Archive for 'Florence'

If you have been thinking about travelling to Italy then be sure to browse our incredible vacation rentals in Tuscany and, once you do, you can start planning all that you will see and do while you’re there! In addition to beautiful little towns, buzzing metropolises laden with centuries of history and culture, stunning landscapes, amazing beaches, incredible mountain ranges, pretty islands, outstanding food and wine, architectural gems and breath-taking places of worship, stylish people-watching opportunities aplenty, and much more besides, the Italian regions also boast lots of excellent shopping destinations. Not only is it a veritable mecca for fashion lovers, it is also a place where tradition lives on and quality is very much prided. As such, it is a wonderful place to browse little local shops selling souvenirs to bring home, unique boutiques stuffed with all sorts of Italian gifts, and small local makers’ wares to find incredible things to buy in Italy. If you are planning a trip to Tuscany, you like great souvenirs and shopping for authentic, handmade, and beautiful things, and you are wondering what to buy then these are the items to remember to leave room for in your suitcase as you explore Tuscany and take day trips throughout the regions in Italy!

Music lovers of the world, and fans of rock, in particular, take note: you’re going to want to find a luxury villa in Florence and head to the city next June. Not only is that when the city is alive and abuzz with tourists and activity and an endless list of things to see and do, it is when one of the best rock music festivals in Europe takes place: Firenze Rocks.

Firenze Rocks is a rock music festival that takes place annually at the Visarno Arena in the Parco delle Cascine in Florence and is one of the main and most exciting music events of the summer that takes place in Tuscany and in Italy. Established four years ago, the amazing line-ups of the festival in the past few editions have led to great excitement in recent years and have seen tickets sell out within minutes, attracting thousands of fans to come from all over the country and Europe. In 2018, an astounding 200,000 people attended the festival!

If you have found a luxury villa in Florence and are looking to delve into, and explore, some of the beautiful Tuscan countryside around the city and if you are interested in abandoned places and history, then you should probably head to Semifonte. Located in the province of Florence, within the modern day comune of Barberino Val d'Elsa, Semifonte was once a grand fortified city that was built during the 12th century. If was destroyed in 1202 in a siege during conflict with Florence and little remains today as the peace treaty brokered with Florence required surviving inhabitants to demolish their own city and prevented rebuilding on the site. In fact, the stones used to build Barberino Val d'Elsa were taken from the destroyed city and repurposed, leaving very little of the city behind today.

Have you ever wanted to visit the real secret garden? Were you a child obsessed with the Secret Garden in the nineties or the other movies and original novel that came before? Or a parent forced to watch any version of the film or read the book endless times? If the answer to any of the above is, “yes”, and you have found a luxury villa in Florence, then we would suggest setting aside some time for a trip out of the closely gathered attractions of the city centre to the lovely Villa Capponi, which is home to a beautiful secret garden.

Located in Arcetri, a little hilly area to the south of the centre Florence, the Villa Capponi was originally built in the 14th century but is named for the Capponi family who purchased the property in 1572. A wealthy merchant, Gino di Ludovico Capponi bought the Renaissance villa from its previous owner, Niccolo Del Nero, who had gone bankrupt and extended and enhanced the property, making it a noble residence.

Florence is one of those cities that, somehow, keeps surprising and delighting us all the time with new finds. Whether it is long-forgotten historic gems or new openings, there is always something new to uncover every time you find a luxury villa in Florence, which is why it is a perfect destination for both first time visitors and repeat offenders alike. One new discovery in our office that tickled everyone’s fancy has to be the buchette del vino, which were once-ubiquitous wine windows through which one could, for a long time, pass a few coins and receive a flask of wine in return. Most are now long gone and have been out of use for even longer but there is one that has been recently reopened. If you’re planning on spending time in Florence and want to try out this unique and historic resurrected foodie experience, then head to the neighbourhood of Santo Spirito and see for yourself!

Santo Spirito is where you will find a new restaurant called Babae that opened back in August and, along with its culinary offerings indoors, brought back with it one of Florence’s buchette del vino and the Florentine tradition of buying wine through a window. These date back to the Renaissance, when many noble families of the city, who lived in the grand palazzos that still characterise the centre of Florence, had their own vineyards either just outside the city walls or off in the Tuscan countryside.