Looking to stay in one Tuscany country setting and drive to cities

I think staying central is a good idea. We stayed in an agriturismo outside San gimignano and some of the trips we wanted to take were a bit far. If i were to do it again I would stay closer to Siena or maybe somewhere between siena and montalcino. An agriturismo is a really truly unique experience. Especially if you stay for an extended time like you mentioned, you can really make it your home for that time - make breakfast sometimes, make dinner using local ingredients, etc. Staying overnight in a small town is nice too but IMO not quite the same unique and amazing experience.

That's exactly what we did. We rented a place at an agriturismo in the Chianto region in Barberino Val d'Elsa/Tavarnelle and were able to visit all those more urban places on daytrips within a 30-60 min. drive away.

OK, I'm getting really excited about this idea. Does anybody have a recommendation for a place that has wi-fi? Thanks, Terrye

Beatrix: We also are staying in Barberino Val d'Elsa next month. We are staying at a Villa there for 9 nights. How was the Village?? Any advise you can give me or places that are a must see? Which agri. did you stay at? We too are going to take day trips. Probably every other day. Then enjoy and rest in between, and enjoy the Villa. We are looking forward to making some of our own meals at the Villa using the local fresh ingrediants. You will need to rent a car while you are in Tuscany. However, when we visit Florence, we will be taking public transportation. I think you will really enjoy this plan of action. It really gets you into the heart of Italy to enjoy and be immersed in the culture.

We stayed at www.poderepoggetto.it as it offered us great value for 110 Euro/night for the SIX of us. If you have that kind of budget for 2 there are probably nicer accommodations out there. For grocery shopping the best destination is the coop in Tavarnelle. We liked the restaurants right next to the church in Barberino - the outside patios have fantastic views into the valley. But we had the best food (fantastic rabbit!) at a restaurant in Marcialla that our host recommended. Can't remember the name right now.

We recently stayed in Paciano at a wonderful super-agrriturismo called Fontanaro. Paciano is incredible Tuscan countryside and was a great base for visits to castigoione del lago, cortona, citta Della pieve, perugia, and arezzo. Officially Paciano Is in Umbria but is right on the border on the lake trasimene and is as beautiful as anything you'll see in Tuscany! Highly recommended!

Dennis' suggestion points to Umbria, a beautiful location. However, understand that destinations in central and northern Tuscany like Lucca, Volterra, Pisa are well over 2 hours away - each way. Florence is just under 2 hours. For me, that would not be an ideal base for DAYtrips into that area. If you want to spend most of the time exploring the southern parts of Tuscany around Siena it would still work.

The choice for agriturismi is, frankly, intimidating; there are options for every budget. I would recommend deciding where you want to be first, then narrowing down your options based on things like budget, amenities, reviews, etc. I actually took a risk on a place for which I couldnt find any reviews. I found it and it just looked "right" to my travelmate and me. It was under 500 euros for 8 nights for a 1-bedroom flat with 2 beds. talk about dirt cheap. It had no tv or phone or internet or anything, but i kind of liked that to be honest, and it was not all that central. In addition to the recommendations here and other places, I would check out www.agriturismo.com - you can narrow it down by region, then by province, then by comune. That site helped me quite a lot.

I'll try that site. I would really like to have Internet access. Even though I'm on vacation, I need to keep in touch with work. It will make it easier and less stressful if I can just check my email a couple of times a day rather than having to search out an Internet cafe. Maybe I'll be travelling with a router and a cantenna!

ah I understand. the best thing to do is just ask at places you're interested in. A lot of the time it will already be mentioned in the listing or on the place's website (what I did on that site is find places that looked interesting, then checked them out directly at their own sites). you might also be able to find a place that has a computer for guests' use and that kind of thing. Although don't worry, there are internet cafes everywhere. We used them in both Volterra and Castellina in Chianti! The one in volterra is actually pretty cool, because it's also a wine bar ;) But i understand the convenience. I didn't need it for work but I'm just sort of joined at the hip to my laptop so it was hard. I just had trouble finding a place in my friend's and my budget that had that and everything else we wanted. But plenty of them are out there.

When are you leaving? We're headed to IT in a couple of weeks and will be spending a week at an equitourismo (they raise Hanovarians) http://www.toscanaonhorseback.com/english/Toscanaonhorseback_english.html but fine for those that don't ride, as well - check out their site, it's very informative. I'd be happy to let you know what it was like when we return, but in terms of location, sounds like just what you're looking for. I don't know if they have wi-fi - though I know the owner has e-mail access, so you could probobly work something out. Marisa

Marisa- The website looks very interesting. I'm going to contact them. I would be interested in what you think of your stay there. Thanks!

Terrye staying at an agriturismo is one of our favorite things to do in Italy. My husband and I are leaving Sept. 17 and spending a week outside of San Gimignano in apt. Maria at Podere Bellavista before spending some time in Bologna. We are taking a laptop and it says they have wireless internet. It may be in a comman area but that is fine. We will do daytrips around the area and also want to go to Lucca. A car is really necessary when staying at these places. We have been to Italy a number of times and have been to all the biggies but staying in the countryside is wonderful. It does take time to check out agriturismi online but I love the planning. You really need to decide what part of Tuscany you want to stay in and plan daytrips that aren't too terribly far away. Sometimes it is easy to try to visit "everything" but then you won't see anything. Some other agriturismi we have stayed at include: 2002[INVALID]Il Rosolaccio, Apt. "Ginestra" for our family of 4, 2 bedrm, (www.ilrosolaccio.com) Near San Gim. and Certaldo. 2006[INVALID]Agriturismo Metina (www.metina.it) not far from Montepulciano. We enjoyed staying here in a 2 bedroom apt. but have heard they are trying to sell and read postings on grafitti wall that weren't great. 2007[INVALID]Agriturismo La Fornace, Apt. "I Papaveri" which was a 2 bedrm/2 bathrm. for our family of 4.(www.lafornace.com) a few km outside of Assisi. 2007[INVALID]Agriturismo Ca del Baldo near Lake Garda (www.cadelbaldo.com)in apt. "Il Fienile." This is a beautiful place and Roberta a lovely host who speaks 5 languages. We have enjoyed staying at all of these places, shopping at the local Co-op and doing daytrips around the area. The above all have pools, which we wanted as we always traveled in summer when our kids were out of school. Most of the above have reviews on tripadvisor.com. Buon Viaggio

We stayed at Podere Vignola, an agritourismo in Sieci, 10km from the centre of Florence, in the sweet hills of Chianti. The setting is beautiful, in the Frescobaldi vineyards, the accommodations are very clean, comfortable and extremely affordable. (www.poderevignola.com) We chose to travel by train instead of by car, and from Santa Maria Novella (SMN) Train Station in Florence, everything is possible. The trip from Sieci to SMN is a 20 minute local train ride. Pisa and Lucca are one hour away (follow Rick Steves' book to see both in the same day...which is what we did), Siena is accessible by bus or car. We travelled to Venice (2hrs), Rome (1.5hr), Bologna ( 45 minutes) Arezzo (1hr) etc. The people who own and manage the podere (the Naldoni family) are very accommodating, friendly and generous people. Louis