A week in Tuscany plus one night each in Brunnen (Luzern) and Lyon: a few notes, highlights and restaurant reviews
May 31st, 2006, 06:25 AM
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A week in Tuscany plus one night each in Brunnen (Luzern) and Lyon: a few notes, highlights and restaurant reviews
Returned on Sunday from a week spent in rented accommodation in the Chianti region. We drove there from our home in Brussels, stopping on the way there for a night in Brunnen, near Luzern (Switzerland) and on the way back in Lyon (France). Lyon was a bit of a detour but my husband's father lives there, as did we for a couple of years.
Here are a few notes on accommodation, sights and restaurants
<b>Hotels and accommodation</b>
Brünnen: Hotel Alpina
http://www.alpina-brunnen.ch/e/index.cfm
I can strongly recommend this pleasant 3 star hotel located in the small town of Brunnen on lake Luzern. Various posters on this board recommended Brunnen as a stop-off point. We found the hotel through Google and were very pleased with our choice. As well as being excellent value for the area (155 CHF for a spacious double, including breakfast), the hotel was very nicely decorated (modern but with quirky touches and pleasant, spotlessly clean rooms), the owner was extremely friendly and helpful, and the breakfast buffet was plentiful and delicious. Also had good on-site parking (room for plenty of cars) and a nice garden. Can't recommend the place highly enough.
Chianti: Cucule (holiday rental property)
http://www.vrbo.com/50795
We found this place on VRBO (thanks to Fodors posters for recommending the site) and instantly fell in love with it from the pictures. Located near the tiny hamlets of San Vincenti and Montebenichi, around 20 minutes drive from Gaoile in Chianti, 30 mins from Montevarchi and 45 mins from Sienna.
The accommodation consisted of a two-room ground-floor flat attached to the owners' house, a beautiful old renovated stone building. The flat had its own private terrace with table and chairs, parasol and loungers. The property is set in a beautiful garden with fabulous views of the rolling, cypress-studded Chianti hills. There's also a good sized infinity pool which we had to ourselves the whole time we were there.
The place was tastefully decorated with a few African touches (furnishings etc.) - I believe one of the owners has connections with Africa.
There was a large open plan living room and well equipped kitchen, plenty of novels, guides, cookboooks, videos and magazines in English, a combined TV and video, plus mini CD player and CDs.
The owner had provided an extremely generous welcome pack including wine, beer, coffee, tea, pasta, parmesan, breakfast goods, milk, butter, salad, etc. so we were able to cook our first meal without having to go shopping.
The bedroom had a comfortable double bed (not huge but enough for us) and an en-suite bathroom with shower that drained directly into a drain in the tiled floor. Sounds weird and took some getting used to, but wasn't an inconvenience in any way.
We paid approximately 750 euros for the week, including a down payment paid by bank transfer when we booked.
This isn't the place to stay if you want to be in the thick of things - it's a good twenty-thirty minute drive to pretty much anywhere, including shops, banks and pharmacies. But if you want to get away from it all, as we did, then it's perfect. Nothing but the sounds of cuckoos and birds, frogs and crickets, and wonderful star-gazing at night.
Lyon - Hotel Carlton (Mercure)
http://tinyurl.com/mzpdw
We booked our Lyon accommodation a week before we left - I just went on to the Accor hotels website (www.accorhotels.com) and looked for the place with the best rate. I often use their website when booking stop-off hotels for car journeys, as the cancellation policy is good and you often get pretty good rates.
We chose the Hotel Carlton as it was well located and close to plenty of car parks (We used to live in Lyon so I knew exactly where the hotel was and had walked past it many times). It's a lovely old hotel with rich furnishings, fresco-painted ceilings and a wonderful old-fashioned lift with wooden panelling, brass fittings and an upholstered seat. The room wasn't huge but was adequate and comfortable with air-con, TV and minibar, desk and wardrobes, and clean, modern bathroom. This was the first hotel bathroom I've ever seen that didn't have a shower curtain or screen (something you read about all the time on this board).
We paid 85 euros for a double, plus 12.50 each for a very generous hot & cold buffet breakfast, served in a beautiful old dining room. I would certainly recommend this hotel, both for its location in the centre of Lyon, and its lovely old fashioned decor. Might feel a bit stuffy in hot weather, though.
***
Will post more on sights and restaurants later.
Here are a few notes on accommodation, sights and restaurants
<b>Hotels and accommodation</b>
Brünnen: Hotel Alpina
http://www.alpina-brunnen.ch/e/index.cfm
I can strongly recommend this pleasant 3 star hotel located in the small town of Brunnen on lake Luzern. Various posters on this board recommended Brunnen as a stop-off point. We found the hotel through Google and were very pleased with our choice. As well as being excellent value for the area (155 CHF for a spacious double, including breakfast), the hotel was very nicely decorated (modern but with quirky touches and pleasant, spotlessly clean rooms), the owner was extremely friendly and helpful, and the breakfast buffet was plentiful and delicious. Also had good on-site parking (room for plenty of cars) and a nice garden. Can't recommend the place highly enough.
Chianti: Cucule (holiday rental property)
http://www.vrbo.com/50795
We found this place on VRBO (thanks to Fodors posters for recommending the site) and instantly fell in love with it from the pictures. Located near the tiny hamlets of San Vincenti and Montebenichi, around 20 minutes drive from Gaoile in Chianti, 30 mins from Montevarchi and 45 mins from Sienna.
The accommodation consisted of a two-room ground-floor flat attached to the owners' house, a beautiful old renovated stone building. The flat had its own private terrace with table and chairs, parasol and loungers. The property is set in a beautiful garden with fabulous views of the rolling, cypress-studded Chianti hills. There's also a good sized infinity pool which we had to ourselves the whole time we were there.
The place was tastefully decorated with a few African touches (furnishings etc.) - I believe one of the owners has connections with Africa.
There was a large open plan living room and well equipped kitchen, plenty of novels, guides, cookboooks, videos and magazines in English, a combined TV and video, plus mini CD player and CDs.
The owner had provided an extremely generous welcome pack including wine, beer, coffee, tea, pasta, parmesan, breakfast goods, milk, butter, salad, etc. so we were able to cook our first meal without having to go shopping.
The bedroom had a comfortable double bed (not huge but enough for us) and an en-suite bathroom with shower that drained directly into a drain in the tiled floor. Sounds weird and took some getting used to, but wasn't an inconvenience in any way.
We paid approximately 750 euros for the week, including a down payment paid by bank transfer when we booked.
This isn't the place to stay if you want to be in the thick of things - it's a good twenty-thirty minute drive to pretty much anywhere, including shops, banks and pharmacies. But if you want to get away from it all, as we did, then it's perfect. Nothing but the sounds of cuckoos and birds, frogs and crickets, and wonderful star-gazing at night.
Lyon - Hotel Carlton (Mercure)
http://tinyurl.com/mzpdw
We booked our Lyon accommodation a week before we left - I just went on to the Accor hotels website (www.accorhotels.com) and looked for the place with the best rate. I often use their website when booking stop-off hotels for car journeys, as the cancellation policy is good and you often get pretty good rates.
We chose the Hotel Carlton as it was well located and close to plenty of car parks (We used to live in Lyon so I knew exactly where the hotel was and had walked past it many times). It's a lovely old hotel with rich furnishings, fresco-painted ceilings and a wonderful old-fashioned lift with wooden panelling, brass fittings and an upholstered seat. The room wasn't huge but was adequate and comfortable with air-con, TV and minibar, desk and wardrobes, and clean, modern bathroom. This was the first hotel bathroom I've ever seen that didn't have a shower curtain or screen (something you read about all the time on this board).
We paid 85 euros for a double, plus 12.50 each for a very generous hot & cold buffet breakfast, served in a beautiful old dining room. I would certainly recommend this hotel, both for its location in the centre of Lyon, and its lovely old fashioned decor. Might feel a bit stuffy in hot weather, though.
***
Will post more on sights and restaurants later.
May 31st, 2006, 06:47 AM
#3
Looking forward to hearing more about Brunnen. I live 20 min. away and go there quite often. I was there last Wednesday at Pluspunkt restaurant and then for a nightcap at Badehüsli.
Did you go to the Waldstätterhof Sunday brunch? It's pure heaven and at an affordable price. You have to reserve though.
Did you go to the Waldstätterhof Sunday brunch? It's pure heaven and at an affordable price. You have to reserve though.
May 31st, 2006, 06:51 AM
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Hi Schuler - thanks for your Brünnen recommendations 
You live in a beautiful part of the world!
We didn't have much free time there, unfortunately - we would loved to have brunched at the hotel but we only stayed the Friday night and left fairly early on the Saturday morning. We arrived much later than planned, too, due to massive roadworks along the motorway from Brussels to Luxembourg, plus more works around Colmar and Basel.
You live in a beautiful part of the world!We didn't have much free time there, unfortunately - we would loved to have brunched at the hotel but we only stayed the Friday night and left fairly early on the Saturday morning. We arrived much later than planned, too, due to massive roadworks along the motorway from Brussels to Luxembourg, plus more works around Colmar and Basel.
Jun 1st, 2006, 11:06 PM
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Thanks for the comments so far - the apartment <i>was</i> beautiful - I can understand why it's booked up all summer
Anyway, here are a few more of my ramblings...
<b>Food notes: restaurants and home-cooked dinners</b>
Brünnen:
We hadn't researched any places to eat before we arrived in Switzerland and didn't have any guide books on the area, so we were at a bit of a loss as to where to eat on the Friday evening we spent in Brünnen.
Fortunately, the hotel owner was very helpful and recommended us a nice sounding restaurant that served great food, worked with able-bodied and disabled staff and, he said, was popular with locals. Unfortunately the place turned out to be fully booked so the hotel owner suggested we eat at a nearby hotel where the food was decent (but not as good as the other place), and the views were fantastic.
The hotel (can't remember the name! something beginning with F) was a short drive (5 minutes) from our hotel, on the road to Gersau, and the owner wasn't joking when he said the views were good. It was positioned right on the lake with a terrace overlooking the water, against a backdrop of rocky cliffs with a waterfall tumbling down behind. The weather was a bit too chilly and rainy to make it possible to sit out on the terrace, so we took a table in the bizarrely medieval themed dining room (we're talking suits of armour, ironwork, coats of arms, etc.).
The food was fine, in a hotel-foodish kind of way - we both had fish (fried perch for DH and steamed char for me), salad and very tasty rösti. We washed it down with a carafe of pinot grigio and followed up with ice cream from one of those menus that has glossy photographs of all the sundaes.
It was perfectly OK and busy with locals, though by the end of the evening it was pretty smoky. I don't remember what the bill was but it wasn't huge. I can imagine it would be a nice place to eat when the weather is good, as the terrace really does have beautiful views.
Chianti region: Osteria di Rendola
www.osteriadirendola.it/
This was the first restaurant we ate at in Italy during our week there. It's a well known restaurant about 15 minutes outside the town of Montevarchi, and is recommended in various guides.
Six years ago, my family and I had actually stayed a week at one of the rental properties located at the Fattoria di Rendola, on the same estate, and I remembered having a couple of memorable meals (7 course tasting menus) at the Osteria. As this was the day of our first wedding anniversary, we were looking forward to a special meal.
The Osteria was a bit less atmospheric than I remembered it, but we were there quite early in the season, and on a Sunday night to boot, so it was pretty quiet. The other diners all seemed to be tourists. I was also a bit disappointed to learn that they didn't start serving their wonderful tasting menu until June, so we were restricted to the à la carte selection.
Still, the menu was far from uninspiring. I started with a "tortina de patate" with porcini mushrooms, while DH had a mixed plate of smoked goose breast, duck terrine, duck breast and foie gras. We then followed with sage-stuffed guinea fowl & salad (me) and the tenderest venison (DH) and finished up with a strawberry millefeuille for me and a kind of cheesecake for DH. The desserts were OK but not mind-blowing.
We ordered one of the wines made on the Rendola estate, their Merlot di Toscana, and when I tasted it I thought it was ever so slightly corked. Then I thought the better of it and decided I'd been imagining things. However, the faint whiff of cork didn't disappear and eventually the waiter offered to change the bottle. He didn't agree that the wine was corked (it was!!) but insisted it was the taste of the Merlot grape. However, he did offer us a different Rendola wine (can't remember the name) made from Sangiovese and Merlot. The second bottle was absolutely fine, very rich and velvety. We were very surprised when we received the bill to see that they hadn't charged us for either bottle and we thought this was very decent of them. Total bill came to 73 euros.
One of the nicest things about our meal here was that when we came out of the restaurant to the car park, we looked across the valley to Montevarchi and a huge firework display began, which seemed a fitting way to celebrate one year of marriage!
Badia a Coltibuono
http://www.coltibuono.com/0index.asp?lingua=ing
This large estate comprises an old monastery, vineyards (one of the region's largest producers), woods (with walking trails) and an excellent restaurant. They also do cookery classes and wine tasting. It is firmly on the tourist trail, as it's a stop-off point for many tour buses (especially wine tours) but this didn't put us off.
It was raining the day we came here, and we were more than ready to sit indoors and while away the hours over a long lunch. The terrace did look as though it would be lovely in fine weather, but the dining room was also very pleasant. The clientèle was a mix of Italians and tourists.
We started with an excellent marinated octopus salad with fennel and orange (me) and a dish of rabbit loin en croute with courgettes (DH) which was quite delicious. We then had cream of pea soup with garlic purée and goats cheese mousse (me) and pasta with a Tuscan style pork and bean sauce (DH), again, both dishes were lovely. Next came rabbit stuffed with olives, served with braised endive. I wasn't sure how the olive and rabbit combination would work but, again, it was delicious. I was full by this point, but DH finished with milk pudding with strawberries and a honey wafer, which he adored but was less to my taste. To drink we ordered a glass of white Trappoline for me, and a half bottle of Chianti Classico for DH, which I ended up sharing with him. The total bill was 97 euros which I thought was excellent value.
***
Will continue with more food notes later (San Gimignano, Sienna, another Chianti restaurant, market shopping and home cooked meals, Lyon)
Anyway, here are a few more of my ramblings...
<b>Food notes: restaurants and home-cooked dinners</b>
Brünnen:
We hadn't researched any places to eat before we arrived in Switzerland and didn't have any guide books on the area, so we were at a bit of a loss as to where to eat on the Friday evening we spent in Brünnen.
Fortunately, the hotel owner was very helpful and recommended us a nice sounding restaurant that served great food, worked with able-bodied and disabled staff and, he said, was popular with locals. Unfortunately the place turned out to be fully booked so the hotel owner suggested we eat at a nearby hotel where the food was decent (but not as good as the other place), and the views were fantastic.
The hotel (can't remember the name! something beginning with F) was a short drive (5 minutes) from our hotel, on the road to Gersau, and the owner wasn't joking when he said the views were good. It was positioned right on the lake with a terrace overlooking the water, against a backdrop of rocky cliffs with a waterfall tumbling down behind. The weather was a bit too chilly and rainy to make it possible to sit out on the terrace, so we took a table in the bizarrely medieval themed dining room (we're talking suits of armour, ironwork, coats of arms, etc.).
The food was fine, in a hotel-foodish kind of way - we both had fish (fried perch for DH and steamed char for me), salad and very tasty rösti. We washed it down with a carafe of pinot grigio and followed up with ice cream from one of those menus that has glossy photographs of all the sundaes.
It was perfectly OK and busy with locals, though by the end of the evening it was pretty smoky. I don't remember what the bill was but it wasn't huge. I can imagine it would be a nice place to eat when the weather is good, as the terrace really does have beautiful views.
Chianti region: Osteria di Rendola
www.osteriadirendola.it/
This was the first restaurant we ate at in Italy during our week there. It's a well known restaurant about 15 minutes outside the town of Montevarchi, and is recommended in various guides.
Six years ago, my family and I had actually stayed a week at one of the rental properties located at the Fattoria di Rendola, on the same estate, and I remembered having a couple of memorable meals (7 course tasting menus) at the Osteria. As this was the day of our first wedding anniversary, we were looking forward to a special meal.
The Osteria was a bit less atmospheric than I remembered it, but we were there quite early in the season, and on a Sunday night to boot, so it was pretty quiet. The other diners all seemed to be tourists. I was also a bit disappointed to learn that they didn't start serving their wonderful tasting menu until June, so we were restricted to the à la carte selection.
Still, the menu was far from uninspiring. I started with a "tortina de patate" with porcini mushrooms, while DH had a mixed plate of smoked goose breast, duck terrine, duck breast and foie gras. We then followed with sage-stuffed guinea fowl & salad (me) and the tenderest venison (DH) and finished up with a strawberry millefeuille for me and a kind of cheesecake for DH. The desserts were OK but not mind-blowing.
We ordered one of the wines made on the Rendola estate, their Merlot di Toscana, and when I tasted it I thought it was ever so slightly corked. Then I thought the better of it and decided I'd been imagining things. However, the faint whiff of cork didn't disappear and eventually the waiter offered to change the bottle. He didn't agree that the wine was corked (it was!!) but insisted it was the taste of the Merlot grape. However, he did offer us a different Rendola wine (can't remember the name) made from Sangiovese and Merlot. The second bottle was absolutely fine, very rich and velvety. We were very surprised when we received the bill to see that they hadn't charged us for either bottle and we thought this was very decent of them. Total bill came to 73 euros.
One of the nicest things about our meal here was that when we came out of the restaurant to the car park, we looked across the valley to Montevarchi and a huge firework display began, which seemed a fitting way to celebrate one year of marriage!
Badia a Coltibuono
http://www.coltibuono.com/0index.asp?lingua=ing
This large estate comprises an old monastery, vineyards (one of the region's largest producers), woods (with walking trails) and an excellent restaurant. They also do cookery classes and wine tasting. It is firmly on the tourist trail, as it's a stop-off point for many tour buses (especially wine tours) but this didn't put us off.
It was raining the day we came here, and we were more than ready to sit indoors and while away the hours over a long lunch. The terrace did look as though it would be lovely in fine weather, but the dining room was also very pleasant. The clientèle was a mix of Italians and tourists.
We started with an excellent marinated octopus salad with fennel and orange (me) and a dish of rabbit loin en croute with courgettes (DH) which was quite delicious. We then had cream of pea soup with garlic purée and goats cheese mousse (me) and pasta with a Tuscan style pork and bean sauce (DH), again, both dishes were lovely. Next came rabbit stuffed with olives, served with braised endive. I wasn't sure how the olive and rabbit combination would work but, again, it was delicious. I was full by this point, but DH finished with milk pudding with strawberries and a honey wafer, which he adored but was less to my taste. To drink we ordered a glass of white Trappoline for me, and a half bottle of Chianti Classico for DH, which I ended up sharing with him. The total bill was 97 euros which I thought was excellent value.
***
Will continue with more food notes later (San Gimignano, Sienna, another Chianti restaurant, market shopping and home cooked meals, Lyon)
