Planning a Tuscan Villa trip
 

Hi,

I am planning a trip to Tuscany for a month (mid August thru mid Sept). My hope is to rent a villa for 6-10 people for most of that time. I guess I have several questions:

(1) I am looking for referrals for places that people have enjoyed. Any would be greatly appreciated.

(2) I've read that thru the latter half of August, may shops/restaurants shut down. How much may that impact our vacation? (We are pretty firm on our date range, unfortunately).

(3) Is anyone aware of a forum (besides this one) that may focus on travel in Italy?

Thank you in advance for your response.

Daniel2218

Last summer I rented a castle in Umbria (about 15 minutes from the border of Tuscany) with a group of friends. It slept 12 and, unbelievably it was only about $500 a person per week and came with two cooks and a maid, tennis court and swimming pool. It was built by the notorious Borgia family. I did a trip report you might want to search for on the other board ... it was called something like, yes I do live in a castle.

August is not such a good thing. Everyone in Italy takes their vacation then and roads are jammed. We drove up from Amalfi the first weekend of August and traffic on the other side was stopped for at least seven miles. I read later that 70 people died in traffic accidents that weekend. Try to stick to July if you can.

I do have several websites that might be of interest. I'll post them for you tomorrow when I have a touch more time.

http://rentvillas.com/index.cfm?majo...Beds&sleepID=0

http://www.tuscany.net/

A few years ago, we rented a villa at one of the loveliest places I've ever stayed, Fattoria La Loggia. It's a working farm (they grow olives and grapes, mostly), a few minutes off the main road between Florence and Siena. We stayed in a small apartment (2-3 people), but they have larger ones as well.

Our apartment was beautifully decorated, with stone floors, and each day began with the maid bringing the breakfast basket with fresh fruits and yogurt, freshly made bread, preserves made on the farm, and a pot of coffee. The most important decision of the morning was whether to enjoy breakfast indoors or out on the patio.

August in general and the last half of August in particular is the busiest vacation time in Italy. In a tourist area such as Tuscany, most restaurants and shops would remain open, because that's their busiest time. However, it really would be a lot more pleasant to visit in September (or even October).