Hi all,
We will be in Tuscany in late April and looking for an agri-turismo to stay for 2 nights. I've used the website agriturismo.it; however, it is quite intimidating. We are looking for a place that has options to view wine, olive oil and/or cheese production. We also want to be within walking distance of a town/village that has restaurants, enotecas or SOME type of venue so we don't have to drive after imbibing. I'm guessing taxis are not too abundant in these small villages/hill towns. We are thinking somewhere south of Florence (or if north, very close to Florence).
Also-what do the numbers in parentheses mean when looking at agri-turismos and other accommodations? (i.e. 4+1, 2+2, etc)?
Does anyone have any suggestions on some agri-turismos that fit these categories? Thank you!
Ciao
Posted by
OP
Edmond, Oklahoma USA
6 posts
Bump...even if not within town, we're interested in hearing of some good ones where there are options to see the farm in action and enjoy cheese, oil, wine tastings, etc.
Posted by
Denver
787 posts
One reason that we've rarely stayed at an agriturismo is that being farms, they tend to NOT be located within walking distance of towns. I get the impression that often, people who stay at them (Europeans) eat dinner at the agriturismi.
April is not the time of year for wine-making or olive oil production. I don't know, but I would suppose that cheese is made year-round.
Years ago, my husband and I spent 5 days at Il Poggio, an agriturismo and horseback riding place outside of Celle sul Rigo. They did produce olive oil, other items, and sold them in their little shop. It was nice to wander among their olive trees, etc. It was possible to walk into town, but there wasn't much there. On the nights that we didn't eat dinner at Il Poggio, we drove somewhere.
Another trip, we stayed at an agriturismo outside of Macerata, in Le Marche, that had (among other things) a Michelin-starred restaurant; I think the property was called "Le Case," and the restaurant was "l'Enoteca." That was also gorgeous. Our walks around their property also included the sheep, lamb, pigs, chicken and duck that would later become part of the meals. As well as a farm cat that we sneakily fed bits of prosciutto to every morning after breakfast. But this property was about a 10-minute drive outside of Macerata.
I will say, that website has an impressive number of agriturismi, but is a bit fearsome to navigate. And possibly a bit inaccurate - I selected one that showed, on the map, that it is in San Gimignano, but the description says that it is 3 km from Certaldo.
You might want to consider, if you want the ability to walk around a town and go to different places for dinner, stopping at an agriturismo for lunch. Then you can spend a couple of hours walking about or lounging before driving on.