Doug Reno

My girlfriend and I are looking for some recomendations on agriturism in the Tuscany area. We have two weeks we would like to fill with food, wine, walks, and biking. I am also planning to ask her to marry me, so any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Wayne

Doug--<BR>A good place to start is to go to the Italian Tourist Board web site www.itwg.com. In it you will find a place to enter a city name in an area you might want to stay. For Tuscany, you should look for some of the smaller villages such as Montalcino, Pienza, Poppi, and the like; you will find several agritourism sites.

julie

See if you can find the thread that was on here in the last day or two called, "robbed while sleeping" it dealt with problems some people had had in agrotourism places. Just thought you might want to be aware of things to watch out for.

Leslie

Doug -<BR><BR>A website I found useful was www.initaly.com. Also the recommended romantic places in Karen Brown guides, found on www.karenbrown.com

Santa Chiara

Also, try charmingitaly.com. It has a long list of agriturismi, mostly in Tuscany.

Andrea Peters

Try the Palazzina in Radicofani. Small 10 bedroom place with gorgeous views and small pool. The owners cook 4/5 course dinners at night using local produce. The food and atmosphere are both excellent, but watch out for the post dinner grappa!

wendy

Doug~<BR><BR>First of all, congratulations!<BR><BR>I wish I could help with Tuscany, but I thought it was worth mentioning a place in Umbria, near Assisi, a great place I've stayed (and reccommended) on numerous occasions, and the family is WONDERFUL. It is situated in olive groves, with sweeping vistas of the countryside, with half day walks/hikes and horseback riding available. Maria, the mother, does all the cooking in their wonderful kitchen and adores having people join her for cooking classes. At the end of the day, locals and guests gather in front of the fire for dinner, course after course of Maria's cooking! The family also harvests their own honey and mushrooms, which are sold throughout Umbria... and Claudio (the son and property manager)will on occasion be proud to show you the 'hives' if you ask! It is not far from vineyards and Perugia, 15 minutes away, has incredible chocolates and wonderful restaurants.<BR><BR>http://www.malvarina.it/<BR><BR>Buon Viaggio!<BR>~Wendy~<BR>

Betsy

Do not miss Malvarina! My husband and I stayed there in October after Wendy recommended it on this forum. Everything she says in the message above is true. This is a little piece of Umbrian heaven. Wish I were there right now!

steve

check out my web page which includes a trip to Tuscany.<BR>http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/5733<BR><BR>

Gigi

Topping for Carol..

christine

We were in Tuscany a couple years ago and absolutely loved it. We used Chianti as a base and took day trips to Florence, Sienna, an other towns in Tuscany. We stayed in a 16th century farm house in a very small village called Adine (total of 4 houses). The owner runs a B&B in her main house and also taught a cooking class in Chianti. We stayed in a lovely adjoining apartment equiped with kitchen and a fridge. Her name is Simonetta Palazio and she speaks English and was extremely helpful. You can contact her at Adine 53010 Lecchi in Chianti. Tel. 0577-749059. She belong to an Agriturism co-op that I found through a website I think www.chianti.net (not sure). Let me know if you need anything else.

Ian

I have frequently recommended Fattoria Pagnana on this site ( www.fattoria-pagnana.com ). My work takes me to Florence a number of times each year and I always return there and each time it only gets better. I cannot recommend it more than this. Plus if you are into designer shopping there are the factory outlets of Gucci (together with YSL, Giorgio Armani, Loro Piano, Bottega Veneta), Dolce & Gabbana, Prada and Fendi.