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Agriturismo recommendations?

BEERMAN

100+ Posts
Looking to spend a few nights around Val d'Orcia in April, we are currently searching for a place that serves meals, but we're flexible. We are also considering apartments in one of the nearby towns for dining options. We will have a car and understand the parking limitations in some towns. And yes, this April, just 6 weeks away....we just can't break our habit of last minute itineraries ;-)
 
Can't help with agritursimo ;-(

I'm sure I've posted this before, but I'm old and forget easily, so will pretend it's new. In regards to last minute planning, many years ago, I was enrolled in a management training course that was centered around the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator and we all took the test prior to arrival at the two week session. On Day One, the instructor walked in and with no introduction called me and one other participant forward. She asked me to tell the class how I had planned my last vacation. I explained starting to plan about 9 months in advance, doing rankings of potential destinations, prioritizing activities, doing time and mileage charts, color coding and cross-referencing lists, etc.. She then asked the other person and his response was, "Me and my wife had two weeks, so we drove east" and the two of us were the immediate case study for the opening session of the class.

For the record, I still do most of this, but my wife is not hesitant when we arrive to say, "Let's do this instead". We've been traveling together for 38 years and have survived so far doing it this way -- sometimes barely, but we keep going ;-)
 
No specifics, as whilst we've stayed in the area, we stayed inside towns/cities, or in the case of Siena, a decent but somewhat characterless 'resort' apartments about 2km outside the city.

On the whole we've found agriturismo.it to be good / accurate, and there will be plenty of options listed. Another that has far fewer listings, but what it does have is typically very characterful - Alasdair Sawday / Special places to stay.

Other thoughts:
- April not too bad for daylight, but we tend to avoid driving in the dark, so might seek an agriturismo that has an apartment, or at least somewhere where we can store & prepare some food. In this way we might have the big meal of the day out and about, followed by a late afternoon passeggiata, returning to the accomodation before dark, and grazing on some light cold food in the evening. If it's a night the agriturismo is doing food, that might get reversed, eating light at lunch.

- Driving into anywhere remotely large can be stressful, especially with the threat of ZTL fines, so I'll typically prepare a route to the intended car park the night before (with a back-up as well). It just gives that little bit of confidence / awareness of the roads.

- Siena disappointed us, but perhaps my expectations were too high. Montepulciano was good, and feels like a day trip where you'd see enough to make it feel worthwhile. IIRC car parking near the bus station is good (and gives you the shallower walk into Montepulciano), but maybe also worth parking at San Biagio and walking up. That sharper incline will be decent exercise and it's a nice way to emerge into the town. La Grotta restaurant (opposite the San Biagio sanctuary) impressed us.

- Colle val d'Elsa was a good little day trip for us (also taking in our traditional visit to a nearby Decathlon sports superstore). It felt less touristy than Siena for sure. As a centre for glass production, maybe that might appeal as well?

So all a bit general I'm afraid.
 
My wife and I usually have similar interests regarding vacations, but the process we use to finalize a plan are Venus and Mars . Just yesterday we decided on a basic 14 day itinerary, but the middle of the trip is simply labeled “coastal” and we have only reserved one lodging….no worries we have 5 more weeks . Alpinista like you I do map out distance and time, a great habit from sailing! We are attempting to keep travel days in the 2 hour range.

Back to original topic, we are still looking for lodging ideas in Val d’ Orcia area, fortunately April availabilities are many, so we aren’t sweating things….yet!
 
No specifics, as whilst we've stayed in the area, we stayed inside towns/cities, or in the case of Siena, a decent but somewhat characterless 'resort' apartments about 2km outside the city.

On the whole we've found agriturismo.it to be good / accurate, and there will be plenty of options listed. Another that has far fewer listings, but what it does have is typically very characterful - Alasdair Sawday / Special places to stay.

Other thoughts:
- April not too bad for daylight, but we tend to avoid driving in the dark, so might seek an agriturismo that has an apartment, or at least somewhere where we can store & prepare some food. In this way we might have the big meal of the day out and about, followed by a late afternoon passeggiata, returning to the accomodation before dark, and grazing on some light cold food in the evening. If it's a night the agriturismo is doing food, that might get reversed, eating light at lunch.

- Driving into anywhere remotely large can be stressful, especially with the threat of ZTL fines, so I'll typically prepare a route to the intended car park the night before (with a back-up as well). It just gives that little bit of confidence / awareness of the roads.

- Siena disappointed us, but perhaps my expectations were too high. Montepulciano was good, and feels like a day trip where you'd see enough to make it feel worthwhile. IIRC car parking near the bus station is good (and gives you the shallower walk into Montepulciano), but maybe also worth parking at San Biagio and walking up. That sharper incline will be decent exercise and it's a nice way to emerge into the town. La Grotta restaurant (opposite the San Biagio sanctuary) impressed us.

- Colle val d'Elsa was a good little day trip for us (also taking in our traditional visit to a nearby Decathlon sports superstore). It felt less touristy than Siena for sure. As a centre for glass production, maybe that might appeal as well?

So all a bit general I'm afraid.
Good info, we have been to this region once, and did drive from Siena to Greve at night, but I prefer daylight! We will require a kitchen, especially if the lodging is remote.
 
If you want to treat yourselves to a spa day, we've stayed at the Albergo Le Terme in Bagno Vignoni and enjoyed it -- small, but a great restaurant. We're going to the nearby Castello di Velona for our spa stop in June and anxious to see how it works out.

Assume you are planning on a visit to La Foce while in Val d'Orcia?
 
If you want to treat yourselves to a spa day, we've stayed at the Albergo Le Terme in Bagno Vignoni and enjoyed it -- small, but a great restaurant. We're going to the nearby Castello di Velona for our spa stop in June and anxious to see how it works out.

Assume you are planning on a visit to La Foce while in Val d'Orcia?
I was not familiar with La Foce, nice property! Just saw pics, will need to read up on this.

As far as spas, my wife wants to try a natural thermal such as San Filippo. Need to research thermal options as well. We did this off the beaten path in Iceland and she loved it.
 
Can't help you with a recommendation, but you have many options. The easiest way to start the search is to zoom in on the general area of Val d'Orcia in Google Maps, and to write "agriturismi" in the search bar. Then you can add filters. Try and learn about each place directly through their own website (usually published in Maps), and not only by way of a third-party website (like Booking.com, for example).

Here are more resources :
agriturismo.it
agriturismo.net
agriturismo.com
agriturismo.org
agriturismievacanze.it
turismoverde.it
bio.tuttogreen.it/bio/elenco/agriturismi/ (organic farms)
www.sawdays.co.uk/italy/
www.secretplaces.com/italy/piedmont/hotels#destinations-menu
www.charminly.com/region/

Good luck with the research and the trip.
 
Don't forget Montalcino and Pienza. Lots of agriturismos around those areas. We stayed in an apartment in Montalcino for a week and did day trips from there
 
Don't forget Montalcino and Pienza. Lots of agriturismos around those areas. We stayed in an apartment in Montalcino for a week and did day trips from there
We are searching these as well, Monticchiello looks cool. My wife has many places saved for us to try to choose one tonight!
 
Sant’Antonio is an historic estate with about 14 apartments (I think) near Montepulciano. They have a dinner once a week.


Have a look through the Italy Vacation Rentals Reviews forum. There will be suggestions in that area.

You shouldn’t have problems parking in April. We’ve been there several times in busier months and never had a problem with parking.
 
We are searching these as well, Monticchiello looks cool. My wife has many places saved for us to try to choose one tonight!
We had a Lovely lunch at la porta in monticchiello about 5 years ago. I believe they also have a B&b of some sort. Friends of mine stayed there and loved it. With looking into. Love that teeny town!
 
Thanks for your suggestions! Hard to choose one from all of the beautiful locations, but we chose an apartment in the heart of Pienza. My wife, daughter and I made a quick stop in Pienza about 6 years ago and said we needed to come back, so we are! Agriturismo options were great, but nothing really jumped out at us? I think if we were going in a warmer month we would have chosen one with a beautiful pool area, so many incredible options. Looking forward to this part of the adventure!
 
Perfect choice! We’ve stayed at a hotel right outside the walls but could have made a better choice. Just love that whole area.
 
Staying inside a city certainly opens up the eating out options (and also the grazing the various food shops for picnics at home / in the apartment).

Although we've never done it, you don't have to stay in an agriturismo, to book in for their meals, so that does remain an option if there's a good one nearby. Sunday lunch can be ideal and very convivial.
 
Yes, no bad choices! With that hard decision complete. on to the next region, Liguria! We'll have 4 nights somewhere, but keeping driving distances reasonable we are considering 2 nights in 2 coastal towns instead of one central homebase? Liguria stretches a long way, so I suggested to my wife to focus on towns between Lerici and Finale Ligure for 2 stays. It would be so easy to return to Santa Margherita Ligure for a 4 night homebase (4 hour drive)... but that seems less than creative on our part? A parking space is required with the car, but we are finding several options in many popular towns. The goal in Liguria is to park the car and use the train and feet for day trips.
 
If you decide on something in the SML area, we are partial to Rapallo for our annual trips to the Montallegro festival (July). Offers the same access to water ferry, etc., as SML, and with nice selection of restaurants. We usually hike the Passiggiata dei Baci from Rapallo to Portofino and then take the taxi back.

We've also enjoyed Portovenere for it's semi-Cinque Terre feel and access. We've always done Portovenere as day trips, so not able to help with parking.

Am assuming Sanremo is too far out of your driving zone for this trip?
 

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