Best direction to travel through Chianti region

Motiva8

New member
Hello there,

My husband and 2.5yr old daughter will be travelling through the Chianti region and surrounds over the 8th -15th May (8 days). We have been to Florence before, so will be staying in smaller towns on this trip and are ideally wanting to do easy day walks from town to town with the option of bus travel if we need a break. We have booked accommodation in Greve and are aiming to get to Siena, and allow a few day trips to Livorno, Montepulciano, Volterra, and San Gimignano. I am looking for advice on the following:
1 - best short walks (either direction of Greve to Siena or Siena to Greve). Realistically up to 4 hours a day.
2 - Recommendation as to which towns to stay in that will be on a bus / train line as we won't have a car - thinking of 2 nights in each location. Towns just need to be large enough for a restaurant or two and a supermarket if possible.
3 - After the Florence / Greve to Siena part of the trip we hoped to stay in a country town eg Barga where we could do a bit more walking through lush green forests (after this stage we then leave Italy and train to Interlaken). Any advice on the best way to get to Barga from Siena would be great. If it's too hard by public transport, happy to go with other suggestions for places to visi which would be just as lovely.

Thank you in advance.
 
Walking through Chianti

Buongiorno,

I have looked at the map, and I really don't know how far you figure on covering in four hours - so I am going to try and guess an average (with a 2,5-year-old child)

From Greve in Chianti, following the main road, you can walk to Castellina in Chianti - both a full of stores and restaurants. From Castellina, according to the map with a 4,5-hour walk from Castellina to Siena via Lornano. I have biked this stretch several times and it is very lovely.

The best way to get to Barga from Siena ... is to get a car. There are several buses to change and connections to make. There are two options one leaves Siena goes direct to Empoli, then Pisa (two trains) and then two other local buses and the other goes through Florence (a bus and train hub), but again at least three to four connections. And you must always remember to be careful of the days you are traveling, Sundays always has less public transport trips than week days.

Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise
 
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