lschu

Well based on the replies to my post 2 weeks ago, Tuscany with two teenage sons sounds very doable. So now I'm looking at areas to rent a villa for a week and have come across TuscanyNow and a place in the town of San Vincenzo a Torri. Florence is 7 miles away and Pisa about 40 minutes. Does this sound like a good centralized location for day trips around the region? Any thoughts always appreciated! Ciao, Linda

auntieapple

For the past two summers in a row, we have taken our two teen sons to Italy and we have had a wonderful time. They love drinking wine and hanging out and checking out the beautiful Italian girls! But I am biased toward staying within the cities or towns rather than renting a villa (Florence, Lucca, Siena, CinqueTerre) because it allows the kids the freedom to go walking around by themselves if the adults want to kick back in the hotel for a while. And, if they want to sleep late, you don't have to wait for them to drag them out of bed in order to do a day trip. We hit some museums in the early AM while they slept in on a few days or went downstairs and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast.

We found the leisurely dinners with wine to be a real bonding experience for our family. The wine loosened their tongues and made us all a lot more relazed than when were are at home!

LoveItaly

Ischu, I replied early but some reason my reply was not posted so will try again.
Having experienced travelling with a teenager in Italy I have to strongly agree with auntiapple. Renting a villa is wonderful for adults but, and it is big one, I do not believe it would work well with teenagers. Yes some days they do want to sleep in. And they need their space and time also. They want to "check out" the Italian teenagers, stroll around etc. If you are in a city/town they can do all of the above. Am sure there will be times all of you will go exploring together, but other times they will want to go their way. And that is good for all of you. If they are "stuck" in a villa in the middle of "nowhere" no matter how beautiful that "nowhere" is, I think either you or they are going to be stressed at some point. Actually I imagine all of you will be. Bet they do have dinner with you every evening, and probably other meals too. But IMHO they will need their space and with teenagers when they get that I think the whole family is happier and more relaxed.

lschu

LoveItali and Anutieapple thanks for replies. My younger 13 yr old son liked the place in SanVincenzo as it has a pool and also mountain bikes. I figure if the town is decent they can take off on their own to explore the area w/out us having to drive them around too much. Anyone know much about San Vincezo? Thanks, L

bobthenavigator

I suggest you spend some time at slowtrav.com and look at rental reviews. That is too close to Florence for my taste--I prefer further south near Siena.

lschu

bothe navigator:
Thanks for your reply. Do u think being near Florence detracts from this location? We're thinking of the villa as homebase for day trips to Pisa, Sienna, Monte san Savino etc. Also want a town close so boys can bike into town safely. Your thoughts? L