wherever I am, but I'm completely lost as to how to approach all of this! Please help, and thanks so much!
Melissa
 
Chianti is great area for wine tours and wine tastings close to Florence

Ciao minus4153!

The best solution to go wine tasting and winery tours is to join group tours - you spend less and don't have to drive yourself!
Here is a link to the tours with our partner Viator - it collects all the wine tasting tours in Tuscany available from different companies in Florence.

Without a car, it is really difficult for you to get out of the towns and into the countryside where all of the estates are - the only exception is practically Greve in Chianti, because it has several buses running to and from Florence throughout the day. Other towns in Chianti are not as well connected - and there are several wineries within walking distance outside of the town as well as you near it with the bus.
Read these two articles for more details:
Chianti Wine Tasting, Tuscany Chianti Wines, Cellar & Estate Visits
http://www.discovertuscany.com/forum/moving-around-tuscany/205-getting-around-chianti.html

The Montalcino area is beautiful but you would definitely need a tour to get to the area and around the wineries. A Florence company running tour groups into the area is Vinaio - try contacting them to see whether they have something this upcoming week!

Wherever you are in Tuscany, you'll find wine - so even if you don't make it to the Montalcino area, I can assure you that the Chianti is just as valid ;)
 
Thanks so much for your response! I ended up chosing to take the bus to Siena and poke around there. I really wanted that experience of going to a vineyard and doing a tasting, but I realized this is not really the best time of year and I don't have the funds to do it the way I wanted. But you've given me great tools for my next trip there. Thanks again!
 
Some Tuscan areas are difficult to visit w/o a car but with patience, it can be done!

I hope you liked Siena as well! A visit to Montalcino and to most of the wine areas is definitely hard without a car, but if you do come back with a little more time, you can organize yourself to use the local buses. They require lots of patience, and time... Hope you come back to Tuscany soon, and if you need any more ideas, post your questions! :)
 
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