Upcoming Chianti wine festivals

The Chianti Classico wine zone of Tuscany is the home to several really good wine festivals where you can taste a wide range of Chianti Classico wines and talk directly to the producers. On 23 and 24 May 2026, in the attractive village of Radda in Chianti there is a wine tasting event, Radda nel Bichiere, taking place that is well worth a visit if you are in the area. A bit later in the year, on the first weekend of June (6th and 7th) 2026, there is another wine festival taking place in Lamole in Chianti, I Profumi di Lamole. And the Chianti wine festival takes place in Montespertoli from 30 May to 7 June 2026. To take in some or all of these wine tasting occasions, you could find a place to stay on the Panzano in Chianti website.and for the Montespertoli Chianti wine festival on the Montespertoli website.

At Radda nel Bichiere

For September 2026, there are two upcoming Chianti wine festivals to note in your agenda.

Chronologically, the first is the Chianti Classico wine fair taking place in Greve in Chianti, 45-60 minutes south of Florence and reachable by bus from Florence. The official name is the Il Rassegna del Chianti Classico (54th Expo of Chianti Classico wines). In 2026, this wine festival takes place from the 10th to the 13th September 2026 in Piazza Matteotti, the main piazza of Greve in Chianti. Note that you might have to park some distance from the venue due to heavy traffic - this fair is very popular. If you also plan to drink some wine, that's just one more reason to take the bus.

The Terre di Melazzano booth at the Rassegna del Chianti Classico

 

The way it works is that you buy a wine glass from the Cassa and Informazioni booth and this allows you to try a certain number of the wines displayed. You can both buy and order wine and olive oil at the booths. In addition to the wine tasting, a variety of events is offered during the four days, but I wouldn't over-estimate their intrinsic interest. Click here for the 2026 programme. The Greve Chianti wine fair has a good number of Tuscan wineries represented, each offering all of the wines that they produce - mainly Chianti Classico, of course. My only objection to this fair is that when the weather is hot, few of the exhibitors take any steps to keep their wines cool. Some of them are left in direct sunlight and are distinctly warm when you taste them.

The second wine tasting event is Vino al Vino, taking place one week later in Panzano in Chianti, 10 minutes drive in the direction of Sienna from Greve and also accessible by bus from Florence. Vino al Vino takes place from 17 to the 20 of September 2026. To some extent, I prefer Vino al Vino over the Chianti Classico Expo if only because it is smaller, with about 21 wineries presenting their wines and olive oil, and has a more intimate atmosphere. I also find the food on sale better than in Greve. There's live Jazz on Saturday & Sunday from 6 until 8 pm.

Vino al Vino Panzano Chianti wine festival

For accommodation nearby the venues:

Greve in Chianti accommodation.

Panzano in Chianti accommodation.

Villa hotels.

Chianti wine festivals on Facebook.

Don't forget to visit my Tuscany Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany. Tuscany Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

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Pieve di San Cresci

The Italian word "pieve" means "parish church" in English, and the pievi of Chianti are in many ways a similar phenomenon to the ubiquitous Norman churches of England. They were built in large numbers during the period of rapid population growth that took place in Tuscany at the end of the Dark Age (the Early Mediaeval period), from roughly the year 950 onward, and they are dotted, often in ruins, all over the region. 

Pieve di San Cresci - the parish church

Today, I want to talk about the Pieve di San Cresci which is thought to be one of the oldest pievi in Chianti. The nearby Pieve di San Pietro a Sillano might be older. The latter is mentioned in scrolls dating from the year 884 held at the nearby Abbey of Passignano. The Pieve di San Cresci is referred to in a document dated 963 which is held in the same library. A stone, carved in Longobard style, was found embedded in the wall of the nave during restoration, and this suggests that the Pieve di San Cresci was built on the site of a Longobard villa, perhaps incorporating part of the original structure.

The Pieve di San Cresci

The Pieve di San Cresci is located across the valley of the Becherale torrent from the fortified village of Montefioralle, about 2 km from Greve in Chianti, in the middle of the Chianti Classico wine zone. In fact, although Montefioralle houses the ancient church S. Stefano, rebuilt in the 17 C and 18 C, the Pieve of San Cresci is the original parish church of Montefioralle. The church is well worth a visit and can be reached easily by car or on foot from Greve along the road that passes by Villa Zano.

The interior of the church was completely rebuilt in Baroque style. However, part of the facade belongs to the original Romanesque church. The very photogenic lower part consists of two mullioned windows and is decorated with a dichromic motif in the archivolts.

 The facade of the Pieve di San Cresci

Pieve di San Cresci - the winery

It's very common in Tuscany and especially in Chianti to see secular structures built onto churches (and also onto former military structures such as watch towers). The Pieve of San Cresci is no exception. The home of the Ballini family, wine makers here for at least six generations, is built onto the Pieve di San Cresci, and their winery, formerly Podere San Cresci but now named after the church, occupies cellars that were once a part of the church.

Pieve di San Cresci wines

Listen to me, my dear intelligent and discerning readers! The red wines of Pieve di San Cresci winery are outstanding, even in a wine zone famous for its excellent wines. If you will be in the area of Greve in Chianti, I strongly recommend that you phone Pieve di San Cresci winery and make an appointment to taste their wines and maybe even pay a visit to the wine cellars. You won't regret it! They make a range of red wines,including of course Chianti Classico, Chianti Classico Riserva and Chianti Classico Gran Selezione (the new top-level denomination for Chianti wines), plus some very good Indicazione Geografica Tipica wines which have this designation because of their original grape composition, not because they are lesser wines.

Contact details and directionss for Pieve di San Cresci winery

More about Greve in Chianti.

Don't forget to visit my Tuscany Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany. Tuscany Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Italian Web Site Promotion 2024. All rights reserved.

Italian lessons in Tuscany

If you're under lock-down due to Coronavirus, maybe this is the moment to take some Italian lessons using Skype. Lorella is ready and willing to provide Italian lessons at all levels via the internet.

Taking Italian lessons in Tuscany can and should be both practical and fun. There are multiple approaches, all of which have strong positive points. One approach to learning Italian is to use an online Italian language beginners' course or CD course and then to follow that up with intensive Italian lessons with a professional Italian language teacher, either in a group or one-to-one. Another approach to learning Italian is to start from the beginning with your professional Italian language teacher, taking your lessons at an easy pace, and backing them up with taped or CD lessons. Both of these approaches are enormously enhanced if you have the chance to take your Italian lessons in Italy so that you hear the language all day long and, of course, have the opportunity or the necessity to use your Italian language skills, rudimentary as they might be at the start.

Lorella Federico, certified Italian teacher

If you have the chance to study Italian in Italy, I can strongly recommend Lorella Federico who is a professional Italian language teacher who gained her qualification at the University of Siena and who is based in Panzano in Chianti. Lorella is a skilled teacher - no doubt about that - and Panzano and its environs are a great base for your vacation in Tuscany. And they say that Siennese is the purest and most beautiful dialect of Italian.

Italian lessons via Skype

If you're coming here on vacation, you can even take a single lesson with her so that you can pronounce places names correctly and apply a few useful phrases. Those are her beginner-level Italian lessons. She also offers a highly popular programme where you can continue your Italian lessons back home via Skype. And she also offers an intensive Italian course for those who, for one reason or another, must or wish to acquire good Italian conversational and reading skills in a short time.

More about Lorella's Italian lessons in Tuscany.

Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria. Chianti Travel Guide

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Tuscany, Europe's top budget tourist destination

Today, I'll be giving a positive answer to this question: Is Tuscany Europe's top budget tourist destination? As we all know, the dollar and, to an even greater extent, the pound have fallen in value against the euro for several years in a row. This no doubt helps US and UK exporters but it might be expected to be less than helpful to tourists visiting the euro zone, including Tuscany. The empirical evidence strongly suggests this is not the case, especially for visitors from America. How can that be?

Tuscany - Europe's top budget tourist destination?

Your vacation costs are in essence the flight, your accommodation, your food and local transport.

Prices of flights to Europe have been decreasing steadily in real terms. (Comfort has also decreased, but that's another story.) The airlines are definitely stressed by this trend, but, in the meanwhile, tourists should take advantage of what's on offer.

What about accommodation? In Tuscany, uniquely in Europe, there has been a huge increase in the availability and quality of non-hotel vacation accommodation in the form of farmhouses (often incorrectly referred to as "villas"), farmhouse apartments, village apartments and Bed and Breakfast rooms. The increased competition due to the greater numbers of vacation rentals available together with much easier price comparison via the internet, plus the fact that agriturismi and similar rural and village vacation rentals are much less regulated than hotels, means that prices have decreased in real terms over the past ten years to the point where a couple can easily find a comfortable apartment for 65 euros per night or less. A family with children can easily find a stand-alone farmhouse with a swimming pool for under 100 euros per night. In addition, the old Saturday to Saturday minimum stay has long since vanished from owner-direct bookings and from a great many agency-mediated bookings as well. A three night minimum stay is now the rule rather than the exception. Many B&B's will let a room for a single night. The rural holiday homes are almost always beautifully-restored, traditional Tuscan structures furnished in Tuscan country style and with modern bathrooms. In Tuscany, families are reluctant to sell houses that have been in the family for generations and would rather renovate them and rent them out. Since Italy's rental laws are unreformed (meaning you can't boot someone out for not paying the rent), most Tuscans strongly prefer renting to tourists for a few months a year than risk renting to a local who might decide not to pay. This is all to the advantage of holiday-makers coming to Tuscany.

More about what to expect from your Tuscan vacation rental.

Tuscan country style furnishings in a Tuscan farmhouse vacation accommodation

How are food prices? There are two aspects to answering this question. First, restaurants and trattorias. During last year, I spoke to many Americans about restaurant prices which I remembered as being very inexpensive in the States. The responses were almost uniformly that it was too long since I'd been there. While quantity is always greater in the States, restaurant prices have gone up to the extent that eating out in Tuscany is now comparatively inexpensive. Competition and the structure of the Tuscan restaurant trade (mostly family run), has kept prices more or less constant in real terms for more than a decade.  I have discussed what it costs to eat out in Tuscany previously on this blog and my colleague Elena Spolaor provides current data on restaurant prices in Tuscany.

The second aspect regarding the price of food is related to Tuscan accommodation opportunities. If you rent a villa or an apartment with a fully equipped kitchen, you can prepare your own meals at home either from the abundant and inexpensive raw materials available everywhere in Tuscany or from the freshly cooked meat, vegetables and pasta available in supermarkets all over the Region. Buying a bottle of wine at a winery or in supermarket contributes to making eating at home inexpensive and enjoyable.

Dining at your own accommodation in Tuscany

Lastly, the subject of local transport. There's no denying that renting a car provides the best way to see the many sights of interest in Tuscany. Nevertheless, it's possible to have an enjoyable holiday in Tuscany without a car by staying in or within walking distance of a town or village served by trains or buses. For intercity travel, the new high speed trains, Frecciarossa and Italo, are preferable to many, including me, over a car. By booking in advance, you can make substantial savings and make high speed train travel not only convenient but inexpensive as well.

More about getting around in Tuscany.

More about getting around in Chianti.


In summary - I'm totally convinced that Tuscany is the new budget destination in Europe, with undiminished (indeed, enhanced) comfort and convenience, plus the wine, countryside and art cities that have always been here for the pleasure and profit of our visitors. See you soon!

Recommended vacation accommodations in the Chianti towns,
villages and countryside.

Travellers Guide to Chianti.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Web Site Promotion 2013 - 2019. All rights reserved.

How can we do an olive oil tasting in Tuscany?

Wine tasting is a favorite of visitors to Tuscany and there are numerous avenues to that activity. In contrast, I'm often asked by readers, "How can we do an olive oil tasting in Tuscany?" This is slightly more difficult to arrange. Although, of course, many Tuscan olive oil producers will let you taste their olive oil before buying, this doesn't help much because you've got nothing to compare it with - you're dependent on having an "educated" palate. What you need is to have an expert present you with 2 or 3 olive oils to taste while the differences are described to you. It could be two good but very different extra virgin olive oils from different locations (e.g. Lucca area and Chianti), or a very fresh olive oil and a two year old oil from the same farm, or a bottle of Turkish olive oil and a sample from Tuscany, or a second press oil and a cold-pressed, extra virgin olive oil. There are many interesting and illustrative comparisons, but the basic aim is to be able to distinguish a fresh, extra virgin olive oil grown (not just bottled) in Tuscany from other, often inferior, products.

Just a personal note: the colour of the olive oil doesn't necessarily tell you much. Grass is also a good source of chlorophyll! In southern Italy, where counterfeiting olive oil is, or anyway was, rampant, there is a group of tasters who use purple glasses to hold the oil they're examining so that they aren't influenced by the colour. Having said all that, a fresh, extra virgin oil should look deep green and might well be cloudy.

Extra virgin olives oil ready for an olive oil tasting.

 

For you olive oil tasting lesson, one option is to stay at an agriturismo where olive oil is produced and where the owner is able and willing to do a comparative tasting. Podere Felceto, a vacation villa located near Panzano in Chianti, does exactly that. In fact, the owners organise an olive oil evening where a light meal follows the tasting. Needless to say, there's plenty of their organic olive oil in the dishes as well as in the tasting glasses!

Another option is to take a day tour where an olive oil tasting is part of the programme. A good tour has either a driver-guide who is expert in comparing olive oils or who can take you to a producer who is expert.

More about the olive oil tasting evening at Villa Felceto in Tuscany.

More about the different commercial grades of olive oil.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

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Apartment to rent in a small town or village in Tuscany

I often see enquiries on travel forums, from travellers preparing for their trip to Tuscany, requesting a recommendation for an apartment to rent in a small town or village in Tuscany. They have the right idea! There's no better way to enjoy and really understand life here in Tuscany than by renting a self-catering vacation apartment outside of the main centres. And it's economical as well! Today I want to describe just such a place, namely Appartamento Saverio in Greve in Chianti which sleeps 4 in a double room and a twin room, and can sleep two more on a sofa bed.

An apartment to rent in a small town or village in Tuscany

The apartment that I'm recommending today is situated right on Piazza Matteotti, the arcaded, main piazza of the small town of Greve in Chianti. Greve has around 14,000 inhabitants and is located on the scenic via Chiantigiana, the main road between Florence and Siena. Greve is accessible by bus from Florence (60 minutes to the centre of Florence) and Appartamento Saverio is a five minute walk from the bus stop, meaning that you don't need a car to get here nor to make excursions to Florence. There is a good supermarket in the town plus numerous restaurants and food outlets, many of them around Piazza Matteotti. And yet, in most directions, a 15 minute stroll takes you out into the vineyards and olive groves, and the mediaeval walled village of Montefioralle is just a mile away.

The apartment is large and both the structure and the furnishings are typically Tuscan, with a huge fireplace in the living room. In fact, the buildings around Piazza Matteotti date back several hundred years. Appartamento Saverio has two modern bathroom and a huge terrace that overlooks the piazza. A great place for a dinner al fresco or just to sit and enjoy the sun while watching the activity of the piazza. In essence, if you're looking for an apartment to rent in a small town or village in Tuscany, Appartamento Saverio should be at or near the top of the list!

More about Tuscany Holiday Apartment "Saverio" in Greve in Chianti.

The main sights of Chianti Italy

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

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Badia a Passignano, the abbey (abbazia) of San Michele Arcangelo a Passignano

One of the most photogenic and interesting structures in Chianti is the Abbey of Passignano, officially the Abbazia di San Michele a Passignano. I should say at the outset that it's not that easy to visit the interior of the monastery because there are very few monks there, often only two, and they have more than enough work to occupy their time. Nevertheless, during 2015, the ten year restoration of the refectory was completed and it is now possible to see the splendid "Last Supper" there, a fresco by Ghirlandaio which very likely influenced Leonardo's conception of the same subject. If you don't have a chance to go within the walls, there are nevertheless many vantage points to both the east and the west of the Badia for spectacular photography.

Abbazia di Passignano

This ancient foundation passed several decades in private hands during which time it was much altered externally in the taste of Victorian times - fake crenellations and all the rest of it. However, the interior contains many ancient and beautiful features including the Ghirlandaio fresco. As a garden nut, I was much taken by the fine giardino all'italiana hidden behind the monastic walls. The abbey is definitely worth a visit if you can arrange it. The nearest towns are Sambuca and Greve in Chianti.

Italianate garden of the Badia a Passignano in Chianti, Tuscany

Note that the extensive cellars have been leased out to Antinori whose enormous vineyards cover many of the surrounding hills. A visit to the wine cellars is an activity entirely separate from a visit to the monastery proper. To visit the cellars and/or to do a wine tasting, contact Antinori.

To find out when the monastery is open, try phoning the tourist information office at Tavarnelle Val di Pesa  Tel. 055 8077832

More about the Badia a Passignano.

More about the gardens of Tuscany.

Don't forget to visit my Tuscany Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany. Tuscany Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Italian Web Site Promotion 2015 - 2016. All rights reserved.

Poggio all'Olmo, a classic Tuscan farm house vacation location in Chianti

Now is the quiet season for Tuscan agriturismi, those rural vacation rentals that provide such excellent and economical holiday accommodation in Tuscany, especially in the Chianti Classico wine zone. Since agriturismi are, by definition, also working farms, right now most of them are attending to their olive oil production. I took the opportunity to visit Poggio all'Olmo, a classic Tuscan farm house vacation location in Chianti, owned and managed by my friend Francesca Vanni. It's been a year or two since I paid her a visit and it was great to be reminded of what a beautiful property she has in the Chianti hills above Greve in Chianti.

Poggio all'Olmo Tuscan farmhouse vacation rental in Chianti

Francesca offers two vacation apartments for 2 to 4 persons, as well as a double room. Since my last visit, the bathrooms have all been modernised to a very high standard. The rooms are furnished in Tuscan country style and the flowering shrubs on the terraces are more mature than during my previous visit. The swimming pool has fabulous views out over the vineyards and olive groves that surround the agriturismo on all sides. The olive harvest was completed last week so I picked up several bottles of olio nuovo!

Poggio all'Olmo swimming pool

The location of Agriturismo Poggio all'Olmo  is very convenient for those who would like to explore Chianti and central Tuscany together with Florence and Sienna. This is because Greve is located halfway between Florence and Sienna, on the scenic Chiantigiana road and it's an hour by car or bus to Florence. It's about the same to Sienna but for that you need a car, otherwise it's a long haul by bus to Florence and then from there to Sienna by train or bus.

Breakfast at Agriturismo Poggio all'Olmo

For those who want it, Francesca will prepare a spread of fresh fruit, juice, rolls tea and coffee for your breakfast - that's a worthwhile extra at 10 euros per person.

More about Poggio all'Olmo vacation accommodations in Chianti, Tuscany.

Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria. Chianti Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Web Site Promotion 2014. All rights reserved.

Where can I find the best pizza in Tuscany?

Well, I obviously can't answer the question, "Where can I find the best pizza in Tuscany?". For one thing neither I nor anyone else has eaten at every pizza restaurant in Tuscany and, of course, tastes vary. However, having said that, what I can tell you is where to enjoy truly excellent thin crust pizza in Tuscany. I prefer the thin crust variety of pizza because it's lighter, easier on the digestion and the taste of the dough doesn't distract attention from the tastes of the toppings.

A delicious thin crust pizza

In Greve in Chianti, Ristorante Pizzeria La Cantina, located away from Piazza Matteotti on the small Piazza Trento where the buses from Florence stop, serves a range of beautifully presented Tuscan dishes AND the best thin crust pizza I have tasted anywhere in Chianti. You have a choice of sitting outside on the piazza or inside in the "cantina" which used to be a coal store for the steam trams that used to run from Greve to Florence. The restaurant was the bar of the tram station which occupied Piazza Trento. During summer, I always sit outside in enclosed area on the edge of the piazza.

Interior of Ristorante Pizzeria La Cantina in Greve in Chianti

It's usually Alessandro taking the orders (using an app on his cellphone) with Lorena in charge of the kitchen. There's a good range of pizza toppings and a very good wine cellar. And don't forget to try some of the other dishes - classic Tuscan with individual flare.

Here's Alessandro taking an order

Happy customers at Ristorante Pizzeria La Cantina

La Cantina house wine - an excellent Chianti Classico

Alessandro's family opened "La Cantina" in 1980 in the old tram bar and later extended it by converting the coal store into a commodious dining room. La Cantina is open for both lunch and dinner.

More about Ristorante Pizzeria La Cantina in Greve in Chianti.

Don't forget to visit my Tuscany Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany. Tuscany Travel Guide

Holiday accommodations in Chianti

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Infotech website promotion 2015 - 2026. All rights reserved.

Tuscan winery vacation accommodations

I recently visited the Il Santo winery on the outskirts of Greve in Chianti. I'd forgotten just how good their wine is. Il Santo is also an excellent example of the kind of Tuscan winery vacation accommodations available in this area of Chianti - both comfortable and economical. Budget travellers without a car will find Il Santo additionally attractive because it is within reasonable walking distance of the Florence bus stop in Greve (1 km). The owner and manager is the kind and attentive Alessandro Turchi.

View out from Il Santo Tuscan winery vacation accommodations

Il Santo offers accommodation for up to 11 persons in four small apartments, two of which are air conditioned. Each has a private entrance and its own outdoor table and chairs on a terrace or in the garden. The views are panoramic, taking in the Il Santo vineyards and olive trees, and then the forested Chianti hills. The large swimming pool is available to guests and there is a good WiFi connection.

Dining room of one of the vacation apartments at Il Santo

The great thing about Il Santo as a Tuscan vacation location is that it is centrally located in Chianti, half way between Florence and Sienna, making it an ideal base for exploring almost every corner of Tuscany. Greve in Chianti is on the Via Chiantigiana, one of the most scenic motoring routes in Tuscany, if not in all Italy.

You can't go wrong choosing Il Santo as your holiday home in Tuscany.

More about Azienda Agricola Il Santo near Greve in Chianti, Tuscany.

Don't forget to visit my Tuscany Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany. Tuscany Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Italian Web Site Promotion 2014. All rights reserved.

Famous Tuscan butchers Falorni in Greve in Chianti and Cecchini in Panzano in Chianti

In ancient times, meaning before WWII, most of the contadini in Tuscany ate meat only once a week, mostly in the form of a selection of salumi. For the remainder of the week they ate ribollita in winter and panzanella in summer - both dishes being based on Tuscan bread and Tuscan olive oil with the addition of whatever fresh vegetables were available. In fact, that's how it's been for the past thousand years, at the very least. Nowadays, the meat-based dishes of Tuscan cuisine are much more prominent and famous, and as a consequence so are some wonderful Tuscan butchers shops (macellerie). In this post, I will say something about just two among many, the famous Tuscan butchers Falorni in Greve in Chianti and Cecchini in Panzano in Chianti.

Antica Macelleria Falorni in Greve in Chianti

Antica Macelleria Falorni, located on Piazza Matteotti of Greve in Chianti, claims to be the oldest butchers shop (macelleria) in Italy. The shop was founded by Gio Batta in 1729. Today Antica Macelleria Falorni is run by the eighth generation, brothers Lorenzo and Stefano Bencistà, related by marriage to the founding family. Along with fresh meat, Falorni sells a fine range of salami, prosciutto and other prepared meats and in fact the company has a large production that is sold throughout Italy and abroad. When you visit Greve in Chianti, be sure to drop in to look at the amazing display of Tuscan meat specialities on show at Macelleria Falorni, taste some samples if they're on offer and, of course, buy some great food!

Dario Cecchini in his butchers shop in Panzano in Chianti

Macellaria Cecchini, located ten minutes drive away in Panzano in Chianti, is entirely different in style from Macellaria Falorini. Macellaria Cecchini is, simply, Dario Cecchini, the mad butcher of Panzano. Cecchini specialises in prepared meats, one could almost say, anything other than salumi. And in contrast to the export-oriented business of Falorni, Cecchini has entered the restaurant trade in a very original way, particularly in his Panzano restaurant Solociccia. Dario Cecchini very often serves in his shop and welcomes visitors, even those just coming to look. While the display of meat products is amazing, you're basically coming to see Dario perform - and of course to buy some excellent eats.

Dario Cecchini is famous as a promoter of bistecca alla fiorentina and both of these butchers shops sell excellent cuts of beef suitable for grilling.

More about Piazza Matteotti in Greve in Chianti.

More about Macellaria Cecchini in Panzano in Chianti.

More about bistecca alla fiorentina.

More about Tuscan culinary specialities.

More about places to stay in Chianti.

Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's Travel Guide! Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria. Chianti Travel Guide

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Web Site Promotion 2013 - 2022. All rights reserved.

Recommended family-friendly accommodations in Tuscany

Now that spring shows signs of coming (well, at least it isn't snowing here in Tuscany anymore - other than in the mountains), I'm receiving requests for recommended family-friendly accommodations in Tuscany. What parents usually have in mind by "family-friendly" is plenty of space for children to run around far away from traffic. My top recommendation goes to Piano di Montagliari, a Bed and Breakfast vacation accommodation located between Greve and Panzano on one of the rare flat areas of Chianti.

Piano di Montagliari Bed and Breakfast accommodations in Chianti, Tuscany

Chianti, as almost everyone knows, is a very hilly wine-growing area covering the territory between Florence and Sienna. One of the very few extensive flat areas lies where the river Greve emerges from the hills below Lamole before turning north to run through the town of the same name to join the Arno just west of Florence. This flat, former flood plain is known as the Piano di Montagliari after the big villa and formerly castle Montagliari nearby.

Part of the extensive lawns around Piano di Montagliari - Villa Vignamaggio
is visible on the ridge in the distance.

B&B Piano di Montagliari is part of an old mill and is surrounded by extensive lawns which are ideal for young people's games (soccer goal provided!) and there is almost no traffic on the adjoining road which accesses one or two houses further upstream. The location also means peace and tranquility for parents who can relax in the lovely gardens after a hard day of sightseeing. Rooms with private bathrooms as well as rooms with access to a common bathroom are available. Highly recommended!

More about B&B Piano di Montagliari.

Map of the main sights of Chianti.

Travellers Guide to Chianti.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Web Site Promotion 2012 - 2013. All rights reserved.

Best place to stay in Chianti, Italy

If you will be staying outside of the big towns in Tuscany for part or all of your vacation (something that I strongly recommend), then Chianti is definitely one of the great locations. Rather than a hotel, I will be recommending good holiday villas, Chianti farm houses and vacation apartments. The Chianti hills, with their case coloniche, olive trees, vineyards and forests, are more intimate than in the Val d'Orcia, for example. The hilltop villages of Chianti are better preserved and both Florence and Sienna are readily accessible for day trips from almost any place in Chianti. Of course, no one can tell you the best place to stay in Chianti, Italy! However, I'm happy recommend a good selection of accommodations that I have personally visited in Chianti. The list below links mostly to Tuscan farm houses, agriturismi, vacation rental apartments and B&Bs, but I have also included a couple of hotels with loads of character. At the bottom is a link to a complete list of my recommended Tuscan vacation rentals. Enjoy!

Could this be the best place to stay in Chianti, Italy?

• A great place to stay in Tuscany in the cool Chianti hills.
• One of the best agriturismi in Chianti.
• Farmstay rooms and apartment with swimming pool high in the Chianti hills.
  
• Tuscan villa vacation rental for 13 persons.
• B&B accommodations for 2 or 3 persons in Chianti.
• Vacation accommodation for two people in Chianti.
• Vacation on a farm in Tuscany for 2 to 11 persons.
• Luxury hotel in Chianti for a special Tuscany vacation.
• Bed and Breakfast in Chianti.
• Tuscan agriturismo with apartments for 2 to 6 persons.
• Family accommodations in Tuscany – try a Chianti Bed and Breakfast.
• Great place to stay in Chianti for 2 to 6 persons.
• Vacation accommodations for 1 to 4 persons on a Chianti vineyard.
• Boutique hotel in the Chianti Classico wine zone.
• Luxury Chianti Classico getaway.
• Villas to rent in Tuscany with private pool.
• Villa to rent in central Tuscany near Panzano in Chianti.
• Apartment to rent in a small town or village in Tuscany.
• Recommended place to stay in the country near Panzano in Chianti.
• Holiday apartment in a Chianti villa - a great place to stay in Tuscany.
• An apartment for 2 - 5 persons in a watch tower in Volpaia in Chianti.

A complete listing of my recommended vacation rentals in Tuscany.

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

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