Has anyone had experience renting apartments in a Tuscan village (let's say near Florence) in the off season (March 4-11). I am inclining to that, rather than a Florence rental.

We stayed a week last year (mid-March) at Appartamenti Al poggiolo in Montepulciano and loved it... Time to try a more northerly spot, to visit Radda, Greve, San Gimignano, Monterriggioni etc??

We are 2 adults. We want access to nice, simple restaurants and therefore would likely prefer a town location -- anyway, something not too remote in those long evenings.

Few other requirements than comfortable seating, good modern plumbing and a bit of style.

Recommendations?

Look at rental reviews at slowtrav.com
There is a place near Panzano that comes to mind--check it out.

I've been going blind on slowtrav: so many listings and many of them turn out to be....bland. Or aimed at parties of 18. Thought I'd stick with my own -- the Fodorites -- and then perhaps cross-check with slowtrav.

I did a search on Panzano but saw nothing that would quite suit.

Other recommendations?

Hi there!
Try www.homesintuscany.net. I have rented from them a number of times, and they could hook you up with a great place near Florence.
Ciao!

The village of Casole D'Elsa is ideal for an apartment rental in Tuscany. We've been there twice in the last five years and have loved staying there. In town there is a wonderful retaurant (Caffe Casolani) serving what they term Tuscan peasant food. It only offers one five course selection each evening (for around 20 Euros without wine), and it's always been great (we've eaten there three times each week we're in Casole since it's such a bargain and so friendly). The outdoor seating on the main street is wonderful for watching the whole town go by; I don't know if weather will permit that in March. The town itself is a small hill village, and it is very charming, with a wonderful local market, a great gelateria, and a small art museum. San Gimignano and Volterra are both about 15 km away, Siena is not much farther. Colle Val d'Elsa, just up the road is the nearest town of a significant enough size to offer supermarkets. Invitation To Tuscany (www.invitationto tuscany.com) offers several rentals in Tuscany. I have dealt with Coleen Lamont, their agent based in Oregon, and she was quite helpful. E-mail me if you have further questions.

tedgale, not sure if this will be useful, but my father and I rented a villa in 2001 from rentvillas.com which was a few km outside of Panzano - it was October so not the time you are going obviously. Its the one called Piccola Torre [i think it was called Casenove when we rented] - there are a number of apartments in the building. The location is not right in town, its a short drive but we did not find it a bother. Greve is not too far either. We stayed in the apartment that had 3 bedrooms and it was quite nice although we really only slept there! It had plenty of space, there was lots of privacy and most importantly for us, it was a perfect location from which we could do day trips to Siena, Lucca, San Gimignano, Montelpuciano, Pisa, Arrezzo etc.

It is the only time I have rented from rentvillas (I use vrbo) but the owners were very helpful.

Good luck

Whiskey.