Steven Bird

Two parents with two teenage girls are trying to find the perfect agritourisma villa in Tuscany for a July week or two. Tried villa vignamaggio but we are on their wait list and as the days go by it would seem we are out of luck (much to our great dissapointment). <BR> <BR>We are trying to instill a love of travel in the girls to make them future fodorites so I am giving my fellow fodor family the opportunity to help in this project! Paulo did a great job last year for Santorini. Now we need something for this year in Tuscany somewhere between $1000 to $2,000 a week. Any suggestions? This is step two in their training! <BR> <BR>Thanks

Miane

There is a great company I tried for Italy/Tuscany: www.rentvillas.com. They're based in California, have been Italy specialists for years, have a wide selection of properties at reasonable prices and have helpful staff on board who know what they're talking about (how refreshing!)- Ask to speak to the owner Suzanne Pidduck, she's very knowledgeable about the Italian experience with kids and she delivered mint service to us. Another good one is www.parkercompany.com but they're way more expensive.

Carey

Steven, <BR> <BR>try www.omnia.addr.com <BR> <BR>I rented an estate from them this past October for my wedding, and all of our guests loved it. I also referred another person on this site to them, and they immediately rented a villa in Sicily. I did a lot of comparison shopping before I picked the estate. Ville in Italia was the most reasonable, and they were very professional. Our stay at the estate exceeded our wildest dreams, and we are already planning to rent the medieval tower again in May! I hope this helps! <BR>Carey

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Steven, Try www.initaly.com for some <BR>great properties in good locations. <BR>I like several---look at Le Colombeline <BR>and Palazzo Bandino for starters. <BR>I prefer that part of Tuscany. <BR>Good luck--I admire your premise.

KAren

Steven, I am seaching for the same. We are also planning for next July Kids are 15,13 and 10 I found a couple of sites but are unsure about booking without talking to others tuscanynet.com has farm holidays and parker cmpany <BR>email I would love to discuss <BR>karen <BR>krmrn@aol

Liz

Steven, We went to Italy 2 summers ago with our 2 young girls 7 & 8 and stayed at a beautiful Castello about 25 minutes out of Florence. We have the same philosophy as you do and try to travel and expose them to other cultures as much as possible. They had a wonderful time meeting kids from all over Europe that were staying there! They also recieved some language lessons in German, French and Dutch from the friends they made there!It was great fun to watch them communicating! They did a great job! We were the only Canadians there. It is Castello Montegufoni in Montespertoli and I can't say enough about this place. It is broken up into many apartments ranging in size from 2 to 8 people. You can e-mail me directly if you'd like more info. It's also very resonable. I sound like an ad but I'm not, in fact we enjoyed it so much that we are going back this summer! Maybe we'll see you there!

steven bird

Hi Liz Malinka, <BR> <BR>Thank you for your help. I tried to email you but it was returned. My question is who did you use to book the Castello? email me back if you would at the above (work) or [email protected] <BR> <BR>Thanks!

Steven Bird

Thanks to this website (and especially Liz) we are all set for our location. The choice would have been overwhelming otherwise. Now of course I have to find the cheap airfare to Italy during high season (July) of course and start the itinary...for now however thank you Fodors! I'll be back to get answers for the rest!

Paulo

Now that you've got a home base in Tuscany, Steven, it's time to put your girls to work <BR> <BR>Choose 2 or 3 cities and urge them to study all they can about them because they're going to be in complete charge, leeding the family in their sightseeing. You'll have to spend a little providing them with the relevant reference material. Their assignement should include historical background, the itinerary that should be followed in these cities, the monuments to be visited, the most relevant pieces of artwork and info on respective artists, site descriptions, etc. In other words, they should be able to serve as well informed guides ... <BR> <BR>Cities that pop up as perfect for this job are San G., Siena and/or Pisa. <BR> <BR>When I did that with my daughters, the result was amazing. It was fun just to sit back in a church or museum and let them go about finding the artwork or architectural details they've singled out and then hear them reading from their notes ... with that "expert air" in their faces <BR> <BR>Happy planning ... for ALL of you. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>Oh ... tell your daughters they're welcome to email "uncle" Paulo and ask any questions they feel like! <BR>

Steven Bird

Thanks Paulo, <BR> <BR>That is a great idea. It is really important for us to have the girls understand that the world is more than just where they live (Bucks County, Pa.) Part of the attraction of the place Liz recommended was that they will have interaction with young adults from various parts of the world. <BR> <BR>Thanks again.