Tuscany with a Baby

S

StephAM

Member
Hi - We have a 3-month-old baby and we are planning a last-minute trip to Italy for a wedding in Reggio Emilia on July 7th. Before that, we would like to spend 10 days exploring Tuscany. Which area would you recommend if we would like to stay in one place and have access to a pool due to the weather? We will be renting a car from Bologna airport but would love suggestions on how to do one-off days for wine tours. Our main challenge right now is deciding where to stay with the little one.

Thank you so much in advance!
 
Ciao Steph and thank you for posting your question!

I'll reassure you right away: most places will be happy to provide a cot for the baby and anything else you need. I would suggest staying at a place that has its own kitchen will likely be more convenient, for your needs in taking care of the baby.

I would personally suggest bringing both a stroller but also a baby carrier or wrap of some sort, to make moving around much easier. Most streets are bumpy because of cobblestone and just plain holes, my babies hated the bumping around until I got a stroller that handled the roads better but at that age, they loved being carried and slept a lot. It also made it easier for me and husband to continue going out and about with the sleeping baby, having free hands was definitely useful!

Since you'll have a car and are interested in wine tours, you can pretty much stay anywhere. I would suggest making a list of your "must see" places, that way you can map them out and see where it is most convenient for you to stay. Would you like to stay at a winery itself? Take a look at these: https://www.discovertuscany.com/tuscany-accommodation/vineyards/

In any case, if you stay at a place between Siena and Florence and San Gimignano, you'll be in a very central position to see all those places, including the Chianti wine region and its many hilltop towns, as well as Pisa and Lucca. You can go further away to Val d'Orcia, but with a little baby you'll have to find your base and be flexible on a day to day basis, taking it slower than you think you need to and just be adaptable to whatever you need to do to adapt to the baby's needs.

This category has more properties for the entire area of Chianti, not just vineyards/wineries: https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/chianti/
Start contacting places right away, since July is high season - if you can't find a place for the entire 10 days, you could try breaking them up into two bases and 5 days each. One closer to Florence, maybe another closer to Siena, even south of Siena, so you can spend less time driving to visit the Val d'Orcia area.
 
Thank you so much Lourdes! If we want to be able to walk to restaurants for dinner etc is there one place you recommend over others? Also do you have suggestions for booking wine tours where my husband doesn’t have to drive? I think most important is to be able to access some nice things without the car and then we can also arrange day trips with the car and potentially tours so my husband can have a drink.
 
If you want to have easy access to restaurants as well as to tours, then you need to stay in a town or right outside (so parking is easy and you then head out easily when needed).

Two that jump to mind right away are hotels, because those are in town:
- Hotel Athena in Siena - we stayed there and it has its own parking, plus easy to walk to lots of restaurants within Siena: https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/hotel-athena.html
- Relais Santa Chiara - just outside the walls in San Gimignano, just a short walk to the restaurants along the way and in the walls - https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/relais-santa-chiara.html

Staying in a town is also the easiest way to join a guided tour that includes transportation to a wine tasting in the countryside or directly in town so no driving needed - from Siena: https://tours-discovertuscany.partner.viator.com/searchResults/all?text=wine+tasting+from+siena and from SG: https://tours-discovertuscany.partn...ults/all?text=wine+tasting+from+san+gimignano
 
Hi Lourdes! Thank you for your notes.

Do you think either of these locations would work well?

www.booking.com

Il Sole di Vino by PosarelliVillas, Vinci, Italy

Il Sole di Vino by PosarelliVillas, a property with a garden, is set in Vinci, 24 km from Montecatini Train Station, 41 km from Santa Maria Novella, as...
www.booking.com www.booking.com

 
The one in Vinci is much more centrally located, the one off north of Lucca is further away from main roads and would actually make for longer drives if you wish to do day trips. How about Rocca di Cispiano - https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/la-rocca-di-cispiano.html or Romitorio di Serelle? https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/romitorio-di-serelle.html I know these are more central and likely already might not have availability for that reason but the apartment style gives you a lot of flexibility with the baby.
 
Thank you so much Lourdes! Romitorio di Serelle does have availability. Do you think this would be a better option?

We were thinking from the place north of Lucca we could also reach the coast more easily.

What would the main highlights be from Romitorio di Serelle? Is anything within walking distance?
 
One other question sorry, they don’t have AC do you think that will be okay with the baby at that time of year?
 
I highly recommend Romitorio, the staff is lovely and location is ideal. Very central and easy to get to main road between Siena and Florence.

If you want to spend time at the coast, then yes, the other one is closer. An hour drive as opposed to an hour and a half from Romitorio.

Since you have 10 days, this is what I would suggest: divide up the time and spend 5 days at 2 bases. One can be closer to the coast if not on the coast, to see Lucca and Pisa from there, as well as spend time at the beach. Then another one more inland, so you can explore Florence, Chianti and Siena, at the very least. Or draw up a list of places you want to see and then go from there.

As far as A/C goes, most places don't have it if it isn't needed. Lots of villas and farmhouses are made of thick stone walls and are very good at keeping the heat out (as long as you don't open all the windows in the middle of the day). I know most people want the comfort of having it, but for early July I don't believe it will be required... although with weather patterns changing, it is difficult nowadays to be certain of anything!
 
Thank you so much Lourdes, this is really helpful! I think we are going to go with Romitorio for the full 10 days for the ease of not moving.

Do you have any recommendations for what to do in the area?
 
No problem, I'm glad to offer suggestions and help point you in where to look :D.

As far as car rentals, not sure what you have found so far but I know ever since the pandemic hit, car rentals companies sold off their fleets and now their trying to catch up because cars in general cannot be so easily found (pandemic + war makes it hard for some pieces to be found).
I would suggest doing searches through a specialized search engine such as rentalcars.com - you can do a search here (it is our affiliate link, so if you do book through here we can a small commission, no extra cost to your rental): https://www.discovertuscany.com/tuscany-car-rental/car-hire-in-tuscany.html

As far as what to see in the area, you will be able to see/do lots! I wouldn't make a fixed schedule but a plan of places and then set out each day and see how it goes. With a small baby, you'll have to see how long you can be in a car and out and about. The baby might actually sleep a lot being out and about, it will be you who will be tired! :D

Here are some ideas - I think you'll need to decide what to skip!
- a day in Chianti, spent among the hilltop villages such as Gaiole, Radda, Castellina (that's the closest to Romitorio, with restaurants), Panzano and Greve
- a day in San Gimignano and exploring smaller towns nearby, such as Certaldo, San Donato in Poggio
- a day in Siena (stop at the Monteriggioni castle on the way back)
- a day in Volterra, with a stop at Colle Val d'Elsa on the way there or back
- a day in Arezzo - it is a delightful town, usually off the radar.... but if you want a day at the beach, maybe this is the one you can skip
- a day spent in Montepulciano and Cortona
- another day spent between Buonconvento, Montalcino, San Quirico d'Orcia and Pienza. You can actually spend two days in the area, going more slowly and add in a stop at Bagno Vignoni, there are outdoor hot springs (make sure to read this page: https://www.discovertuscany.com/valdorcia/bagno-vignoni.html
- a day in Pisa and Lucca - or another day at the beach
- a day in Florence, of course! This could easily require two days, actually. You decide. Here are some options for a day: https://www.visitflorence.com/itineraries-in-florence/florence-in-24-hours.html and in 2 days: https://www.visitflorence.com/itineraries-in-florence/two-days-in-florence.html
 
If you look through or search on the main site: https://www.discovertuscany.com/ you will find info on all of the places mentioned above! so once you decide on where, each page can give you ideas on the what to see at each place ;)
 
Thank you so much Lourdes this is all incredibly helpful and I absolutely agree about being flexible with the baby 😊 I will look through the site for sure.

Last question do we need to pre book for wineries and do you have any suggestions if we want to get a driver one day?

Thank you for everything!!!
 
You don't necessarily need to prebook for wineries but not all are open all day long, so you should try to find some in the area ahead of time and at least mark down their schedules so you don't need to do that here.

As for the driver, I would suggest asking at Romitorio - they might have someone they know locally who can drive you places. The more local you go to where you are, the cheaper they should be since they don't need to include getting to you first in their price estimate if they come from further away.
 
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