You will have to excuse my ignorance but what exactly is an Agriturismo. Sounds kind of like a B&B except on a working farm. Is this understanding correct? What are the expectations of the guests? Help around the farm? How deep of an experience does it have to be or can it be? Are all the meals part of the stay or just the breakfast? We plan to spend several days in Tuscany Umbria area. Should we stay in two different places, one a little more north and one a little more south? Or is everything close enough that day trips by car can see both areas? thanks.
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
The two agritourismos that I have stayed at on ETBD tours had dining rooms that were set up as restaurants. They were large rooms, full of people, with lots of noise and so-so service. In one, there was one waiter for all of us on the tour plus about 50 other people. If you are looking for a rural, quiet, rustic experience at one of these places, I suggest you check into their dining accommodations.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, USA
320 posts
Bill - In my experience there is quite a variety under the "agriturismo" umbrella. Some are more luxury villa type accomodations with pool, separate apartment and kitchen, etc and others are rustic working farms. Search the net thoroughly for what you want (try domaniusa.com - a great booking service - call them and tell them just what you are looking for and they will have it).
Lastly - the Tuscan and Umbrian areas you talk about may look close on a map but you can really burn up a lot of time driving if you are not careful. If it was me I'd headquarter in two different areas to see both better. Have fun.
Posted by
assisi, assisi, italy
1 posts
Hi Bill,
An agriturismo is more like an apt with a kitchenette in a working farm. The whole purpose of an agriturismo is to subsidize the family's income. Most agriturismos are located outside of a main town and sometimes out of the way. There are also "country houses" which is like an agriturismo without the farm
There are no meals included in the pricing, unless stated as B&B, which really is a continental breakfast with packaged crescents. It's mostly self-catering.
An apt, agriturismo, and country house is more economical than staying in a hotel. You have the choice of cooking your own meals or eating out. Not to be biased, but Assisi is pretty centralized to all the main Umbrian hill towns (Gubbio, Todi, Spoletto, Perugia and etc) all 30-60 minutes away.
Feel free to email me directly for more info:[email protected]
Ciao!
Helen (expat from Orinda)
Posted by
In the Mountains, USA
689 posts
http://www.locandarosati.orvieto.tr.it/
We stayed at Locanda Rosati (near Orvieto) and loved it. No farm work required. Usually the Agriturismo is a working farm that takes in guests to help subsidize the farm. Just as in the US farmlife is hard and having guests helps the income.
When we stayed at Locanda Rosati we did a day trip to Montepulciano. It was a very quick trip. It only took two hours to get to Florence, so I would say you could explore pretty well from one base camp.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
Tulsa, OK, USA
126 posts
As I understand it, in Italy to be classified as an agriturismo, more than 1/2 your income must be from a farming activity. Depending on the area, many include a generous breakfast, however, in Tuscany I didn't find that to be the case. I like agriturismos because they are usually in the countryside, however, most are located such that they would require having a rental car. If you are staying only 3 days, stay in one place, if you are staying 4 or more you might think about 2 places. Mileage wise the towns are not far apart, but the roads are very winding, so it is slow going, but thats what you came for. Some of the towns I have enjoyed in Tuscany are Volterra, Montepulciano, Pienza, Cortona, Orvieto, and Todi. We had only time for a short stop in Lucca, not realizing it had such a large historic center, so we will do it another time. Enjoy!
Posted by
Fredericksburg, VA, USA
409 posts
Bill - You've received excellent advice so far. We stayed at Agriturismo Cretaiole in March/April and LOVED it. Pienza is a wonderful renaissance town, and there are a number of great villages nearby. Please do a search for "Cretaiole" on the Graffiti Wall under "Italian Agriturismos" on this site and you'll get more info than I could ever provide...and you'll read nothing but O(deservedly) rave reviews.
As for your questions as they pertain to Cretaiole: The only help around the farm asked of you is the picci (pasta) making class and the olive oil tasting class, which will be lasting memories. Cretaiole offers a multitude of activities and day trips, but you can pick and choose. The only included meal is one cookout featuring the pasta you make, but there is a market in town where we purchased goodies for our kitchen. Umbria is a bit of a drive but do-able: we made a day trip to Assisi right before Christmas. Might make that a separate stay.
Hope this helps.
Posted by
Milwaukie, Oregon
1056 posts
One thing you need to keep in mind when booking an agriturismo is that many of them require a minimum one-week stay, often starting with Saturday night. My husband and I just completed a fabulous stay at Cretaiole near Pienza, which does not require any activities at all and does not supply any meals. However, they do offer (at no cost) several extras, including a pasta-making class followed by a dinner featuring the pasta you made, an olive-oil class and tasting and a tour of a hermitage and etruscan tomb on their property. What I also appreciated (but don't think is common) was a list of nearby sights to see, market days, local festivals, etc. which was updated weekly for each group of folks staying there. If you decide to stay there, book early. They fill up fast.