Staying in an agriturismo close to Florence?

Yes, just consider that you will spend time commuting to and from the city; the hilly landscape makes transportation in Tuscany slow and traffic is a concern. You will discover that, no matter where your accomodation is, it will take one hour or so to reach the center and the same time to go back in the afternoon. Just think if you can live with that.

An Agriturismo is basically an old abandoned farmhouse that has been renovated and converted into a tourist villa. Some of them are sort of working farmhouses. The reconversion started decades ago. After WW2 Italy transitioned from being an agrarian society into an industrial one, so many farmers abandoned the farmhouses to move into cities. The Italian government then decided to give incentives to people to remodel those abandoned farmhouses into tourist accommodations, provided they maintained the rustic architecture and had the land around worked on a farming business. I have friends who did that. Since none of them are farmers they outsources the working of the fields to,actual farmers. They tell me that they don’t make any money from the farming part of the business, but that helps to qualify for the government subsidy and of course they make a profit from renting the home to tourists. Since those accommodations are former farmhouses, they are usually located in the countryside at quite a distance from a city, therefore renting a car is a must in almost all cases. You can search for those types of accommodations in many websites including the following:
www.agriturismo.com
www.agriturismo.it
www.agriturismo.net
www.agriturismi.it
www.agriturismitaliani.it
as well as the famous websites like VRBO, Expedia, Airbnb, etc.
Very near where I grew up in Florence (walking distance from my house) there is one, which I will give you a link below. I have no idea how good it is since it was an actual farm when I lived in that neighborhood as a kid, but is as close as it gets to the city and probably the only agriturismo where you wouldn’t need to rent a car to see Florence. Obviously if you are willing to rent a car the choices are infinite throughout Tuscany.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ujH2NVnFMatcBKd89?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

We’ve stayed at agriturismos in Sicily and in Umbria, both very much still working farms, and had a car to reach those rural places out in the country. We’ve also stayed at a quasi-agriturismo in Tuscany, but just inland from the coast, and not close to Florence.

An agriturismo stay is a neat experience, but note that driving to Florence from anywhere will mean finding and dealing with parking. If you stay at an agriturismo and have a car, you might still want to get into Florence by train, or even bus.

We spent a week in the Agriturismo Martignana Alta near Empoli. When we wanted to visit Florence we would drive to Empoli and take the train in. There are regular trains all day and it is about 30mins ride.

"renting a car

You won't want to drive in Florence. My husband has declared it to be "the worst city he has ever had to drive in". Choose an agritourismo with good public transportation. We stayed in one in Greve De Chianti area. We could walk to town and catch a bus to Florence very easily. Siena would have been possible, but trickier. (This was in 2008, so do your own research on bus schedules. I'm also not saying where we stayed because I don't have recent information on it) Funny fact: We stayed in Greve because the first time we went and drove from Siena to Florence as a day trip. We made a wrong turn leaving the city (turning onto a slow road instead of the fast expressway). My husband said that it didn't matter how long it took to get to Siena, he was not going back to Forence!!!! It ended up being a beautiful drive through the hills of Chianti and that is why we stayed there in 2008.

PS in 2008, we were traveling with my sister and brother-in-law. My sister jokingly said "Let's cancel the rest of the trip and just stay here!"

Nancy, this previous forum discussion around the pros and cons of agriturismo stays may be helpful?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/pros-and-cons-of-an-agriturismo

Some of those potential cons - specifically commute times and parking - have already been presented. Others involve personal travel styles and how one intends to spend their days. For instance, they may be very good choices for the visitor planning mainly on exploring the Tuscan/Umbrian countrysides and smaller villages with a car, and/or is interested in spending dedicated 'down' time using provided amenities, such as a pool or cooking classes, at the property itself. As you'll see by various of the comments, some visitors love them!

For others, like myself, whose main interests involve the attractions offered mainly within larger urban settings (museums, churches, historic structures, etc.) having those things nearly at our doorstep is a pro. Having a large selection of restaurants within short walks away is a plus, as is being able to safely enjoy wine with dinner. After-dark strolls when the fountains and piazzas are illuminated, some of our fellow tourists have gone, and daytime activity settles down is a plus. As well, having a good selection of indoor sightseeing possibilities within short walks away is a preferable should the weather turn foul. There's also no limit on how long we want to stay at any given property whereas an agriturismo can mandate a minimum number of nights. Day trip? In many cases train/bus stations are just a walk away, and you can alight from transport in the middle of another urban location; no avoidance of ZTLs or location of parking lots needed.

So there's no right or wrong to the choice if it works for YOUR style It just helps to know what that is and to weigh that against how you want to spend YOUR time. Is this your first trip to Italy?

We stayed in Florence for a few days on our first trip to Italy, no car. We didn't happen to visit Tuscan hilltowns, etc., until 20 years later, following a cruise that disembarked in Civitavecchia. We rented a car near the cruise port, and returned it at FCO.

I think it is better not to mix the two experiences, if you have that luxury. I have not stayed in an Agriturismo, but I have doubts about their living-local and tree-hugging authenticity. I never use motel pools at home, but we needed air conditioning and a pool for Tuscany in July.

My experience has been great as we like going back to the outskirts/hills after some city sightseeing (have been to Florence many times so never a need to pack in too much in a day). We are also big walkers so parking our car outside the main city area and walking in was fine and enjoyable. The several we have stayed over the years were in the impruneta area because we had friends nearby - and the owners grew olive trees and produced their own olive oil. Family managed the land when apartments not in use. I’m sure there are some that are more ‘authentic’ than others… but it’s a nice experience that can be mixed with city time if you are interested in that and, most important, have the time. Also I like staying in a place run by local families you meet - feels better than the Airbnbs for us (which we do also when there isn’t a better option).

...have been to Florence many times so never a need to pack in too
much in a day

That's why it may be different if this is the OP's first trip to Italy? If this is their maiden voyage, they may find it easier to stay within Florence and closer to its many, many treasures. :O)

We did what you are considering on our first visit to Italy (nine nights). Fortunately our host shared driving tips for Florence, including parking recommendations. Were we to do it again we would NOT stay at an agriturismo for the entire trip. I feel we missed out on a lot by not having any early morning/evening time to walk and explore in Florence. It also would have been nice to have a room to go back to for a break during the day.