A Week in San Donato in Poggio, Tuscany
celebrating Fiancé's mom's 70th
*POST UPDATED NOVEMBER 2024.
Hello friends, happy Wednesday! I hope this post finds you well-rested and enjoying a large mug of coffee. I’m dropping by just briefly to share my latest travel offering: A Week in San Donato in Poggio, Tuscany. I’m especially excited to share this post because, before we visited, I found an annoying lack of travel guides/blogs mentioning San Donato. The general gist I got from the internet was that most people just drive through en route to the bigger Tuscan towns without giving it a chance. Friends: those people are missing out! Fiancé & I had the pleasure of visiting San Donato with his family last month to celebrate a big birthday and it was totally perfect! In a nutshell: we ate, we drank, we relaxed, we ate, we wandered the picturesque streets, and we ate some more. Can I tell you about it?
As always, there’s heaps of information below, and more recommendations than you’ll likely need. Before you visit / where we stayed / shopped / ate / and tourist-ed. Enjoy!
before you visit
A few small things to keep in mind if you’re thinking of visiting San Donato in Poggio! Practical information – getting there, business opening hours, and the local wildlife.
• the easiest way to get to San Donato in Poggio is to drive – it’s only a 40-minute journey from Florence. However! If you wanted to get public transport, you’d be looking at 2-3 bus changes, and around a 2-hour journey.
• all the shops – the bakery, butcher, Coop, pharmacy, etc. – have crazy opening hours. They operate from 8am-12pm, and then 4pm-8pm, except on Sundays, when it’s just from 8:30am-12:30pm. Wild!
• I always knew there were snakes in Italy, but I’d never seen one before – until now. On the very first night in town, Fiancé and I were walking home late in the dark, and the light from my torch illuminated a snake right in our path. It terrified me to my very core, and I was on the brink of a panic attack the whole way home. I said it to the apartment owner, hoping she would tell me I was crazy and seeing things etc. – but instead she told me yes, there are snakes, but “only vipers sometimes”. I was not comforted in the least.
• there’s very little to do in San Donato in Poggio, and that’s exactly the reason you should go! Relax, lounge around, eat all the good Tuscan food, do nothing; it’s wonderful! Added bonus: because it’s so quiet, you get all the charm of the larger and more well-known towns without all of the annoying tourists! Silver linings!
where we stayed
La Compagnia del Chianti // our lovely apartment complex! Fiancé & I stayed in the Petrarca apartment on the bottom floor of the building and it was perfect! We had our own little garden, a fully-equipped kitchen, lounge-area, bathroom, and spacious bedroom. The apartment complex itself is lovely: fruit trees all over, beautiful flowers – and actually several cacti, one of which got me -, and a communal pool area. There are only 6 apartments in the complex, so it was never too loud or busy. It’s a little on the edge of town – about a 5-minute walk – and, while we had the ground-floor apartment and thus no view, higher apartments have fabulous views over the surrounding countryside! Would recommend. Address: Via Brunetto Latini, 28, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
where we shopped
Biliotti Lorella E Valter S.n.c. Panificio // the town bakery, but very much an all rounder. Every morning during our stay, I’d drag my butt into town as early as I could manage to buy some fresh bread and pastries here before they sold out. Picture this: a sea of Tuscan locals, and me, fighting it out for the best pieces of bread – how dreamy! Bombolini, crema croissants, chocolate croissants, luscious focaccia; everything was always fantastic. Other purchases include a 3-litre box of local wine for €11(!), and snacks for aperitivo. A must-visit. Address: Via Senese, 55, 50028 Tavarnelle Val Di Pesa FI, Italy
Macelleria Parti // the town butcher. Fiancé purchased some amazing pork chops for dinner here one day and they were thickkk! They were so tender and delicious – although that could have had something to do with the way Fiancé cooked them Pro tip: word on the street is that the butchers do a really spectacular roast chicken! Find it twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Would recommend. Address: Via Senese, 33, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
Bar I Poggio // a cute little bar/café, with a good selection of pastries. We sampled the pistachio, chocolate, orange, and plain croissants – all were very good. Not as flaky & delicious as the ones from the bakery above, but a good alternative to have in your back-pocket if they’re sold out at the bakery. We speak from experience. Address: Via Senese, 9, 50028 Barberino Tavarnelle FI, Italy
Coop // the only supermarket around, so you’ll definitely be visiting if you’re staying in an apartment. A surprisingly good veg selection, a well-stocked cheese + cured meats counter, fresh breads, alcohol, and general household cleaning products. Address: Via Senese, 1, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
where we ate
La Locanda Di Pietracupa // the top rated restaurant in the area – for good reason. I stopped by one afternoon for a solo lunch and everything was absolutely! perfect! I sat at a table on the edge of the beautiful terrace and ordered a glass of Pinot Bianco while I perused the menu; it was crisp and delicious, a true ‘love at first sip’ moment. To eat, I had tagliatelle with courgette flowers & truffle, followed by a bowl of raspberry sorbet. Everything – literally every single thing, including the bread plate, which I ate the entirety of completely alone! – was outstandingly tasty. The pasta was light and fresh, not too truffle-ey, and surprisingly generous in size. I almost didn’t have room for dessert, but I’m so glad I found some – the sorbet was so! good! A definite must-visit. Address: Strada Pietracupa, 31, 50028 Madonna di Pietracupa FI, Italy
La Taverna di Ciccino // superb pizza place! We ate here on our first night in town, and it was so good we ended up going back a few short days later! Over our two visits, Fiancé & I sampled the melon + proscuitto plate, and the pizza salsiccia and margherita – everything was wonderful! The pizza bases are super thin, crispy, & huge – reminiscent of Da Michele in Naples, but crispier – and the salsiccia was so flavourful and delicious! A must-visit. Address: Via del Giglio, 19, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
Social Pizza // another wonderful pizza place! Locally run by the collective townspeople, all of the money made here goes towards San Donato Tavarnelle football club – isn’t that cool? Fiancé & I stopped by one night to grab a takeaway pizza salsiccia, and it was surprisingly delicious! Not as good as the restaurant above, but honestly not far from it! Would recommend. Address: Via Senese, 1, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
Antica Trattoria La Toppa // typical Tuscan fare in a family-run restaurant. We visited twice during our stint in town, and twice we were seated at charming tables outdoors under the stars. On our first visit, I had ragu to start, followed by veal escalope with lemon, while Fiancé had spaghetti with oil & garlic, followed by Tuscan sausages and fagioli; both of his choices were better. When we returned the second time, I didn’t take any chances: I ordered an exact carbon copy of Fiancé’s earlier meal, while he opted for the wild boar special. I was too busy devouring my sausages and fagioli to try any wild boar, but he said it was good! Address: Via del Giglio, 43, 50028 San Donato FI, Italy
where we tourist-ed
Porta Senese and Porta Fiorentina // the gates into the village. They can be found at either end of the main thoroughfare in town, Via del Giglio: one on the Siena facing side, the other facing Florence.
Parrocchia S. Donato in Poggio // a small, somewhat heebie-jeebies inducing church on the edge of town. It’s sparse and generally reminiscent of ‘The Nun’ – but the other church in town is closed to the public… so. Address: Via della Pieve, 25, 50028 Tavarnelle Val Di Pesa FI, Italy
Castellina in Chianti // if you have a car, the town of Castellina in Chianti is only a 15-minute drive away. However, if you don’t have a car, it’ll take you roughly 4-hours & 45-minutes + 4 different bus changes, so it might not be worth it. Fiancé & I visited Castellina back in 2019 and fell totally in love with it – there are a ton of great foodie options! If you do decide to make the journey, here’s my Castellina travel guide.
Vineyard Visit // this is something we actually didn’t get around to, but I wish we had! There are so many great vineyards within a stones throw, it’s definitely something I’d make time for if we returned. Ones to consider: Casa Emma, Fattoria Montecchio, Fattoria la Ripa, Azienda Agricola Poggio al Bosco.
And there we have it: A Week in San Donato in Poggio, Tuscany! Have you visited the sleepy little hilltop town before? What was your favourite restaurant? Hit me up with any thoughts or further recommendations using the comment box below! I’d love to hear from you
Ciao for now,
Vicki & Rob xo
PS: in case you missed it, related posts from the same trip include Three Days in Florence and Our Engagement in Bologna. I have another Bologna post – less engagement talk, more foodie recommendations – coming a little later in the month! Stay tuned!
*Date of trip: 26th June - 2nd July, 2022*
related posts
Our Engagement in Bologna, Italy
Three Days in Florence, Italy
Castellina in Chinati | A Guide to Tuscany’s Most Overlooked Village