Ten of us are planning a trip to Tuscany in October. Any villas recommended would be greatly appreciated. A town nearby would also be helpful.
Ciao!

How about giving a price range and your requirements.

Hi Cape Cod; Price range as ekscrunchy said is the what we need to know. However, we stayed at a wonderful villa called www.villalachiusa.com First night comes with diner by Alberto, who is a lovely person and great chef. We then hired him for three more nights after long days of sightseeing. I gave you the direct web site, but we hired thru www.villavacations.com They have many more villa's for rent. ENJOY Iris

www dot settledintuscany dot com. Nine couples are staying here this May.

Hi; Forgot to tell you this villa is in the Lucca area. Iris

settled in tuscany is in the village of Montisi - just North of Pienza.

Start at slowtrav.com and always pick location first--Tuscany is quite large.

I stayed at a beautiful villa that was near the border of Tuscany and Umbria. It is near Lake Trasimeno and up the hill from the town of Passignano. It had 3 bedrooms, a large living/dining/kitchen room, 2 baths and a pool. You would need a car to stay here because it is in the country. I would stay there again.

http://www.ourhouseinumbria.com

Hello- we also are looking for a villa- in May- and are close to deciding on our favorite- so many to choose from! A reputable and easy website is rentvillas.com. They have many villas- but we have decided not to rent a car, so the villa needs to be close to Florence- and that is a little trickier to find. Good luck= Melissa

Hi Cape Cod,(I live north of Boston)

Although I have never stayed there, I would suggest looking into La Foce in southern Tuscany. http://www.lafoce.com/

The estate, now an agriturismo, was re-created in the 20s by American ex-pat Iris Origo and her aristocratic Italian husband. They survived the rigors of WWII as beautifully recounted in Iris's writings and biography.

The property has fabulous gardens I am told. I would be interested to know if any Fodorites have stayed at La Foce and what their impressions are.

Enjoy Tuscany!

What a wonderful area where La Foce is! It's the belly button of central Italy, from there you can reach a lot of destination in short time. I love val d'Orcia!

We stayed at LaFoce once. It is a beautiful property and the villa was as lovely as the website depicted. The estate is huge and most of the villas are fairly isolated....finding the villa can be a problem returning after dark!
We would stay there again but would plan more dinners in.

Liberosette & Judy,

So glad you enjoyed staying at LaFoce. I hope to visit there some day.

I would strongly recommend your reading IRIS ORIGO by Caroline Moorehead which recounts the fabulous life of the Marchesa of the Val d'Orcia and the creation of La Foce from a medieval fiefdom to a modern working agricultural complex. Her life, glamorous and tragic, remains compelling.

I will add a recommendation for Iris Origo's memoir, War in the Val d'Orcia.