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True luxury is a farm holiday
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Health, well-being and relaxation. It is no longer just 5-star hotels and silk sheets in fabulous suites that provide these things. Nowadays lots of people are looking for more tangible luxuries, more old-fashioned virtues like family warmth, a pristine natural setting, wholesome organic food and contact with animals. Green tourism, farm holidays (agriturismo), environmentally-friendly vacations.
However you want to define them, these vacation facilities in the country are genuine oases of well-being, a way to reconfirm traditional values, rediscover forgotten crafts and restore vital energies. |
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Often where you stay on a farm holiday is nothing more than a working farm, generally family-run, that has decided to take in tourists, offering them lodging and food and a varied package of recreational and other opportunities.
Charming old country houses and old farmhouses from yesteryear are thus being transformed into a type of modern guest house without losing any of their original old-fashioned appeal, achieving a perfect fusion of time-honored customs and modern technology. They offer a wide variety of services that can compete with the most modern resorts.
Surrounded by lush grounds and shady woods, the best-equipped farms also tend to practice organic farming methods, growing products that are featured in the meals they serve. The farms also provide their guests with an opportunity to observe the production of handcrafted items and take courses to learn how to do many farm chores themselves, such as tend the fields and cook. Guests can also enjoy an unlimited variety of sports, everything from trekking through the countryside and horseback riding to fishing, to mention just a few of the options. |
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DISCOVERING THE SECRETS OF GOOD FOOD IN TUSCANY |
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If we want to talk about farm holidays, it's only natural that we start in a region known far and wide for the beauty of its countryside and the hospitality of its inhabitants. In Tuscany, in the central part of Italy, it's easy to run into these little oases of peace and quiet. These are generally conveniently located just a few steps from a town, although they seem to be completely immersed in the midst of the most natural, unspoiled surroundings where time appears to have stood still. Each farm has its own distinguishing hallmarks and secrets, as well. Many country guest houses give their guests an opportunity to discover the secrets of local cuisine and the pleasers of the area's famous red wines, such as Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Nobile di Montepulciano.
For inveterate "foodies" for example, just a few steps from Sienna, on a gently rolling hill that provides a breathtaking view of the city, there's a very congenial facility called Frances' Lodge (info@franceslodge.it), a former lemon-house that has been tastefully remodeled. The rooms are all different and, although they have been done in a charming rustic style, they boast all the latest comforts.
At some farmhouses guests can enroll in regular cooking classes. This is the case with the "Il Melone" Farm (info@ilmelone.it ) in Cortona, just a few km from Arezzo, where you can learn how to prepare the dishes featured on the menu at the "Carabaccia", the tavern affiliated with the farm, or invent new recipes. At Scansano, on the other hand, you'll learn how to make homemade pasta, acquacotta (a special local soup), meat dishes and Tuscan desserts in courses held by the chef of "L'antico casale di Scansano" (info@anticocasalediscansano.com), while enjoying Morellino di Scansano and the lovely white wines from the cellars of the "Macereto" farmhouse.
There's a 6-day full immersion course for inveterate enthusiasts of fourteenth-century cuisine as the "Il Piccione" farmhouse(piccione@artandcraft.org); at the end of the course, they even present the students with a certificate of participation. |
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Farm holidays, however, are about much more than good eating. The various establishments offer a wide range of services, including a great number of collateral initiatives, like arts and crafts courses which, of course, are always held in the enchanting setting of the surrounding countryside. Remaining in Tuscany, in the central part of Italy, you can opt, for example, for the art courses held by the Borgheretto-Studio Association in Castiglione d'Orcia, just a few kilometers from Sienna on the Borgheretto estate (info@borgheretto.it). Moving south, we cross the border into Lazio, where people interested in drawing courses with live models, learning how to engrave or becoming adept in the art of sculpting marble can register at the Carcibove farm (info@carcibove.it) in Guidonia Montecelio (just a few km from Rome).
Farm holidays also make it possible to learn ancient, time-honored crafts and skills, like weaving (special courses in this craft are held at "La Raja" in Fara Sabina, just a few kilometers from Rieti). You can do crocheting or make ceramics at an old Benedictine monastery, "L'abbazia di Vallingegno" (info@abbaziadivallingegno.it) near Gubbio, where they also offer courses soft gymnastics, shiatsu, plantar reflexology. |
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And now it's the turn of sports lovers and seekers of psychophysical wellbeing, the sort of people who don't like to lounge around even when on vacation. Almost all the farms offer a service package including a number of sports. Depending on where the farmhouse is located, the offerx ranges from sailing and windsurfing to fishing and bird-watching, from horseback riding to holistic disciplines.
At the "Taocenter" (tao.center@tiscalinet.it ) just a few km from Rome, nestled in the verdant splendor of the Roman hills, you can practice yoga and Tai Ji Quan, while enjoying the benefits of Shiatsu and natural medicine, not to mention the curative wonders of hydro-mud therapy, steam baths, straw baths, Bach flowers and aroma therapy.
On the shores of Lake Bolsena you can do some bird-watching, venturing into the reed beds by canoe to observe the numerous species of aquatic birds, or opt for soccer, volleyball, water-skiing, sailing, mountain-biking, ping pong or fishing, All available to guests at the "Podere Arlena" (agriturismo@arlena.it).
We are now going to return to Umbria in the south-east of Tuscany, near the little town of Castello. Here La "Villa" (prenotazioni@agriturismo.pg.it ) offers its guests an off-road vehicle for excursions in the countryside, plus, there are mountain bikes, a tennis court and a bocce bowling green. You can also opt for a vacation school.
Returning to Tuscany, at the "Centro ippico Berardenga" / the Berardenga Riding Stables (info@chiantiriding.it), in addition to cycling and hiking adventures, you can learn to ride a horse, exploring the beauties of the Chianti region like the horsemen of yesteryear.
The "Casolare Val di Mare"( info@casolarevaldimare.com) just a few km from Pisa organizes horseback excursions to the hill towns of Volterra and Bolgheri and has its own riding school right on the property of the farm where you stay. Mountain biking on special routes, complete with maps and all sorts of descriptions and technical information regarding the lay of the land, trekking, nature hikes to observe wild animals, miniature soccer with a 16x36 meter grass playing field, volleyball played on grass, and fishing for rainbow and brown brook trout, and sturgeon, are the main sporting attractions that bring people back to the "Le isole" complex (info@leisolemugello.com) in Scarperia, near Florence. |
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 Frances' Lodge
Strada di Valdipugna, 2
S. Regina 53100 near Sienna
tel 0577.281061 fax 0577.222224
e-mail: info@franceslodge.it
Rooms: 3
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