I'm looking for recommendations for agriturismo in Tuscany for a March stay. We'd like something smaller, quaint and easy access for day trips (renting car) to Florence, Siena, many other cities.
Also if anyone has recommendation on one day cooking class, that would be appreciated.
Thanks!
The town we stayed in is called “Greve in Chianti”. Very cool to just poke around their square, small but a neat “Italy” experience…AMAZING butcher shop there.
For an agritourism place Try http://www.borgo-di-sugame.com/.
We stayed here in 2008 and it was great. Easy day trips to Florence and Sienna.
A great castle we toured that’s only about 30 minutes south of Florence:
http://www.holiday-apartment-tuscany.net/tuscany_travel_guide/castello_di_gabbiano.htm
Just up the hill, West of Greve, is a town called Montefioralle. It’s a walled city, no cars can drive into it. Again, small, but cool to walk around. Only one or two restaurants, but the one we ate at (Guerrino) was amazing, with a great view of the vineyards below. http://www.greve-in-chianti.com/guerrino.htm (They have a picture on their website of a table with 3 bottles of wine on it, that’s the table we ate at!!)
Further south towards Siena is another cool walled town called Monteriggioni, bigger than the other one with some shops and restaurants. http://www.monteriggioni.info
You might review our trip report on a agriturismo outside of Florence.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/nine-days-in-tuscany-what-a-deal
Thinking about repeating the same trip next year.
I would suggest you look at Heroic B&B experiences in Rick Steves' Graffiti Wall. Many names come up time and time again with great recommendations.
Other sources of rooms are Booking.com, AirBnB.com, Agriturismo.com and Venere.com. You can also sign into Craigslist.com and find agriturismo rooms overseas.
If you can figure out which town you'd care to stay close to, you can go on GoogleMaps, put in the city/country and hit enter. Then hit the "+" twice to magnify the map, and many, many hotels and B&B's will pop up all over the place.
The farms throughout Tuscany and Chianti have apartments and rooms as a great source of secondary income. Virtually every farm in some areas are agriturismos.
Last year, we stayed in Florence for a long weekend, and moved to between Certaldo and San Gimignano for 4 nights. It's a great area to do day trips to Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra. We found huge supermarkets in Poggibonsi, and did most of our own cooking at night. We turned our rental car in at Orvieto and caught a train into Rome.
Terri, we stayed at Agriturismo Marciano in '09 and loved it. I see by the reviews on Trip Advisor that they've upheld the same level of quality and care for their guests as it's still top rated. It's outside Siena's city walls and although it's a 10-minute taxi ride to the walled city, it feels very remote and secluded. The owners are extremely helpful and friendly and they offer optional dinners a few nights/week that are to die for! My husband and I still look back on the dinners we had there and salivate! The rooms and the agriturismo itself are very quaint and comfortable. You can not go wrong if you stay there...though if interested, you need to book way in advance. I'm not sure if they offer cooking classes...you might inquire. Have a great trip! I'm so envious!
Hi Terri. I just learned that Agriturismo Marciano in Siena does offer cooking lessons. You might contact them to inquire further.
In September we stayed at Il Canto del Sole (http://www.ilcantodelsole.com/index.asp) which is about 10-15 kilometers south of Siena outside of the village named Cuna. It is absolutely in the country, but it is not technically an agriturismo. You'd need a car to get there. It's listed in the RS Italy guidebook. Laura cooks dinner once or twice a week and the food is superb. Have a great trip.
We also stayed just outside Greve in Chianti in 2012. Stayed at the Castille de Verrazzano where Roberta made us feel at home and hosted an amazing 5 course dinner on Thursday night. Looking at possibly returning in 2014.
