Large Houses to stay in in Tuscany
 

My wife and I are planning a family vacation in Italy for the summer of 2008. We are looking for a place that will sleep at least 7 Adults and 6 children. We hope to stay in Tuscany for at least 2 weeks. Hoping to get a house with cooking facilities at the minimum. A pool would be a plus. This will be in the June 2008 timeframe. We chose Tuscany because of its location near Florance and also allowing overnights to Rome, if some of the adults want to do that. Can anyone tell me where I might start looking for Web Sites featuring house rentals? Has anyone done this large of a rental and can tell me some things to look out for? This is not My wifes and mine first trip to Italy (Should be our 5th so we will be happy just being in the Tuscany countryside with grandchildren) however for most of the rest of the adults it will be their first trip. All advice is appreciated.

We stayed in the Fonte de Medici in Tuscany in early October 2006. See this website:
http://www.intuscany.net/apartments/...ici_hamlet.htm

They offer a wide variety of accomodations. Our apartment was fully furnished, kitchen and all, and had two spacious bedrooms. Our traveling companions had a similar layout and were downstairs. I assume you will want to spread out to at least two (adjoining) spaces? You can have a look at the floor plans for each of the rooms/apts they offer. Best wishes for a fun trip!

TexTraveler

Try www.italiareservations.com. A very good friend of mine rented a house using this service and was very pleased.

You want the www.slowtrav.com site.
Read their reviews by location and also tons of info about trip planning and Tuscany. Do yourself a favor and decide location first.

Check out the Parker Company (villa rentals).

Also try www.summerinitaly.com we rented a place for 7 in Positano and they have great customer service.

It's not too early to book for next June. In some cases it might be too late. The Slow Travel site is packed full of detailed information about renting in Italy.

When I look for a rental for a large group, I seek out one that has a big dining table so everybody can eat together. It's good to have a big table outside as well as inside.

We've had a cook come in and prepare dinner. In Tuscany this was quite inexpensive and the food was great. Our group dinners are a highlight of the villa stay.

Don't rent a large people mover for everybody. Get 3 cars or more. This allows people to go off on their own.

You might also consider Umbria. The villas are a little cheaper and it's closer to Rome. But not to Florence.

For these day trips into cities, take the bus or the train. Cars are a pain in cities. Florence, in particular, has strict rules about driving and parking in the Centro Storico.

I formerly did some freelancing for florencevillas.com

One of the perks was a stay in Podere Santa Maria in the Val d'Orcia. That house would fit your needs I think. As I remember, a huge kitchen, very large table, I think three or four bedrooms upstairs, with two full baths. Downstairs there was a big room, with more sleeping options I think and a laundry room and bathroom.

Look on their website. They have lots of choices, but the people that run the company own that house. There is a small swimming pool, too. An above ground type, with some portions of it being placed in ground. There are pictures on the website.

Not at all too early - we arranged our villa (for 8 adults) in Umbria in November for a stay the following September. We selected our villa from Vacanza Bella (a booking "agency" based in San Francisco, whose owner has traveled throughout Tuscany and Umbria). Its web site is: http://vbella.com/default.asp.

Bobthenavigator's suggestion of slowtrav web site is on the mark. In fact, my recollection is that I found Vacanza Bella and our villa in Umbria after looking through dozens of booking agency sites and their offerings. We narrowed our selection down to 3 villas in Tuscany and 3 in Umbria and figured out what we could do in/from each. Had a blast, and our villa was great.

KC

Do these places in Tuscany have minimum number of days per rental, especially in high season?

Or if you want to move around from village to village, staying a couple of nights at the most in one, do you pretty much have to go with B&Bs?

Yes, a week rental starting on a Sat.