As you can tell, I kinda have a soft spot for Italy.  The language, the food, the architecture, the men – did i mention the food?  After watching Eat Pray Love uhmm half a million times, I’ve also discovered a love for sweet little Italian idioms and sayings. One of my favourite being “Dolce far Niente“, which translates to “the sweetness of doing nothing” and as much as I do love to be on the going, seeing as much as I can of a new place and soaking up the culture,  I love those little idle moments where you truly savour the downtime and moments to recharge.

Staying in a city like Florence means you’re in the thick of it, which if you’re like me, the bright lights and city life on your doorstep means you have a constant fear of missing out and never find the time to truly relax. 

If you truly want to experience an Italian getaway with plenty of time to balance bustling city with those sweet nothing moments, perhaps somewhere a little in the middle of nowhere with Tuscany at your finger tips is your best? 

 

Shake off that ‘tourist’ label (a little)

Let’s be honest.  Despite blatantly BEING tourists, DOING touristy activities and LOOKING like tourists, is there anything we love better than being on holiday and “living like locals”?  Having your own home away from home in the Italian countryside combines the feeling of having home comforts whilst exploring a new and exciting culture.  You’re not heading back to a 24 hour reception, keeping the noise down so as not to disturb those in the next room and you don’t have to hang the Do Not Disturb sign on your hotel room door.

Take your holiday at your own pace

Do you ever feel like when you’re away you feel the need to be constantly on the go?  You’re up, out, hit your 10,000 steps and seen 20 churches by 10am.  By the time you get home you’re ready for another holiday to get over the holiday you just went on or a weekend at a spa detoxing.  I’m exactly the same.  With a villa, even if for a long weekend, you have an entire home to make your own whilst you’re there.  For some people that may mean you get up at 8am and hit the gym, read on the patio in the afternoon or take an afternoon nap.  It makes the whole trip a lot more fluid and gives you the flexibility to enjoy your time at your own pace.  Furthermore, if theres a few of you there’s always the option to split off into subgroups dependent on the kind of holiday you want.

When in Italy… EAT

When I think of Italy, – especially Tuscany, I think food (& wine), and I know you didn’t sign up to get out the pots and pans when you thought about booking a holiday, but hear me out. As much as I love eating out, ESPECIALLY in Italy, eating in is great if you’re on a budget but also the perfect excuse to feel even more Italian than you do already.  Have you ever popped into your local European Coop to pick up bottles and bottles of water, toothpaste or something equally as mundane that you’ve forgotten to pack and the holiday staple of a bag of Lays and realised that supermarket shopping abroad just seem so much… fresher and dare I say it, exciting.  It’s a whole new world, or country.  Wine is dirt cheap, you can get a can of beer of sixty sense and the anti pasti, meats and cheese counter is only bettered by the fresh bread selection where I could die happily amongst carby goodness.  Even better than a supermarket is the local food markets where you’re stood shoulder to shoulder with locals, picking up bright, full and glossy looking fruit and veg whilst deciding on what to cook for dinner that night.  Jump online before you go away and find some classic cuisine (but y’know, simple) dishes to give a whirl once you’re away.  I once made risotto in Venice after a morning shopping at the Rialto fish market and I’ve never felt more like an Italian nonna in my life.

If a whole meal seems like a little much like hard work, laying out your very own continental breakfast buffet means you don’t have to worry about being up and out at the crack of dawn for your a.m fix incase you miss breakfast.  Perfect if you indulged in one too many pinot the night before.

Bring the culture to you

Experiencing all that the area you’re staying in doesn’t mean you have to be constantly on the go, in fact, bringing the area to your doorstop has been one of my favourite holiday experiences.  Local restaurants and chefs offer private dining experiences, meaning you can taste select dishes the region has to offer whilst indulging in the comfort of your home away from home.  Better yet, a cookery class means that you can be taught first hand how to prep and cook a three course meal “the right way” (hey, my cooking isn’t my best asset) and whilst under the watchful supervision of someone who won’t let you burn the sauce or overcook everything into a mushy mess.  Whilst staying in Lake Maggiore, our private chef taught us how to make classic Italian dishes including tiramisu, ragu and our very own handmade pasta.  Our private pizza party at Villa Tornaie made for a pizza lovers dream evening – complete with a history lesson on how the magnificent doughy circle of goodness came to be!  Another plus side?  They tend to bring everything you could possibly need to prep so you can spend your day around the pool instead of having to shop AND they wash the dishes.  Be still my heart.

Plenty of room for fun & games

If you’re planning a group trip, a villa is a much more social way to celebrate in style and please everyone without having to hunt for hotel rooms where you can be spread over multiple floors with barely enough room for your wardrobe (the nightmare) and you get communal areas to hang out.  That could be for for movie nights, unwinding after a long day on your feet, catching up over a freshly brewed cup of coffee or, if you’re anything like our group of 10 girls, drinking Limoncello into the early hours followed by early morning gym sessions (I’ll get you guess which group I fell into).  The possibilities are endless.

Its more affordable than you think

The first thing you tend to see when looking at a villa is all those extra digits that make you feel like you’ll need some serious side hustle to be living the life of luxury.   That is until you divide that price tag between 5, 10 even 15 of you.  Splitting upwards of £500 a night often works out a little more if not cheaper than a tiny hotel room with the smallest shower known to man.  In exchange you get more space, incredible views and your own pool.  Granted you’ll have to make your own bed, but I’ll take private poolside afternoons over that any day. 

Ideal location for exploring

If you’re looking to get out and explore, a villa is usually the ideal choice as they’re centrally located to provide the perfect in between base for ticking off everything you wanted to do and see.  Because of this you’ll more than likely need to hire a car but picking somewhere based on its proximity to local towns and points of interest means that each day can be completely different (if you want it to be).  Whilst in Tuscany, our villa on the Mansalto estate was just 20-30 minutes from Siena and San Gimignano and a couple of hours to Florence and Pisa – all of which I was able to add to my “places I’ve drank a glass of Aperol in Italy” and I seriously recommend forsaking an early morning in favour of ticking off another town.

This post contains gifted experiences. Our villa on the Mansalto estate was kindly provided by Bookings For You.