Three generation family looking for villa for 10 in San Gimignano area July 2022

How many bedrooms are needed?

Ideally 5

We stayed in Panzano in Chianti one time in June and had a beautiful villa there which we rented through Chiantiandmore dot com. Are you aware that most villas do not have a/c? That may be something to check out for a July rental.

Thanks so much for the wonderful suggestion and reminder of the heat in July. Hearing about your personal experience means so much. The website is inviting and I look forward to researching options. We have been looking at other websites that looked very interesting but were discouraged to read reviews that talked about guests (more than one family) being robbed and even losing their passports.

Welcome to the forum!

You don’t say why being near San Gimignano is important but SG itself is not the best base transportation-wise. No trains, only bus and you’d want a car to do much exploring which is true of most of the Tuscan countryside. Did you plan to rent a car or multiple cars?

You’ll need to do some research on what transportation options you do have in any town in Tuscany. I know Certaldo has a train station and is close to SG- looks like a very charming town but not much to do/see there other than the upper town. Poggibonsi also has a train station.
Siena is the transportation hub for that area- trains and buses to most everywhere.

Start with a list of towns you’d like to visit then decide where the best base location would be.

A handy tool is www.rome2rio.com- use it to see what your options are for transportation but confirm all with the actual train or bus website.

No recommendations for a villa but as noted above AC will be very important and having a pool might be as well.

We are staying at Villa Iris, sleeps 12, right outside of San Gi in June 2022 http://www.villairistuscany.com. It looks amazing. They also own a sister villa called Villa Sarah, sleeps 10, https://villasarahtuscany.com/. I think you will have to rely mostly on private transportation, which they can arrange. Good luck with your search!

You mention wanting to be near transportation. Aren’t you renting cars? I highly recommend you rent a car as Tuscany is rural and you will miss out on a lot if you don’t. We rented three cars for our large family group.

We stayed here. It was great! We took a train from Rome to Terni and rented a car there. It was only a few miles to the hill top town of San Gimini. There were 15 of us.

https://www.tuscanynowandmore.com/villas/santi-terzi?productId=occupancy20.

First Thanks for taking time to write and good suggestions. How to travel with a group of 10 has been challenging to plan. My husband and I have been to Italy several times but never stayed in a remote area that required us to figure out our own transportation. Villa Sarah is rented unfortunately during our family time. We are checking out Certaldo and Poggibonsi; our attraction to San Gimignano is connected to the warm feelings friends who had visited many times shared. Their situation, a couple that travels light, is much different than our family with 4 children, ages 5-17, seeing Italy for the first time. We are open to suggestions and appreciate the great comments.

Here's my little thought. With a group that size and with that age range, you might be better off staying in a town in nearby large apartments. More possible to get AC and everybody would have more freedom to do things independently and at their own pace. Plus easy access to trains and buses.

We took our son, daughter-in-law, baby granddaughter, and, (let's say) "vigorous" almost-4-year-old grandson to Italy for 2 and a half weeks. We had a van for getting around. We stayed for a week in a town and a week in a rented villa, and while we greatly enjoyed both, all the adults now agree that being in a town was a lot easier and more fun for everybody. Especially being able to walk to different places for lunch and dinner, and to go "home" for naps. There was lots to see and do without getting in the car (or bus or train). My husband could take our grandson for early morning walks with the enticement of orange juice or hot chocolate or seeing people's dogs, while the rest of us were slowly waking up. We could shop for food at the outdoor market, go to bakeries, and get to a pharmacy quickly.

I've never had to look for apartments for rent in a town for 10, but for 6 it was easy (the kids and I needed our own rooms, so that was actually 5 bedrooms), and I have noticed that several apartment owners and airbnb hosts have two or even three apartments in the same building or very nearby.

I would suggest a town for you, but except for Florence, Siena, and Lucca (and a few very small towns), we have not spent as much time in Tuscany as in other regions of Italy. In late July I would think you'd want a less heavily touristed town that had a train station. Check out Lucca (inside the walls but near the train station) and maybe others will have some suggestions for Tuscan towns if you want to explore the idea.

I think Nancy has some good insights. I have traveled with a family group of 7 twice, although not the age range you describe. We have always stayed in town because it requires less coordination. I like to get up and going and in town I often went to the grocery store or bakery (sometimes with company) while others were just moving. People also can more easily do different things. I also like to be able to walk places rather than having to rely on cars to go anywhere. It is one of the pleasures of Europe.

Welcome to the forums, bpmac12!
I'm going to throw my vote in with the others for a transport-hub city versus rural stay. As you wisely considered, your friends' situation was a different animal than your own will be with children along. It can be very nice for some of your group to be able to sightsee within walking distance, and others to be able to jump a train or bus further afield, if desired. Being able to do that on their OWN schedule (not everyone is a morning person) helps eliminate friction, as well as being able to easily return to the hotel/apartment should the youngest decide they are just DONE (!!!) with it all and need some down time.

You'll can also have a wider variety of eateries within a shorter distance on foot. That's nice when wishing to enjoy the grape 'cuz Italy's drink-and-drive laws are very strict. :O)

This forum has been so helpful! The idea of splitting up the visit between rural and urban is a great idea. Thanks! We were able to change our dates slightly and found we could spend part of the time at Villa Iris. We now need to investigate car rental.

Car rental
We always rent thru AutoEurope.com, a US based consolidator with excellent customer service and usually best rates
You can use their website or call toll free

All drivers must have an IDP you can get at your local AAA

Do your homework on driving in Italy
Good start here:
http://driventoit.blogspot.com/2015/01/driving-in-italy-including-dreaded-ztls.html