We are planning in staying somewhere beautiful on the Tuscan countryside and are looking for suggestions. Hotel Pescille looked very pretty but was hoping someone may have stated there and had some comments.

I have recommended this place numerous times on here but once again here goes. If you want a very authentic Tuscan experience I would opt for Villa Elena in Guardistallo. It is a authentic Italian villa in a very small and non-touristy town that is a short distance from the coast, Florence, and Pisa. It has a wonderful community of mostly European tourists and the staff is very friendly and happy to help you plan your trips in the area. It has a beautiful view and depending on what room you get you can see all the way to the coast. The town itself is mostly local with small shops, a miniature piazza with a cafe and a fountain where you can find most of the towns older population reading newspapers in the morning, and the restaurants in the town offer great food and wonderful nature views. Also if you enjoy wine visit the local wine shop which has a great selection, and if you speak to the owner he can arrange a wine tasting for you at a nearby vineyard. I strongly recommend this trip because it really bundled up the magic of Tuscany into one small town, and as soon as we arrived, all the stress of driving from Germany to Tuscany melted away and we ended up enjoying ourselves more than we though possible. Check out their site if you want more info.

http://www.villa-elena.com/eng/seconda.htm

For hotel reviews, go to www.tripadvisor.com. Hotel Pescille is very highly praised there.

So do you want to stay in or around San Gimignano? Which part of Tuscany do you want to explore? How long will you be in Tuscany and will you have a car?

Hotel Pescille is a good location and a decent hotel. Nearby, also look at www.casanovadipescille.com for a nice farm B&B.

We are not sure which part of Tuscany we would like to explore. We are totally newbies!!!! We just want to drive (we will have a car) see beautiful countryside, sip wine, eat good foot and enjoy our honeymoon. We will be there for two nights.

To Igor90 - we have just booked 2 weeks in the Villa Elena in September so was interested to hear from someone else who has been there. Is the villa far from the town i.e walkable? Is there a general grocery store in the town? We will be arriving late on a Sat afternoon and will want to pick up a few provisions. We will be wanting to visit places like Pisa & Florence but are not sure about driving there. Is parking a big problem, if so what are the alternatives? Any help is much appreciated

We just came back from our Rome and Tuscany trip on Sunday. We stayed in central Tuscany (Barberino Val D'Elsa), which put us 25 min. from Florence and 25 from Siena (give or take a few minutes); great location (agrotourismo).

We did speed throughs of Florence saw/did major historical things), speed through of Siena, and PISA CAN BE MISSED unless you would regret seeing the tower. It is a port city and only locals (and beggars and other nationalities of vendors) live there, so tourists are expected and everywhere. Unless you go to Lucca or perhaps Livorno, I would not do Pisa.

We took our time in the small, Medieval hamlets of San Gimignano, Volterra, Certaldo, and found many more in our travels--all much lovelier and less crowded than Rome, Florence, or Pisa.

If you want to stay in the country amongst the vineyards and olive trees, an agrotourismo is your best bet.

Igor90,
The photos of Villa Elena and Guardistallo are so beautiful, I just made up my mind for our next trip to Italy. Thank you so much!

Hi

My wife and I are going to Tuscany next week. We have decided to stay at a place called Villa di Capovento in the Chianti area (see http://www.capovento.it/ ). We will have a rental car and use this as a base to explore the area...Siena, Montalcino etc. Here is a Google MyMaps that I have made so far:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en...b974c0dfbbb4ea

I will of course make a trip report and post it on my homepage when I return

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

gard, thanks for the map

catgirlinsc - had you been to Pisa before? As this is our first trip I think we would still go as it would seem a shame to miss what seems to be one of the major towns. I think we will prefer the smaller places though like San Gimignano etc. Do you know where we could find any info on hiking trails in the countryside. We like to pack a picnic, park up somewhere and walk & enjoy the views

The basilica and baptistery in the same piazza as the tower (in Pisa) are quite lovely. I believe the basilica was built in the first century AD and has black and white striped marble inside.

Dreams,

I too was very surprised and impressed with the Pisa duomo. Beautiful! When we were there, the tower was not yet reopened to climb. It was very interesting to see the work they were doing to keep it from falling over!

Pisa is worth a 2-3 hour visit if it's on you way...

Buon viaggio!