Hi,
I am in the process of planning a surprise trip for my parents 25th wedding anniversary (they are 55 and 62, and in good health). The trip is a total of 10 days in April, 5 of which will be spent in the Tuscany area. They will be spending a few days in Rome, heading to Tuscany, spending 2 days in Florence, then the last day in Venice (as they fly out of there). I have hired a private tour guide to take them around Tuscany for 2 days out of their stay. I booked a reservation at Villa Armena (http://www.villaarmena.com/en/13/homepage.aspx), which is an absolutely beautiful accommodation, with rave reviews; however, two of the tour guides I consulted suggested staying in Siena or in another hilltown, as they say Villa Armena is too remote. In either situation, my parents will have a rental car, so they will be able to get around outside of when they are with the private tour guide.
Can someone provide a recommendation on whether they think staying outside of a hilltown is too limiting? None of the hotels in Siena look as nice as Villa Armena (and the other hotels I've booked for them in Rome, Florence, and Venice). I want to make sure they are staying in a nice place and didn't think staying in a more remote location was a big deal (since they will have a car... and this type of accommodation - I looked into MANY similar places - always seems to get great reviews), but if anyone has experience, please let me know!
Thank you!!
Need help with Tuscany accommodations for parents!
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The reason it's a problem is their time is very limited and that road is very curvy. It will be dark by the time they would go to dinner which makes driving back to a remote villa no fun. I prefer a hill town that is big enough to have a selection of restaurants where you can walk to dinner.
This is the same area (the resort is on 451 and this is just off it) so you can get a sense of what type of terrain they will have to drive to get anywhere.
http://www.monteolivetomaggiore.it/lang1/
http://www.agricolamonteoliveto.com/ING/index.html
They will be stuck out in the country at night, very limiting for them as far as dining out. We did that once, never again, no matter how nice the place is.
IMO, the Villa Armena is the sort of place that works better when you have many days to explore -or- you want a place to relax and enjoy the resort amenities.
FWIW, if you follow the villa's driving directions while in streetview on maps.google.com, it appears the last 2-3 kms. are on unpaved roads.
I meant to add a comment that I hope you are telling your parents about this surprise soon. As lovely as it is that you're planning a great trip for them, they may have some ideas of their own.
Location is always the key.
If you have hired a driver why do they have a car? Stay in Siena and day trip from there Look at Palazzo Ravizza.