Italy · Tuscany · between Montefollonico and Montepulciano
Follonico: a house that chose to become a home.
You can travel through five-star hotels. Then you meet Susanne and Fabio — and discover that real luxury may have looked like fresh bread, a long table and the feeling that someone is genuinely happy to see you all along.
The quick Good Direction
Follonico
at a glance.
- Where
- In the countryside below Montefollonico, with Montepulciano on the opposite hill.
- What
- A restored stone farmhouse with four suites and two rooms — deliberately small, naturally personal.
- The feeling
- Less check-in, more returning to people who have already laid the table.
- For whom
- For those seeking quiet, food, wine, cycling and humanity without a hotel script.
- How long
- Three or four nights, with at least one whole day devoted to going nowhere.
- Best moment
- Fabio brings fresh bread, Susanne stops at the table and the day’s plan suddenly ceases to matter.
You may know lobbies that smell expensive, silent lifts and faultless service. Then you arrive at Follonico. Susanne and Fabio welcome you so warmly that you stop counting stars and begin noticing entirely different things: who baked the bread, where the olive oil came from, and why nobody wants to leave the breakfast table.
Follonico is not a hotel in the usual sense. It is their home and their Tuscan life, opened to others. They do not perform perfection. They offer something far rarer — the feeling that you belong, even though you have only just arrived.
Beyond five stars
This is not a hotel. It is a home Susanne and Fabio open to others.
A stone house, a garden, a handful of rooms and two hosts who are genuinely present. Hospitality is not a rehearsed discipline here. It lives in every conversation, recommendation and little kindness that reaches the table before you think to ask. Officially there are four suites and two rooms. In spirit, you are on a long visit with friends who live Tuscany exactly as you secretly hoped it might be lived.
Meet Follonico ↗
The art of going nowhere
The best plan? No plan at all, for a while.
Follonico is one of those places where doing nothing all day is not time wasted but a plan successfully completed. A lounger, the pool, olive trees, Montefollonico on its hill and a coffee cooling more slowly than you are. Stay right here if you wish.
When you do get up, wander through lavender and vineyards. Watch the evening light travel across the fields. Tuscany is not trying to be a postcard here — it simply cannot help itself.
Fabio lays the table
A breakfast worth waking for. A dinner worth staying in for.
Fabio bakes fresh bread every day, turning breakfast into a small ceremony without white gloves: bowls of good things, coffee, honey from their bees, their own olive oil and the view across the garden. Several evenings a week, he cooks dinner too — simple, close to the season and centred on the shared table. Dinner nights change, so ask about them when booking.
Current kitchen and stays ↗
Montepulciano · our favourite addresses
Truffles, bistecca and an evening that refuses to hurry.
In Montepulciano, we return to Porta di Bacco — a restaurant and osteria where Tuscany needs no translation. Truffles, fine meat, wine and a pace measured in another bottle rather than minutes. The photographs below remember our Montepulciano evenings; individual dishes change with menus and seasons.
Porta di Bacco ↗
L’Altro Cantuccio · Montepulciano
Contemporary Tuscany: playful, precise and rooted in the landscape.
For one genuinely celebratory evening, L’Altro Cantuccio is our big recommendation. Chef Mattia Putzulu translates Tuscan tradition into a contemporary language through tasting menus, ideas and plates that delight before the first bite. A reservation belongs in the plan. And then there is that third brilliant restaurant whose name escaped us. Fortunately, the taste did not.
Beyond the house
Montepulciano on the hill. Gelato on the way down.
Montepulciano is close enough for dinner or a long morning. Climb its stone lanes, look into the Vino Nobile cellars and leave time for the main square. Every route here appears to lead either uphill or towards gelato — both are correct.
Val d’Orcia
A landscape composed of roads, cypresses and silence.
Beyond Pienza and towards Bagno Vignoni, Tuscany opens into long waves. Drive slowly, turn off only because the light looks promising, and leave room for stops that never appeared on the map. The best photographs are often found between two points on the itinerary.
Explore Val d’Orcia ↗
What to see nearby
Three directions worth leaving the pool for.
One almost next door, one for wine and one for the grand landscape. Just not every day — Follonico needs empty space, too.
The nearest hill
Montefollonico
A small fortified village above the house, perfect for wandering without a checklist. Arrive in late afternoon, follow the walls and spend a while simply looking out.
Wine and stone
Montepulciano
A Renaissance hill town of Vino Nobile, steep lanes and enough restaurants for several returns. Leave at least half a day for the centre and reserve dinner ahead.
The wide view
Pienza & Bagno Vignoni
Pair Renaissance Pienza with a drive through Val d’Orcia and Bagno Vignoni’s stone thermal square. It fills a day beautifully if you refuse to race between viewpoints.
Tuscany by bike
An e-bike saves your legs and leaves room for lunch.
The hills only look gentle in photographs. An e-bike is a wonderful companion here: it handles the climbing while preserving energy for views, coffee and evening wine. Expect both tarmac and gravel, start early in summer, and always adapt the route to surface, traffic and weather.
Official Valdichiana cycling route ↗
A gentle beginning
Follonico & Montefollonico
A short loop around the house and up to the village is ideal on day one. Save energy for the return climb and ask which unpaved tracks are currently rideable.
A road day
Montepulciano & Valdichiana
The official route connects town and Valdichiana countryside. Choose a section to suit your legs, watch the traffic and reach the historic centre before the strongest heat.
The postcard day
Pienza & Val d’Orcia
This self-guided e-bike loop around Pienza runs for roughly 23 kilometres through a landscape that will make you stop more often than the schedule suggests. Check current surface and availability.
Our plan
Three days with room left for simply being there.
Follonico is not a bed between excursions. It is the centre of the journey. Our plan therefore leaves out hurry — and deliberately keeps half a day empty.
Day 1
Arrive, wander through the garden, swim and settle in for a long first pause. If Fabio is cooking, there is nowhere else to go.
Day 2
A slow breakfast, Montepulciano and Vino Nobile. Dinner at Porta di Bacco or a more ceremonial evening at L’Altro Cantuccio.
Day 3
E-bike towards Pienza and Val d’Orcia, or an easier Montefollonico loop. Return before sunset for one last glass by the house.
Practical notes
Good things to know before the journey.
- Address
- Località Casale 2, 53049 Torrita di Siena, Italy.
- Arrival
- A car is the practical choice. Save the address offline and arrive in daylight; the final kilometres wind through open countryside.
- Stay
- We recommend three or four nights. With only four suites and two rooms, popular dates can disappear quickly.
- Food
- Breakfast is central to the experience. Dinner is served only on selected evenings; confirm current days and format when booking.
- Cycling
- An e-bike suits the hills. Ask in advance about rental, storage and tyres suitable for both tarmac and strade bianche.
- Restaurants
- Reserve Porta di Bacco and L’Altro Cantuccio. Opening days and menus change with the season.
Where it is
Follonico
Tuscany · Italy
Località Casale 2, Torrita di Siena
Drawing the map…
Good Direction tip
You arrive for Tuscany. You return for the home.
Follonico never tries to outshine the landscape with luxury. It simply lets you live inside it for a few days — with Fabio’s bread, Susanne’s warmth, wine on the table and the knowledge that you do not really need to be anywhere else.