By Contributing Author Lisa Travels
As part of our month long whirlwind trip of Europe this past summer, we decided we needed a period mid trip in which to recharge our batteries. There is no better place to do this than Tuscany. The scenic vistas, wonderful wine and glorious food that Tuscany is known for is not something usually equated with travel with children – but it’s a great place to spend time with your family.
Tuscany has an abundance of agriturismos, or working farms that have self-catering facilities for vacationers. Many of the agriturismos have multiple rental properties and pools. We chose a location in the Florentine Hills, Azienda Agricola I Casalini. At the time of our stay at I Casalini there were several families from across Europe also renting properties on the site. All of the kids had the runoff the place, which grew olives and grapes, which made for a great natural playground and climbing structures. The pool also provided a cool respite from the afternoon heat. The kids figured out that the olives they plucked from the trees surrounding the pool made great objects for which to dive for. I enjoyed hanging out poolside and the beautiful views. Our boys ended up playing with the other kids also staying at the agriturismo, despite not sharing much language in common. It’s amazing what kids can organize with large open spaces, a ball and three different languages being spoken.
We used I Casalini as a base to explore Florence and some of ancient walled cities in the Tuscan countryside. There are lots of well-signed, fairly inexpensive underground parking lots around Florence’s historic centre. Rather than subjecting the boys to more churches and museums we explored Florence by wandering in which ever direction struck our fancy. It was kind of nice not to have to stick to a strict itinerary or care about crossing sites of a ‘to do’ list.
Our visit to San Gimignano, an old walled city known for its towers, took place on a particularly hot day. The kids were pretty patient as we walked around on the hilly, cobblestone streets punctuated by visits to leather goods stores (I scored a great purse). We rewarded all of ourselves with giant gelatos from Gelateria Di Piazza, located in the town’s central square, winner of the World Gelato Championships in 2006/2007 and 2008/2009. Based on our tasting – and we made sure to eat gelato everyday in Italy – the award was well deserved.
Another fun morning was spent in Lucca where we rented bikes and cycled on top of the ancient walls. Not only was it an easy cycle under a lovely, leafy tree canopy, but it afforded us a birds-eye-view of the town. There are a number of places from which to rent bikes at the main entrance to the city. I would caution families with younger children about riding their bikes inside the town. We tried this and our 7 year old, who was not an expert cyclist at the time, almost barrelled over a dozen people on the narrow, bumpy, cobblestone streets.
A little farther afield was a visit to the town of Lari. Lari is a Tuscan town that is off-the-beaten track that has a lovely old castle that is worth a visit as well as a family-run pasta factory that is open to visitors – Martelli. E-mail ahead of time so they know when to expect your visit as not all of the family members speak English. Not far from Lari is the city of Pisa, known for its leaning tower.
Whatever you choose to do, you can’t go wrong in Tuscany. There are so many interesting towns and villages to explore and gelato to enjoy.
About the Author: Lisa Singer is a Toronto based mom and communications professional. Her love of travel was set in motion on her own backpacking trip across Europe where she met her now husband. Lisa also loves food and tries to weave in learning about local food and its growth and production on all of her travels.
