Travel Guide to Italy’s Chianti Wine Region
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Chianti is a scenic and mountainous wine-growing region in the heart of Tuscany, tucked between two of the most remarkable cities in the world, Siena and Florence. Here, beauty abounds, wine flows, and every visit reminds you why you should come back before you’ve even left.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over many years, it’s that it would be hard to find a nicer place on the planet to spend time.
It’s not just any wine that puts this relatively region on the map. Chianti is the producer of some of the world’s most esteemed wines, Chianti Classicos, made from Sangiovese grapes that grow around such noted wine towns as Radda in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, and Castellina in Chianti.
Even visitors without a taste for wine-touring are transported by the miles of vineyards, rolling olive groves, and handsome stone villages that are enticing draws for Italians and foreigners alike.
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Table of Contents
What is Chianti
Where is Chianti
Best time to visit
How long to spend
How to get there
Where to stay
8 Towns of Chianti
Things to do
Where to eat
What is the Chianti region
The Chianti region is a small sub-region in Tuscany, famed for its production of Chianti Classico wines made from the local Sangiovese grape. While not an official region, province, or administrative area, Chianti is defined by the vine-covered hillsides that surround eight little towns located between the cities of Siena and Florence. It is a rural and sparsely populated agricultural area.
Although the definition of Chianti has changed over time and many nearby locations now try to cash in on its fame by also claiming to be part of the Chianti region, officially it is comprised of just the following eight towns: Barberino Val d’Elsa, San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Castelnuovo Beradenga, Castellina in Chianti, Gaiole in Chianti, Greve in Chianti, Panzano in Chianti, and Radda in Chianti.
The 5 towns whose names end with “in Chianti” are sometimes referred to even more specifically as the “Chianti Classico” area. Both historically and still today, some of these towns fall under the administration of Florence, while others are part of the greater Siena governmental administration.
The name Chianti first appeared on maps in the 13th century, when Florentine officials established the Lega del Chianti, a military confederation meant to secure the territory around present-day Radda in Chianti, Castellina in Chianti, and Gaiole in Chianti.
The “in Chianti” at the end of these and other names in the region is a medieval Florentine denotation, a way of securing the desirable name Chianti to their holdings.
The Chianti Classico producing region as we know it today was demarcated by Cosimo III de’ Medici , Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1716. The largely rural area has not changed much over the centuries and is covered in a mix of oak and chestnut forests, olive groves, and, of course, vineyards, while small towns and villages command many of the hilltops.
Wine-growing is still the major component of the local economy, alongside the production of olive oil and tourism.
For more info on wine in Tuscany, have a look at our guide to Tuscan wine and our guide to wine touring in Chianti.
Where is Chianti
Chianti rises and falls over hilly terrain between Florence, to the north, and Siena, to the south. To the east, the hillsides carpeted with vineyards and olive groves overlook the Val d’Arno, and to the west, the Val d’Elsa, two Tuscan valleys.
Arch-rivals Florence and Siena fought over the region for centuries, and towns still fall under the influence of one or the other. Greve in Chianti, for instance, is part of Metropolitan Florence, while Gaiole in Chianti is in the Province of Siena.
These administrative distinctions aside, the towns of Chianti are all within easy reach of both Siena and Florence, and of each other. Greve is only 30km (18.5 miles) south of Florence and 40km (25 miles) north of Siena, while Gaiole is 40km (25 miles) southeast of Florence and 15km (9 miles) northeast of Siena.
How to get there
The good news is that the main road through Chianti, the SR222, also called the Chiantigiana, is one of the most scenic routes in Italy, following gentle rolling hillsides for 60km (37 miles) between Florence and Siena. The bad news is that the only easy way to travel this picturesque, two-lane byway is by car. In short, to get around Chianti, you absolutely need to have a car.
While there is some intermittent bus service in Chianti that can get you between some of the towns and/or to or from Florence and Siena, it’s neither convenient nor frequent. And for a rural region whose charm lies in visits to the countryside, buses simply won’t get you to most places you’ll want to visit.
Visitors who don’t want to drive will also be sorry to know that Chianti is one of the few regions in Italy that is not served by train.
If you’re arriving to Chianti from other parts of Italy or from farther afield, the most convenient gateway is Florence, with excellent train connections to all of Italy and an international airport. Visitors also often fly into Pisa which is just 69km (43 miles) away from Florence and connected to it by train, bus, and highway.
By car
If you’re driving in Chianti, your main road will be the SR222, referred to locally as la Chiantigiana. If you’re coming from Florence, you’d first briefly use the A1 autostrada (highway) and then exit at the city’s southeastern edge, connecting with the SR222.
From Siena, you’d take the regional SR2 road until it meets the SR222.Count on a drive of about one and a half hours to follow the length of the Chiantigiana from either Florence or Siena, not including stops.
From Rome, take the A1 autostrada north to the Bettolle exit, and from there follow SS715 toward Siena. Once on the outskirts of Siena, follow the SR2 to the well-marked SR222/Chiantigiana exit. Continue from there into the Chianti region. The drive from Rome to Gaiole in Chianti takes about three and a half hours.
If you plan on renting a car, you’ll find all the major international rental agencies in Tuscany. That said, you won’t be able to rent a car in any of the Chianti towns themselves and you might not even be able to do so in Siena. You’ll often have to pick up the car in Florence.
DiscoverCars is an online aggregator where you can look for car rentals. It includes offerings from all the major international rental companies as well as lots of smaller local agencies, which often have much better pricing. You can often find great deals.
AutoEurope is another aggregator that I really like. It tends to be more expensive, but they only list options from large, well-reviewed companies and their customer service is excellent. Their deals often include “zero deductible” rental insurance and they’re the best option if want the easiest experience and are ok paying a little more for it.
By bus
If coming from Florence, no one bus service follows the entire route between Florence and Siena, meaning that only certain Chianti towns are accessible on the route. Route 365A buses from Florence run about hourly and go as far as south as Lucarelli, 1 ½ hrs. (about 5 euros), making stops in Greve, Panzano, and a other towns along the way. It’s about an hour from Florence to Greve.
If coming from Siena, four or five Route 125 buses a day travel from Siena to Gaiole (30 minutes; 3 euros), Castellina (1 hour; 4 euros). and Radda (about 1 ½ hours, 5 euros).
A couple of buses a day from Siena also go as far north as Lucarelli, which makes it possible to change to a north bound bus in Lucarelli and continue traveling through Chianti to Florence, though you’ll probably have a bit of a wait between buses as the schedules don’t line up well.
For info on buses from Florence, go to www.fsbusitalia.it. For buses from Siena, go to www.at-bus.it.
In Florence, buses leave from the Piazzale Montelungo station next to Santa Maria Novella train station on Viale Strozzi. In Siena, buses depart from in front of the train station.
By train
If coming from Rome by train, you can be in Florence in an hour and a half, with service on high-speed Trenitalia and Italo trains that run about every 20 minutes throughout the day. They depart from both of Rome’s main train stations, Roma Termini and Roma Tiburtina stations.
Fares are typically 35 euros to 55 euros one way. Read this guide on taking the train from Rome to Florence for more info.
Once in Florence, you can transfer to a bus for Greve and other nearby Chianti towns. However, if you’re going to Radda, Castellina, or other towns nearer to Siena, your best bet would be to take the bust to Greve and then hire a local taxi to bring you to your final destination.
Once in Greve, you could also change to a Siena-bound bus in Lucarelli, but it’s unlikely you’d be able to make a convenient connection. Taxi fare from Greve to Radda is about 30 euros. A taxi from Florence to Greve is about 50 euros, and about 60 euros to Radda.
By guided tour
If you won’t have a car (or if you want to be able to try all the great wine you’ll be passing by), the easiest way to visit Chianti is via guided tour. While there are plenty of big bus tours that will take you to a couple of wineries and one or two of the Chianti towns, a private guided tour is a lot more fun.
Local guide and certified sommelier Stefano runs fantastic tours, with pick up and drop off available all over Tuscany.
Best time to visit
I have to admit to a fondness for visiting Chianti in the moody winter months, when mists hang over the hills and fires burn in hearths to ward off the chill in the air. That said, during the winter wine-tasting rooms often keep short hours and many accommodations and even restaurants are closed for the season, so you have to plan well to make a visit work.
Spring in Chianti is a delight, when the landscapes burst back to life in a thousand shades of green, and wildflowers bloom from every crevice. The weather is excellent for sightseeing - April and May temperatures range from 15 to 25C (60s and 70s F) - and most everything is open and up and running for the season.
Summer temps in these hilly elevations are usually not too high, and this a time to enjoy al fresco meals and to relax in the gardens that surround many accommodations.
Fall is prime time for wine lovers, with the harvest in full swing and wine festivals filling the squares of Greve and other towns. This is also peak season in Chianti, so expect the highest prices of the year and the largest crowds.
How long to spend
You can get a taste for Chianti on a day trip, and many visitors content themselves with a quick drive through the region along the Chiantigiana road between Florence and Siena, maybe stopping for some wine tastings and a meal. However, this doesn’t do the region justice.
For a good visit to Chianti, you should spend at least a few days here to savor the beautiful rolling hills, and explore the region’s excellent hiking, gravel bike trails, pretty vineyards, and meandering country drives. Many of the towns are rewarding, too, though most are small and easily explored in an hour or two.
As you get to know the region, you’ll discover that this beautiful corner of Tuscany is ideal for a long stay of a week, a couple of weeks, or even months. In fact, so many British vacationers have fallen under the spell and bought houses here that the region is often called “Chiantishire.”
Chianti also makes for a good base from which to explore much of the rest of Tuscany. Most Chianti towns are 30 to 60 minutes from Florence and more or less the same distance from Siena.
You can get over to the Val d’Orcia and such noted hill towns as Montepulciano and Cortona in around an hour and a half, or travel west to Volterra in an hour and from there on Tuscany’s lovely Maremma coast.
Where to stay
The town or area where you choose to stay in Chianti is not a terribly important consideration, since in this small region most places are within easy reach of one another.
Many hotels have extensive grounds, often with swimming pools and other amenities, making Chianti an especially relaxing place to spend a warm-weather holiday, and it’s easy to use the rural surroundings as a base for exploring Florence, Siena, and other parts of Tuscany.
Your lodgings will most likely be loaded with character, since many are in old castles, manors, palaces, and farmhouses.
Here are some choices that show the range of accommodations available. Prices are per night for two guests.
Badia a Coltibuono - A stylishly converted abbey is set in a nature preserve high above Gaiole. From 180 euros.
B&B Castello di Fonterutoli - Guest rooms in stone houses scattered around a rural hamlet outside Castellina are stylish and relaxing. From 170 euros.
Castello del Nero - Frescoes and other medieval splendor abound at this luxurious 12th-century castle and wine estate outside Tavarnelle Val di Pesa. They have two restaurants, one with a Michelin star, a fabulous pool, a great spa, and an absolutely stunning view from their back terrace. From 700 euros.
Castello Vicchiomaggio - The 700-year-old wine estate near Greve has hosted Leonardo da Vinci and other luminaries and now houses guests in a storybook, castle-like manor house and a beautifully restored priory. From 180 euros.
Palazzo Leopolodo - This palace full of medieval salons and beamed guestrooms in the heart of Radda opens to a village square on one side and sweeping countryside on the other, providing in-town convenience along with rural beauty. 120 to 140 euros.
Villa Le Barone - A count and countess pamper guests at their manor house outside Panzano. From 300 euros.
Borgo San Felice - Just outside the town of Castelnuovo Berardenga and only 20 minutes from lovely Siena, this 5-star property is among the most beautiful in Tuscany; resembling a small medieval village, which it once was. It has two excellent restaurants (one with a Michelin star), as well as its own vineyards and a beautiful cantina and tasting rooms. The hotel is surrounded on all sides by rolling hills of vineyards. From 600 euros.
Towns of Chianti
There are eight major towns in the Chianti region. Most are very small, and many are quite pretty. While it’s a pleasure to stroll around some of these towns, admiring the squares and stone houses, you won’t find a lot to do in them. The main appeal of this region lies in the beautiful landscapes.
As you explore, you’ll see road signs leading to such hamlets as Vagliagli, San Sano, San Gusmé, and Castagnoli. These are called “frazioni” and would once have been independent towns, but have long since been incorporated into larger nearby municipalities. Nonetheless, they have the feeling of being separate villages and make for lovely wanders.
Barberino Val d’Elsa
A bit off the beaten track at the western edge of the Chianti region, less than half an hour south of Florence. Barberino is part of a twosome, since it’s been joined with adjacent Tavernelle Val di Pesa to form a single municipality.
The streets of both are lined with fine churches, while just outside the cojoined towns is the remarkable Badia a Passignano, an abbey from the 11th century.
Castelnuovo Beradenga
With about 10,000 residents, this town almost within sight of the towers of Siena is one of the larger wine centers of Chianti. Even so, it’s a quiet place with few landmarks but an easygoing, low-key charm.
Castellina in Chianti
This lovely little village of less than 3,000 residents is clustered around the large castle the Florentines built to hold sway over Siena, just 35 minutes south.
Wine and food shops line the main street, Via Ferruccio, which is closed to cars, and the most atmospheric walk in town is along the Via delle Volte, an underground passageway in the town walls that was once a defensive lookout and from which you can enjoy views over the countryside.
Gaiole in Chianti
This little town, about 30 minutes from Siena and home to fewer than 2,000 residents, surrounds a lovely triangular square lined with several shops and restaurants. The famous gravel-path bike race L’Eroica starts and ends here each October and attracts amateur cycling enthusiasts from around the world.
You can follow the paths any time of year on bikes and e-bikes available for rent from shops in town.
Greve in Chianti
This longtime center of the local wine and olive-oil trade, a little over half an hour from both Florence and 40 minutes from Siena, is the unofficial capital of Chianti and home to about 14,000 residents. At the heart of town is a large square (actually, more of a triangle).
You’ll notice that the arcades that surround the square are a bit of a mishmash; that’s because over the centuries merchants have been responsible for building the stretches in front of their shops, and have done so without much concern for uniformity. Most businesses here are wineshops and enotecas, including the excellent Bottega del Chianti Classico.
Panzano in Chianti
Commanding a hilltop about halfway between Florence and Siena, this now quiet village with just 1,100 residents saw centuries of strife, as the city walls and ruins of a once might castle will attest.
Aside from soaking in the transporting medieval atmosphere, visitors come to town to visit the beautiful Pieve San Leolino, a Romanesque church just beyond the walls.
Radda in Chianti
This quiet little town of just 1,500 residents once loomed large, when Florentines established this outpost as head of the Lega di Chianti in their effort to protect the area from Sienese control. Remnants of the time are a circuit of thick city walls and the Palazzo del Podesta.
Aside from following the medieval lanes around town, the pleasure of exploring Radda is enjoying the views over the surrounding countryside—less than an hour from Florence and only half an hour from Siena, the town is surrounded by miles of rolling Chianti vineyards.
San Casciano in Val di Pesa
One of the larger towns in Chianti, with about 18,000 residents, is 20 minutes outside of Florence and a work-a-day place with few sights but lots of business devoted to the production of wine and olive oil. Plenty of cafes and gelato shops reward a stop.
*Montefioralle
Not technically its own town, but still worth a dedicated mention, this tiny and atmospheric village with fewer than 100 residents is entirely enclosed within its medieval walls. You may be the only visitor in town as you climb the one street past tiny stone houses.
The dwelling at number 21, with the wasp above the door, is said to have been the family home of Amerigo Vespucci, the explorer who lent his name to the new world. Greve is only a 15-minute walk away, while Florence is a 45-minute drive and Siena is an hour away by car.
Things to do in Chianti
Taste wine in a castle
Wine, of course, is what brings many visitors to the region, and some 300 wineries produce Chianti Classico, following rules and regulations that earn them the Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG), the highest designation for Italian wines.
Many wineries offer tastings in beautiful tasting rooms and many often also operate roadside stands that make it easy to stop for quick tastings as your designated driver follows the Chiantigiana road.
The most evocative wineries to visit are those that occupy castles that have been the center of wine-growing estates since the Middle Ages. Among them is the oldest winery in the world, Ricasoli, established in 1141 at Castello di Brolio outside Gaiole. Here in the mid-19th century Barone Bettino Ricasoli came up with the blend for the region’s acclaimed Chianti Classico wines. Tours include a walk along the ramparts, with views across miles of vineyards and forests of oak.
Americans might feel a special affinity at the Castello di Verrazzano, birthplace in 1485 to the explorer who discovered New York Bay and whose image appears on the labels of the estate’s acclaimed wines that are stored in the centuries-old cellars.
Walls and towers of the 11th-century Castello Vicchiomaggio remain, along with a splendid Renaissance manor at which Leonardo da Vinci was once a house guest. You are welcome to visit these and other castle-wineries even if you are not tasting wine, and it’s a pleasure to walk around the grounds and admire the architecture and the views.
Many of the region’s castle estates also accommodate guests and have restaurants. For more info on wineries in Chianti, check out our guide to wine touring in Chianti.
For a great private wine tour of Chianti’s towns and vineyards, connect with our favorite local guide Stefano.
Walk through the villages
Rising above the vineyards and olive groves are dozens of stone, tiled-roofed villages. Almost all of them warrant at least a quick stroll.
A stop I always make when showing friends around the region is Panzano, hard to beat for its medieval atmosphere and the views across the hillsides from the city walls.
Montespertoli is another charmer, set on a hillside above a patchwork of fields and vineyards with a medieval castle that was once the stronghold of the Machiavelli family.
Montefioralle is also magically atmospheric, surrounding a castle keep, with a double-circuit of medieval walls that still make an appearance here and there.
Volpaia and San Gusme are two other charmingly medieval fortified villages still enclosed within their walls.
Castellina is a little collection of stone houses that huddle beneath a formidable fortress, or Rocca, and one street, the underground Via delle Volte, actually tunnels beneath a length of the city walls.
Spot the black rooster
Florence and Siena fought over lands in the Chianti region for centuries and, legend has it, finally decided to end the dispute by setting a firm boundary. Each city would send a knight on horseback into the territory at the first crow of the rooster, and the point where the knights met would be the border.
Crafty Florentines starved their black rooster so he awoke early, cranky and hungry, crowing like mad, while the well-fed white Sienese rooster slept until much later. So the Florentine knight made it almost to Siena, to Castellina, before he encountered his Sienese counterpart, and hence Florence got the lion’s share of the land.
Today you’ll find the Black Rooster on the emblems of municipalities, on banners, on tee-shirts, in the guise of a statue in the center of Gaiole, and most notably, on bottle labels, to indicate that the wine is of authentic DOCG Chianti Classico designation.
Shop at local markets
You’ll come upon markets with stalls selling cheese, salami, fresh fruit and vegetables, and wine, of course, along with locally made ceramics and other wares, in Strada in Chianti every Tuesday, morning, and in Greve, Panzano, and Castellina every Saturday morning. You’re likely to find markets in other small villages as well.
Montespertoli stages a huge Chianti exhibition in late May and early June, though many villages wait to fall to celebrate the harvest with wine festivals and exhibitions to show off the vintages, with the largest, the Rassegna del Chianti Classico, in Greve. You should also check out the cozy Christmas market there if you’re in the region in December.
Take a hike
A gentle walk is the most idyllic way to see the region, especially if it includes a stop for a snack and glass of wine. A network of strade bianche (gravel routes) laces the region and are ideal for hiking. Well-marked routes surround most of the towns, and you can get a list of them from local tourist offices and from the regional Chianti tourist administration at www.visitchianti.net.
My favorite amble is from Greve out to Panzano and back, with plenty of shade and passing some nice stretches of woodland as well as the village of Montefioralle. The roundtrip covers about 14km (about 8 1/2 miles), mostly on gravel roads, and you can halve the mileage by turning back to Greve in Montefioralle.
Visit a museum
One of my bad-weather fallbacks when showing friends around is the Museo Archeologico del Chianti Senese in Castellina. The best part of a visit is wandering around the atmospheric medieval fortress that houses the exhibits, some of the most intriguing among them being the vessels the Etruscans who lived in these parts before the Romans used to store wine in 2700 b.c.e.
None of the art in the region even comes close to the masterpieces you’ll see in Florence and Siena, but the Museo d’Arte Sacre di San Francesco in Greve houses a small but worthy collection of paintings and a visit ends on a breezy terrace with views over the countryside.
A wine tasting at the Enoteca Falorni in Greve can include a stop at their Museo del Vino, where old wine implements fill old cellars and more than 1,000 hams hang in the adjacent prosciutto cave, slowly seasoning in the dark, cool, and fragrant surroundings.
It only makes sense that these landscapes would be the backdrop for transporting art into nature, and that’s precisely what they’ve done on the grounds of the Chianti Sculpture Park near Vagliali.
My favorites among the works by international artists are those fashioned from glass, including one that resembles a giant cypress tree, a maze constructed from glass blocks, and a whimsical rainbow fashioned from Murano glass.
Go for a bike ride
The roads in Chianti are blissfully quiet and, aside from the main roads, mostly free of heavy traffic, so a bike ride is a great way to spend a day. There’s also a good network of strade bianche (gravel routes) for riders who want to get off the asphalt and plunge into the countryside.
Gaiole in Chianti is the start of the October L’Eroica gravel-path bike race, and at any time cyclists can follow well-marked routes of 46km (28 ½ miles) and 81km (50 miles) that pass through some of the most scenic Chianti countryside and villages.
Bike and e-bike rentals are available in Gaiole (and in most other towns as well), and shops are usually eager to offer route suggestions.
Admire the views
Great views are common currency in this part of the world, and the higher up you go, usually the better. One of my favorite outlooks is from Castagnoli, a hilltop hamlet surrounding a somber stone rocca, fortress, outside Castellina.
The views take in not only the terraced vineyards that drop away beneath your feet but extend far west across forests and hills that roll toward the horizon. Lamole is another scenic, view-filled spot, high up in the hills at the end of a cypress-lined road between Greve and Panzano.
Get off the beaten path
A drive along the Chiantigiana (SS222) between Florence and Siena displays beautiful scenery and enticing towns, but a few detours show off even more of this scenery-rich region.
For starters, on the short drive from Greve to Panzano, take the turnoff onto a narrow, cypress-lined road up to Lamole, for fantastic views. The SS222 rises and falls through vineyards and olive groves for 16km (10 miles) from Panzano to Castellina, and from there you can plunge east through the vineyards on the narrow SR429 to Radda.
That’s a good jumping-off point to the little village of Volpaia, just 7km (4 miles) north, and you can make a loop south through San Sano to Gaiole, 14km (9 miles) southeast.
Wherever you wander in Chianti, it’s usually pretty easy to get back to the starting point. From Gaiole, for instance, it’s only 30km (18 miles), or 35 minutes, back to Greve.
Become a winemaker
When you’re ready to go beyond a mere tasting, put yourself in the hands of the experts at Fattoria Viticcio outside Greve and Castello di Meleto near Giaole, who will help you create your own blends.
Where (and what) to eat in Chianti
Almost any meal in Chianti can seem like a feast. The food is traditionally and deliciously Tuscan, and that means hearty, beginning with ribollita, a soup that elevates day-old bread, recooked beans, and greens, to haute cuisine.
For me, this or another soup like pappa al pomodoro (tomato and basil) can suffice for lunch, maybe accompanied by some crostini, toasted Tuscan bread topped with chicken liver pate, tomatoes and basil, and other bounty of the land.
In a typical meal, though, the wine (Chiantis, of course) and dishes keep coming - maybe some pappardelle pasta topped with a thick ragu of wild boar, then Tuscan ribs or the staple, bistecca alla Fiorentina, a juicy T-bone.
Dessert in these parts is cantucci, almond biscuits dipped in vin santo, sweet wine.
Atmosphere-rich settings are a big part of the pleasure of a meal here. Here’s some of the kinds of places where you can dine:
Dining rooms with a view
Chianti’s sweeping landscapes provide built-in backdrops to special meals. A surefire hit for food plus views is Ristoro di Lamole, perched on a hillside outside Greve.
Taverna del Guerrino is a simple little place in Montefioralle, though the steaks grilled in the big fireplace and the views from the terrace and rustic dining room are truly grand.
Near to San Casciano in Val di Pesa (and very close to the Antinori winery), La Capanna del Gallo makes exceedingly elegant food at fair prices and with a lovely view over the valley below.
Sotto le Volte, in Castellina, gets the prize for the most unusual setting, in an underground passage beneath the city walls with views of the countryside unfolding through openings once used as lookouts.
In all these places a meal for two with wine will cost about 80 to 100 euros.
Butcher shop meals
Butcher Dario Cecchini of Antica Macelleria d Cecchini in Panzano has achieved celebrity status for his flamboyant multi-course tasting menus, 30 to 50 euros, accompanied by his recitations of Dante.
With less fanfare and expense you can enjoy well-stuffed panini and heaping tasting platters of meats and cheeses beneath hanging hams and salamis at Antica Macelleria Falorni in Greve.
Simple but delicious
Everything on the menu at Osteria la Panzanella, a simple roadside taverna outside Radda, is as fresh and delicious as the Tuscan salad of tomatoes and bread for which it’s named.
Piazza Matteotti in Greve is the backdrop for a hearty meal on the terrace of Mangiando Mangiando.
Rustic and quintessentially Tuscan - and practically hidden; located on a tiny, easy-to-miss side street off a main road - Trattoria da Bule produces some of the best Bistecca alla Fiorentina you’ll have in the region.
Expect to pay about 60 to 80 euros for a meal for two at any of them.
Al fresco
A warm-weather meal in a beautiful garden is something you come to expect in Chianti, and Oltre il Giardino in Panzano and Osteria di Brolio at Castello di Brolio outside Gaiole are top choices.
Tastings menus at both (50 to 60 euros at Oltre il Giardino, from 70 euros at Brolio) are festive introductions to the local flavors.
In Gaiole center, a husband and wife team produce fantastic traditional Tuscan cuisine with modern style and creative twists at the very reasonably priced La Gorgia.
Guided tours of Chianti
Tours of the Chianti region usually combine a few winery tours and tastings, scenic drives, and visits to a couple of towns. Because wineries are often a big part of the experience, it’s important to go with a guide/tour operator who really knows the area and won’t just bring you to big commercial wineries. We also recommend choosing a private experience, or at the very least a small group one, so that you don’t feel like sheep being herded around.
Bus tours
Big bus tours are your cheapest option, but they give you very limited time at each stop and take you to the most commercial wineries. While some still have great wine, they receive busloads of visitors every day and the tours and tastings feel very touristy. The experience is not personal and you’ll generally be shown around by an employee who does the same thing over and over every day. They just want to get you in and out.
Private tours
A good guide will know small local producers, often with beautiful properties, sustainable techniques, and interesting and unusual wines. At this type of winery, you might be the only visitors and you’ll sometimes even be shown around by the owners or their family. Tastings are intimate and you get to chat with the people who are actually directly involved in making the wine you’re drinking.
For terrific tours of the Chianti countryside and vineyards, we always recommend local guide Stefano. In addition to being a licensed guide, he’s also a certified sommelier and he focuses on small boutique producers with sustainable production methods.
See Tuscany with Stefano!
