Help! Any recommendations for a village and/or villa for a month's stay in Tuscany?
 

My husband and I are looking to take our three year old son with us to Tuscany for a month. We want to rent a villa in Tuscany (that will sleep 8-10) and have our friends and family visit us on a rotating basis. However, we have never been to Tuscany and I have no idea which village to try to find a villa near...We like to be physically active, eat good food, and drink good wine. Any recommendations on a village and/or a specific villa that you have rented? Many thanks!

Ohhh, you are SO lucky to be staying for a month. The slowtrav.com website is great for info about villages and villas. I'm going with a group this spring, and we have rented Villa nel Oliveto (sleeps 10), near Montepulciano and Pienza, through intuscany.com. I discovered this property through the wonderful reviews on the Slowtrav website. Rebecca, the InTuscany manager, has been a perfect dream to work with.

Thank you, Betsy! I will look it up right away! Melanie

Melo,
I've stayed in quite a few villas, could recommend that all...however, there's a huge abundance of villas available, suggest you do some major net surfing. For towns, it depends on what you are looking for you really need to get a good book or again major net surfing to figure out what you would enjoy most. For Tuscany good areas are of course Chianti, San Gimignango, Sieni, Pienza, Montepulcino, etc and the list goes on. Don't discount Umbria, next door to Tuscany, glorious region, more mountainous, rich in history too...a little less touristed. See Assissi, Spello, Speleto, Trevi, Orvieto, etc. There's just so many great places and things to see and do in both regions. You might really also want to consider two or more rentals so you can really explore several different areas.

Best of luck and have a great trip.

Melo, I too am envious. As I have advvised dozens of times to first time renters in Tuscany, location should be your top criteria. The best place to start is at slowtrav.com and read about the various regions of Tuscany--many prefer the area south of Siena. Then pick a price range and the amenities that you will desire, and then start to look at actual properties. I have been thru this process many times and it can get to be confusing without defining your criteria first--start with location.

I have a somewhat different approach sometimes with properties and locations....#1 you can almost be guaranteed a beautiful area no matter where you stay and if accomodations are important then surf and find that great place...particularly if you are looking for something you really plan to "live" in vs something you only plan to lay your head, though most people with villas its all about the villa. I suggest you search and search widely and when you find something checkout distances, whats available nearby etc. Slowtrav is a great place to start. Best of luck and happy travels.