Central Tuscany: Le Crete and the Val d'Orcia (Inside Tuscany: A Second Time Around)

Central Tuscany: Le Crete and the Val d’Orcia

Updated 2020 / 2021 Edition

The Val d’Orcia is the Tuscan area that provides many of the images in calendars, coffee table books, movie settings, and postcards: cedar lined drives, rolling hills of grain, and vineyards. Several world class wines and foods come from the area. With this guide, the most comprehensive in English:

• Drive through the badlands and eerily magnificent landscapes of Le Crete with its fields of grain, pastures, ponds, and sheep.
• Stop at the Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore and wrap yourself in its reverent solitude deep in the forest.
• Climb the ramparts of the fortezza of Montalcino for a view of the Val d’Orcia all the way to Monte Amiata. Taste the prized Brunello di Montalcino and visit the Museo Civico e Diocesano.
• Stop at the “Stone that Sings,” the Abbazia di Sant’Antimo a few kilometers from Montalcino.
• Stand in Piazza Pio II in the “Ideal humanist” city of Pienza to admire its unique architecture. Have a lunch taking an option for each course that uses Pienza's great pecorino cheese.
• Surprise yourself by the beauty and treasures in the tiny hill town of Monticchiello.
• Explore deceptively quiet San Quirico d’Orcia, famous for its gardens: the Horti Leoni and the Rose Garden.
• Bathe in the “tame” spas of Bagno Vignoni or hike through the woods to the “wild” hot pools of Fosse Bianco.
• Take in the panorama of the whole Val d’Orcia from the towering Rocca of Radicofani.
• Spend a day or two in exciting Montepulciano, the largest town in the area. Appreciate the panoramas from its walls. Taste the excellent Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Set up a base in one of the larger towns in the regions like Montalcino, Montepulciano, or Pienza and spend three or four days carefully exploring the beautiful scenery, hill towns, restaurants, museums, fortresses, and churches, finishing the day in a relaxing hot spring.

Guide information:

• cook with authentic recipes, some from my Italian cousins,
• use GPS coordinates to navigate,
• assess the mobile accessibility of sites.

NOTE:The paperback version is in black-and-white. Send me an email and I will send you a color pdf version.

Praise from Readers for the “Second Time Around” Series

• I was delighted to find your book on the area on Amazon before our visit earlier this month.


• We went to Arezzo a few years ago, but this time, armed with guidebook we visited again. I wanted to let you know how helpful the book was. I had not noticed the bas-reliefs on the barrel vault of the main door of Pieve Santa Maria or visited the Museo Ivan Bruschi before, let alone the Telecommunications Museum which, like you, we stumbled on unexpectedly.


• I just finished your book and wanted to tell you I enjoyed it very much. I am planning to go to the Tuscany area next June for a wedding and it gave me a lot of usual information. Because of your book I plan on setting up shop in Arezzo for a few days.


• I have your guide books which have been very useful.

Book descriptions: www.stgbooks.com
Contact: scott.grabinger@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/scott.grabinger
Photo Galleries: www.stgimages.com

NOTE: The paperback version is black and white. For a color pdf version, send an email to Scott.Grabinger@gmail.com and he will send you the pdf. More information on the verso of the title page.

My books feature less visited sites in southern Tuscany, recount my adventures and misadventures, and share authentic family recipes.

Why are my guidebooks unique?

Experience. My family and I have been traveling around Italy since 1992 learning the towns, sites, foods, language, and culture.

Slow travel. I focus on small towns and culture for the repeat visitor to Tuscany—places that most guidebooks cover in 30 words or less. To me, if you are returning to Tuscany you want to travel slower to engage more deeply in the culture rather than “collect” as many sites as possible.

Family makes the difference. My Italian cousins give me a unique perspective. They show me the real “Inside Tuscany,” its hidden tiny hill towns, incredible panoramas, and restaurants and pizzerias known only to locals. I have visited sagre (festivals dedicated to a single food like steak, or porcini mushrooms) and antique fairs. They try to teach me how to "be Italian”—but it is still hard to eat dinner at 8:30.

I speak Italian. It’s impossible to recall how often church caretakers or museum docents have opened up and taken me on private tours because I could understand them. Or the number of times I learned about specialties in a restaurant that aren’t on the menu, or found the perfect Vino Nobile for the secondo piatto. Thanks to the the language I’ve learned to harvest grapes and olives to make wine and olive oil.

I live in Tuscany two months a year. My base is in Arezzo and from there I study Italian, branch out to discover new places and events, participate in festivals and daily markets, walk in the evening passeggiata, and make friends.

Now available, a book of true stories: Walking the Aqueduct: Tuscan Adventures and Culture. These are stories about my adventures and misadventures with insights into the culture along with smart travel hints. Available in both paperback and Kindle formats.

Book descriptions: www.insidetuscanybooks.com
Tuscan itineraries: www.inisdetuscanytours.com Contact: scott.grabinger@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/scott.grabinger
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/scott-grabinger-3890b073
Photo Galleries: www.grabinger.com