Tuscany Archives - Xtra Traveller Magazine

Explore Grosseto in southern Tuscany

xtratraveller — Sun, 19 May 2019 10:40:36 +0000

The Province of Grosseto lies in southern Tuscany and reaches from the slopes of the Colline Metallifere (Metalliferous Hills) to the border with Lazio, comprising the multifarious landscapes of the Maremma.
The coastline between the Gulf of Follonica and the mouth of the Chiarone River offers sceneries of singular beauty dominated by pine forests and crystal-clear waters. It is home to famous resorts such as Marina di Grosseto, Principina a Mare, Castiglione della Pescaia, Punta Ala and Punta Talamone.

Tourist destinations of international renown include Porto Santo Stefano and Porto Ercole, the two pearls of Monte Argentario – the green promontory stretching out to the sea and surrounded by a high and rocky coastline. It is connected to the mainland by the long sandy beaches of Giannella and Feniglia, nicknamed “the necks”. Pristine landscapes and magnificent views are the characterizing features of the Islands of Giglio, Giannutri and Formiche di Grosseto, favorite diving spots thanks to the population of colorful seabed flora.
The hinterland is also rich in possibilities. In the Monterondo Marittimo area of the wild Colline Metallifere, the Biancane Natural Park is just waiting to be discovered. An area noted for the emission of hot, white steam from the depths of the earth, it boasts extraordinary landscapes and a surreal atmosphere.
Another typical environment here is Maremma Grossetana, where the wide plains of Ombrone, Fiora and Albegna intersperse with hills.

The Maremma is the land of the buttero (the typical local cowboy), of authentic local products, of rural traditions handed down over the centuries, and of pure, wild nature.
Numerous protected zones thrive in this area, including the Parco Naturale della Maremma e Monti dell’Uccellina; the Natural Reserve of the Lagoon of Orbetello, an immense mirror of water that welcomes many species of birds every season; and Burano Lake, a magnificent coastal saltwater lake and WWF Oasis.

In the southeastern corner of the Province, the so-called “Tufo area” is characterized by erosive phenomena, beautiful villages and very important Etruscan necropolises.
Apart from its natural beauty and the variety of its environments, the Province of Grosseto is home to considerable artistic heritage, art settlements, small and fascinating centers impressed by the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and archaeological sites that conserve Roman and Etruscan finds.
A rich gastronomic tradition and the excellent local wines add an extra touch of magic to this fascinating land.

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Azienda Agrituristica Abbacca-là (Tuscany, Italy)

xtratraveller — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 13:19:34 +0000

Azienda Agrituristica Abbacca-là is a small organic farm in Tuscany and sits on a hill along Lucca’s beautiful northern countryside in the hamlet of Aquilea, with stunning views over the Valdottavo valley, the high peaks of the Apennines, and the National park in the distance. This is the ideal place to spend your holidays in relax.

We met with Mrs Lella owner of this fantastic accommodation..

Mrs Lella , can You tell us something about the start of your accommodation ? When did you start ? Did You had any previous experiences in hospitality business ?

We bought the farmhouse about 30 years ago when our first son was just a baby of 6 monthes old The farmhouse was really badly conserved, anyhow the location and the view was so beautiful that we understood immediately that it worthed the big work that was necessary for restoring it. We wanted to renovate the farmhouse and live here with our familym at the same time the building was so large that we could also dream to be able to rent a part of it .

At first we renovated a part of the farmhouse where our family moved in 1994, in the meanwhile we had had our second little boy…. and later in 2003 we started to restore all the rest of the building so we were ready to welcome our guests on 2005

Where are your guests coming from ?

Our guests are from different parts of the world : from different countries in Europe especially North Europe, from USA , from Australia, New Zealand, from Italy too

What type of guests do you attract ?

We attract mostly families and groups of friends of every age. Even travellers travelling alone often stay at our farmhouse because they feel to be a part of our family.

How many rooms do you offer ?

We have 3 units : one is a large apartment with 2 double bedrooms + 2 Studios that sleeps 2 people each The large apartment can be adjoined to one Studio so we can have a very large apartment with 3 double bedrooms + 2 bathrooms. The other Studio is separate but just next door. Often we have large families or group of friends that rent the full property, we offer a discount on rentall of full property.

What is unique about your hotel’s location? Why would people choose to stay in your neighborhood? What authentic local experiences will guests have access to?

The view from the farmhouse is really gorgeous, we are in front of National Park of Apuane Alps, it is a very peaceful place even if we are so close to Lucca city centre. It takes only 20 minutes to drive to Lucca. The neighborhood is very nice and there is the possibility to visit famous towns like Lucca, Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre during easy daily trip as well as less famous but not less beautiful places like, Ville Lucchesi ( only 4 km far away), Barga, Castelnuovo, Garfagnana….. Staying at our farmhouse our guests can enjoy their privacy, in fact the 3 units entrances are on a facade and our family entrance is on an other facade , knowing that if they need something we are available. Further they can help or partecipate to our job outside ( olive harvest for example) or they can partecipate to the cooking class where I personally teach my guests how to cook a authentic Italian meal Mostly we prepare together home made pasta or home made gnocchi or pizza and focaccia or….what they’d like to cook…chicken “alla cacciatora” with tomatoes and olives…or tiramisù or semifreddo ….

When is the best time to visit your area?

Any season is beautiful even if in a different way ….in summer when is hot you can also enjoy our pool and whirlpool , in spring and autumn it’s possible to enjoy whirpool too, in winter is the best peiod for enjoying cities without crowd, enjoying the winter food that is delicious !
At any season my guests can enjoy my cooking classes.

Do You offer arrangements to your guests to visit the area ?

If our guests don’t like to drive or don’t feel to drive we are available to be their driver-guide to travel around Tuscany. We are very flexible so we can make personal arrangements: often with groups of friends and mostly with group of ladies I drive a van for them and I can let them visit places that is difficult to find if you are not living here We always have fun together.

Any funny stories about running this accommodation ?

If The first year I rented my apartments we had a nice family from England staying here, by chance they were from a little town where I had lived for a while when I was a teenager studying English…many year ago….When I was there I was living with a family, we had been in contact for a quite long time, then I had lost thair traces….the family that came here unbelievably, knew this family very well, so I could contact them again ! The world sometime looks really so little…..

Is there any typical meal guests should try when visiting your region ?

We have many different local vegetable depending on the season you are here….in summer I suggest to try long green beans, we call them ” stringhe”that are usually cooked with garlic and tomatoes, in winter what we call ” black cabbage “… and many kind of meat, why not the wild boar ?

Are You planning new services or activities in the next months or years to come?

I have my cooking classes about twice a week

What is your favourite part of your job / activity?

It is nice to meet new people, most of my guests are really very nice and interesting people. People coming here know exactly what they are going to have :a real authentic Tuscan place, beautiful, peaceful, warmly welcome with all conforts but not luxury, probably that’s why we don’t have disappointed people. Really very often people arrive as guests and leave as friends and we keep in contact after their departure.

Have new technologies affected how guests can interact with you?

Internet helps a lot, we usually have many emails from our guests, can arrange easily everything beforeour guests arrival , we know their needs in advance

Is it possible to use public transport to come to your accommodation?

Public transport is quite difficult that is why we usually say the car is necessary and that is why we are available to drive for our guests. Some times we had guests staying here without a car and withour our driving service, so it is possible but it is necessary to know that is not so easy.

Contact details :

Azienda Agrituristica Abbacca-là
di Donatella Sechi
Via di Carpineta, 2061 – 55100 Aquilea, Lucca (LU)
Toscana
Italia

www.abbaccala.it
info@abbaccala.it

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Il Cardo Resort in Anghiari (Tuscany)

xtratraveller — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 10:52:03 +0000

Fruit of a beautiful renovation around an old windmill, Il Cardo Resort is situated between Tuscany and Umbria, on the green hills of Valtiberina, a stone’s throw from the splendid medieval village of Anghiari.

The place will seduce lovers of beautiful stones, bright skies and nature. It also offers an ideal starting point to radiate towards the main symbolic cities of the Italian Renaissance. The rooms, suites and apartments have been carefully designed to make a stay as pleasant as possible and even make every guest want to come back.

We sat together with Dania and Pierre, owners of this beautiful resort.

Can You tell us something about the start of your accommodation ? When did you start ?

Dania and I took over in September 2016 from Dania’s mother, who had run the business for 12 years and done the entire restoration of the property.
We came from Brussels, Belgium, to this enchanting region with no previous experience in hospitality business to start a new life after 20 years of professional life in European spheres. To say that this was a challenge is an understatement!

Where are your guests coming from ?

During the year, our guests mainly come from Italy. However, during holidays, especially in the spring and summer, we have many guests from all over Europe, US and Japan.

What type of guests do you attract ?

During the year, we mainly attract couples, who come to relax end enjoy the calm of the place. During the summer, we have many also families and small groups of friends

How many rooms do you offer ?

We have 6 rooms and some apartments.

What is unique about your hotel’s location? Why would people choose to stay in your neighbourhood? What authentic local experiences will guests have access to?

Our B&B is a 15th century stone house, surrounded by sunflowers fields and oaks, located in Anghiari, a splendid medieval town of the Upper Tiber Valley, between Umbria and Tuscany.
We offer spacious bedrooms decorated with nature inspired lively colours, private bathrooms, swimming pool, terrace, BBQ areas and garden with views on the hills.
Our place will delight nature lovers. We are located in a very peculiar area, where at night there is no other light and sound than the moon and stars shine and owls cries. Skylight is also very special, providing the ingredients for truly memorable sunrises and sunsets.

When is the best time to visit your area?

There is no best time to visit the area since nature here is always beautiful and the medieval villages around offer picturesque views and unique art experience. Each season charm the visitors. Winter with the Christmas atmosphere, antique markets and the tradition of nativities. Fall with the forest turning orange and red, truffle hunting, wine tasting and chestnuts picking. Spring with the delight of wild flowers, hiking, biking and horse riding. Summer with sunflowers and lavender, fly fishing and canyoning, sun bathing around the swimming pool and dining outdoor.

Do You offer arrangements to your guests to visit the area ?

We have all sort of information available for our guests and can arrange guided tours and sport activities on request.

Any funny stories about running this accommodation ?

Not really a funny story but to illustrate how much in the nature we are, we see almost every morning or evening dears in the fields facing the property and even had the emotion of seeing a family of wolves last winter.

Is there any typical meal guests should try when visiting your region ?

We cook for our guests on request and for those who like game meat, cinghiale in umido (stewed wild boar) is the speciality of the house served with local wine. Otherwise, our cuisine reflects both local ingredients and our multicultural background.

Are You planning new services or activities in the next months or years to come?

Art workshops, a blind contour-less drawing stage of a week four time a year. A week dedicated to drawing and learning about Italian art

What’s your favourite holiday destination ?

We have a little chalet in the French alps and love to go there whenever we have time to relax and refill our batteries.

What is your favourite part of your job / activity?

Picking fruits and doing marmelades in the summer. Home-made marmelades that we then serve to our guests at breakfast all year round.

Is it possible to use public transport to come to your accommodation?

The nearest airport is Perugia, running flights from and to Paris, Brussels and London during the summer season. Otherwise, Bologna, Rome, Firenze and Pisa are the closest airports. The nearest train station is at Arezzo with buses ensuring the connection with Anghiari. We also provide a transfer service on request.

Thanks, Dania and Pierre for your hospitality …

More information ? Click below

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Agriturismo Rendola Riding (Tuscany, Italy)

xtratraveller — Wed, 19 Sep 2018 07:27:43 +0000

A Tuscan paradise where you can ride, cycle, walk, sightsee or simply relax with a glass of Chianti wine…. We had a chat with Mrs Jenny Bawtree, welcoming us in her amazing accommodation..

Can you tell us something about the start of your accommodation ? When did you start ? Did You had any previous experiences in hospitality business ?

My name is Jenny Bawtree, though most people call me simply ‘Jenny’ as they find my surname diffficult both to spell and pronounce! Having obtained a degree in foreign languages at Oxford University I came to live in Florence, Italy in the sixties to teach English. However after a few years I decided that I wanted to live in the Tuscan countryside. I went to live in the Chianti hills and founded Rendola Riding, a riding-centre with a difference: not a snobby establishment as others at that time were, but one in which people from all walks of life would feel welcome, as long as they loved horses and the countryside as much as I did.

At first we did not intend to have people to stay but soon we had many requests and founded one of the first ‘agriturismi’ in Italy, a farm where people could come and enjoy a holiday, whether or not they were riders.

Fifty years later Rendola Riding, while remaining a small concern, is much loved by guests (Jenny calls them guests, not clients) from all over the world.

Are your guests mostly European? Mostly Italian? What kind of guests do you attract?

At first we had mainly Italian guests, later our riding holidays attracted mainly riders from the British Isles and North America. More recently we have had guests from other parts of Europe, especially Holland, Germany and Scandinavia.They are generally people who love the quiet of the countryside, whether they like walking, riding or simply sitting in the garden with a book and a glass of Chianti wine…

Our guests stay in a small farmhouse, home to Jenny and her son Nicholas, editor of an ecological magazine. At their disposal there are six bedrooms, most of them rather small, but cheerful and pretty with traditional furniture and private bathrooms. There is a comfortable sitting room with a log fire lit in the winter and a dining room where guests can sit together at a long table with plenty of merriment as well as good food and wine. No problem if you are single, as here you will feel cherished and will make new friends- or stay by yourself if you prefer.

Rendola is not for people looking for elegance. Hens peck around the house, horses wander in the olive groves around the house, our labrador Miranda greets you on your arrival and you may find Catkin, one of the cats, curled up on an armchair. The house is after all a family home, with books spilling out of the shelves and a chess game in progress on the sitting room table. But this is why our guests feel at home here and often come back again and again.

What is unique about your location? Why would people choose to stay there? What authentic local experiences will guests have access to?

Many of Rendola’s guests come here to ride, as the farmhouse is surrounded by the typical vineyards, olive groves and woodland of the Tuscan countryside. For those, however, who prefer to walk there are also waymarked trails in every direction. Not all our guests are keen on physical activity and are more interested in Italian art and architecture: as Rendola Riding is in the centre of ‘the golden triangle’ formed by Florence, Siena and Arezzo, it is an ideal place for those who want to visit these art-cities but prefer to return to the peace of the countryside in the evenings.

It is also next to the famous Chianti Classico region, famous for its beautiful landscape and opportunities for wine-tasting. There are also lesser-known attractions, such as the Casentino valley rich in historical buildings and natural beauty, the rose-gardens of Cavriglia (the largest in Europe), the fossil museum of Montevarchi and the Romanesque church of Gropina with its animal carvings and ninth-century pulpit.

What is the best time to visit your area?

Certainly spring and autumn, that is to say from March to June and then from September to November. Jenny’s favourite months, however, are May and October.

Do you offer arrangements for your guests to visit the area?

I am not an art historian, but I am passionately interested in medieval and early Renaissance art. It brings me happiness to lend my guests guidebooks of the area and also to act ide if requested. Most guests bring their own cars but there is an efficient train service to most art-cities. (Rendola can offer transfers in a minivan to the local station at Montevarchi, only ten minutes away.)

Are there any typical meals guests should try when visiting your region?

Well, quite a lot of them are served at Rendola! However they should avoid sophisticated cuisine, as typical Tuscan cooking is based on simple but high-quality ingredients, such as extra-virgin olive oil, Tuscan bread, Chianti wine, home-grown vegetables, salamis of various kinds. Typical dishes could be: ribollita, pappa al pomodoro, arista con patate al rosmarino, panello all’uva (made using wine-grapes), risotto al Chianti – and then of course the famous but very expensive bistecca fiorentina (not to be confused with ‘bistecca alla fiorentina’, which is not made with the traditional Chianino meat).

Are you planning new services or activities in the next months or years to come?

For years me and my colleague Eraldo have organized weeklong riding programmes with specific dates which in part can be enjoyed by non-riders: one traditional programme, ‘Discover Tuscany’, combines riding with guided visits of cultural interest. This year we offered also ‘Inside Tuscany’ which combines riding with gastronomy!
Next spring we are starting a new programme with art-lovers in mind, ‘Tuscany and Fresco-hunting’, which includes guided visits to the most famous frescoes in Tuscany. These programmes are my favourite activities as I enjoy giving my guests a good time while also teaching them something about the Tuscan culture is something I am passionate about.

Are there any trends you see emerging in travel industry ? Something which was unexisting or less important before ?

When people come to Italy for the first time it is natural that they should go to see Venice, Florence, Rome, often spending not more than two days in each place. It’s when they come back to Italy, if they can, that they want to see smaller places and they want to avoid the great crowds that to some extent spoil their first experience of our country. They begin to realize tht they will never be able to see ALL, so they should try to see just some of it BETTER. This is where a place like Rendola has a role: myself and my colleagues want people to see BETTER. I thin that there is definitely a trend leading towards that goal.

Have new technologies affected how guests can interact with you?

To tell the truth, I haven’t a great fondness for internet, and i am highly allergic to Facebook, Tweets and Instagram, a reaction which is instinctive but probably unwise from the business point of view. This may be a generational problem as I rather regret the old times – only fifty years ago – when people used to book by telephone. When I got a Fax machine she thought I was being madly modern… However, that said, although word of mouth is our best propaganda a lot of people make their first approach to Rendola through Internet and we keep in contact through emails with clients who over the years have become friends.

Thanks for your time Jenny !

Homepage : www.rendolariding.com
E-mail : rendolariding@gmail.com
Phone : (+39) 055 9707045

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