Tuscany in July.......HELP!!!!!!!!!!
 

My husband and I are going to be in Tuscany for 5 days in late July. We are renting a car. The more I read, the more confused I get. I need some advice on WHERE to stay that is centrally located and beautiful (A/C and a pool preferred). We are on a budget but need recommendations as to location and type of housing that is FUN and GOOD! TY TY TY !!!!!!!!

Let me see here. You want budget, AC, central, pool, beautiful, but have less than a month until you arrive in one of the busiest months. Why did you wait so long? That will be tough. Start at slowtrav.com and look at reviews, but pick your location area first. Tuscany is a big place.

I agree with Bob. Seems a little late to be making these plans. You may want to check out this site. It has some very nice accomodations and the prices are right.
www.nautilus-mp.com

I know it is late but sometimes LIFE happens in spite of our best efforts. Now can you helpmewith a good location???? Thank you !!!!!

My vote would be to stay in San Gimignano. It is a beautiful hill top town with a bit of modern art and interesting modern silver shops. It is also central to Pisa, Siena and Florence. Pick a hotel at Tripadvisor.
Enjoy!

forget the pool, this is Tuscany

HI--here is a copy of something I posted previously--pool, reasonably priced, centrally located but in a beautiful pastoral setting--just no A/C-which we did not need in very hot weather in May b/c the old villa was constructed to be about, what seemed to be, 15 degrees cooler inside than out. Also a lovely outdoor patio--here is my old post----
Date: 03/30/2004, 05:50 pm
Message: hi-- we stayed here(see website below) and it was very much off the beaten path (but close to many lovely towns and about 1 hour from both Florence and Siena) even though it says "greve" for the location, it is really closest to a tiny and lovely town named panzano. when you open the website, and then click on "location", a map will appear, and then when you click again on the map, the map will enlarge to show the details of the towns' locations. this b&b was lovely and we stayed there at the same time--end of may. altho it gets very hot there, the night air is so cool that there is no need for a/c. even during the day, it was always cool and lovely in the hotel. here is the website---BTW unlike many websites, the place is much more charming in its actuality than on the site. The rooms look a little austere on the site and in person, it feels like the country villa that it is... http://www.venere.com/it/toscana/gre...nti/villarosa/

You don't want to stay in Florence if you have a car- you will pay so much in tickets, it won't be pleasant, and you might even get towed......Stay somewhere in Chianti...I agree with the rest that it might be difficult to find top-notch place with pool, for cheap, on short notice..I did recently stay on a cute farm that was real cheap and had a pool, but be warned that it is a bit far out from main cities- Florence and Siena- but centrally located in Chianti, if this is your goal.....

http://www.poderecasarotta.com/podere_i.htm

Ask for Verena...

A few years ago we stayed at a charming rustic hotel called hotel Salivolpi in Castallina in Chianti--It was very reasonable--had a nice pool and was conveniently located. I'm not sure about the A/C though as we were there in the Spring and it was not an issue.

If you are looking for a/c and pool in Florence than I would recommend the Holiday Inn in Bagno a Ripoli. This hotel is on Viale Europa in a very upscale neighborhood 10 minutes from the center of Florence. There is also a Taxi pool right behind the hotel. The hotel may even have parking facilities for your car. From the hotel, you will need to take a very convenient bus into the center or a taxi. This is well worth it. It is a bit fresher outside of the center and you will enjoy the pool. You will not be able to enter the center of Florence with your car. It is completely closed off to all cars without a special permit. Even if you park at the underground parking lot near the Ponte Vecchio, you will pay at least Eurp $30-50 for a couple of hours. Not worth it!

Florence is so much more fun to see on foot or by taxi. Taxi's are still a good deal. Keep your car for when you venture out into the Chianti. You will enjoy exploring Bango a Ripoli as well. There are many Medici Villas there and the beauty cannot be beat. Next to the Hotel on Vial Europa you will find nice shops, banks, bakeries and bars with homemade pastries and ice creams. Our favorite one is Bar Marcello. We go there every morning for breakfast when we are home visiting the family. It is a very short walk from the hotel on the same side of the street. Hope this info helps. I have never been inside this Holiday Inn but I have met many people who have been quite pleased. You might be able to check it out on a Holiday Inn website.

A couple of years ago, we stayed at the Santa Chiara outside San Gimignano. It had A/C and a lovely pool overlooking a valley of olive trees. The hotel served only breakfast and lunch as I recall but is only a 10 minute walk to San Gimignano and its restaurants. The hotel was rather centrally located for day trips all over Tuscany - within less than an hour of Chianti, Siena, Florence, etc.

Last year we stayed at the Villa Il Patriarca in Chiusi in S. Tuscany. Pool, A/C, a beautiful place in a park like setting. Great place for a base to tour the hill towns. Check it out on www.Tuscany.net

Nancy,
The area Lewis pointed out is more convienient to going in any direction either by rail to Florence or to Rome. Make those day trips. Using the car to explore all the Tuscan hill towns is easy from here. Check this one out also. I have not stayed here....yet. Happy trails. http://www.tuscany.net/cretaiole/pages/profile.htm

TY TY TY!!!!!!!!! I really appreciate all the help. We are staying in Florence for 4 nights so proximity to Tuscany for day trips is unneceassary. Does anyone know anything about a place called Hotel San Sano? We have a tentative reservation there.

hi nancy_d-- i don't know the san sano but on the website, it looks very similar to the place i recommended to you that is in panzano. it looks like a very nice place that you will enjoy. the tuscan countryside is wonderful!! your place looks like it might be a tad closer to siena than panzano was. have a great trip, and let us know what you thought of the place.

We stayed at Castel Bigozzi and it had a pool and A/C. With a car, this is a great location. About 15 km west of Siena and an easy drive to Florence, San Gimignano, etc. etc. Lots of cool tiny restaurants around there too.

http://tuscany.net/bigozzi/pages/profile.htm

nancy_d

"we will be staying in Florence for 4 nights so proximity to Tuscany for days trips is unnecessary"

I may have read this incorrectly, but I just wanted to point out the Florence is in Tuscany (Toscana). I know it can get confussing sometimes with all of the different regions. Just thought I might clarify that for you.