The other day I came across a great resource for travelers that I thought I should bring to your attention. Rick Steves', the King of European Travel, has a series of free audio tours on his website than can be downloaded in mp3 format that can be put on your portable device or burnt onto a CD. The files also come with a small map of the site so you can see where to be at different points during the audio tour. If haven't heard of Rick Steves and want to find out more about him, or want to view the plethora of information on his website, be sure to check it out!
For the last three weeks, I have been writing about vacation rentals in Tuscany – an introduction to Tuscany, how to select a vacation rental and the differences between houses in Italy and those in North America. This week’s blog article is about the fun things you can do in Tuscany once you are settled into your vacation rental for the week.
For this blog article I am concentrating on the area, south of Siena, near Montepulciano, Pienza and Montalcino. This is an area that my husband Steve and I have traveled to many times and we have never run out of new things to explore and old favorites to revisit.
Last week I wrote “Experience the Real Tuscany”, describing types of vacation rentals and areas where you might want to stay. This week’s blog is “finding your perfect vacation rental” and this is where the fun starts – reading vacation rental descriptions!
The best way to see and experience Tuscany is from a vacation rental. Pick the part of Tuscany that you want to explore, find a good vacation rental, and settle in for a fabulous week.
Tuscany, in central Italy north of Rome, is a large region packed with historic towns, farms, art, architecture, wineries, restaurants, and even Mediterranean coast. To give you a sense of scale, it takes about three hours to drive from north to south and two hours to drive across.
My husband Steve and I have done many vacations to Tuscany, staying in vacation rentals. We love this way of traveling.
It lets us settle into a place and get to know it. Our days are leisurely because we are not packing up and changing hotels and locations every few days. We go to the local café for morning coffee, pick up our groceries for the day in the town shops, explore the nearby areas, and do one or two longer day trips to sights that are further away.
