caralin

Hi there,

I'm looking for some help finding an agriturismo between Florence & Siena. We will be arriving in Florence by train from Venice, renting a car, driving to an agriturismo for four or five nights, and then returning to Florence to take another train to Salerno for a week on the Amalfi Coast. We'd like to stay north of Siena for several reasons: 1) It will keep the drive shorter, since we're not going to be there for all that long, 2) I'd like to possibly visit San Gimignano and Lucca while we're there, and 3) We spent five days in Montepulciano in 2012 and visited the Val d'Orcia region, so we'd like to check out a different area of Tuscany.

What we're looking for:
- under 200 EUR/night for two people (preferably under 150 EUR)
- Swimming pool and A/C are musts - I know July is going to be hot in Tuscany. (I would LOVE if there was a nice view from the pool as well, ideally!)
- Would love to be walking distance to some sort of town with restaurants.
- Restaurant on site (especially important if it's not easy to walk to a town - we could have lunch out on our adventures, and then dinner back at the agriturismo).

Areas we're considering:
- I found a place that looked great just outside San Gimignano, but it was booked. In San Gimignano in general a good town to stay near?
- What about the towns in Chianti?
- Other places??

I have gone through the previous similar threads on this Forum, looked at TripAdvisor and agriturismo.it, but I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the choices, so if someone on here could help point me specifically, that would be great!!

RonZ

One place to search:

http://www.agriturismo.it/?gclid=CMb...FdIV0wodgM8Gbg

Good luck!

kybourbon

You might find many rent by the week during high season.

ElendilPickle

We had a lovely, though too short, stay here last year.

http://fattoriapoggioalloro.com/?lang=en/

Lee Ann

caralin

Thanks for the suggestion, RonZ - I've been on agriturismo.it, and it has lots of options, but as I mentioned it has perhaps too many - I'm hoping someone here has personal experience or insight they could share!

So far, kybourbon, it seems most are willing to do less than a week - especially since we'd only need a room, not necessarily an entire apartment (it looks like most of the agriturismos I've seen offer both options).

caralin

Thanks for replying, Lee Ann - that's actually one of the ones I'd been looking at! I've already emailed them to inquire about availability, so I'll have to see what they say. Any pros/cons? Specifically in terms of restaurants - how is theirs onsite? Can you walk to any others?

kybourbon

Le Torre is in between Florence/Siena, but I'm not sure they will do a shorter rental. In the past they didn't, but now the rate charts make it seem a possibility.

http://www.letorri.com/

Another a lot closer to Siena is Mulino di Quercegrossa.

http://www.mulinodiquercegrossa.it/

annw

Relais Villa L'Olmo in Impruneta, or Villa Monteoriolo outside Impruneta. Fantastic.

Boolanger

Stayed at I Poggi just outside Impruneta 3 years ago. Brothers Giovanni and Julio are fantastic hosts. Location is easy to get to and quiet with easy parking on the property after entering through a gate. Very comfortable. I must tell you a story about Giovanni and his wife, Francesca. They took us to a shuttle bus for the Festival of the Grape in Impruneta that late morning day where we said we would walk back from town afterwards(about 2 miles). That evening it started to rain and while my GF and I were sipping wine and eating appetizers at a corner café, a voice from a car began calling my name. Well it was Giovanni and his wife who looked all over town for us for a ride home because they didn't want us to walk back in the drizzling rain. How great is that?

annw

We went to the Festa 5 years ago! Amazing, wasn't it?

Boolanger

annw,

Yes, we were not prepared for such a production. I remember Julio, host/co-owner at I Poggi, told us we had to go to the festival because people come from many, many miles to see the parade. What he didn't tell us is that everyone for many, many miles was actually in the parade. Not knowing anything about the festival, we were surprised to find the parade was so long and involved, with beautiful floats and hundreds of exquisite costumes. A truly pleasant surprise to say the least.

caralin

Boolanger, they sound so lovely!! I've sent them an email to inquire about availability.

That festival sounds amazing, too - how fun you were able to be there for that (I googled it, and found it's in September - too bad we'll miss it!).

ElendilPickle

Caralin, we didn't eat dinner there since it was more than we wanted to spend, but they were serving when we returned that evening from San Gimignano and everything looked and smelled wonderful.

They have a pretty good breakfast, though; they make their own jams and breads (not sure on the breads, but they were fresh and delicious) and you can also have eggs and proscuitto if you want. Great coffee, too.

Sarah, the owner, is really friendly and we felt very much at home there.

Lee Ann

Elizabeth_S

Slow Trav has a lot of discussion of agriturismos - this one is well regarded and about mid point between Florence and Siena

http://www.fattoriaviticcio.com/

Elizabeth_S

Forgot to mention - Google says a 23 minute walk into Greve in Chianti which should cover off the evening restaurant requirement and suites have AC

maitaitom

"Another a lot closer to Siena is Mulino di Quercegrossa."

Wow, does thast bring back memories! We stayed there a little more than 10 years ago. It was the bargain of the century back then. 7 Pools!

Chapters Ten throgh Twelve have some more photos of this place.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/italia-2005/

caralin

Thanks for the continued suggestions!

Turns out Poggio Alloro is full for our dates - maybe another time, Lee Ann!

MaiTaiTom and KyBourbon, thanks for the suggestion of Mulino di Quercegrossa. It looks unique and amazing, but I think we want something a bit quieter - I bet a lot more of those sunbeds would be full than when you were there last time, MaiTaiTom (especially in that July heat...). I love your travel blog, though, and I'm definitely going to comb it more thoroughly for restaurant ideas!

caralin

Right now, the frontrunner is Torraccia di Chiusi - I like the sound of the meals that Bruno, the chef, makes every night! Apparently it's about an hour to walk into San Gimignano, but from the sounds of things I think we might be having all our dinners right here! (I'm having trouble posting the link to their site, but you can google the name easily.)

My main question now is just whether San Gimignano is the best town in the area to stay near. From reading other threads, people are saying it's jammed with tour buses, and seem to be suggesting Volterra or Radda/Greve/Castellina in Chianti as better bases.

Any thoughts on this, in terms of general town to stay near? Or should I just choose the agriturismo I like best, and all the towns are pretty much the same?

caralin

Oh, and Elizabeth, thanks for the suggestion but Fattoria Viticcio is full.

maitaitom

"and I'm definitely going to comb it more thoroughly for restaurant ideas!"

My one place I would recommend (and know that it is still going strong) is Ristoro Di Lamole (in the hills not too far from Greve...about 10 km). Magical views, great food, and olive oil my wife still dreams about. We'll be back next year. Have a wonderful trip.

http://ristorodilamole.it/en/