Travel to Tuscany

Congratulations! Do you plan to stay in Tuscany the whole time?

I think so. I want them to experience the local culture small towns off the beaten track, etc...

With a total of 6 travelling you will need a people mover type vehicle instead of a normal sedan. That may get expensive. I would split your time in two, between Florence and somewhere in the Tuscan countryside. A lot of places are easy and cheap by train from Florence - Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Cortona, Arezzo. Other places are easier by car - San Gimignano, Volterra, Chianti, Montepulciano. Pienza, Montalcino.

I would rent two small vehicles, easier to navigate medieval streets and parking lots. Also gives some freedom if your group wants to split up from time o time.

Montalcino, Siena, Montepulciano, Arezzo, Anghiari, Certaldo, Pienza - hard to go wrong in Tuscany. You might want to spend a few nights in a small city with some evening activities.

Since I'm 65, I can suggest, without offense I hope, that you imagine the differing interests of TWO successive generations! Perhaps "Happy families are all alike", but 14 days in the same villa sound like an awful lot to me. Having two smaller cars is a great idea, because when, inevitably (?) there are differing interests, there can be two trips at the same time. I wonder if you need the best possible phone service for the 15-year old, or is she sophisticated enough to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and temporarily "cut" her contacts with trivial social networking.

Having just returned from Tuscany, I would suggest that the ENTIRE area is "ready" for tourism. Even the smallest hill towns have "regional specialties" stores (admittedly, that unrefrigerated cheese smells great.) I'd even comment that there is a limit (IMHO) to the number of tiny hill towns you need to visit.

If you are in a rural villa (whatever that means, I've never rented a villa), you have immediately foreclosed the possiblity of "living like a local." To me, that requires town or urban living, with breakfast at a stand-up bar, and an evening passeggiata. A lot of posters here talk about Agriturismos, but the ones we drove by last month were also "ready for tourists", offering as many slices (I mean, from reading their signs) of topics-of-interest as they could, at the same place.

I hope you won't stint on the major cultural monuments of the area, like Florence, Siena, Assisi, Orvieto, and so on. One other thing your granddaughter can learn is how "young" the United States is, and what a small lock we have on the culture of the civilized world.

I urge you to use the Search box at top center to read this year's may threads about Tuscany. Be sure to learn just how crowded Tuscany is all summer, and how hot and sunny it is. I'd recommend a villa with a pool. We don't even like pools, but we went in every night before dinner to cool off from daily hill town visits. Also remember things that require advance bookings, like Florence museums and the more famous wineries, and better-known restaurants.

Edit: You did not give the month of the year, but the only thing harder than finding a space that's big enough and has a big enough aisle to get to, for an overpriced sport utility outside the ZTL, is finding TWO compact car spots! After 10:30AM, it can be a long search, and finally a long walk to the medieval center from the spot you finally found.

Check out Greve, which is 18km south of Florence and convenient to the entire region. We stayed at the Castillo di Verrazzano. The accommodations are comfortable but not extravagant and the price is reasonable. Their breakfasts are to die for and it is a gorgeous location. Be sure to take the winery tour and the food and wine pairing. We started the pairing at 12:30 and didn't finish until 4:00!

Greve is a nice little town with plenty of good restaurants. We became instant friends with Allessandro and the staff at La Cantina. It is a local favorite and you get a good feeling of Italian village life.

Be sure to use Walks of Italy to do a walking tour of Florence and to tour the Uffizi. Our guide Marco was wonderful and you tours include tickets to the museums. You can skip the lines.

If you are so inclined and get the chance, visit the Abbazia (Abbey) di Monti Oliveto Maggiore. They are just north of Montalcino and Montepulchiano. You could combine a trip to either of those towns, have a lunch with Brunello, then go to the abbey. They have daily evening vespers in Gregorian chant. It was a deeply calming and moving service.

I think the idea of renting two vehicles instead of a large van makes sense. It would give you some flexibility and would help on the smaller streets. Driving in Italy was much easier than I expected. Learn the rules of the road, the meaning of the signs and you won't have any problems. Every ZTL we came across was clearly marked and easily avoided. I do recommend taking the bus into Florence. Driving in either Florence or Rome is a nightmare. Plus, you'll be riding the bus with local folks commuting to work or school. We were the only non-residents on the bus and had a great time!

Our trip to Tuscany last December was magical, probably the best trip we have ever taken. I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Don't rent a van. It costs as much as 3 economy cars. Rent two economy cars instead. They are also more maneuverable and give the flexibility of splitting the party.
Use a consolidator:
www.autoeurope.com
www.kemwel.com

If you get to Southern Tuscany, I recommend checking out the natural hot springs at Saturnia ( Cascadia di Saturnia). They are amazing and free and very special. Pitigliano, a dramatic hill town, is nearby and also worth seeing. We used the DK Eyewitness Guide Backroads Italy to find many nice sights and roads in Tuscany. I agree that staying further north, like in the Chianti region is closer to more sites and Siena and Florence.

Small quaint towns in Europe are entirely tourist driven in their economies. If you find Tuscan charm there will be 'tourism' and lots of tourists.

I would absolutely get two cars and plan ahead for groups to split up and do different things as well as enjoy each other's company. when our family does this sort of thing we also assign different pairs to prepare dinner -- we try to put people together who don't get to see each other often e.g. my son and daughter live 2000 miles apart so they love to make dinner for the group and have that quality time with each other, each parent works with an adult child one night etc etc.

Here are a couple of things we saw in Tuscany on our last trip
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/tuscany/
There are many lovely towns all over the regions. I would particularly recommend ranging down to just north of Rome. We got a map on an earlier trip of Etruscan tomb sites in the hills north of Rome in a small town called Sovana and then drove and hiked to the sites. It was really interesting. Tarquinia and Cervetari just north of Rome have two major tomb villages which are quite different from each other. Another fabulous day was a visit to the public park hot spring waterfall in Saturnia. Sitting in that little pool gazing out over the landscape was amazing. (no changing rooms when we were there so come in your suit and change into dry clothes by the car as best you can
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/tuscany/saturnia-thermal-baths
Orvieto was also quite interesting especially including the underground tour. A day in Siena is a must; there are parking garages around the historic center and the Cathedral interior is jaw dropping. We enjoyed dinner at La Logge and would recommend that and a drink or lunch on the Campo (food ordinary but the view is so wonderful and the prices are not ridiculous)

We love Montepulciano and the gardens of la Foce are in a very scenic area. The abbeys of Monte Oliveto Maggiore and St. Antimo are both fascinating and I would include one or the other. We went to services at each which we also recommend. The monks chant at St. Antimo but it was not all that if you have heard chants before.

Beautiful area. We have done single weeks twice -- 35 years ago, 20 years ago and then two weeks 3 years ago. Great choice for a family vacation and two weeks is great. Personally we prefer to get lodging on the edge of a small town so we have access to nice restaurants and bars in the evening and a base for driving out during the day. With a large group a countryside villa might work if you plan to cook in as a family.

I want you to consider spending a week in the Umbrian town of San Gemini. You can rent a villa right next to the main piazza in the centro storico. Google Santi Terzi and check them out. We, that is a family of 12, rented this villa BECAUSE it was in the middle of an Italian town and we wanted to feel the Italian culture. This is a great town to do exactly that. Each morning we would go down to the local bar and have a cappuccino. We would buy groceries in the local stores and eat sometimes in the town's restaurants. Day trips all through Umbrian towns and even the hill towns of Tuscany are possible from here. Easy train access to Rome from Narni. Easy day trips to Orvieto, Spoletto, Tarni, ASsissi, Deruta, Perugia, Montefalco, Montalpuciano, Pienza, Montalcino, and even Siena (a bit longer). It is a great location. We had a teenager and he loved the town. Check it out. We then moved to a second location in Tuscany for the second week of our trip. It all worked beautifully.