People in the village were very friendly and helpful

by Jean Gaudet, Canada

Originally published on Slow Travel

###Location

The house is in Civitella Maritima, a beautifull tiny village built on a hillock, surrounded by fortifications like so many other villages in the Maremma area. The streets are narrow and charming.

Within a couple of days, the old lady next door saluted us every day from her living room window. People in the village were very friendly and helpful. Sure, you are very close to the neighbors, but this is an old hamlet where the community is tighly woven; if you want to see what real village life is about, this is the place to experience it.

###Nearby Amenities

Nearby amenities? Geez, they’re in literally in your backyard! The village is what … 500 meters long at the most and everything you need is at the tip of your fingers (2 or 3 minute walk): grocery store, 2 bakeries, 2 bars, butcher, tobacco store, pharmacy, post office, florist and even one of the best restaurant we’ve come across in Tuscany (La Locanda nel Cassero). What else would you need? Oh yeah, there’s a church too of course …

###The House/Apartment

The living space is on the second floor of an old restored and well kept small stone house; nobody downstairs as we were there, looks more like a storage space anyways. This house would be a little crowded for 4 (with a sofa-bed in the tiny living room); more than perfect for 2 though.

###Garden

Remember that you are in a very small village and land is sparse to say the least. Outside sitting area consist on 2 plastic chairs set on the concrete entryway which is minimal; not ideal but then again, when we came back from our extended road trips, all we wanted was to get a good supper and go to bed. We used the outside chairs mainly to get some fresh air along with our morning orange juice.

###Furnishings/Cleanliness/Living Areas

This is a great house to live in, everything is top shape and easy to use. Comfort is relative to every individual, but we found it plenty enough for our needs. 2 nice sofas in the living room and small table with chairs in the kitchen area. The place was very clean and easy to take care of.

###Bedrooms/Bathrooms

The unique bedroom is small and comfortable with a good bed. Ventilation is excellent if you like sleeping with window open to get a little breeze.

One nicely equipped bathroom freshly renovated; no bath but a good shower.

###Kitchen

The kitchen is minimal, but everything is functional and easy. New gas range, enough pots and pans, dishes and ustensiles.

We had most of our suppers here except for the few nights we dined at the great pub-resto, La Locanda nel Cassero; not hard to find, it’s the only one in town!

###Problems or Bonuses

No surprise apart that the village is soooo nice!

###Agency and Representatives (and price)

We were greeted by Gloria who lives in a nearby village, the night we arrived and she toured the house with us. There was a bottle of wine, some pasta and biscottis waiting on the kitchen table with some fresly cut flowers all over the house.

Gloria speaks fluent Italian, English and French.

The pictures on their web site reflect pretty much what the property look like in real life.

###Do you recommend this vacation rental to others?

Would I go back there? You bet! I recommended it to 2 friends that are going in Italy and one booked a week, while the other one couldn’t because it was full for the period he wanted.

###Things to do in this area

All in all, this is a great spot to start from every morning, to visit Tuscany. Just half an hour by car from Siena. We took the train to Firenze from a nearby village (Paganico) so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking once there. Could have gone to Pisa by train too (2 hours by car), but no time…

Chianti is just next door, but MAREMMA is what you want to see if you dream about Tuscany. Maremma is peaceful and bucolic compared to Chianti which has an organised landscape; no space is lost in Chianti, every surface is exploited. Maremma has these beautifully crafted vineyards on rolling hills, little walled hamlets perched on hillocks, large open fields bordered by tall Umbrella Pines and Cypress, all this bathing in that beautifull light that is so typical of Tuscany.