Visiting Siena: San Giovanni D'Asso

I had the pleasure to visit this weekend a darling little town with an amazing surrounding landscape: San Giovanni D'Asso. This town is within the Crete Senese area and very close to Trequanda, which is much more publicized for tourists. Both towns merit a visit.

This past weekend (March 10 & 11) was the annual Festa del Tartufo (truffles). Apparently this town is famous for its surrounding truffles. From my point of view, San Giovanni D'Asso gives tourists that visit Tuscany what they are craving for: unbelievable views of rolling pristine green hills from every angle of the town.  Don't miss a visit to its castle.

Please be careful if you visit the Church San Pietro in Villore, outside the town center. It has an underground crypt inside the Church with an open door in the pavement of the Church and steps leading you down to the crypt. There are no signs warning you of this open door and you can fall. Definitely not child safe!

Visiting Siena: San Galgano, Monteriggioni, Chiusdino

Tuscany can be overwhelming. If you plan on staying in Tuscany and have only a few days of time to see as much as you can, I suggest you visit only a few places and really absorb yourself in those few places. Do not make the mistake of trying to see it all in one trip.

If you plan to visit the area of Siena, try to visit the following places:


 Abbazia of San Galgano & La Spada Nella Roccia

These are two places right next to eachother. You will walk from the monastery up to the place of hermitage of San Galgano (Church with the sword in the rock)

Next go visit Chiusdino, a neighboring darling town and the birth place of Saint Galgano.

After Chiusdino, go to Monteriggioni, which is about 45 minutes away from Chiusdino. It is a charming town within the completely intact walls of the city. It is definitely worth a visit. There are numerous small shops with hand made articles that range from wooden items to ceramics to wool clothing to wine and honey. Bring plenty of cash as I found the prices in Monteriggioni to be quite high.

Visiting Buonconvento (Siena)

This weekend we decided to take the scenic and longer route to Siena from Chiusi. Actually it is all scenic but this is via the old Cassia instead of the Highway. Along the way we stopped at a wonderful little town called Buonconvento and took a glimpse at the handcrafts on sale as well as the antique open air market. This past weekend was the "Cose del Passato" or Things of the Past market with everything from wooden products, wrought iron, linens, embroideries. There are many little trattorias along the main road in the center of the town and you cannot wrong as they all offer the usual favorites, pastas, meats, antipasti, bruschetta, etc.

If you are going to Siena, stop in Buonconvento along the way.