Montepulciano

Montepulciano is the grander of Tuscany's great wine towns, a Renaissance hill town built on Vino Nobile.

It rides a long limestone ridge in southern Tuscany, between the Val d'Orcia and the Val di Chiana, a town of about 13,000 that climbs to the elegant Piazza Grande at its summit. Where Montalcino is a compact medieval village, Montepulciano is bigger and more architecturally ambitious: Renaissance palaces line the steep main street, the Corso, and the temple of San Biagio sits perfectly below the walls. Beneath the town run the old cellars where Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ages, Italy's first-ever DOCG wine, made from Sangiovese in the surrounding hills. It is postcard Tuscany with a bit more heft, named the world's most welcoming place in one 2026 travel ranking.