We will be renting a villa/townhouse/apartment in Tuscany the last week of September. I know about the websites www.intuscany.net, www.italyhome.org and www.theparkercompany.com. I would love any advice regarding weekly rentals in Tuscany -- particularly in the Chianti region. It's for our honeymoon.

What kind of advice, more web sites? My family booked a villa in Tuscany a year ago and we loved it. My advice on renting is: be sure to check out how close it is to an autostrada or major road, we were very far from either so it turned day trips into really long trips. I would get one closer to a town too next time, because you may want to stroll around town and it is alot easier when it is easy walking or driving distance. Hope this helps.

Thank you. That is helpful. I have written down at least 10 web sites now. Most helpful is general advice about renting villas in italy -- such as location, things to look for and look out for. Villa vs. apartment vs. farmhouse, etc...

OK, then here goes: <BR>Read the small print on the contract, see what you have to pay for such as heat, etc., it is really expensive in Italy. <BR><BR>Check out and make sure someone will be at the villa to show you around and give you keys when you arrive. <BR><BR>Make sure there is a list of contacts in case something such as plumbing breaks, etc. (This happened to us one year in France - toilet broke and we had to find our contact quickly). <BR><BR>Find out where the fuses are and emergency shut offs and extra set of keys.<BR><BR>Read between the lines, if it says the villa is rustic - just what does that mean? Rundown, ill-equiped, way too far out in the country?<BR><BR>How are the roads leading to it? We rented a place once where we took a dirt road for about two miles which was fine until it rained.....and we had to ford a stream.<BR><BR>I would rec. staying near a village or city for supplies, outings, restaurants, etc. I already mentioned close to an highway.<BR><BR>That is all I can think of right now. <BR>

As with all rentals in Italy, start with slowtrav.com for good advice. You probably do not want a standalone farm house--too much risk. And, location is the top priority. Set that before you go crazy shopping. Good luck !

Other hints (not necessarily for Tuscany or Italy only):<BR>* Check inventory. Assume what's not mentioned isn't there.<BR>* Final cleaning - sometimes included, sometimes not. And if there's maid service, how often, extent?<BR>* Deposit - if owner/agent cannot examine the accommodation when checking out, you may get it back by mail, by local check, which may be difficult to cash.<BR>* If it is on or near a working farm, check what animals they have. Some can be noisy, aggressive or you may be allergic to them.<BR>* Bed linens - included or there's high rental charge.<BR>* Dangers esp if you have young children, like unfenced pond, stream, busy traffic, no stair gate, open fire.<BR>* Availability of farm products/milk/bread - really convenient.<BR>* Insurance - sometimes included in rental, or check your travel insurance covers liability to properties

Wow, what great advice! I would just add to post again when you've narrowed it down to a few choices and see if anyone has stayed at the actual property.<BR><BR>Even if no one knows the property, you will get advice on the town itself. Someone posted here a short time ago about staying in Poggibonsi, but changed the booking when several people (myself included)wrote how lacking in charm it is.

We rented this past October in Chianti through Rentvillas.com. Since this was our first time in Italy we went with an apartment that was part of the Antinori Wine Estate. It had full kitchen and breakfast was served in the main house down the road. It worked for us given that we spoke little to no Italian. We were able to pick up foods (if you stay in Chianti you must go to see Dario in Panzano on a Sunday afternoon for meats and tastings)veggies in montepulciano and wine,wine,wine in Montalcino or at Antinori. We did have some problems with our rental as wine merchants were also staying in the same building and were in to drinking as much wine as possible and then sharing their drunken selves with the rest of us. It's a property to consider. But..do make certain your booking is clear of such a nuisance! We found Rentvillas.com to be a great company to deal with and would recommend them in a heartbeat. I agree that staying in relative close proximity to the autostrada is a good idea. We found driving the small roads in Chianti to be an extreme challenge in most ways.(one we weathered but challenging just the same). Negotiating our way from hilltown to hilltown on the autostrada was easier. If you stay anywhere near the Antinori estate I recommend their osteria in Badia en Passignano. We had one of our best meals in three weeks in Italy there one very rainy night. Perhaps you have been to Italy before ..if not..give yourselves a break and rent something not as far removed from goods, services and folks who speak English. You'll have much more energy left over to enjoy your honeymoon. It's a wonderful, wonderful place. I am forever changed in all ways for the better having been there.

Lisabeth you have some good suggestions here. For our next trip we booked through: [email protected] <BR>She is helpful and will work with you finding out what you want and need. <BR><BR>Last time we had a place in Tuscany it was a farm house and we really liked it, but the furniture was the drawback. We booked through a company that has since gone out of business and I dont think they had personally visited the place. So it is a good idea to ask your rep. if they have seen the place and inspected it.<BR><BR>The furniture was &quot;antique&quot; but really worn out, we had to put towels over some chairs in order to sit on them, because the ancient stuffing was coming out. The stove was really hard to light. The beds and some of the dressers were plastic child-like but large enough for an adult, very strange. We laugh to this day at the king and queen crowns on top of the plastic mirrors in the bathroom. <BR><BR>I also think it is a good idea to ask here on Fodors after you have narrowed down your list of villas and find out if someone has stayed there. <BR><BR>

Marilyn,<BR><BR>True but remember that while some people commented on the city center's lack of charm, those of us who live here explained that outside of the city center, Poggibonsi is wonderful. Poggibonsi is not just the main center but go thoughout the rolling hills.<BR><BR> Unfortunately the people cancelled but I know the area they would have stayed in and it is a shame that they didn't as it is beautiful with more charm than many places in Tuscany as well as being close enough to the Siena-Firenze highway, shopping areas and wonderful restaurants.<BR><BR>

One other piece of advice - website pictures of a villa will always show the best views - ask for pictures (or a full description) of all views - this once saved us from a 5 story apartment building 10 metres from the &quot;rural&quot; villa we were considering.

Hello! We are honeymooning in Italy as well. I too have been doing lots of research. Here is yet another link that you might find helpful. I was looking at the Castles portion. If you click on each Castle it will give you a very good description of the facility. Under FAQs it will give you information that some of the others have suggested you get upfront. - ie: linens, heating, grocery stores, restaurants etc. Some have breakfast included in the rate and restaurants on property too. Enjoy! and Congratulations<BR>http://www.tuscany.net/index.html

look at <BR>www.genie.it/utenti/carlo.nocentini

Take a look at Metina; owners on site and very helpful. Near Montipulciano. Great location. Monica and Alberto are the owners. We loved it, but will admit we weren't honeymooners.

Is there a website for Metina? I really appreciate all of these suggestions. I've taken them to heart while searching. I've narrowed down my search to the Pienza-Montepulciano area. Has anyone rented a villa or apartment in that area that you'd recommend?

I think if you just type in Metina on your search engine, you'll find it; if not, let me know and I'll research the specifics. It's a lovely setting; they grow olives for their own oil and grapes for wine...there are sunflower fields nearby...it was very clean and well equipped (not microwaves or dishwashers, but frig, stove, etc.) We even got FRESH eggs from the chickens to scramble for breakfast! The master bedroom had a fabulous view of the Tuscan hills...I would wake up every morning and look out those windows and just be in awe! Having Monica there (she speaks fluent English) was a tremendous help for our daily excursions. They have a lovely pool; I don't know if it's still open in late September. You could actually do a(long)day trip to Rome from there. Orvieto was an easy day trip and we loved it...also Montalcino, home of Brunello wine.

I found the website, but there aren't many specifics. It looks like there's a choice of a large and a small apartment. Neither of the pictures (no photos) have stove, fridge on it. We did hope to do some of the cooking ourselves. And we're hoping for a Queen size bed. I find one of the most frustrating things to be the lack of specifics provided for each potential property! Some websites are better than others.

Montepulciano,Montalcino and thereabouts were our favorite spots in Tuscany. We found Montepulciano to be the most cosmopolitan feeling of all the hilltowns. Again..try Rentvillas.com for info on places to rent in that area. (We rented in Chianti)

Check prices on the property you want. Several websites may offer the same place at different prices. Usually the best price is direct from the owner.

Lisabeth,<BR>We stayed in a farmhouse last year, called Fattoria Il Colombaio in Monteriggioni. They rent 6 rooms and 2 apartments. The property has been completely renovated last year, it has a swimming pool, they serve breakfast if you want, the hostess speaks excellent English. You can reserve through an agency but we made a reservation directly.<BR>We found the location to be perfect, among the vineyards at a few hundred meters from the village of Monteriggioni.<BR>Look at www.fattoriailcolombaio.com