Tuscan Roadtrip

My personal Mille Miglia

I've just returned from a trip around many of our properties in Tuscany and Umbria; here are some of my highlights and notes - with some links to a selection of villas. I ended up driving over a thousand miles in my week's trip, hence the title! The actual "Mille Miglia" is a wonderful 1000 mile race around Italy in classic cars - you can see photos here: Mille Miglia

Valdera A very popular house for families, it has a restaurant and tiny hamlet just round the corner, within easy walking distance. The owner is adding 2 large ensuites, bringing the total beds up to 12 - I have made a bookable version available, and will keep you updated with progress photos. Valdera for 12 or Valdera for 8

Staying in Noce For the duration I stayed in Noce, a little cottage for 2 on Agriturismo Elvira. Within walking distance (the photo is the road you take to the village!) of Casole d'Elsa and with views that lift my spirit in the morning, this is a perfect base. "Da Brigante", run by Luciano and Brigante in Casole, cooked me a fantastic "Peposo" with spinach for my first evening - a spicy peppery beef stew.

Day Two I visited Bellavista, named for its amazing views. We discussed marking the walk to the village - there is a shortcut through the woods but people need a bit of help to find it. The owner makes an excellent wine and it seemed fair that I should have bottle, purely for testing purposes. There are 3 apartments in this house - Olivo, Erica, Camelia, each sleeping 4.

Day 3 - Chianti Casolare, above Chianti, is a large ex-farmhouse that can sleep 22 - or you could rent one of the 3 apartments it's divided into: Gialla, Arancio, Azzurra. Very popular with large groups, it is within easy driving distance of Greve, which is a charming Chianti town. Perfect for wine and winery visits!

Fienile Lastly, I visited Fienile, a villa for 10 close to Siena. I took some rather bad photos of the Siena bell tower through the olive trees so this photo is stock. The house has a Spa, with Sauna and Jacuzzi, which makes it a perfect spot to relax.

Day 4 - heading south Laura also had another little house to show me in Vivo d'Orcia, on the dormant volcano of Mont'Amiata, so we saved that for the next morning. The Amiata looks over the Val d'Orcia on its eastern flank and the views are spectacular. This house will also be listed soon - the photo is of the view from the windows!

Further south Then we were off again, down to Celle sul Rigo to see some further possible new properties. We saw 5 and have taken on only one of them - it's only when actually visiting houses that you can make a final judgement and these didn't make the grade.

Valdorcia Lastly, we visited Valdorcia, a villa for 8 with a private pool and beautiful views. Our Canadian agents, Neville and Jenny Reid, were running an artist's week there and it was a delight to see them.