Full Day in the Val D'Orcia (from Florence) Tour

A full-day exploration of the towns of the Tuscany countryside

(4.95)

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From $2,274 privately

Tour Details

About the Tour

Category: Excursions and Day Trips
Duration: Full-Day
Location: Florence

Photos & Highlights

The perfect mix of art, food, history, and culture in the Val d'Orcia, complete with tastings of pecorino cheese and Brunello wine tastings
Includes a private car service throughout the duration of the tour
Pienza, Montalcino, Abbey of Sant'Antimo, and Local Winery

Tour Description

The Val d'Orcia countryside, located just south of Siena, is an idyllic valley, with gorgeous emerald green rolling hills lined with cypress trees and a medieval past originating from the Via Francigena, a pilgrimage road that connected Rome to northern Italy and beyond. The area is now most well-known for its wine and cheese production, being the cradle of the pecorino toscano cheese and the famed Brunello di Montalcino wine. Explore this charming corner of Tuscany on this full-day Val d'Orcia tour with a local historian, and learn about the art, history, culture, food, and people of this unique region.

Please Note: This tour includes a car service that will pick you up at your accommodation. Please tell us your hotel or apartment address in the additional details box when adding the tour to your shopping cart.

Sites Visited

Pienza
Montalcino
Montalcino Winery

Included

Car service throughout the duration of the tour

Itinerary Details

In this full day exploration of the Val d'Orcia countryside, your driver will pick you up in the morning from your hotel, be it in Florence or elsewhere in Tuscany. The guide will either meet you at your hotel or join you on the way, providing background information about the area. You'll spend the morning in Pienza, either inside the city, where you'll visit the Renaissance-style Duomo and city center, tasting various local pecorinos at small boutique food shops.

For lunch, you'll head to the world famous wine town of Montalcino, where you'll grab a quick bite in a typical Tuscan enoteca, tasting local cheeses, salami, and wine. In the afternoon, you'll continue on to the abbey of Sant'Antimo. From here, you'lll get an in-depth look at the local wine with a visit to a Montalcino winery, where you will indulge in samples of the highly-regarded Brunello wine and learn about its history and production.

At the end of this active day, during which you will have become intimately acquainted with the special character and traditions of the Val d'Orcia, yourself and your expert guide will travel back to your hotel, sated by both appreciation for the region's culinary traditions and the tastings.

Looking to take another Tuscan excursion? See our Siena Tour or Pisa Tour.

FAQ

Where do we meet? Where does it end?

We meet at your accommodation in Florence (or the surrounding area) at the beginning of the tour and drop you off at your accommodation at the end of the tour.

How long is the full-day tour?
This tour lasts around 10 hours from pick-up to drop-off.

Are the lunch and tastings fees included in the price of the tour?

In order to maintain a degree of flexibility in choosing which shops and wineries we will visit, a tasting fee is not included. You will be responsible for the cost of any applicable tasting fees (wine tastings or cheese tastings), which are approximately €25/30 per person depending on your interests. Lunch is not included in the cost of the tour, this will be at your own expense.

What if I am not staying in Florence?

The tour is priced for departure from Florence or nearby. If you’re staying in Siena, please take a look at Day in Val D’Orcia (from Siena). If you are staying elsewhere in Tuscany, send us an email and we can help arrange the best itinerary for you. Please note that additional fees may be incurred.

Where You'll Start

Tour Experts

Stella

Stella has a background in art history, anthropology, enology and is passionate about the traditions of Tuscany. Based in Siena, she has been traveling since a young age, an interest started during her studies of foreign art and cultures. She graduated in English and South American Literature from the University of Siena and holds a Masters degree in Business and Tourism from Bocconi University in Milan. She received grants from University of Siena University to study in Germany and Ecuador. She became a licensed guide in 1999 for Siena, San Gimignano, Montalcino and Montepulciano. She loves Context family tours and she enjoys sharing the hidden treasures of Siena with her clients. She especially loves exploring farms and vineyards in Tuscany in order to share her passion for Brunello di Montalcino or Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti wines along with the impressive Tuscan landscape.

Rita

Happy to be a tourist guide, Rita has always loved art, theatre, music, travels and all that is about creativity and communication. She started being a radio speaker when she was a teen ager, then continued dubbing and performing in theatre, the whole time studying art history and languages, english and french. She wrote some texts for books on Siena, holds lecturers and cultural activities together with theatrical guided tours. Rita is lively and passionate.. She is a story teller, proud to be Sienese and fond of the local traditions, while excited connecting people from all over the world. She loves giving tours in Siena, exploring the hidden depths of the city together with presenting ancient frescoes and artworks, tasting wines and regional specialities. Rita leads tours in Siena, San Gimignano and Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

Alessandra

Born and raised in Florence, Alessandra has a degree in art history from the University of Florence with a specialization in seventeenth-century painting. She obtained an Masters from the European University Institute in Florence, where she defended her Ph.D. in history, focusing on the patronage of Tuscan nobility in Europe during the seventeenth century. In addition, she holds a diploma in archival administration, paleography, and diplomatics from the State Archive in Florence. She has been teaching art history and Italian culture for several years in various schools and institutions in Florence and across Italy.

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15 Reviews – (4.95)

Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.

Driver and guide were excellent. She reorganized a few things on the fly and made trip that much better. The small towns we visited and stopping along the road to step out and take pics were awesome. The restaurant overlooking the valley was great and winery was a nice final stop. Great Day!

Eric

Jun. 30, 2022

We loved Alessandra! Our daughters were discussing how they would like to invite Alessandra to Washington DC to give her a tour in return for the incredible day she provided us.

Peter

Jun. 23, 2022

It was a treat to leave The crowds of Florence for a day. The driver Giuseppe and guide Stella were gracious in their knowledge,. Stella knew her wines well and was a delightful informative person. The day was SO pleasant and Tuscany is so romantic, recalling many movies and hundreds of paintings. Lovely trip.

Louise

Jun. 5, 2022

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