Tuscany · Wine route · Full day, longer with tastings
Strada Chiantigiana SR 222 The 69 km hillside road from Florence to Siena that threads through the heart of Chianti Classico.
72
km end to end
1
Full day, longer with tastings
5
stops, Florence to Siena
1
denomination crossed
€35
tastings from
Why this drive: The four-lane raccordo does Florence to Siena in about an hour and shows you almost nothing. The SR 222 takes the ridge instead and strings together the heart of the DOCG: Greve's market square, the Conca d'Oro under Panzano, Castellina's galestro hills, with estates like Querciabella and Marchesi Mazzei signposted a few minutes off the tarmac. You trade fifty minutes for the whole point of coming.
The route, drawn
See the whole road, then drive it stop by stop
The map stays with you as you read: scroll the stops and it follows, or press a marker to jump. Leg times are door to door, before the views slow you down.
Layers
The drive
Numbered stops
Estates near the route
Stop 1 of 5 · Florence
1
Stop 1 · The start, and the car
Florence
ZTL city, see the driving notesStart south of the Arno: pick up the SR 222 at Ponte a Ema and the city gives way to olive terraces before Grassina.
What to taste here
- ToscanaIGT The city's enoteche pour everything the road is about to show you, a glass at a time
Collect the hire car outside the ZTL, ideally near Firenze Sud, and buy picnic supplies before you leave: village shops along the road close through the early afternoon.
Where to taste
Marchesi Antinori
1 hour 30 minutes
Booking required
Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi
Booking required
1 more estate within reach of Florence, all of them on the map.
Wines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
2
Stop 2 · The market square
Greve in Chianti
Greve's funnel-shaped Piazza Matteotti is the route's first proper wine town square, porticoed on every side with a statue of the navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano in the middle; the market still fills it on Saturday mornings.
What to taste here
- Chianti ClassicoDOCG Annata and Riserva side by side, which is the comparison the whole road is for
- Sangiovese The grape under every label here, at least 80 per cent of the blend
Antica Macelleria Falorni has cured meat on this square since 1806. Detour: two winding kilometres up to Montefioralle, the walled village above town, or on to Badia a Passignano among the vines. Querciabella and Tenute Folonari both host tastings nearby, booked ahead.
Where to taste
Querciabella
Booking required
Tenute Folonari
Tastings from €35 · 90 minutes
Booking required
Wines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
Where to eat
Finocchiona and the counter's own salumi
Antica Macelleria Falorni. Piazza Matteotti 69, curing meat on this square since 1806
3
Stop 3 · The driver's stretch
Panzano in Chianti
Panzano sits above the Conca d'Oro, the golden shell of south-facing vineyard that gives the village its own UGA, one of eleven named zones inside Chianti Classico.
What to taste here
- Chianti ClassicoDOCG Conca d'Oro fruit, off the amphitheatre of vines below the ridge
- Gran Selezione The top tier, and Panzano is one of the eleven zone names it may carry on the label
Dario Cecchini's butcher shop and its dining rooms draw carnivores from a long way off; book. San Leolino, the Romanesque pieve just south, looks over the whole Conca d'Oro, and Fontodi farms the amphitheatre below town.
Where to eat
Bistecca alla fiorentina, one sitting, one price
Officina della Bistecca. Via XX Luglio 11, Dario Cecchini's long table above the butcher's counter. Set menu at 50 euros, seated at 19:30 for a 20:00 start, booked weeks ahead and months ahead in summer.
4
Stop 4 · The Rocca and the vaults
Castellina in Chianti
An Etruscan hill town before it was a wine town: Via delle Volte, the vaulted walkway inside the walls, and the Rocca's small archaeological museum carry the evidence.
What to taste here
- Chianti ClassicoDOCG Galestro and alberese slopes, which is where the road's firmest wines come from
- Vin Santo del Chianti ClassicoDOC The sweet one at the end of the meal, dried on the rafters and aged in caratelli
The galestro and alberese slopes around town hold some of the DOCG's most structured Sangiovese. Marchesi Mazzei's cellars at Fonterutoli are five minutes south on the road to Siena, visits booked ahead.
Where to taste
Marchesi Mazzei
75 minutes
Booking required
Wines to Try
A few wines from the estates above.
Where to eat
Tuscan cooking under the medieval vaults
Sotto le Volte. Via delle Volte 14, in the covered walkway that runs beneath the old town wall, an ice house before it was a dining room
5
Stop 5 · The finish
Siena
ZTL city, see the driving notesThe road falls through Quercegrossa into Siena, where the Enoteca Italiana reopened inside the Fortezza Medicea in 2025 after seven years dark.
What to taste here
- ChiantiDOCG Colli Senesi, the subzone that rings the city, poured where it is grown
Leave the car at the pay parks by the Fortezza and the stadium, outside the ZTL, and walk the ten minutes to the Campo. The enoteca's national collection is the quickest way to set what you tasted on the road against the rest of Italy.
Before you go
The practicalities
Visit prices are set by the winery and availability should be checked before travelling. Bookings open on the estate page or the provider's site.
When to go
Harvest is the show, and the crowd
Vendemmia runs from mid September to mid October, and the road is at its best and its busiest in the same fortnight. Greve gives Piazza Matteotti over to the Expo Chianti Classico on the second weekend of September, four days of producers pouring in the square, so that Saturday is the slowest drive of the year. Many cellar doors keep shorter winter hours from November to Easter, so ring before you set off between those dates. May and June are the quiet alternative: full canopy, every estate open, no coach queue on the hairpins.
Booking reality
Three of the four book on their own site
Of the four estates on this page, Tenute Folonari, Marchesi Mazzei and Marchesi Antinori all take bookings through their own sites, and Querciabella answers an enquiry instead, so leave it a couple of days. Folonari is the only one publishing prices: 90 minutes from 35 euros, rising to 150 for the long sit-down. Mazzei's Fonterutoli tour runs 75 minutes and its three Gran Selezione flight 100. Antinori sells three lengths at Bargino, from 90 minutes to a tour with lunch. In September, book two to three weeks out.
Driving notes
The best turns are between Panzano and Castellina
The road was the state SS 222 until 2001, when it passed to the region as SR 222, and the signs still show both numbers. The climb out of Greve is where it turns into a driver's road, and the run from Panzano to Castellina is the best of it. Fuel is thin between Grassina and Siena: fill up leaving Florence or at the stations in Greve, because there is nothing on the ridge after it. Every village keeps a paid car park just outside its centre, which is quicker than hunting the piazza. The surface is good the whole way, and on spring weekends you will be behind cyclists on the hairpins.
ZTL
A camera at both ends
Florence's central sectors are camera-controlled Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 20:00 and Saturday to 16:00, with a summer night zone on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 23:00. Sunday is open. The fine runs from 100 to 350 euros and reaches your home address within 90 days, so collect the car outside the ring and join the SR 222 at Ponte a Ema. Siena's centre is closed to visiting cars all day: use the Stadio Fortezza car park, 777 spaces on two levels at 2 euros an hour between 07:00 and 20:00, and avoid it on Wednesday, when the weekly market takes the area.
Getting a car
Pick it up in Florence, park it in Siena
The hire desks sit at Santa Maria Novella station and at Florence airport, both outside the restricted sectors. You want the car for the drive and for nothing else: Florence and Siena are both walking cities, and a car left inside either set of walls is a fine waiting to happen. A one-way drop in Siena usually costs more than driving back up the SR 222, so price both before you book.
Leave the driving out
Do this route with a guide
Some booking links earn italianwines.co.uk a commission. This never affects price or what we recommend.
Guided along this route
Someone drives the whole itinerary above
Private daytrip to Siena & Chianti wine country, with wine tasting from Florence
Private is just for you and your party, so the top in terms of flexibility, comfort, and privacy. Your knowledgeable English speaking driver, will discuss with you all...
8 hours
From €389
Book via
Viator
Private Wine Tour Top Wineries, Limousine Service, Florence Tours
This Wine Tour of 9 hours on the beautiful Chianti classico area in Tuscany we will visit top wineries and have lunch, cellar tours, wine tasting plus the olive oil ta...
9 hours
From €920
Book via
Viator
Chianti Delights: Tuscan Tale Of 2 Wineries With Vineyard Dinner
Escape the crowds and experience the true essence of Tuscany on this relaxed evening tour from Florence. Enjoy an exclusive visit to a Chianti winery set in the countr...
7 hours 30 minutes
From €89
Book via
Viator
Where to sleep on the route
4 estates on this road have rooms.
14
Reading the labels you'll pass
The wine country it crosses
Chianti
DOCG
Tuscany's most famous wine name, drawn across the hills of six provinces from Florence to Siena and Pisa.
Chianti Classico
DOCG
The historic heart of the Chianti zone, ringed by the Florence-Siena hills inside the original 1716 boundary.
Toscana
IGT
Toscana IGT is Tuscany's broad IGP wine label, created in 1995 for producers who need more freedom than DOC or DOCG rules allow.
Before you ask
Strada Chiantigiana SR 222, answered
Both names mean the same road. It was the state road SS 222 until 2001, when management passed from ANAS to Tuscany under decree 112 of 1998 and it became the regional SR 222. Maps, sat navs and roadside signs still mix the two.
The road runs 69 km from Florence to Siena, about two hours of driving without stops. With a market stop in Greve, lunch in Panzano and one booked tasting, it fills a day.
Yes, but the cellar doors along this stretch all want notice. Tenute Folonari, Marchesi Mazzei and Marchesi Antinori take bookings on their own sites; Querciabella answers an enquiry, so allow a couple of days. Without a booking, taste in the village enoteche in Greve and Castellina instead.
Both ends are camera-controlled. In Florence, collect the car outside the restricted sectors and join the SR 222 at Ponte a Ema rather than driving out through the centre. In Siena, use the Stadio Fortezza car park by the Fortezza Medicea, 777 spaces at 2 euros an hour, and walk the ten minutes to the Campo. Avoid it on Wednesday, when the weekly market takes the area.
May, June and September. Harvest runs from mid September to mid October and the vineyards are working, which is the sight people come for, but the second weekend of September brings the Expo Chianti Classico to Greve's Piazza Matteotti and the traffic that goes with it. July and August add heat and coaches. From November to Easter the road is quiet and many cellars keep winter hours, so confirm every visit first.
The road is a butcher's road. Antica Macelleria Falorni has been on Greve's Piazza Matteotti since 1806 and sells finocchiona and its own salumi over the counter. In Panzano, Dario Cecchini's Officina della Bistecca serves one fixed menu of grilled beef at 50 euros, at a single evening sitting, booked ahead. Castellina eats under the vaulted Via delle Volte.
South. The Brunello and Rosso loop around Montalcino starts about an hour from the Porta Camollia, and the Vino Nobile road out of Montepulciano is a similar distance southeast, so the Chiantigiana works as the first day of a longer week in southern Tuscany.
More drives in Tuscany
All Tuscany routes2 days
Strada del Vino Nobile
The signposted Valdichiana Senese trail, from the valley floor at Sinalunga over the Vino Nobile hill at Montepulciano and down to the hot springs ...
- Sinalunga
- Trequanda
- Montepulciano
- Chianciano Terme
- Sarteano
- Cetona
- San Casciano dei Bagni
1-2 days
Strada del Vino Costa degli Etruschi
The Tyrrhenian coast itinerary linking Bolgheri, Castagneto Carducci, Suvereto and Val di Cornia.
- Bolgheri
- Castagneto Carducci
- Suvereto
- Populonia
Half a day to a full day
Brunello and Rosso loop
A compact loop around the Montalcino hill, taking in Sant'Antimo, the Val d'Orcia and the producer cellars below the village.
- Montalcino
- Sant'Antimo
- Castelnuovo dell'Abate
- Sant'Angelo in Colle
Take it with you
Save the 6 estates on this road as a trip
They land in a trip named after the route, in drive order. Reorder them, drop one, add a night, before you book anything.
You'll need to sign in, and we bring you straight back to this route.