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Where to base ourselves in Tuscany

Posted by on

Hi!
We are so excited to be coming to Tuscany the first week of July. We are looking at spending 4 to seven days with our two children, ages 4 and 9. We want to stay in an agriturismo so that we have some space and perhaps a kitchen.
There are so many beautiful agritursmo's, I'm not sure where to start. So I thought someone could help me pick an area based on our likes:
We def want a place in the countryside, with beautiful views, and lush scenery and a pool and space for the kids to run. We will have a car obviously so would be making day trips. I would LOVE a place where we could day trip both to Florence one day and the sea another but I don't know if that exists. We like off-the-beaten-track things. Exploring underground caves and caverns, thermal hot springs that are outside and open to the public, boat rides and rafting, waterfalls, and of course castles and forts,. Chocolate and cheese factories a plus, and maybe a winery or two for the adults.

From what I've read Siena and Lucca are two cities worth a visit. But we really like rural countryside and villages more than big towns and cities so don't think we would want to stay there.
Anyone have suggestions for a good agriturismo or town or village I can start searching in?
Our budget is $150-200 a night.

Thanks!

Posted by
8371 posts

We spent a long weekend in Florence across from the train station and then picked a rental car up and moved to an agriturismo between Certaldo and San Gimignano--perfect location.
We too did most of our cooking, and found two huge supermarkets in Poggibonsi and one small grocery in Certaldo.
Virtually every farm in the region has rooms and apartments as a secondary source of income. You can find them on Booking.com and Agriturismo.com.

Another way to find such places is to go onto GoogleMaps.com and find an area you'd like to stay in. Then hit the "+" 3-4 times to magnify the map. Little icons will pop up with a bed on it indicating Hotel/B&B accommodations. You can click on the icons to get to their direct websites.
With all the activities you want to do, you better allow 4-5 days--saving 2 days for Florence alone.
Don't forget to book a place with air conditioning as the Summers in Tuscany are very hot.

Posted by
4105 posts

We really love this agriturismo.

http://www.collelungo.com/en/collelung.

Location is great for drives, all under an hour, to...
Greve, Panzano, Radda, Siena, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, Montalciano And Florence.

Coastal areas would be a longer drive. 1 1/2-2 hours.

Rome2rio.com will give you estimated travel times with a quick click on the map icon you'll also see a route. But use via Michelin for detail.

Posted by
65 posts

Thanks. I don't think we will do doing too much wine touring since we have the kids and that won't exactly appeal to them!

Posted by
907 posts

Ideas with kids.
Swim, either a pool or the beach, Viareggio beaches are nice
Go to the Monster Park near Bolzano and scare the kids
Visit your own private Roman ruins at Carsulae near Terni in Umbria
Make your own pizza, kids make theirs, buy dough at the Coop or Pam supermerato
Spend time at gladiator school in Rome

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