I've worked out most of the details of my 3+ week trip to Italy this summer. The only thing left to do is decide on a base in Tuscany or Umbria for a week.

Here's our details. We will have a car. Family of 4 with pre-teens. This will be our 3rd week in Italy, so we'll be looking for down time/slow trav. An agriturism estate with apartments & pool would be great. Not looking for rock bottom, as cost is not #1 factor, but not looking for over the top either.

We'd like to be able to do day trips to places like Siena, San Gim, or even Assisi, (although that may be far for day trip.) Exploring nearby village in the am and relax/hang out by the pool in late afternoon would be the norm for most days.

A nearby village with grocery, restaurants is a plus.

There are lots of recommendations on slowtrav.com for specific properties all over Tuscany and Umbria - where I'm stuck is deciding which area or town to choose as a base.

Any ideas?

>where I'm stuck is deciding which area or town to choose as a base.<

My idea for an area would be just outside Siena - maybe to the south of it. You'd be within striking distance of most all of the Tuscan towns and villages. The farthest would be Montepulciano - about an hour away; Assisi would be about two hours...

I stayed at this villa in Umbria, near the border of Tuscany last year and it was beautiful. We were there before the pool was usable, but it looked like it would be nice.

http://www.ourhouseinumbria.com

It is on a big hill on the east side of Lake Trasimeno, which you can see from the villa. There is a train station in the nearby town on the lake. We visited Assisi, Cortona, Montepulchiano, Monalcino, Siena and Florence. They were all easy trips.

We hired a chef to come in and do a cooking class one day - which was great fun.

Hi J62

I stayed at this Umbrian agriturismo in May 2005:
www.lecasegialle.com

I first read about it on Slow Travel and then found out more from a few posters here, who provided wonderful reviews and details. Since then, quite a few fodorites have also stayed there, and some, more organized than me, have written about it in their trip reports here.

There are also several trip reports on Slow Travel.

It is not an estate; it is several old farm buildings ('the yellow houses') with 5 nice apartments, 4 in one building and 1 free standing, on an organic olive farm. Le Case Gialle produces award winning olive oil, by the way.

The nearest towns, more or less, are tiny Gualdo Catteneo (spelling?) which seemed haunted to me, wonderful little walled Bevagna (get your fresh pasta and yummy pastries here), Montefalco (the balcony of Umbria, with good wine shops and little cafes along with the view) and Foligno (train station and Coop). A bit farther are Deruta, Spello, Assisi, and Perugia, to name just a few.

The website explains Le Case Gialle well; there is a nice small pool, the above mentioned olive groves (replete with fireflies when we were there), a few farm animals, meandering gardens with artichokes, rosemary and wonderful huge roses, and the bucolic views of hilltop Montefalco, the woods and other distant towns and hills.

You do need a car; there really isn't much within walking distance (well, nice dayhikes!).

The owners have 2 children and are not formal, so it is very family friendly. Silvana & Maura speak English among other languages and Mauro is an expert in the local wines, so can arrange wine tours, etc.

I'd stay there again in a minute!

I've stayed in both Spello and Montepulciano area. The former was close to Assisi, but quite a drive to Tuscan towns.

Montepulciano is much closer to great parts of Tuscany.

Hi
I don't know when you are going to come in Italy... Maybe it's to late to book a week in a farmhouse or a villa.
Anyway I recommend this villa www.villaluciano.com
close to Florence.
Try to ask them...

Thank you all for your input. We have gone ahead and booked a highly recommended agritourism apartment near Montepulciano.

We're excited about the location and all the options for day trips and close by activities.

I'll be sure to write a trip report and post it either real time or upon return.

J62

Is a week enough time to do both Tuscany and Umbria?

What is traffic like in that part of Italy in May, June or July?

scrib
Don't worry about traffic.
You could hit some of Umbria while in Tuscany, but it's not enough time to "do both".