Home > Florence > Siena, San Gimignano, and Greve in Chianti Day Trip from Florence with Wine Tasting
USD $68.00
Siena, San Gimignano, and Greve in Chianti Day Trip from Florence with Wine Tasting
Florence, Italy
Visit two highlights of Tuscany, the charming cities of Siena, San Gimignano and Greve in Chianti, on an action-packed day trip from Florence. After traveling through the gorgeous Chianti countryside, visit the old town of Siena and the inside of the Basilica di San Domenico. Learn about Siena’s famous 'contrades' neighborhoods on a visit to one of the city's contrada museums, and then head to San Gimignano. Visit San Gimignano 1300 Museum to see miniature models of the ancient city made, and sample local wine and sweets! Round out your day by visiting ancient cellars and sampling delicious local wine and snacks with a stop in a typical winery and then in the Chianti area, in the picturesque village of Greve in Chianti.
Leave Florence by air-conditioned coach and travel south to Siena, passing through the postcard-perfect Tuscan countryside. Travel through the area known as Chianti, admiring the idyllic landscape of verdant green hills punctuated by cypress trees, vineyards and olive groves. After 1.5 hours, stop in the medieval walled city of Siena – Tuscany’s elegantly beautiful second city.
Your first visit is the Basilica of San Domenico, a treasure chest of Renaissance dedicated to St. Catherine of Siena. Head inside the Basilica with your guide and admire its highlights. After marveling at the artwork, continue with your guide on a walking tour of the old town until you reach the Cathedral (exterior visit) and then stroll to one of the city's contrada museums.
The museum is dedicated to information about Siena’s famous contrades, and as you browse the exhibits, your guide will talk to you about their origins. Loosely translated as districts, the contrades have individual legacies of traditions and each one boasts their own flag and anthems. Learn of the contrades’ role during Siena’s legendary Palio horse race, and browse the historical documents on display.
After a break in Piazza del Campo for lunch (own expense), you will reach San Gimignano, a small and world famous walled town located on a hilltop, which remained intact through the centuries, renowned for its tall towers, wonderful frescoes and many other valuable works of art: here we will be led until the heart of the historical center, where to have free time at disposal for its fascinating discovery. In the evening, crossing the gently Chianti rolling hills, you will arrive to a small and typical Winery where, after a short walk in the ancient vineyards, we will visit the suggestive barrique room and taste 4 fantastic wines, sampling also locally produced zero food miles. Finally, we will stop in the picturesque village of Greve in Chianti, to admire its famous main square flanked by arcades and browse through the local artisan shops, to end a memorable experience in the heart of Tuscany.
We got to the first small hilltop town. The bus drops you off but you have lots of stairs and some steeper sidewalks to climb. We only had half an hour to wander and shop which was not nearly enough time. The scenery out over the hills was stunning! Then off to Sienna. 3 hours there which was 2 hours too many. The local guide was terrible!!! She is why I didn't rate it higher. Then off to another tiny hilltop town. Again only half an hour. It was so charming I wanted to spend a couple hours there taking photos and shopping. Very disappointed in the short time there. Then a winery which was very nice. I would not do it again.
Review by: Svetlana R, July 2018
The highlight of the day was tour in Siena with local guide. The stories about Paleo tradition are unique and funny. The Siena cathedral is gorgeous, and its bibliotheca is a jewel._br/_ San Gimignano is lovely, and its gelato is world famous. _br/_ I could skip wine testing. That is why I give this tour slightly lower grade.
Review by: kateness777, July 2018
Lovely tour. I just really wish we had longer in San Gimignano, one hour is just not quite enough! I would have rather split up the time more equally between Sienna and San Gimignano. Sienna was very cool (and we happened to be there the day of the Palio!) but we felt like it dragged on just a little there. The wine tasting was great.
Review by: Pamela M, July 2018
An excellent day, well run. Visited 4 places that were all amazing. The highlight was the enthusiasm with which our guide exhibited at the wine tasting.
Review by: jkimmds, July 2018
This is a great tour. Siena is an old and beautiful city well worth seeing. The Chianti trip is so much fun. Great wine and food. We highly recommend this tour.
Review by: Katie Z, June 2018
The only thing I would change about this tour is that I wish we had more time in each town, especially free time to roam around on our own. This tour was overall excellent though and my guide Lisa was so sweet and so patient. Her English AND Spanish speaking skills were outstanding. I highly recommend this tour, especially since you get to see several towns in one day and your transportation to and from is already figured out for you.
Review by: Caroline P, June 2018
This was a fun tour, but keep in mind there is a LOT of walking...! Local tour of Siena was outstanding and very informative. Wine tasting was excellent and very well done. Pick up location is quite difficult to find...nowhere to sit..
Review by: Kerry EW, June 2018
Excellent tour. Really well organised and the guides were fabulous. The Siena guide who explained the Contrada and the Palio was wonderful. I would have loved a little longer in San Gimignano. In Siena we also took the tour of the Cathedral spectacular but then we had no time to do any shopping but I guess you cant have everything. We had a fabulous day even though it was quite long. My only small criticism would be better instructions for finding the tour start point. There were lots of renovations at the train station so it was a bit of a challenge finding the bus stop.
Review by: D G M, May 2018
We were looking forward to this trip. My husband had done a recce the night before to locate the meeting point. Our coach was Saexcellent, as was the driver. We were divided into English speakers OK and our guide Sarah gave good commentary in several languages._br/_ First stop San Gimignano - a very pretty medieval hilltop town. _br/_ However some basics were overlooked such as info re toilets and a sketch map would have been a great help given the limited time approx 45 minutes in a very crowded location, found the lookout purely by chance._br/_ We were not told of the distance between the coach park and the Campo in Sienna. Sarah walked at a cracking pace which was hard for the older people on the tour, although she did she check that all the group was following from time to time she did not wait at direction changes. There was no tail-end Charlie checking no one had missed as turn. I found it really hard to keep up on the uneven pavers, considering the crowds of people in the city._br/_ Lunch was not part of this tour so we had brought our own and had about an hour to wander about before the actual tour of the Cathedral and Flag Museum with an excellent and enthusiastic guide Camille. I couldn't fault this part of the tour wished it was longer on account of all the tourists milling about. _br/_ Sarah seemed really disorganised and had trouble separating those who were self guiding and the different language groups. This wasted valuable time and she really needed an assistant._br/_ Our next stop was Monteriggiomi a fortified village, once again Sarah did not volunteer the site of the toilet stop which we learned later was outside the village entrance. We went to a cafe and ordered coffees so that we could use their facilities thus no time to explore the town walls. _br/_ The last part of the Chianti wine and local produce tasting tour was excellent. _br/_ A long day and luckily our feet held out. But I would recommend another guide and little more basic information.
Review by: FLORIN N, April 2018
Very well organized tour, special thanks to our professional guide Tiziana!
Review by: Richard A, April 2018
Great trip and good value for the price of the tour. Four stops all good. Obviously, when your making four stop you don't have as much time to explore as you want at each place but I'm glad we took this tour instead of one that just covers Siena. Be prepared for 11 hour day.....8:30 AM to 7:30 PM. Enjoy!!!
Review by: MARK R, April 2018
Siena is one of my favorite towns. We loved the tour and our guide
Review by: Pilar I, April 2018
We really enjoyed this tour even though it consisted of a group of 30 people - hated that. Having said that, the tour was very good. The guide was informative and the places we went to were excellent. Cannot say that there was wine tasting except for one winery and cheese and bread with balsamic vinegar or olive oil was passed around. We were taken to Siena where we had our lunch on our own and were then provided with a tour of Siena. San Gimignano and Greve were awesome to be at - absolutely lovely. I would definitely recommend it if you do not mind large groups, waiting for people, being on a time clock, etc.
Review by: ellen.atoz, April 2018
Amazing
Review by: Siok Lan P, April 2018
Definitely value for money...very worthwhile trip...covered quite a fair bit with enough free time to roam around .
Review by: Gab, March 2018
Loved this tour. Long day but worth it.
Review by: ioyfe, March 2018
This tour was amazing!
Review by: victoriarendine, March 2018
This tour was amazing!! Extremely informative with lots of things to see. Our tour guide was a doll, she was so sweet and very smart! Definitely recommend, my family and I loved this trip!
Review by: Daniel L, March 2018
We enjoy visiting these small towns, each with their own particular point of view and interest, and the trip went by very quickly. You take in a lot of interesting stuff.
Review by: Christine W, March 2018
A great tour with a knowledgeable and informed guide who was most thoughtful and helpful. An enlightening visit which brought alive the history and traditions of the places visited. The bus driver was 'the best' and reliable in difficult driving conditions in the evening in the clouds of the Tuscan hills.
Review by: Alan P, February 2018
This trip wad amazing! Our guide Alicia was delightful and informative. This trip was so worth it!! Beautiful country! Saw so much all in one day! Love, love Loved!
Review by: Patricia M, February 2018
Lovely day ...the Siena tour was the best part, our guide there was really interesting, sharing intimate knowledge of her hometown and the Palio, and the Tuscan countryside is magical. I found the San Gimignano stop beautiful and the wine and food tasting while delicious was very short and not exactly generous. Rafael, our bus guide was friendly, informative and helpful.
Review by: Robert L, January 2018
This tour was not that good due to the guide we had on are bus, but in Siena the guide Roberta was excellent.
Review by: Margaret S, January 2018
so much fun!
Review by: Kelly L, December 2017
Great day, amazing scenery, and the guides were very pleasant and helpful. There is a lot of walking, so be prepared for that. I personally would have liked more time in San Gimignano, as it felt very rushed. The Siena tour guide, Paulo, was quite interesting. _br/_ I did find the winery a bit disappointing, as it was getting dark by the time we got there.
Review by: Terry, December 2017
Excellent experience though guide was rather over the top trying to speak in both English and French.o
Review by: Patricia C, November 2017
Fantastic all inclusive tour. Everything was on time and varied. San Gimignano was a great experience with a temptation to return. Siena is a beautiful city with a lot of historic culture. The visit to the costume museum was something different to experience, the Church is amazing. Our time in Chianti was very comprehensive, the vineyard was charming as were the family who hosted us. They are very proud of their wines, cheeses, salami, and vinegar. All available for purchase. A full complete day.
Review by: Slydog, November 2017
Tour was very cool and a fun day, would have skipped the wine tasting as it was only 3 types and a lot of extra driving.
Review by: keds916, November 2017
It was a wonderful tour even with the bus breaking down. It was remedied in a reasonable about of time. I would recommend it.
Review by: Helen G, November 2017
Amazing day. We were so lucky as the sun shone and the whole trip was brilliant. It was an early start but so worth it as we saw so much of Tuscany. The hardest part was finding the coach as you have to enter the train station and walk along platform 16 on the right hand side past the palm trees and coffee shop all the way to platform 17 but then walk down a slope that exits the station to find the bus stops. we did a trial run the night before to ensure we knew where we were going :_br/_ The trip starts in San Gimigmano for the beautiful views which is about an hour on the coach. This is followed by another hour to Siena . We had a great guide Paulo who lives in Siena and is an expert. we learned all about the horse race and visited the local areas and a church and the outside of the cathedral. He had so much knowledge and his English was excellent. thank you Paulo._br/_ We had lunch here overlooking the sunny square and the town hall. On the way back we ade 2 stops one for wine tasting and one for a coffee/wine before arriving back at the station around 7pm. It was a full day and worth every penny. The viator guide was also really good.
Review by: Marie K, November 2017
This was our favorite tour while in Italy! All three places visited were interesting and gave us a flavor for the places. The weather was great on this day which also helped. The scenery in the Chianti area was gorgeous.
Review by: Jane E, November 2017
Fog in the morning, so views from San Gimignano not so good. Mother Nature! Still, a beautiful drive up to the foothills - town very quaint! Siena is amazing, but caution that walking is very steep and many steps, so may not be suitable for people with walking problems. Our overall guide, Steffi, was wonderful and our walking tour guide in Sienadidn't catch her name was great. Wine tasting stop on the way back was lovely. Could have skipped the stop in Greve - this time of year it was dark when we got there and not much going on. Overall, though, a beautiful vist to the Tuscan country side!
Review by: e b, October 2017
A passionate sienese guide to give a perspective no pocket guide will be able to give, a little winery in the Chianti hill with breathtaking views, a trip to recommend.
Review by: cmguerrieri, October 2017
Although the weather was freezing that day, the tour was excellent! I would highly recommend it!
Review by: Maureen W, October 2017
Great experience. Our tour guide, Stephy, was fluent in four languages: English, Italian, French and Spanish. Her narratives were interesting and she answered all questions. Alessandro, the tour driver was professional and safe. The cities we visited are well worth the visit and we felt the cost was reasonable.
Review by: A T, October 2017
We covered Siena, San Gimignano and Greve on this trip. As part of the tour, the guide explained to us the historic importance of all places during the bus ride. However, it was a bit difficult to follow as the audio / speakers on the bus was not good. It took quite some time to get to each place, so a lot of travel time. We got down at town centers / piazza and would have liked if the tour covered more of the country side instead. At Siena, we stopped for lunch but a lot of time was spent on local history of horse racing at the museum. On our trip to Greve, it would have been great if the bus would have stopped at strategic points along the way where we could have got down to click pictures. Gorgeous landscape and scenery but a shame we could not stop. We did request the bus driver, but the tour operator had not planned this and hence we had to continue as is. The wine tasting experience at a local farm was good and was the highlight of the overall trip. Good trip, but it could have been great with better planning by the tour operator.
Review by: Michael N, October 2017
The hue was the dirtiest I've ever been on. Viator is fine Caf vendor dropped the ball!
Review by: lsmith2, October 2017
The tour guide and bus driver were very good. However we didn't spend enough time in San Gimignano and after Siena we drove more than an hour to spend a little time in a winery that gave a sip of wine to us. We then drove 60 more minutes to spend an hour in Greve and there was not much to do at all
Review by: Kaye B, October 2017
It was a long day but worth it. The wine tasting was great.
Review by: Thomas M, October 2017
Guide was energetic and awesome. Very knowledgeable and ensured all guests were pleased with tour.
Review by: Raymond M, October 2017
It has been some time since we did this tour but the memories of it are still vivid. A great tour and a wonderful sights to be seen. We were lucky enough to see the amazing floors of Siena cathedral as a bonus bit of serendipity. Wow.
Review by: Marcia L, October 2017
Loved the cities we visited, the tour guide was very disappointing, hard to understand then got sick in Sienna and spent the rest of the tour on the bus!!! Our guide in Sienna was awesome, the folks at the wine tasting were very good, said this happens often to the tour guide.
Review by: David E, October 2017
A great day out. Thoroughly recommend if you can spare a day ou when staying in Florence
Review by: hdietmeyer, September 2017
Fantastic Tour. Great Guide. San Gimignano and Siena unbelievable area to visit!
Review by: Rita, September 2017
This was certainly a very good way to see these hill towns. I wished we'd had a bit more time in San Gimignano to do some shopping. We did have enough time for lunch and shopping in Siena, and enjoyed the tour of the town. The wine tasting in Greve our last stop seemed a bit hurried, but that may have been because it began to rain. Unfortunately, our bus driver became ill on the trip back to Florence, and although we made it ok, that was unfortunate for him and cast a bit of a pall on our return journey.
Review by: Kathryn G, September 2017
Places visited were outstanding and wouldn't have been able to see them all in a day without the tour. However the guide seemed very stressed and the fact she was commentating on the coach in 3 languages by the same person made it difficult to listen to anything.
Review by: James D B, September 2017
Great tour! We have an excellent guides...both on the bus and at Siena. Long day, but seemed short because of the interest. Bus rides came just at the correct time for rest and get prepared for our next stop. I highly recommend this tour.
Review by: Sivadasan K, September 2017
The reason for 3 stars is that the main guide in the bus was not very fluent in English and it was so difficult to follow her accent. I think her name was Titsiana, but even that was not very clear. Moreover, she had to provide translations in French and Italian for every commentary that she gave in English! So, it was very exhausting just to listen to her and also very hard to follow which language was being used. I think we lost a lot of time just for the translations and didn't get too much info on the areas._br/_ That being said, the local guide in Siena was awesome!! Her English was great, she was a wealth of knowledge, very passionate about the city and its stories, so much so that we lost track of time and had to hurry back to the bus. Wish she could have been the main tour guide in the bus. The places themselves were amazing, San Gimignano was breathtaking and steeped in so much history, the Tuscan countryside was breathtaking, although it rained a bit and was cloudy. We got to go for the Chianti Classic wine festival it was not planned and that was a good experience. Wine tasting and tour of the Santa Margherita winery in Greve was great!
Review by: Marta S, September 2017
Amazing Siena, San Gimignano - must see places. Best gelato I have eaten in San Gimignano. Greve - not impressive as much - I rather have more time in either Siena or San Gimignano - but over all very interesting tour, - I highly recommend
Review by: Anna E, June 2017
They should have paid us to go on this tour... We had Donatella, and if there was a person not meant for the tourism industry... it and #39;s Donatella. She was monotone, uninterested, and borderline hostile to anyone she interacted with. Saw a couple cool places, but trust me, go with a different tour.
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