Getting ready to hit the road again!
1. Decide On Your Area.
This is perhaps the most important aspect of your stay. Unless you are craving serious solitude, you don't want to stay on a farm two hours away from any major destination. Do you want to be closer to the hill towns or to a city? Do you value serenity or accessibility?
For us, because my grandpa would rather not have to get in the car and drive every day, and because we wanted to stay in the countryside, we decided the perfect location would be in the hills of Tuscany, right on the edge of Florence within walking distance from a train station.
2. Decide What You Can't Live Without.
Go on, get specific. There are enough rental choices that understanding what you want makes your search easier. Below, are some questions to consider.
- Do you require AC?
- Do you need a view?
- Can your whole party climb stairs? (Note: Remember, the first floor is called the ground floor in Italy, so when they say an apartment is on the 2nd floor, they mean it is on the third.)
- Do you want a private residence?
- Do you need a pool? Do you need your own pool?
- How many bedrooms do you need?
- How many bathrooms?
- How close would you like to be to a supermarket?
- Do you need to have the internet or television with channels in English?
- Do you need an American coffee maker to be made available?
3. Let The Agents Do Your Work.
I spent about three days sorting through various villas before I finally wised up. Most sites will hire travel agents to work with them and on any major rental site there is a "contact us" info box where they can be reached.
Fill out an email request form and type in your specific wants and needs. They will contact you within 24 hours (although it's usually much quicker than that- I found most of my responses came within 3 hours) with every villa they can think of to suit your preferences.
For the Leisurely Traveler: The agents are based in the US, so they speak English and work with you on your time.
For the Leisurely Traveler: Your agents will sometimes adjust a rental fee to meet your price. If you have found a villa that you love but that is just out of your range, ask them if there is anything they can do. I tested this out with three villas from various rental sites and was able to get the price lowered each time.
4. Make Sure To Ask the Right Questions.
Here are some helpful questions to ask your agent that many people overlook:
- Do the bed linens come with the villa, or is it up to me to bring them?
- Are there any extra charges, such as a cleaning fee?
- The house sleeps 6- are all 6 sleepers in a bedroom or are some of them in a pull-out bed?
- Is there transportation to and from the airport?
- Will there be someone available to answer our questions about site-seeing destinations and local travel?
- Are there parking spaces for our rental cars?
In the end, we used TravelTuscany.net. Our agent found us a villa with a charming interior, more bedrooms and showers than we can hope to use, a lovely view, and is within 20 mins. from Florence, by train or by car. The property is on an organic farm, and we will be able to purchase olive oil, honey, and wine made on site!
Our Vacation Villa in Tuscany
Below are some very user-friendly and comprehensive sites from which to find Tuscan villas to rent while you are in Italy:
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