Looking for a b&b style farmstay experience in southern tuscany. Would like to feel like "one of the family" so to speak, with family-style sit-down dinners at night. Would also like to take some cooking lessons. I am hoping for great scenery and not toooo rustic accomodations. Am I asking for too much?
I've read millions of reviews (here and elsewhere) and the only one that seems to fit the bill is Malvarina, but that's in Umbria. I'd like to find one similar in southern Tuscany.
Price - up to 150USD per night. \
Can anyone help?
[This message was edited by dcbh on 16 January 2004 at 01:24 PM.]
No specific agriturismo or B&B from me, but I can help clear away some of the brush.
$150 a nite would be outrageous or get you accommodations that were not merely not too rustic, but positively palatial. The (admittedly few) agriturismi I've stayed in cost me less than a quarter of that, including a meal; the only one a for which I have a specific record of my costs, beautiful scenery, good if simple meal, although including a full bottle of Montefalco, Arnaldo Caprai, was $35. In Umbria, mind you.
Beautiful scenery, unless you really louse things up, almost anywhere: throw a dart at the area of Tuscany you mentioned, you cannot find ugly. Just make sure you have a window, of course.
The minute you mention "cooking lessons", however, you're setting yourself up for big-time expense; very useful if you have a thorough grounding in cooking techniques, otherwise I wonder.
Thanks, Bill. I appreciate your opinion as you seem to be a great resource on this board.
About the cooking lessons -- a few of the farms I've emailed have offered to give "informal" cooking lessons -- I thought maybe these wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. In addition, I'm not really interested in an organized cooking class but something more relaxed. Perhaps that will be expensive too...I need to do more research in that area. Anyone out there done this sort of thing?
Anyone else have suggestions for a b&b in southern tuscany that will offer family style meals and a more of a b&b type experience rather than self catering?
Ia m sure that it will be easy to find an agritourism. lots of them like to do meals and even let you help prepare or watch in the simple ones.. or give classes in the more organzid ones. I will see what I can find. what are some of the farms you have found?
If you click on THIS link to the Venere site, you can search for B&B's and farmstay accommodations in the Siena/Chianti area. (Or any other part of Tuscany you choose.)
We stayed at this b & b in September 2003 and had a great time. Podere San Lorenzo in Volterra. They offer cooking classes both here and at their sister property, Fagiolari, in Panzano. We had a delicious informal 4 course dinner on our first night. This website is www.fagiolari.it
Wow! I'm amazed at your generous an helpful answers. I really appreciate it.
I should clarify something -- when I said "southern tuscany", I meant the Montepulciano/Pienza/Montalcino area. A little further north would be fine.
As for the sites with for agencies and those with multiple listings (venere.com, etc.) I've looked through many of those, but was hoping to get a first hand report here. It's so easy to make it sound and look wonderful on the web...I guess I'm a little cynical.
Callie -- Fagiolari or San Lorenzo would be perfect -- if they were further south. I even have Fagiolari on my spreadsheet of possible accomodations, but have ruled it out because it's not where we want to be (logistically). But that's exactly the atmosphere I'm looking for.
Diva -- I've found the following:
Locanda La Bandita (www.locandalabandita.it) -- seems to offer what I want, but I've read it's "rustic". That worries me a bit.
La Crociona www.lacrociona.com -- Recommended by a guy on Fodors. But from what I can tell it's more self-catering...
I also found a mention of Agri. Cretaiole http://www.cretaiole.it on this site, but would like some first hand feedback on it if anyone has been there...
Le Cretaiole is very nice...simple and rustic with great views and a good location, just off the main road from Pienza to San Quirico. Isabella, the proprietor, is warm and welcoming.
The only thing missing for your requirements is that I don't think that they cook for the guests....but you might inquire.
quote:But I've been told to pick a location and THEN pick a b&b, not the other way around. [...] I think I'm making this harder than it needs to be...
Yes on both. The question is really how much you need to pinpoint that location: 100 miles? 10 miles? 1? Followed immediately by your criteria for that location in the first place.
At Panzano in Chianti, Fagiolari for example is smack dab in the most famously beautiful area of Tuscany, and equidistant from Florence and Siena, a combo many would see as ideal; is there some specific reason you have to be near Montepulciano? If so, you're quite right, it's too far. If not, i.e., if you've merely been told you want to be near Montepulciano, you should probably disregard that and cast a somewhat wider net.
Montepulciano, by the way, according to some of our big Tuscan people onboard, is a bit either overcrowded or too gussied up or something -- I remember neither the exact complaint nor who said it, but the general opinion is out there, FWIW.
How about looking at boscodellaspina.com? It's the area you want and the old farm estate looks very comfortable (not too rustic). They serve meals but no cooking class that I know of. Rusty
Posts: 43 | Location: Indian Shores, FL, USA | Registered: 22 March 2003
Rusty -- The website you posted is beautiful. Have you stayed there? Do you know what the rates are? (I've emailed them to find out.)
Bill -- I guess in the research I've done (and that's a lot), it seemed that if you had to choose just one location, most people liked southern tuscany the best. We will be staying 6 nights in tuscany. I was advised to stay in just one place. Would you advise differently? Perhaps 3 nights in Chianti, 3 in Montepulciano/Pienza area. (You should also know we'll be staying 3 mights in Venice before Tuscany, and 3 in Rome after.)
As far as distances, I was hoping to drive around 30 minutes for day trips; so the farmstay doesn't have to be exactly in Montepulciano, but just in the area.
Last year after visiting Montalcino we drove north on SS2 to visit Buonconvento which we enjoyed. Upon leaving we got a little lost on the back roads and ended up passing Bosco della Spina near Lupompesi. Drove in and hought it was very nice and classy, definitely not rustic. We got some pricing as we were thinking about going this spring, however, decided on Montefollonico instead. Don't remember prices but it was fairly expensive. I think they would give you 7 nights for the price of 6 if I remember. Good Luck. Rusty
Posts: 43 | Location: Indian Shores, FL, USA | Registered: 22 March 2003
Again, on specifics of this area of Tuscany my advice is not much good: I've merely crossed it a few times, never staying. I don't remember you saying when you're travelling (makes a difference to prices, too), but if you have a few months to play with this, poke around on the Web to see, not what other people like, but what you like, of course. If you're just looking for a beautiful area of Tuscany, you may be restricting yourself a bit too much.
I can be specific about one thing; bad, bad idea on so short a trip to divide your Tuscan stay -- wherever it is -- into two 3-day stints. That's not a gain, it's just one more move. Almost anywhere in Italy, and certainly anywhere in Tuscany, within a radius of 30 miles there will be plenty enough to keep you busy, entertained, delighted, stuffed to surfeit, or goggle-eyed (depending on your tastes) for a week, or by my lights, a month or more. Do look at Concentric Circles, a model of clear thinking, and a helpful one, too.
[This message was edited by Bill Thayer on 19 January 2004 at 10:13 AM.]
Take a look at www.cookitaly.it. Assuntina's Fontana del Papa (Pauline & Steve met them last year ) is unique since it is a family that offers cooking lessons (horses, trekking, tours,ceramics etc.) along with sit down family style dinner for foreign visitors. They are just finishing the renovation of the farmhouse and should be ready in April...It might be just the thing you are looking for.
Mary Jane Elegant Etruria: Cultural Holidays - Travel Consultancy
Bill -- thanks for the article on Concentric Circles, I hadn't come across that one yet. Thanks also for the confirmation that staying in one place on a short trip (14 days total) is better. FWIW, we're going in the beginning of Sept, so I do have time.
I see what you're saying about restricting myself...I guess I was just trying to pick an area to narrow things down. But when I look at the list of things I want to do (horseback riding, thermal spas, cooking class, eat good food, visit neat little towns, wine tasting), it can be done probably anywhere in Tuscany. I'll keep that in mind.
That said, in response to Mary Jane's post: While the facility looks great, I really don't think it's a very good location for touring tuscany. I could be wrong, but according to ViaMichelin.com, it's 2.5 hours to Pienza. I think that's even outside the 3rd concentric circle...
Thank you all for your help. I got some good ideas from this thread. I have emails out to Bosco della Spina and Le Cretaiole.
Non self-catering agritourism with cooking lessons? I keep suggesting Fonte di sopra. It is not a fancy place, but it really feels somehat like home. Giovanna is the most sociable and nice person you can find and her cooking is very good and smilar to what you can find in real homes, except for the fact that when she has several visitors staying in her rooms she will prepare two primo and two secondo. She also offers simple cooking classes, but unluckily she doesn't speak English. So I relly suggest it if you can speak some Italian. English language cooking lessons are give only in much fancier places, that are more hotel-like. Prices for half board are 50 euro per person. Radicondoli is north of the area you wera talking acbout, but very close to Siena and San Gimignano, plus some other nice place to visit.
Alice Twain -- I don’t want to take what you can’t give / I would rather starve than eat your bread I would rather run but I can’t walk / Guess I’ll lie alone just like before Pearl Jam, Corduroy
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