Traveling to Tuscany in mid- to early September for 1.5 weeks. Any recommendations on particularly stellar websites that offer listings of house rentals in Tuscany? Any suggestions on the best areas of Tuscany in which to rent houses?

We had good luck with The Parker Company, www.theparkercompany.com. You are doing the right thing, planning early. We went in early September this year, and started planning in January. Our top choices were already booked. <BR> <BR>If you do a search on the forum for Tuscan Villa rentals you will turn up a vast number of websites. I know I've posted more (since lost), and so have many others.

Cassandra - start with Parker Company. They are a very reliable and reputable organization. I have used them the past two years (and also next year), and others on the forum have used them as well: <BR> <BR>http://www.theparkercompany.com <BR> <BR>Also look at these sites: <BR> <BR>http://www.italianvillas.com/ <BR>http://www.rentvillas.com/ <BR>http://www.italian-villas.com <BR>http://www.tuscanenterprise.it/welcome.htm <BR>http://www.italian-itineraries.com/ <BR> <BR>Most places rent in one week increments, from Saturday to Saturday. There are a few exceptions out there, but you've got to look. <BR> <BR>I agree with Beth - start early, book early, for the best choices.

www.domani-usa.com also

I meant to say something about location before, and I forgot... Its really a touch choice. Once you get off the main highways in Tuscany, the going is very slow. We were suprised at how long it took to get places. We stayed in Chiusi, in Southern Tuscany. We picked it because it had great access to the A1, so we could get around. But it was far more developed than I expected, and I was bummed by the smell of diesel fumes in the morning. Still, the highway access was nice, the town charming. Not a bad location, not perfect. The towns long the Chianti road were much prettier (Greve, Radda, Castellina), but it would have been much harder to get to other places. <BR> <BR>You need to pick out the places you most want to visit, and decide your threshold for day trip driving time. Mine was 2 hours (each way). It took us nearly this long to get to Greve and Siena, so we never went as far as Volterra, Lucca, San Gimignano. Make a list of places you absolutely must see, and then pick a location not too far.