Photo spot in San Gimignano
Via San Giovanni and the vineyard approach
The town's main street running down to Porta San Giovanni, and the road beyond it where all fourteen towers line up at once.
About Via San Giovanni and the vineyard approach
Get directionsVia San Giovanni is the spine of the town: a straight, gently falling street of stone houses, arched shopfronts and workshops that runs from the Cisterna down to the southern gate. It is narrow enough that the buildings on one side throw warm reflected light onto the other.
Work it downhill in the late afternoon. The west-facing façades are lit, the east side sits in soft shade, and the arch of Porta San Giovanni closes the frame at the bottom like a full stop.
Go through the gate and turn back after two hundred metres and you have the other picture entirely: the vineyard road, olive trees and the whole town standing on its hill, fourteen towers in a row above the walls. This is the classic postcard and it needs no ticket, no queue and no early start.
The street carries every arriving visitor from the car parks, so it is a stream of people from mid-morning. Before nine it is quiet, and after seven it belongs to the town again.
Best time to shoot
Late afternoon inside the walls; any hour on the vineyard road outside
Tips
The classic skyline view is on the road below the Porta San Giovanni car park — a five-minute walk from the gate, and worth doing before you go in rather than after.
Photographers who shoot at Via San Giovanni and the vineyard approach
Hand-picked professionals working in San Gimignano
Real reviews from San Gimignano photoshoots
Ann-Marie T.
My husband Ted and I started planning our elopement at the end of 2020. Planning a wedding, no matter how big or how small, still requires a lot of decisions and meticulous organisation. In our case it also took complete trust in our…
Stefano C.
Photographer
Martina E.
A heartfelt thank you for capturing our Venice dream. I can't believe it was August 21st and here we are still floating on air, and much of that magic is because of you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of our…
Stefano C.
Photographer
Other spots in San Gimignano
Piazza della Cisterna
A sloping triangle of herringbone brick around a thirteenth-century well, walled in on all sides by tower houses.
Rocca di Montestaffoli
A ruined fourteenth-century fortress at the top of the town with a free public terrace over the roofs, the towers and the Val d'Elsa.
Piazza del Duomo and the Torre Grossa
The upper square, ringed by seven towers, with the tallest of them climbable for the view straight down onto the roofs.
Ready to book?
Our concierge team will hand-pick 2-3 photographers who know Via San Giovanni and the vineyard approach — free of charge.
