Bonellino Vecchio is a couple of miles out of town on the road between Pienza and San Quirico. There is another agriturismo nearby with a similar name that also has a pool, Bonello. I had forgotten about it. Like Bonellino, it doesn't seem to have AC, but the views might be a bit better.

http://www.bonello.eu/eng/home

The San Gregorio is not close to the town, it's in the town of Pienza. You simply walk across the street and you are in the historic old town. Did you hear from Rutiliano?

Another hotel in Pienza with a pool is Il Chiostro di Pienza.

http://www.anghelhotels.it/eng/relai...ienza/home.htm

FYI - Bonello does have a restaurant if that matters.

>>>but also only double beds, which might be a disadvantage.<<<

Some beds at Bonellino Vecchio can be made into twins. We had one of the rooms, not an apartment (had a mini-fridge though) and they separated the beds for us. We usually went into Pienza for dinner. There are quite a few restaurants in the old town and also in the new town.

In regard to the van, I have rented a 7 passenger van in Italy--rented through Opodo (travel agency owned by major European airlines)but it was a Hertz vehicle. I picked up the van in Florence from the Hertz office which is a short walk from the train station. The major problem with the rental was the fact that we had 8 women to carry in it (used a pillow to make an extra seat between seats) and all of our luggage. To get from the train station to our rental in the countryside about 30 minutes away, 5 of the women had to take the train to a nearby town while 2 of them rode as my navigators with the luggage to help me find the villa, unload the luggage, find the train station in the little town, etc. At the end of our week's rental, we had to reverse this whole procedure. Other than that issue of not having enough space to haul everyone and luggage, too, other days we were all right since we didn't have anything to haul except some purchases when we went shopping. Many of the towns in Tuscany do not allow driving into their city centers regardless of the size of the vehicle so the fact that we had a van didn't disadvantage us at all.

I do recommend something in the countryside, especially with the ages of the children. Unless your children are unusually precocious, they will not be very interested in long days of walking over cobblestones and looking at ruins or art galleries.

kybourbon- Thanks for all the links- none of them including Bonello have availability on my dates.(except the ones I mentioned above)

billboburgler, annhig - Thanks for your review and suggestions


I am tempted to go for http://www.agriturismobonellinovecchio.it/

since they are offering 2 bedrooms (1 double bed and 1 triple bed) with 2 bathrooms. However she is asking for a bank transfer to confirm. I requested for credit card option which helps to avoid a run to the bank and am awaiting her response.

On the Car side - confirmed pick up from Orvieto however they don't have a GPS. I reckon it would be difficult to impossible to drive with out one. I have requested if I could pick up a GPS from any of the Rome city offices.

Somehow I feel that this thread lost its real purpose of finalising an itinerary. How ever I got so much help from you all to solve very other important issues. Thanks for your time and patience.

Since I am able nail down most of the issues with your help, I feel I should open up a new thread which will concentrate on the day by day itinerary.

vjose - it does look like a good choice for a family with youngish children - they will have plenty of room to run off their energy and the pool of course. The bank transfer is quite normal in Europe - we do it with our guests coming from Germany and elsewhere.

Driving will not be difficult to impossible without a GPS - after all we all did it until about 5 years ago - but by all means get one from the Rome office if they can give you one. otherwise, why not take one from home with european maps downloaded before you leave - they don't take up much room in a suitcase. and buy a decent map while you're in Rome. There is a very nice bookshop with some children's books along the via del Corso in Rome [on the left if you have the Vittoriano Emanuale Monument behind you] which should have some.

by all means start a new thread - and have a look at some already on this forum by using the search engine.

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