If you are in need of a relaxing and peaceful family break then you should look no further than the village of Casole d’Elsa in Tuscany. Situated in the picturesque province of Siena and just a short drive from Florence, you are bound to enjoy a stay at a family villa in Italy, giving you the freedom you need to explore the area at your leisure.
In fact, this is one of the best reasons to rent a holiday villa in Italy as you will have no pressure to go anywhere at a particular time and can plan your holiday to include as much - or as little - activity as you want.
When you arrive in Casole d’Elsa, you are sure to be struck by its charm. Located on the top of a hill, you can enjoy panoramic views across the Tuscan countryside and the buildings in the village itself are made from red brick, adding to the rustic feel.
A settlement has been situated here since the 13th century and you will be able to see evidence of the area’s history as you walk along its streets.
One of the most important and historic buildings in the village is the Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta. The church here was consecrated in the 12th century and you can still see much of the original Romanesque design in its bell tower and facade.
The Church of San Niccolo, which dates to a slightly later period in Casole d’Elsa’s history, is also worth a visit due to the artwork and frescos that can be found inside.
And if you enjoy seeing art and culture during a holiday, you should also make time to visit the Museum of Sacred Art that is home to many religious pieces, some of which are hundreds of years old.
Meanwhile, if your family likes being active during their holidays, you will find no shortage of paths and trails suitable for walking and cycling.
The Elsa River runs through the valley below Casole d’Elsa and you are sure to find plenty of beautiful spots along the waterway if you choose to explore here.

La Lirica - 3 beautiful apartments in Casole d’Elsa

With the worries of a recession, it is worth making sure that your travel insurance also has redundancy cover; travel insurance is a condition of booking with Invitation to Tuscany Ltd. - we want to know that you’re protected in the case of anything going wrong - so you may as well make sure you are as well covered as possible. We have found a couple of providers who have declared they will also include redundancy cover in their travel cover:

Preferential

and

Insurefor

There may be others, and we shall add them as we find them. Invitation to Tuscany Ltd. has no links, contracts or deals with these insurers, we just thought you would like to know they have this added cover.

Over this summer we have been gathering activities for you to do in Tuscany - from Cookery courses to hot air ballooning, from hill walking to wine tasting. We have listed them all on a new website: “www.tuscanyactivities.com” - go and have a look at what’s there - we shall continue to add new things as we can! All the best,
Invitation to Tuscany.

We spent a wonderful week at Pieve di Caminino. The location is fantastic with spectacular views across the valley. The accomodation is excellent and the overall feel is as though you have stepped back in time to a quieter more refined period of Italian history.

We were welcomed with a glass of superb wine and my partner was moved to tears by the beauty of the buildings and the surrounding gardens and olive groves. The view from the swimming pool across the valley towards the castle at Montemassi is to die for. Emiliano is a wonderful host and could not do enough to help us. He is a great source of information regarding things to see and the many restaurants in the area.

If you’re looking for a quiet away from it all break this is the place for you. I can’t recommend Pieve di Caminino highly enough. Try it and you’ll fall in love with it!

Dear Laura

We had the most lovely holiday at Sasso and the house was much, much nicer than we had expected from the photographs and description. The owners were very welcoming and we had a really lovely meal cooked by the daughter and the maid one evening. The house and gardens were superb, the house much bigger than I expected and had lots of lovely places you could go if you wanted to be away from everyone else. The views are breath taking and we loved the natural pool and its setting - the fact that it was not full of chemicals was a bonus for us. We would definitely consider returning to Sasso at some stage in the future - we felt it would be particularly great for a party of friends for a special occassion as there is plenty of room to accomodate several couples.

Thanks for all your help - we were so lucky to find such a nice house at the last minute for 10 people.

Kind regards
Linda

Go to see Sassohere.

Dear Laura,
 
We had a lovely time at Pastine di Sotto.
It was a superb location, very peaceful and a wonderful view. Alfredo was very helpful. 
The villa was very comfortable and suited us perfectly.
 
Yours
 
Rosamond

go to Pastine di Sotto

Spike Lee’s “The Miracle at S. Anna” is an epic WWII movie, set in various locations in Italy and the U.S., and using a large, multicultural cast. It is based on war events in the little town of St.Anna di Stazzema, just below the Casa Argento. Read a review here or see the preview on youtube here (Youtube preview of St.Anna di Stazzema). Or go and see the place itself by staying in Casa Argento

Just wanted to say thank you - we had a fantastic time at Il Piaggione - we really enjoyed our stay and the beautiful views from the villa. We even took Vieri up on his wine tasting which was very enjoyable - would recommend this to any other guests!!

K Rgds,
Emma

Always pleased to hear from happy guests! See Il Piaggione here - a modernist architect-designed house set in the Tuscan hills

Dear Laura & Susan,
We have just had a lovely holiday at Fonte di Sopra.
Thank you both for all your help and advice when I was planning it. The house is very big and airy, and the situation absolutely beautiful. [...] there is an excellent barbecue and the bar/restaurant does good takeaways.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Heather

Just got back and thought I’d drop you a note to say what a wonderful time we had at Salice.
The owners were charming and very accommodating (they even came to meet us at a nearby village at 11.00 pm on our arrival to guide us through the dark!) [...]

Please thank the owners for their kindness during our stay (especially to our son Ben!) and thank you to you for arranging it all!

Jane