Hi, do you have any suggestions for a nice place to stay in or around Siena? Ideally we want to stay in a beautiful Tuscan villa for a wk in August as a family of 4. But my daughter has some food sensitivity so staying closed to town will give us more options re her diet. We stayed at the Palazzo Ravizza before as a couple but that was without a car. It was nice but could be too small for 4. And we planned to drive around the hilltowns this time. We are also opened to a more rural estate with easy in/out of the city.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

We were very pleased with a villa that Karin Dietz at www.chianti-and-more.com found for us. All sizes, pools, etc. Karin offers excellent service and responds quickly from her Panzano office.

I'm not sure why you think staying in Siena will make it easier to accommodate your daughter's dietary needs. I would think having a place with your own kitchen would guarantee no problems. Most restaurants in Italy are very much tied to serving the very local cuisine. In tourist areas like Siena, you do get a bit more variety than you do in an off-the-beaten track town, but really not much.

Is it too nosy to ask what is out of your daughter's diet or needs to be in it, and how old your kids are? If they are young, you might prefer having your own kitchen for dinners anyway, just because kids often are impatient with Italian restaurant hours (dinner starts at 8) and the slow pace of the meal.

I meant to add (in case you don-t feel like answering questions!) that one way to locate upscale places near Siena would be to try a google search with the words "luxury relais villa Siena" and see if anything appeals to you, and look up reviews on Tripadvisor.

Stevewith, good questions. My kids are 5 and 7. My daughter eats gluten free and she also reacts to lactose and eggs at times. Poor stomach she has. So it really doesn't go well with Italian cuisine. It seems there are plenty of restaurant in Florence that can accommodate her. And I google Siena and it seems there are many options there, too. But staying in somewhere remote we might not have as many options. You make a good point that we need our own kitchens, though. That was what we did in London and Paris. Just hard to find a place with kitchen and supermarket around as we are not familiar with the region.

When it comes to shopping, you will have no trouble at all finding gluten free items, even in smaller towns, including pastas and breads if you want them, if potatoes and rice won't do. Gluten free products are sold in pharmacies and supermarkets.

Most restaurants everywhere will reliably have potatoes on the menu, and of course plenty of foods like beans, grilled and cured meats, grilled or steamed vegetables, none of which have cheese or gluten. She will have to avoid rice dishes in restaurants, however, and soups. as these are very likely to have gluten.

You can print out this to take to lunch restaurants when you are out and about daytripping.

http://www.celiactravel.com/cards/italian/

and maybe this has a lot of reassuring information for you and tips

http://gluten-freeaustralia.blogspot...rtona-and.html

You could opt to stay an agriturismo like this, which is really not far from Siena and in the beautiful countryside. It has both apartments and onsite gluten free menus in its restaurant

http://www.cretaiole.it/gluten-free-tuscany.en.php

Even if your kids had no food issues (and what young kids don't when they travel), I still think they are too young to want to endure 2 Italian restaurant meals per day (even I can't do it). I think you will be happier if you have a kitchen where you can control breakfast -- really an issue, because the Italians basically lay out pastries -- and where you can bypass restaurants in favor making some of your kids favorites for simple dinners.

If you opt for an agriturismo with apartments plus an onsite restaurant, the owners will surely work with you to make sure your daughter has a great time and doesn't feel deprived. A great many Italians are gluten or lactose intolerant, so they will help you.

Here is a typical menu you will find around the hills of Siena. You will see, if you click through the courses (antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni), that as long as your daughter avoids the "primi" courses, she will have choices in a restaurant for the times you want to eat in one

http://www.osterialapiana.com/menu_la_Piana_siena.html

And if your daughter prefers something like simple sliced tomatoes or a chicken breast, most restaurants can come up with that easily on request.

I just noticed something I wrote was misleading:

The problem with rice dishes in restaurants is that they often have cheese, butter or egg in them.

And one more note:

If you print out the restaurant card I gave you a link for, make sure you cross off the list at the bottom "latte, uovo, formaggio." The card lists non-gluten items it is okay to eat, but in your case, you don't want milk, eggs or cheese either.

Parker Villas used to list all the upscale villas.

http://www.parkervillas.com/

All great suggestions and tips. Just wanting to add that Italians are very tolerant and loving of children, also in restaurants. And most will prepare something special, even something not on the menu, for a child with special food needs, etc.

We stayed for a week in a marvelous place just outside of Montepulciano which is a lovely and beautiful town. We chose the stand-alone small villa/house out of the 11 different apartments that had a kitchen, dining room, etc. but may be too small for 4 people. There are other options though, which may suit you. Very recommended.

http://www.santantonio.it/

Have a great time.

Surprisingly, many Italians suffer from gluten intolerance and some restaurants can substitute gluten-free pasta to order.

Use the phrase "Ha un'allergia a glutine."

A useful free card to download in on http://glutenfreepassport.com/allerg...slation-cards/

Thanks, Stevewith.
Thank you, guys. My wife also said "thank you."