Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore

Certainly worth a trip if you're in Siena or the surrounding area. The fresco paintings are beautiful and very elaborate. You can easily spend at least 3h if you want to visit the buildings and the gardens. Unfortunately, at the moment they don't have guided tours but only audio guides.

We booked 2 nights here through Monastery Stays. We chose this because it was one of the few monasteries between Siena and Val d'Orcia (both less than an hour). It is quite remote up in the mountains which you may find either fun or scary or both if you're driving. It is a very beautiful setting though. The room itself is nice with what seems like antique furniture (desk and closet), and an attached bathroom. The shower is a bit cramped, but we managed. There is no elevator so you have to go up a flight of stairs. One issue some might encounter is that the church bells go off at 6am and go continuously for nearly 5 minutes. It's very loud because it's right across the room. It was fine for us because we needed to be up early anyway. Breakfast is not served though they have vending machines on-site. Credit card payment was accepted here. There are specific check-in times though you can depart anytime by leaving your keys at the room door. English was a struggle but the brother in-charge was patient. A stay here gets you free entry at other areas at the monastery, though a big regret is that we didn't have time to explore. Hopefully we get another opportunity someday. The location is quite remote so you would have to go to another town if ever you need a supermarket or other services. There is a restaurant in the complex though. Arrival and parking note: you don't need to park at the pay parking facility. You can drive straight down the brick road to the lot dedicated to overnight guests.

Very nice abbey. Well kept both the place and local wisdoms for making wine, olive oil and herbal medicine.

Very nice location, with lots of interesting architecture, paintings, writings, and a good wine cellar.

Beautiful abbey that still has monks living in it. It was very cool that you could walk among actual monks. There is even a little shop where you can buy their own produce (jam, honey, soap etc). We had access to the impressive church, and parts of the monastery itself, where you can see the frescos, the dining hall and library. Outside, there are two chapels and a cemetery. A lot of areas of the monastery and the chapels were closed off to the public, which is a pity. It was still a very serene experience in an idyllic setting. The only downside were a lack of explanations and the expensive parking. We only found out in retrospect that we could have booked a guided tour (in advance). Doing the tour by yourself might not be as informative.

What a peaceful and magical place! I love the library and all the information I could read there. This was totally worth the ride from our agriturismo. But also the amazing wine cellar. The guy working there was very helpful and friendly. We walked around and bought some nice wine.

One of a kind! On the outside the whole complex is built with red bricks, and that in itself is impressive, but then you have a peak at the inside and there’s a deep contrast with the white walls 😯 Just a heads-up that regardless of gender, you will need to cover your shoulders and wear pants that are longer than your knees to enter the places of worship. All in all it the place had a slight serene touch. Do pass by (and maybe support the monks by buying some produce ranging from soaps and creams, to jams, wine, beer, sweets, chocolate, and so much more) ✨

We visited this monastery the first week of December. I made a reservation for la vista accompagnata. Dam Joe was waiting for us. He showed us all the interesting things at the monastery and explained with his humor and made us smile many times. Our visit took 1,30 hour and time flew. Everything was interesting. Dam Joe was a perfect guide for us. Learning and experience. What a beautiful place it is.

Outstanding and breathtaking monastery. It's something definitely not to miss if you are in the area