The village of Chiusi makes an excellent home-base for touring the Tuscan country-side. Easily accessible to the most sought-after tourist destinations, as well as the not-so-well-known hidden gems, Chiusi is a great jumping off point for exploring Tuscany and Umbria.
To help with your planning, we grouped our favorite places by driving distance from Chiusi.
Don't Miss This: Our favorite towns within a 30 min. drive from Chiusi
Day Trip 1:
Montepulciano
Perched on a narrow hill-top, Montepulciano offers stunning 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape. Good wine, a beautiful town square, fun shops, and nearly 3,000 years of history make Montepulciano one of our favorite hill-top towns in Tuscany!
From Chiusi: 20-30 min. drive on beautiful country roads.
Don't Miss: Cantina de' Ricci
This place was so cool!! You enter through a small unassuming door off the square in Montepulciano and descend down, down, down, down into some really fascinating Etruscan caves that contain massive old wine barrels that are still being used today! Even if you have 30 minutes, head down and do a walk through. We did not take a formal tour, most of it is just an "escort yourself" through. It was such a unique experience to just wander through the caves and cellars. You feel like you are so far removed from everything and then all of the sudden you pop into the cool little tasting room. Peter was so very helpful and knowledgeable. We tasted all the wines and bought a few bottles to take home. Even if you just wander through quickly and do a tasting, it is worth it! https://www.cantinadericci.it/en/
Heading down into the vaults (dating from the 6th century BC) at Cantina di Ricci.
Map: How to get to Cantina di'Ricci from the Piazza Grande in Montepulciano
Pienza
From Montepulciano: Stunning 15 min. drive on beautiful country roads. Be sure to look behind you, to the left, as you leave Montepulciano and head towards Pienza. GORGEOUS view of Montepulciano. Worth pulling over and snapping a photo.
