It is just under a 2 hour drive from the little village, Ponte a Seragglio where we were staying in Bagni di Lucca to Greve in Chianti. So we set off early one morning  in our little Fiat 500 for the trip up to the Chianti area in the Tuscan Hills.  It actually took us twice as long  to arrive to this gorgeous little town as we stopped a couple of times along the way also my navigation system failed.

However, the stops were so worth it. The drive up to Greve in Chianti  was wonderful with breathtaking views of the Tuscan Hills.  We stopped many times to admire the vineyards on the hills and take photos of the magnificent panoramas that the Chianti offers.

This Chianti area is one of the most beautiful areas in Tuscany.  Many of my photos remind me of postcards and calendars that I have seen of Tuscany.

Greve in Chianti is often considered to be the entrance gate into the Chianti region since it is the first major town you reach as you head south of Florence toward Siena. It is located along the SR222 provincial road, locally known as the Chiantigiana Road, and is  about 30 km south of Florence and 40 km north of Siena.

Piazza Matteotti is the main piazza in Greve and even if it isn’t “square”,  it is still the focal point of the town.  This main piazza was a perfect location for us to wander around.  You can enjoy a coffee, gelato, a glass of wine, or for us it was a delicious lunch.

We arrived about lunch time so after a leisurely walk around the piazza and stopping to look at several menus we chose our restaurant for lunch.  I must say, it was not easy.  There are several bars (coffee shops), wine shops, restaurants and pizzerias in the main square and in the small streets around the main square.  The menus all appeared to be meals of local Tuscan cuisine.

Wandering around this unique piazza was so easy and delightful as there is a portico or covered walk way framing the shops which sell the local produce, the artisan shops and the restaurants.  Although the weather on this particular day was perfect I can imagine this portico would be wonderful on a hot summers day or in fact would probably give some relief on cold days.

We stopped in to many of these shops.  Sometimes we just looked and in other shops we purchased. Here are a few of these lovely shops.

We left Greve in Chianti later in the afternoon and headed over to Siena.

The easiest way to move around the entire region is by car, and one of the most scenic roads to take is the Via Chiantigiana from Florence all the way to Siena.

If you don’t have a car, Greve is luckily one of the easiest towns in Chianti to reach from Florence. You just need to catch bus 365 from the SMN train station.