Agritourismo around Siena ?

Hi Ron, we've booked Cretaiole for our Tuscany stay next month. It's an RS fave, and it gets raves from TripAdvisor. We cannot wait! We fly in to Rome and after a couple of nights there we will take the train from Rome to Cortona, where we pick up our car (an Italian company recommended by Cretaiole staff. The car comes with GPS already loaded to all area destinations and a free Tuscan cookbook. How could I argue with that? ;) . Then we will return the car after our week's stay and take the train from Cortona to Venice.

Cretaiole typically does require a 7-night stay, but off season I think you can do a little less. We were going to do four nights until I started to understand what they offered, and I modified our plans to make it the centerpiece of our trip.

We are booked at Agriturismo Marciano less than 2 miles outside Siena in July. It's supposed to be very good, with amazing meals and hosts.

For something different, if you enjoy swimming, consider Il Mulino di Quercegrossa, just 5 km north of Siena on the Chianti Highway:

http://www.mulinodiquercegrossa.it

The adjacent aqua park with 7 pools (including one with a current like a river, and a waterfall) is free for guests of the agriturismo. It makes for a pleasant end to a hot day of sightseeing.

Agriturismo Marciano looks fantastic too.

Thanks for the replays. I sent e-mails to the 3 that were mentioned here so hope to hear back from them. I have sent e-mail to several last week and never got a reply so hope I do with these three. Thanks again. We are looking forward to the Tuscany area.

Stop recommending Agriturismo Marciano! It's horrible. Really. I hated it there. So much that when I tried to book a room for this May they didn't have any available. Maybe it's just as well because it might not be as good an experience as I had before and would ruin my memory of it being my favorite place I've ever stayed. I knew this day would come that people would know how great it is and I couldn't go back. I had a difficult time finding a substitute because I compared every placed I looked to Marciano. Oh, if you do stay there be sure to have the optional dinner there at every opportunity. It's the best food you'll eat in Italy.

I just booked Agritourismo Marciano. Now we just have to get our car booked and we are good. Would booking the car in Siena be a good idea ? We will be arriving by train from the south.

Congrats on booking Marciano. Please don't spread the word. I was crushed to not get a reservation there. We were coming from Rome. We took the train to Orvieto and got our car there. We were able to spend 4-5 hours in Orvieto before heading to Marciano. It was an easy drive.

Agriturismo Marciano is beyond amazing!!! The vineyard and winery tour is not to be missed!!!

Just be sure you get good directions - a gps, maybe. Since it's close to Siena, the google directions took us through neighborhoods which was a little disconcerting especially since the directions didn't exactly match the street signs which, in turn, weren't always obvious. Needless to say, if you allow sufficient time and have a little patience, you won't be disappointed. In fact, you just may be blown away!!!