Tuscany villas and homes for weekly rental

Tuscany
Tuscany

Villas in Tuscany

We have a full range of villas to rent throughout Tuscany and the surrounding Italian countryside.

Tuscany is deservedly popular; one of the few travel destinations to truly live up to the hype. This quintessential Italian province offers a delightful landscape of rolling hills, with seaside resorts, mountains, pristine air, brilliant light and scattered medieval towns that will immediately cast their spell on you. Tuscany will always evoke images of vineyards marching up the gently rolling hillsides, bounded by cypress trees; they will conjure visions of winding white roads leading to rust-colored farmhouses and brick castles, symmetrically rounded hills topped by enchanting towns and villages.

Tuscany is beautiful!

Best of all, Tuscany can suit a varied itinerary. No matter what your passion, whether it's hiking, cycling or horseback riding, discovering art treasures, or the hedonistic pursuit of good food and wine, Tuscany is hard to beat.

Tuscany’s scenery inspired Michelangelo; it glowed on film in The English Patient; and was home to a young Frances Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun.

Tuscany seems to be everyone's favourite destination these days, and all the world knows Florence, Siena, and Pisa, to name a few.

This is where the heart of Italy beats. It is a place where people can listen to the ancestors speak through architecture, or admire in awe the beautiful landscape and the design of the Italian gardens.

New Villas

Great news! We have a line of fabulous villas to rent in the twin provinces of Tuscany & Umbria. Just follow the link to our sister company to see an abundance of properties throughout this enchanting area.

Tuscany: Areas of interest
The Tuscany of postcards and photograph albums lies between River Arno to the north and River Tevere to the southwest. Here the undulating terrain offers the perfect respite for an undisturbed Tuscan retreat while providing ample sites for historic and artistic strolls. The ancient villages of Sansepolcro, Cortona and Montevarchi are just a few of the hundreds that have inspired generations of poets. And gourmets will find a cuisine in Tuscany that has benefitted from centuries of evolution. The agriculture centers around the region’s olive trees, vineyards and fruit trees. Restaurants prepare steaks from the prestigious beef bred in nearby Chianina, and epicureans flock from around the world during the mushroom and truffle seasons.

Wine lovers will know that territory south of Siena is characterised by the presence of hills stretching from the Chianti area to Mount Cetona, separating the basin of Valdichiana from Val D’Orcia.

These two valleys enclose a wonderful landscape of woods alternating with sunflower fields. This area is internationally recognised as one of the most uncontaminated in all Europe and one of the most refined productions centers of bread, fine wines and olive oils.

This region, blessed by a mild climate, still retains the thirteen century's configuration, made of numerous little towns and hamlets, gathered around a castle or a church, enclosed within urban walls. In a range of few kilometers, one can visit the town of San Casciano dei Bagni, famous for its natural spas, and Cetona e Radicofani, Pienza, Montepulciano and Montalcino, all renowned for the production of the homonymous wine.

Every guide book will give you plenty of information and recommendations on this beautiful part of Italy. We would like to tempt you with more hearty topics.

Tuscany: Food and wine!
The farm land surrounding Florence produces many ancestral Italian foods: fine virgin olive oils and wines, wheat, corn (though this New World crop that probably didn't become popular until the late Renaissance), plus a variety of fruits.

The vegetables grown included artichokes, asparagus, spinach, cardoons, beans, broad beans and peas. Chickens, ducks, rabbits and pigs are also raised on the small estates. In the valley of Chianti and Maremma there are cattle farms of the celebrated Chianina breed. Small hams and boar hams are made locally. Finocchiona (salami flavoured with fennel seeds) and Prosciutto Toscano are favourite traditional meats.

The local production of cheeses include a delicious Pecorino Toscano made with sheep's milk and Caciotta Toscana. There are truffles in the Tuscan woods, and a great quantity of mushrooms including porcini and morels.

Tuscan cooking is characterised by simple food, and heavy sauces are seldom seen. Olive oil is used in nearly all cooking, and the fruity first-press oils — virgin and extra-virgin— are also used to dress salads, poured over bread and as a finish in soups and stews. Beans are a staple. Sage, rosemary and basil grow wild in the Tuscan hills and are popular herbs. Grilling over vine and chestnut embers is preferred. The Florentine steak, grilled flat over an open fire, is a tradition that may go back to the ancient race of Etruscans, Italy’s first people.

Soups are very popular. These included vegetable and bean soups, like ribollita, and bread porridges, like Pappa al pomodoro. Cinestrata, a soup that has enjoyed popularity since the Renaissance, consists of a broth made from marsala, beaten eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and a little sugar.

And as for dessert, it’s worth mentioning that the world-famous Panforte di Siena was first developed in Tuscany. A rich and strongly- flavoured cake made with candied fruit, nuts, and honey. Torta coi bischeri, which is a pastry filled with rice, candied fruit, chocolate, raisins, pine nuts, nutmeg and liquor is also popular.

Wines in Tuscany:
What more can be said about the wines of Tuscany? It is truly one of the world's great wine regions. Among the area’s excellent vineyards are native plantings of Sangiovese and Trebbiano, along with more recent plantings of international grape varieties like Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Syrah (aka Shiraz).

Tuscan Markets...

::: How to reach us :::

marilou@vacationvillas.ca

Marilou Levangie & Dana Gallant
Vacation Villas & Pedal and Sea Adventures
9075 St. Margaret's Bay Road, RR#2
Hubbards, Nova Scotia • B0J 1T0
Toll Free: 1-877-777-5699 • 902-857-9319 (office)
• 902-858-2004 (fax)

We now sell trip cancellation insurance, too!

Enjoy a bike tour in Tuscany, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, & Costa Rica with our sister company: Pedal and Sea Adventures. We also create wonderful golfing vacations at: Golf Nova Scotia & Golfing PEI