Should we request house with A/C in Tuscany in June?
 

We were in Rome in July and it was terribly hot and we really appreciated our A/C, but I've been told by the villa rental agency that we won't really need air conditioning in June in Tuscany. I am doubtful and my husband loves his A/C!

If your husband loves AC, sounds like it is a good insurance policy against a miserable vacation if the villa agent is wrong. Depending on where you are going in Tuscany you may also want mosquito protection. If the villa windows don't have screens, you may want AC so you can shut the windows.

Villas (and indeed normal houses) in Europe very rarely have AC. If you get an old building with thick stone walls you won't need it. There should be fans.

If you're used to AC in the summer fans are worse than useless. Also - open windows let in all of the bugs. (I don't get why there aren;t screens on the windows - it's not a very complicated concept.)

I won't stay anyplace without AC from June through Oct - except Scandinavia.

Yes.

After many visits and many weeks, my experience is that the buildings where I've stayed in the Tuscan and Umbria countryside have had very thick walls that keep in the cool air, even during very hot periods. If the walls are thick and you keep things shut, the building stays cool. It also helps if there are trees providing some shade on the building. I have not needed AC in this environment. Many places also have screens on the windows, but not all.

I have found I needed AC in the cities though.

"I am doubtful and my husband loves his A/C!"

Then don't waste your time trying to find somewhere pandering to your (or his) planet-destroying fad in the Tuscan countryside.

There may be a handful of villas owned by equally wasteful and destructive Americans that use this unnecessary and absurdly expensive toy. But villas owned by Britons, Italians or Germans (ie 99% of all Tuscan villas) have more sensible owners.

There's no need for it in the countryside: just open the windows.

As for the other inane American obsession; "I don't get why there aren;t screens on the windows"

1. They're ugly. Both for the screened and for how the landscape looks
2. Why bother? If you're worried by a couple of flies, just stay in Peoria.

flanneruk - Well, you're a ray of sunshine.

What's with your nastiness toward Americans? This woman's husband likes AC. You don't have any things that you like which other people feel they could do without? (Example - Your adjectives about Americans. You obviously love to put us down. What gives you pleasure is nastiness. Not everyone's choice.)


Screens in windows - Yes, what a silly idea. Guess you love those bugs buzzing in your ears, biting you, and diving down your gullet. And that's fine. But it's not a ridiculous wish to NOT want to have this happen.

Ummmm, if you get a villa with AC and you don't need it, guess what?

You don't have to turn it on!

There are significant problems with mosquitoes in some parts of Tuscany, not just flies. And guess what? Plenty of Italians (like my dentist) love AC and aren't embarassed to say so.

Most of Europe doesn't get the heat that Italy does, so it really is irrelevant they don't have AC in most of Europe.

Personally, it literally makes me sick (gives me laryngitis, etc), but since none of these people who are telling you that "you" won't need it (or that they never do), aren't paying for your vacation and won't reimburse you if they're wrong about your heat tolerance, you might want to find a house with AC in case -- ahem -- the temperature soars in June in Tuscany (not unheard of) and you'd like some AC.

Here is 5 pages of rental villas in Tuscany with AC (what? I thought hardly anybody had it???)

http://www.to-tuscany.com/villas-with-airconditioning/

Here's another 94 villas with air conditioning in Tuscany

http://www.tuscanynow.com/Air_Condit...s_tuscany.aspx

Oh -- and one more thing.

Many Tuscan homes that have screens on the windows have the type that fit inside the window frame and can be raised during the day until they disappear. but lowered at night to keep out mosquitoes. So you won't sacrifice any view.