Where to stay & Itinerary with kids (Florence)

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sid2121

New member
Hello! We are planning a 1 week visit to Florence. We want to stay in the countryside, but also have access to Florence City. We are 6 adults & 4 kids, so the place we stay needs to be kid friendly, with a pool & someone who can cook some excellent Italian meals for us when needed!

What we need to know is two things:
1. Where to stay (region / area) - from looking at this forum, it seems the Chianti region seems like a good choice. It's our first time in Tuscany.
2. Is there anyone who can create an itinerary for us? We want to go truffle hunting, wine tasting, go into town and see the sights, eat delicious food (we are from the restaurant industry, so want to try the best from home cooked meals to great restaurants).

Because we have 4 kids, we can not spend long days away from our farmhouse / villa / argriturismo, and some of the excursions may be short. Any advice would be great, we are scheduled to visit in end June.

Thank you!
 
Ciao and welcome to our forum! I hope I can offer the help you need, help you sort out what you can do and where to head out to.

First of all, the big question in deciding a place and itinerary: do you fell like driving or do you want a driver? Obviously, the car with chauffeur costs much more but if you'd also like to go wine tasting and have the liberty of drinking, then the driver is a great idea. But you can also do that with a guided tour you can book for a day and not drive that day, but want the convenience of your own car the rest of the days.

Are you arriving into Florence? You can rent straight from the car rental companies near the airport.

Yes, definitely Chianti is very central and a good location for basing yourself... but the choice of where exactly and which one depends a lot on whether you are willing to drive for the week and rent the car (or two cars or minivan in your case to accommodate your family). Let me know and I'll think of some possibilities for you to consider.
 
Thanks Lourdes.

Honestly, don't really feel like driving. I was also told that if we drive into town, the parking etc can also be a little tricky. And yes, we want to do some great wine tasting.

We are arriving in Venice, then heading to Bologna, and then to Florence. Post that Rome & possibly Sicily.

I will tell you what would be ideal - to spend 3 days in Florence city, walk around, see the sights, and then spend 4 days in the countryside just doing some wine tasting, truffle hunting, and taking day trips to places like Pisa. I did notice on some of the farmhouses, that the price of the villa for 4 days & 7 days was the same (guessing minimum duration is 7 days for some).

If you can find a way for us to get around this, and split our stay between the city & the countryside, that would be amazing. Thank you!
 
Lourdes said:
Ciao and welcome to our forum! I hope I can offer the help you need, help you sort out what you can do and where to head out to.

First of all, the big question in deciding a place and itinerary: do you fell like driving or do you want a driver? Obviously, the car with chauffeur costs much more but if you'd also like to go wine tasting and have the liberty of drinking, then the driver is a great idea. But you can also do that with a guided tour you can book for a day and not drive that day, but want the convenience of your own car the rest of the days.

Are you arriving into Florence? You can rent straight from the car rental companies near the airport.

Yes, definitely Chianti is very central and a good location for basing yourself... but the choice of where exactly and which one depends a lot on whether you are willing to drive for the week and rent the car (or two cars or minivan in your case to accommodate your family). Let me know and I'll think of some possibilities for you to consider.
Click to expand...
Look forward to hearing from you.
 
Ciao again!

I didn't disappear, I have been thinking of what to propose since you have told me you don't want to drive and therefore plan to use public transportation. At the same time, you don't want to stay in Florence but outside in the countryside. And that place needs a pool.

You can most definitely do without the car, using trains to move from Venice to Bologna and Florence and Rome. Getting to Sicily... I'd recommend a flight or ferry ride. Trains take too long.

Definitely a few days in Florence would make it ideal for seeing the city and sights. I'd recommend doing day trips from Florence during those days - including Pisa and Lucca. Other day trips from Florence: Siena, San Gimignano, maybe join a wine tasting tour. Some of these can be arranged directly by your accommodation, you need to ask when you book!

For places outside Florence, you generally need to look for places that rent by the day and not the week. So that limits some places that do require the longer stays.

You can divide up into two places or also consider getting a place just outside Florence for the entire week. Seeing as you're planning for the end of June, definitely need to get moving as to asking for availability because some places might have space left just for some days that you require and not your whole stay. So based on that you can decide whether to divide up the week.

Here's some recommendations that came to mind that rent by less than a week and are close enough to be reached with public transport and can work for the entire week, if need be:

Poggio al Sole - its a very small B&B in Fiesole, you can reach it by train and a short walk uphill.
They have an independent apartment for up to 7 guests, and rooms in the main farmhouse so you could do the apartment and a room to cover everyone or just book the rooms, whatever is available. They have a pool and the access to Florence makes it easy for you to plan day trips from Florence to other parts of Chianti and Tuscany. https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-farmhouses/poggio-al-sole.html

La Paggeria - also in the same general direction as the one above, it is a B&B just a few meters away from the bus stop that leads back into Florence. So makes it a bit more convenient as not much walking is involved in getting there. It has a pool and great views, same applies - easy to get into Florence for day trips so could be a solution for your entire stay. Check our reviews on:
https://www.tuscanyaccommodation.com/la-paggeria.html and https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-bed-and-breakfasts/la-paggeria.html

Villa Medicea di Liliano - close enough to Florence that you can still reach with public transport. Getting there and away might require a taxi, at least for the last bit, otherwise so you have to push luggage up the last kilometer uphill. It has pool, apartments and views! https://www.discovertuscany.com/tuscany-accommodation/villa-medicea-di-lilliano.html

If I think of others, I will post again!
 
Thank you Lourdes! You chose some great options, but sadly none are available. I really liked options 1 & 3, but they both seemed mostly booked. If you can think of any others, would really appreciate it. And does your team provide any itineraries? For example, if we are there for a week, can they suggest & plan city visits, sights, wine tasting, taxi services, etc? You guys have such super knowledge, this would be a great add on service that you can charge for!
 
Oh I'm sorry your dates are already filled. Let's see... I would also recommend you look into Fattoria di Maiano: https://www.florenceaccommodation.com/fattoria-di-maiano.html as well as Agriturismo La Tinaia: https://www.florenceaccommodation.com/agriturismo-la-tinaia.html
They will all recommend having your own car but you can reach both with taxi.
Also look at Marignolle: https://www.florenceaccommodation.com/marignolle-relais-and-charme.html which can be reached by bus
and Olmofiorito: https://www.florenceaccommodation.com/olmofiorito-agriturismo.html who actually will look into arranging private driver to them so that you don't have to take public transport (bus gets you close but not close enough).

As for the other services, we have considered them and we might do them in the future... but, for the moment, I offer recommendations and you do decide and do the bookings ;-)
 
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