Le Balze

On arrival at Le Balze we were met by David who was very friendly and upon guiding us around the villa it became quickly evident that Le Balze was everything we had expected from the details and photos provided in the To Tuscany website. The house and furnishings are lovely and most comfortable. The garden and surrounding landscape are beautiful, and the swimming pool (and associated furniture) are fantastic - the best I have had to date in a private rental.

This was a beautiful and relaxing holiday, a perfect balance of visiting beautiful places and chilling out in perfect surroundings.

The pre-checkout inspection was undertaken by Sandra who was charming and a pleasure to meet.

This was our first holiday with To Tuscany, and it won't be the last!

Many thanks.

Obviously, a car is essential for getting around. Then again, that is the case for most of Tuscany. We found that the location of Le Balze, relatively close to autostrade A1, was very good for visiting most places. Places visited, and all beautiful, were: Siena - marvellous, especially the views from the torre. San Gimignano - magnificent. Gaiole in Chianti Castell Brolio - Took the classic tour at this fantastic winery. Bought several reds. Can't wait for Christmas!! Cortona - Views from the top of the village (at sunset) are wonderful. Firenze - Went on the train from San Giovanni Valdarno, easy. Loro Ciuffenna - My favourite local village. Unspoilt Italy. Just loved sitting outside drinking with the locals. Restaurants: My favourites were in Loro Ciuffenna - Ristorante Pizzeria Va Pensiero and Ristorante La Torre. The restaurant next to the villa, Osteria l'Casolare, is also very good and, of course, very convenient. We had a wonderful evening there with the owners - charming people.

Heerlijk huis en zwembad! perceel is ruim van opzet. groentetuin. overkapping voor de auto.

Restaurant naast het huis, heerlijk eten en aardige mensen. Geen last van gehad qua geluid. San Giovanni is een leuk stadje en daar kan je zo met de trein naar Florence.

Etwas zu abgelegen

Highligts von Le Balze sind das übergroße Grundstück und der große Pool. Weiter ist die Küche positiv hervorzuheben. Das Gebäude selbst ist elegant eingerichtet. Da wir nur zu zweit waren, haben wir nur das große Schlafzimmer genutzt. Hier wären zum Schutz gegen Stechmücken Fliegengitter an den Fenstern wünschenswert.

Idealer Ausgangspunkt um die Toscana zu erkunden. Einzelne Orte hervorzuheben, wäre Eulen nach Athen zu tragen. Aufgrund der leicht gebirgigen Gegend sowie der kleinen Straßen ideal für das Cabrio.

We stayed at La Balze for five weeks.During that time our children joined at various times . We loved the Villa and location. This was our first visit to Tuscany and won't be our last. There were two very minor issues during our long stay and they were resolved quickly and the owners couldn't have been friendlier or more helpful. The villa is as description and there is now a lovely 'conservatory' area. The air conditioning isn't quite as described with payment being made by whole day ( and from what I could tell for a minimum of a week) it was expensive and we decided to go without. This was ok most days but some evenings were very hot. The house is cool and generally during the day AC wasn't needed. Expectionally well equipped the house made a super base from which to base our holiday. Mosquitos were a bit of a pain (as with anywhere in Italy the time of year) and the mosquito nets on the windows are actually net curtains which are semi successful. A super villa , lovely owners and a wonderful place to stay.

Hint -only issue was that we found it difficult to book retaurants. Often they are closed during the day, phone reception is not great and by the time they answer the phone in the evening they are fully booked (we were there during Peak holiday time). Better to pop in before going out a day or two before and book in person.

We visited a wide range of places, quiet and not too touristy; Cortona, Poppi, Arezzo. Bit busier; Lucca, Montepulciano Very busy; Florence, st Gimignano, Venice and Siena. Favourite -Siena There is a restaurant next door but this was closed for a couple of weeks during our stay. We did visit and it was good. Favourite restaurant by far was La Posta Del poeta, five minute drive away and super food. We paid 25euros each for the set tasting menu we went twice and had 8/9 courses for that price, chef passionate about his food and he went out of his way to cater for special diets.