Can anyone recommend some great 2 or 3 bedroom villas somewhere in Tuscany? It must be near train stations so that travel to and from the villa to other areas of Italy will be very easy. We will want to get to places such as Siena, Florence, Cinque Terre and the Amalfi coast.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
Villas and Agriturismo (farm houses converted into luxury villas) tend to be out of the city, therefore not conveniently located if you don't have a car. There are numerous websites that specialize in advertising vacation rentals, just to name a few: www.homelidays.co.uk/ www.homeaway.com (which is vrbo.com affiliate in Europe)
www.agriturismo.net www.agriturismo.it Search but I doubt you can find a villa close to a train station, which are usually located in the heart of the city center of any city. If you want to stay near a train station, you will probably have to stay in an apartment in the city (also available for search in the above websites). In addition some of the locations you listed are very far from each other and you can't possibly visit them from the same location. Siena, Florence and Cinque Terre are close enough. If you use trains you should find a place in Tuscany (Florence or maybe Empoli would be best logistically). From there you have trains or buses taking you to those locations in a reasonable amount of time. The Amalfi Coast however is approx. 350 miles to the south of those locations. Even with the fastest possible means of transport you'd need at least 4 hours to reach the Amalfi Coast from Florence.
Posted by
OP
Phoenix, Arizona, United States
11 posts
Thanks Roberto. I sort of thought what you had to say would be the facts. We definitely know the logistics of Italy and realize travel to the Amalfi Coast would mean spending a night or two specifically in that region. We will check out those websites you listed. I probably shouldn't have used the term "villa." We really don't care to much about it being called a villa as much as it is not a hotel per se. Apartments is probably the way to channel our research. Again, many thanks. P.S. What I meant to convey as well, and probably didn't do a very good job, is that we are hoping for a "personal referral" from someone who has stayed at a specific place. Someone who will be able to say how wonderful the venue was for them. Make sense?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8337 posts
WWW.agriturismo.it, venere.com, villas.com and hotels.com are great places to look for accommodations. AirBnB.com is a source of inexpensive lodging, and it's gaining popularity. Tuscany is best when visited by automobile for day trips. Trains are good for going from large city to large city, like from Florence to Rome. A villa south of Florence in Chianti would be a great center of operation. You might want to check Mapquest.com to see where Siena, Florence, C/T and the Amalfi Coast are located. C/T is NW of Pisa--out of the way. The Amalfi Coast is south of Naples, right at 200 miles below Rome. It just depends on how many weeks you'll have to spend. We did Florence, Chianti, Orvieto and Rome (for Easter) in 2 weeks.