PeggyE

We are looking...again...for accommodations in the Chianti area that is convenient for day trips, beautiful scenery and reasonably close to a sampling of restaurants. Thoughts on Villa Casalecchi if they have availability. Or is Rada in Chianti a better choice. Help..I am getting so confused. So far we are considering 3 nights in Rome, 3 at Locanda dell Amorosa & then 3 somewhere in Chianti, 1 night between Florence & Venice & 3 in Venice. Suggestions for the Chianti on would be so appreciated!!

annabelle2

PeggyE, this is not a hotel exactly, but a B&B agriturismo:
Podere Torre, just outside Greve, in Chianti.

The easiest way to check it out is through the Greve-in-Chianti.com site; look under rural accomodations or something like that. You can link to the Podere Torre site that way.

Found it in the "Best Places to Stay - Italy" guidebook (found a great place in Venice through them as well) and stayed there a couple of trips ago, about 3.5 yrs ago. Views of the vineyards, antique rose bushes, lovely owner Cecilia...heavenly. UNLESS you require plush lodgings.

If you do a search on this site, another poster has stayed there more than I have, and they love it as well.

DownUnder

Villa Vignamaggio at www.vignamaggio.com is certainly worth considering. Great location for touring the Chianti region with views to die for. Was the birthplace of the original Mona Lisa and used by Kenneth Branagh as the location for one his Shakespearean films.

PeggyE

DownUnder, Villa Vignamaggio looks very interesting. They say guests have to arrive at certain times but once you are checked in you can stay out later than 7:00 pm, correct! Is the town of Greve interesting? Do you have an specific room recommendations?

constant

Podere Torre if you're looking for a great bargain. http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/poderetorre.htm If you want the best there is with a gourmet restaurant as well try Villa Bordoni www.villabordoni.com . Both of these are located near Greve which is the best place to be based for a visit to the Chianti area.

PeggyE

Villa Bordoni looks great!Is it difficult to get to? The driving instructions make it sound like a steep climb but is it doeable coming back at night after dinner out? Anyway, it looks promising, thanks for the input. DO you have any room type recommendations?

constant

No, Villa Bordoni is not difficult to get to - it's a dirt road and a couple of moderate hills from Greve. No problem at all after dinner if only because you will be the only car at any given time. Ask Ricardo, the manager who answers the phone, about what he would recommend in terms of your room requirements. There are few of them and they are all remarkable - they spared no expense in terms of interior decoration.

PeggyE

Just got an e-mail from Villa Bordoni and they are fully booked for the dates we are looking for. Darn, so the search is back on. Vills Casalecchi looks good also & gets good reviews on this site. And Villa Vignamaggio...so back to web surfing! But I did secure Palazzo Sant'Angelo canal view room in Venice...happy about that! Thanks again & any info is helpful.

loves2sing

We just opened a bottle of wine from Villa Vignamaggio that we got on our 2001 Italy trip. It was amazing and made a wonderful addition to our Valentine's Day dinner last night!!

PeggyE

So you shipped wine home from Italy! How difficult or expensive was it? I would love to do that. We are very much into regional wine but don't know about the Italian shipping requirements. Any pointers? Do the wineries ship for you?

loves2sing

First, there are lots of posts on shipping wine on here, with more detail that I can give. I saw many of the champagne houses doing shipping, but only a few of the larger wineries ship for you.

However, what we did was travel from Paris all down thru thru the French Riviera, gathering wines and champangnes from various places. We had a car so we just kept adding them to our suitcases and figured at the French Riviera we'd ship home our "olive oil" and other "food items" However, as it turned out, we forgot what day of the week it was and as it turns out, it was Sunday and all the post offices were closed.

Soooo, we had to schlep our now very heavy large suitcases onto the overnight train to Venice (getting onto the front of the train and then realizing our sleeper car was at the back was not fun, but a memory we now laugh about). And then of course, on arrival in Venice, getting the luggage on the vaparattos (I think we were supposed to take one of the smaller boats to our hotel but with that heavy luggage we were seriously concerned we would sink the boat, ha!) and getting to St. Marks Square over all the cobbled stone streets, up and down all the little bridges was a nightmare! I would literally stand at the top of the bridge (6-10 steps) and my husband would lift my luggage and bring it to me, then he'd go back and get his. Then I'd go stand at the bottom of the bridge and he would carry mine to me before going back to get his. We didn't want to let our precious cargo out of our site! Thank God he is so strong! The next day, first thing, we shipped all our "goodies" back home. It was expenisive however, as any shipping is for heavier items, but it was worth it. I'm sure we doubled the price of the wines we bought but it was very worth it (especially since there are so many inexpensive wines).

So, as we traveled thru Italy, we did the same thing, just kept gathering wines along our route, one or two bottles at a time at various wineries (for the memory). We live in So. California, near Napa, Sonoma and even Temecula and often we will do tastings and often we walk away without a purchase if we don't like anything. In Italy, this never happened! So at the end of our trip in Italy, rather than ship again, we just dumped some of our bulky items (shoes, jackets, etc.) into an extra duffle bag, wrapped up about 1/2 of the wine in dirty clothes, and checked it on the airplane. Some of our very favorites we carried on, maybe 4-6 in each of our carry-ons. We never had any problems at all thru customs. The France shipped wine came about 2-3 weeks after we got home and only one bottle was broken. Fortunately it was a bottle we bought for $2.98 in Provence and we had bought about four of them (actually it was one of the better wines! A little place where all the locals come to fill up their jugs from big vats!)

You know, I think as far as customs goes, I think this is when it pays to look like a tourist!

PeggyE

Thanks for the interesting story! I'm in SoCal also. Paso Robles in our favorite wine area (would love to retire there!) In a local shop I just bought a bottle of Brunello di Montelcino to get a feel for what is to come. I'm encouraged about how much you liked the Italian wines. I just confirmed Villa Casalecchi. A wedding part is taking over Villa Bordoni on our dates, but I received a great e-mail saying to stop in & check the place out & taste their wine! All responses have been so generous. And Villa Vignamaggio the room layout confused me. They sent a price, of course I wanted the Mona Lisa suite for $500.00 a night! We are splurging more on Palazzo Sant'Angelo in Venice & Locando dell'Amorosa prior to the Chianti area. Casalecchi looks great too. Thanks for your help!

SuQue

Try Albergo Casafrassi in Castellina in Chianti, pretty views of Siena, excellent location.

loves2sing

You know....when we went to Villa Vignamaggio, they didn't even have rooms yet. It was all pretty deserted they day we drove up the winding road, but a young man came out and motioned to us to go to what is now their tasting room. It was obviously under construction at the time. He spoke no english but he knew what we were there for, ha. After that, he again motioned to us to walk around their grounds. It was all very rustic. The grounds were beautiful...lavender everywhere, cherry trees, trellised walkways, and of course vineyards. That place had some of the most magnificient views! We sat at the edge of their small jacuzzi and put our feet in while just sitting there in amazement of the views. This was five years ago and now I see on their website they do rent rooms and it seems they've built it up quite a bit to accept visitors. But yes, I was confused by their map because it appeared some of the rooms were away from the main location where we did our tasting. But someday, I will go back and stay! So do take some time to drive up and check it out. You will have so much fun going from winery to winery!

If you want to look at some photos, check here:

http://marilynloves2sing2.home.comcast.net/radda.html