Can anyone recommend a nice villa in Tuscany for our family? 6 adults, 2 grown children. Private, just our family, pool, bikes, wine tasting, olive oil tasting, cooking class, outdoor dinners. Thanks!

YES! We just spent a week in a villa in a suburb of Florence and we LOVED it! Three bedrooms sleep up to 8 (I think) Plenty of bathrooms. Big rooms, very comfortable. Pool, big, beautiful garden, bicycles. Great area. We LOVED it! Bus 1/2 km to heart of Florence. http://bit.ly/ImkNm7

A few years ago we stayed in a larger villa at LaFoce www.lafoce.com They have several units on their huge property....one might suit your family.

While not in Tusacany, it is on the bordor in Umbria and near many places in Umbria and Tuscany. We have stayed in the apartment for eight people. Has Air conditioning and a great pool. See the apartment in the heading. www.villazuccari.com

Look at www.chianti-and-more.com Excellent service and prompt responses from Karen Dietz, beautiful selection of properties.

Do yourself a favor and decide your optimum location in Tuscany before you look at Villas. I have seen many people make big mistakes because they failed to realize how big Tuscany really is. Get a good map and use some push pins on places you must see. It may suprise you.

Bob has a good point. When I selected Villa Zuccari. I just scribed out 60 miles in all directions to see what towns fit in that area and if it was good for our itinerary. It did work for us.

Yes, I agree with Bob also. I was just in Cinque Terre for a day from Liguria and we met a family that was there for the day from Tuscany! They said they were staying in northern Tuscany, and it was only an hour drive to Cinque Terre from their villa, so it must be a really big region because Cinque Terre is quite far north.

Lots of options are there like Bob, iris says checking out in a map is very important.
Try this villa http://goo.gl/1NKF2,
They have pool cooking classes and wine tasting nearby

Another one similar to it is this
http://www.traveltuscany.net/florenc...-a-villa/3115/
I recommend it highly as they are currently offering some discounts.

Also if you are interested in Tuscany tours and cooking classes. I believe you need to check this website as they offer to arrange tours and cooking classes.

http://www.tuscany-cooking-class.com/

I highly recommend parker villas. We have rented 8 villas from them over the past few years and each was superb. Roberta is most helpful and the owners/keyholders are as well. They can also arrange car rental and hotel if you need one upon arrival or departure.

One suggestion..be aware that many villas are isolated, way outside of town, so night time driving, going out to dinner can be a problem. Look for one with close proximity to a town or village.

Check out this website: www.slowtrav.com. It has reviews of villas and villa-renting agencies. There are also some reviews at www.tripadvisor.com, but I'm less inclined to trust them. The villa owners were allowed to vet the reviews and throw out any negative ones. Don't know if this is still true.

I highly recommend parker villas. We have rented 8 villas from them over the past few years and each was superb. Roberta is most helpful and the owners/keyholders are as well. They can also arrange car rental and hotel if you need one upon arrival or departure.

I have to second the recommendation for one of the houses at LaFoce.com. That is if you want the best run and most beautifully decorated authentic places. We have stayed there four times and never been disappointed, in four different houses on the properrty.

On the other hand, if your sightseeing objectives are all near or around Florence, then la Foce is too far away. And you should follow the advice of bob the Navigator.

Beachgirlpete,

I second Judy and Taconictraveler’s recommendation about LA FOCE although I have not been there yet myself. The property was developed by Iris (Cushing) Origo (1902-1988) – from a family of rich American ex-pats in Florence in the 1920s – who married an Italian aristocrat and took the estate from a feudal enclave to a productive estate.

If you choose to go there, I suggest reading IRIS ORIGO, MARCHESA OF VAL d’ORCIA by Caroline Moorehead. The bio includes a beautiful account of the property, now an agriturismo, including its dark days during WWII.

Still hoping to get there myself someday… sigh…

WE liked the Relais Villa L'Olmo which is about 9 miles outside Florence, in Impruneta -- there's a bus into Florence (stops a couple hundred yards away). There's a manager and it's run like an Agriturismo; there are several buildings with various configurations of bedrooms/bathrooms and the prices are reasonable. Trip Advisor has reviews.