The best villas in Tuscany
The English love Tuscany – so much so that it has been dubbed Chiantishire, as they decamp from gloomy England and set up in villas for a summer of sightseeing, swimming and socialising. But Tuscany is large and there are many hidden or lesser-known places so you don't have to mix with your fellow Brits if you don't want to. The landscape, recognisable as the background of countless Renaissance Madonnas, remains relatively unspoiled, dotted with ancient farmhouses which have been beautifully restored into villas or boutique Tuscan hotels. For a summer stay that showcases the best of this beautiful region, these addresses get our pick for being the best villas in Tuscany.
More recommendations for where to stay in Tuscany and Italy:
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The Thinking TravellerVilla Cacciarella
Set on the northwesterly cliffs of Monte Argentario, the islands of Giglio and Montecristo floating like ghost ships out on the Tyrrhenian below, Villa Cacciarella is unashamedly nostalgic for the era in which it was conceived. The newly redesigned 10-bedroom house was built in 1968, when the Agnellis and Onassises partied at Hortuli Hosiani’s vineyards, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton smouldered at Bar Centrale and publishing mogul Giangiacomo Feltrinelli roamed his white castle in the hills beneath Cacciarella’s expansive terrace, garden and pool. A 1970s wraparound Morentz sofa reupholstered in grey mohair, vintage brass chandeliers and crystal wall sconces nod to the off-duty urban intellectuals and industrialists of the time, as does the use of marble from Sicily. Beautifully cut slabs swirl like tiramisu, flecked with the negroni reds and sunset pinks that flood the rooms here each evening. The interiors firm responsible, Charles & Co (headed up by Vicky Charles, previously of Soho House), designed each bedroom individually: one is wrapped in Zak+Fox wallpaper inspired by the 16th-century Gardens of Bomarzo in Viterbo, while a two-bedroom apartment is all ’70s seaside style, with bamboo beds custom-made by Chelsea Upholstery & Interiors. The marble-clad main kitchen is a showstopper. A cocktail grotto with Murano glasses and walnut furniture built into the granite cliff, it’s destined to be the backdrop for many an Argentario sundowner. Stephanie Rafanelli
Sleeps: 14
Price: From about £14,000 per week
Mattia AquilaVilla Usil and Villa Thesan
Built in the 10th century, Castello Di Casole, a Belmond Hotel is a medieval castle that has enjoyed a career as a star-studded party pad for Luchino Visconti’s brother and, from 2012, a hotel (Belmond’s Tuscan crown jewel since 2018). Last year two private villas came into the fold under the creative eye of locally born designer Alessandro Moriconi. The buildings are set next to olive groves and holm oaks in gardens of lavender, roses and resinous myrtle, with a shared pool from which swimmers can admire the vineyards and woodlands that make up this vast 3,200-acre estate. Each sleeps seven in handsome rooms with storybook windows; in Villa Thesan, the travertine marble bathroom opens out into the garden. Both villas have an outdoor kitchen and wood-fired oven, and guests arrive to baskets bundled with meats and fresh vegetables harvested from the grounds. Moriconi’s vision of Tuscany is classic and worldly, drawing on local craftsmanship with a terracotta landscape relief from Antica Fornace Mariani, Bronzetto lamps, Arezzo antiques and armchairs furnished in zigzaggy “bluette fiammato” fabric specially created for Belmond by Dedar. The hotel is a five-minute walk down a cypress-shaded road, with four restaurants (notable is Tosca, for Tuscan fine dining and breakfasts), a brigade of e-bikes, the Essere Spa and another terrace-set pool. Experiences range from painting and flower arranging to astronomical sungazing, truffle hunting and Etruscan cosmetology, but most jolly is the pizza and focaccia making in the villa’s alfresco kitchen with Carmelo Ferraro, the pizza guru in residence. Lydia Bell
Sleeps: Seven
Price: From about £2,995 per night
Casale Eleganza
You don’t get much more quintessentially Italian than a stay on a 15-hectare organic vineyard – and this one, draped with wisteria and punctuated with a scattering of bright terracotta pots of geraniums, makes a perfect example. The home has a distinctly romantic feel, peppered with plenty of antiques, an original stone fireplace and furniture sensitively chosen to harmonise with the rural environment. Unusually, all five bedrooms have en-suites, so forget queueing for the sink in the morning. This place is a haven for ramblers, too – spend a few hours on foot following the winding paths and they’ll take you right up to San Gimignano. Alternatively, hop in the car and you’ll soon spot the towers that define the idyllic medieval village in just a few minutes.
Sleeps: 10
Price: from about £9,000 per week
Giovanni RinaldiMaria del Fiore
Here’s the chance to hole up for the weekend in what is surely one of the most elegant apartments in Florence. This base, perfect for romantic breaks, has beautiful views over the piazza and a stunning interior to match the vistas that lie just beyond the full-length windows. You’re within walking distance of many of Florence’s best sights, so tick off your trip to the Library of San Lorenzo and Pitti Palace before a stroll around the Boboli Gardens, then head back for a night in front of the huge TV. You’ll love the bathroom, too, which competes with anything you’d find in the best Florence hotels – a chunky rolltop bath and lashings of marble from floor to ceiling awaits.
Sleeps: two
Price: from about £545 per night
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Edi SolariVilla Camilla
If being surrounded by the rolling Tuscan countryside and 9 of your nearest and dearest appeals, but a typically traditional aesthetic does not, Villa Camilla is the right choice. The 5-bed house is smart, contemporary and beautifully designed. Inside, natural light fills the open space, but cosy corners can be found, and plush furnishings come in warm, welcoming tones. The kitchen deserves a special mention. It’s equipped with all the kit you'll need to dine in every night – enough to inspire even the least interested of chefs. Outside, a stone-built barbeque, a pool and five sprawling hectares of land, just waiting to be explored (or admired if you’re feeling too relaxed to jump on one of the property’s designated bicycles, that is). Unlikely, but if you get bored of the first pergola’s sea views, there’s another – overlooking the town of Capalbio – to meander across to, aperol spritz or double espresso in hand.
Sleeps: 10
Price: available on request
Ángel Luis Juste FozThe Legendary Giulia
With a month-long minimum stay, this is the perfect spot for those looking to spend a summer in Tuscany. And what better way to while away the days than ambling around this beautiful villa? Inside is all classic Italian countryside charm – terracotta tiles, painted frescoes and exposed wooden beams – with four eclectic bedrooms each with their own unique style. There’s a big family-style kitchen-diner and two separate secluded seating areas ripe for stealing away with a book for a few lazy hours. Head into the gardens for the real treat, however. The pergola, entwined with vines, is picture-perfect, and there’s plenty of seating next to a large glassy pool. Pick up a fresh loaf from Forno La Chiocciola bakery, just a few minutes’ walk from your door, for breakfast then it’s time to head out; historic Florence is just a scenic 30-minute drive away through the hillsides.
Sleeps: eight
Price: from about £1,149 per night, for month-long plus stays
Tuscan Haven
Drive a little way out of the medieval city walls of Siena and you’ll soon see this watchtower in the distance. But this isn’t just another 12th-century building nestled among the hillsides. A shining glass pavilion has been fixed to the exterior wall, breathing new life into this ancient home, allowing for sweeping views over the cypress trees and gently undulating green land beyond from the new sunroom. Step outside and you can dive straight into the infinity pool which blends lazily into the distance. Swim a few slow laps or, for more of a workout, switch on the counter-current machine to add some resistance. Editor’s tip: book a stay in July so you can watch the Il Palio horse race – it’s the highlight of Siena’s social calendar.
Sleeps: two
Price: from about £1,252 per night
Villa Cetinale
Of all the beautiful addresses in Tuscany, few can claim the grandiose place in history that Villa Cetinale can. And we mean grandiose in every sense – built in 1680 for Pope Alexander VII, it's hosted famous names from royalty (Princess Margaret) to rock stars (Mick Jagger) over the years. Edith Wharton famously praised the Cetinale gardens, an icon of Tuscan beauty with climbing roses, lemon trees, statues and vine-covered pergolas. From the villa, you’ll have private access to the gardens, along with a heated pool and tennis court. Each of the thirteen bedrooms is named after a different colour. All are sumptuously decorated but the red room, with its scarlet velvet four-poster, is the one to aim for. Naturally, a stay here is accompanied by the service of a full staff including a chef, waiter, daily housekeeping and a porter.
Sleeps: 27 across 13 bedrooms
Price: from about £5,950 per night, or £221 per person per night, three nights minimum
bernard touillonColombaia
The entire area of Val d’Orcia, where you’ll find the Colombaia farmhouse, is a UNESCO world heritage site, due to the breathtaking beauty and rich history of this particularly verdant part of Tuscany. It’s best known for renaissance architecture, Pecorino cheese and Brunello di Montalcino wine, so you really couldn’t ask for a more perfect spot to immerse yourself in slow-paced Italian culture. The villa lends itself seamlessly to this enchanting experience, providing not only a traditional setting with charming, rustic features, but the utmost luxury and attention to detail, too.
With nine ensuite bedrooms, generous outside dining areas and pergolas, and an unusually large, heated, chlorine-free swimming pool with panoramic views, this is a flawlessly crafted safe haven for an unparalleled getaway with family and friends. While staying true to traditional colours, stonework and stylings throughout, the contemporary twist in the aesthetics found in the top-tier curation of furniture, artworks, gym and ‘playroom’ offers a polished and unarguably stylish environment to unwind and soak in the splendour of this special place.
You may feel like you’ve left the real world far behind when you land here, but in reality, you only need to take a 10-minute drive through the lush countryside to find your nearest restaurants, farm shops and supermarkets. If you fancy a trip to a spa or golf course, that’s only a 40-minute drive – as is the “Ideal City”, Pienza.
Sleeps: 18
Price: from about £10000, minimum stay 7 nights- Florence), all the way to the towers of San Gimignano.\nToday, the structure has been lovingly restored by Jane and Steven Collins, the couple behind similarly romantic <a href=https://www.cntraveller.com/"https://cna.st/affiliate-link/HR4R9gBZvZ4oxhiXRRwSmv4YPdBtjdKfra23pBK4XwxznAkXgpt2tYomMm39t6HxsbQxYqvBqamBx15R5VCWdYTaBHqxTfPuPRGe5QLBufYby7n7dirNCTAmkKcHyiqFc4xPDzGhzAwSGvnrrpbtmi41tZ5zmqL5p5yFiyShGxohd2n9ABu6d8YEYuz/" rel=\"sponsored\" target=\"_blank\" isaffiliatelink=\"true\">Temple Guiting Manor</a> in the <a href=https://www.cntraveller.com/"https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/best-airbnbs-cotswolds/">Cotswolds, and is run by Tuscan locals Enzo and Annagloria Corti, who fill the home with their locally grown and made wines and olive oils, toiletries from fragrance house Angeli di Firenze, as well as impeccably chic furnishings sourced from Milan’s Salone del Mobile. The location is at once secluded (there’s not another dwelling for the best part of 2 kilometres around), but also a brilliant base point for day trips to Florence (one-hour drive) and Pisa (90-minute drive), as well as neighbouring vineyards and wineries that speckle the valleys (the nearest of which, the charmingly rustic I Balzini, provided wine for <a href=https://www.cntraveller.com/"https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/succession-filming-locations/">Succession). Each morning, a chef will whip up a feast for breakfast – fresh pastries, Italian coffee, with platters of fruit and eggs cooked to order – and is also available for private dining as well as cooking courses for local dishes. Rooms are seriously spacious, all ensuite, and within its original stone structure with farmhouse features (pretty wooden shutters), as well as one studio next to the pool. Outside, there is a BBQ and stone pizza oven on the terrace, numerous dining areas depending on the best spot for the sun, as well as smaller seating nooks, all designed for enjoying Tuscany’s sun-drenched days. <em>Charlotte Davey</em>\n<strong>Sleeps:</strong> 16 guests (across seven ensuite bedrooms in the main house, plus one self-contained pool studio)<br>\n<strong>Price:</strong> from about £24,000 for seven nights<br>","contentType":"photo","credit":"","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":213,"width":320,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_320,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"},{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_640,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"}],"md":[{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_640,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"},{"height":854,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_1280,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"}],"lg":[{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_1024,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"},{"height":1366,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_2048,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"}],"xl":[{"height":854,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_1280,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"}],"xxl":[{"height":854,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/666863106c8fad1fbb91357f/master/w_1280,c_limit/Il%20santo%20-june11-pr-global.jpg.jpg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Villa Il Santo
This gorgeously restored stone villa is perfect for big families or those who want to get away from the crowds. Thanks to its previous life as a 13th-century watchtower and barn, the home is blessed with an enviable hilltop position and undisturbed views across the one-time feudal towns of the Siena province (the region was later dominated by nearby power Florence), all the way to the towers of San Gimignano.
Today, the structure has been lovingly restored by Jane and Steven Collins, the couple behind similarly romantic Temple Guiting Manor in the Cotswolds, and is run by Tuscan locals Enzo and Annagloria Corti, who fill the home with their locally grown and made wines and olive oils, toiletries from fragrance house Angeli di Firenze, as well as impeccably chic furnishings sourced from Milan’s Salone del Mobile. The location is at once secluded (there’s not another dwelling for the best part of 2 kilometres around), but also a brilliant base point for day trips to Florence (one-hour drive) and Pisa (90-minute drive), as well as neighbouring vineyards and wineries that speckle the valleys (the nearest of which, the charmingly rustic I Balzini, provided wine for Succession). Each morning, a chef will whip up a feast for breakfast – fresh pastries, Italian coffee, with platters of fruit and eggs cooked to order – and is also available for private dining as well as cooking courses for local dishes. Rooms are seriously spacious, all ensuite, and within its original stone structure with farmhouse features (pretty wooden shutters), as well as one studio next to the pool. Outside, there is a BBQ and stone pizza oven on the terrace, numerous dining areas depending on the best spot for the sun, as well as smaller seating nooks, all designed for enjoying Tuscany’s sun-drenched days. Charlotte Davey
Sleeps: 16 guests (across seven ensuite bedrooms in the main house, plus one self-contained pool studio)
Price: from about £24,000 for seven nights 
Thermae
Dating back to the 16th century, this full-of-character villa has lived a varied life, from housing a stable to operating as a nightclub. Today the property is a unique two-bedroom two-bathroom private stay available on Plum Guide. The original honey brick walls are beautifully offset with mid-century modern decor and a sleek chrome kitchen. There’s a home cinema set up, an artist studio space and a striking rainfall shower set without an arched alcove. But the real star of the place is the underground plunge pool, hidden away in the vaults and only accessible via a trapdoor.
Sleeps: four
Price: from about £976 per night, or £244 per person per night, minimum three nights- pool or hiking around the hillside, and evenings sipping on wine from the estate’s vineyard as you gaze at the views beyond. Pop down to the town of Porto Ercole for drinks and dinner (book via The Luxury Travel book to download the app for handy recommendations of places to eat nearby) or book an evening with the villa’s chef for a feast in the comfort of your own home. <em>Olivia Morelli</em>\n<strong>Sleeps:</strong> 14<br>\n<strong>Price:</strong> from about £6,900 per week<br>","contentType":"photo","credit":"","segmentedSources":{"sm":[{"height":213,"width":320,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_320,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"},{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_640,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"}],"md":[{"height":427,"width":640,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_640,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"},{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_1280,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"}],"lg":[{"height":683,"width":1024,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_1024,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"},{"height":1365,"width":2048,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_2048,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"}],"xl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_1280,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"}],"xxl":[{"height":853,"width":1280,"url":"https://media.cntraveller.com/photos/64d0dc688fda363db57f28f1/master/w_1280,c_limit/POERTO%20ERCOLE-tuscany-aug23-pr.jpeg"}]}}}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Villa Porto Ercole
Think of Tuscany, and you’ll likely picture rippling green hills, towering Cypress trees and villas so remote there’s not another building in sight. But down on the region’s south-west corner, Villa Porto Ercole gives guests these views and more – etched into the hillside, endless greenery tumbles down into the blue lagoons of Levante and Orbetello, framed by the region’s more recognisable hills melting into the mainland beyond. The villa sleeps up to 14 guests in an unassuming terracotta-coloured building complete with a giant dining table, living area, games room, gym and outdoor dining area. Spend days soaking up the Tuscan sun by the infinity pool or hiking around the hillside, and evenings sipping on wine from the estate’s vineyard as you gaze at the views beyond. Pop down to the town of Porto Ercole for drinks and dinner (book via The Luxury Travel book to download the app for handy recommendations of places to eat nearby) or book an evening with the villa’s chef for a feast in the comfort of your own home. Olivia Morelli
Sleeps: 14
Price: from about £6,900 per week
Villa Laura
If your trip to this region is inspired by the classic film Under the Tuscan Sun then why not double down on the fantasy and stay at the traditional, centuries-old villa that features in the movie? All of the quintessential elements are here, from soaring beamed ceilings to terracotta tiles and original stonework. Modernised updates include a contemporary kitchen, with a spacious marble-top island, and a games room. In the gardens, there’s a pool, a hot tub and a pizza oven, as well as a farmhouse with additional bedrooms. All in, the estate has space for 16. Take it over for a group holiday and soak up that Italian sunshine.
Sleeps: 16
Price: from about £1,769 per night, or £111 per person per night, seven nights minimum
Villa Argilla
From stone arch doorways to wooden-beamed ceilings and cool flagstones underfoot, this Tuscan villa has all of the hallmarks of a traditional farmhouse. The four bedrooms are set apart from the main villa in three spacious guesthouses, so it’s beautifully private and ideal for big group getaways. The main draw, however, is the exterior – set on a private estate of 150 hectares, the home is surrounded by manicured gardens, a huge pool, fire pit, outdoor Jacuzzi, beach volleyball set-up and a bocce court. Outdoor dining, under the twinkling lights of the pretty cabana, makes the most of the cinematic views over olive groves and dipping hills.
Sleeps: 8
Price: from about £22,733 per week, or £406 per person per night
Castello di Vicarello
Perfectly placed between Rome and Florence, this sprawling Tuscan retreat offers a supremely stylish stay within a 12th-century castle. Much of the history has been preserved – the main kitchen with exposed stone walls and ceiling is a particular highlight – while modern comforts are blended seamlessly throughout. All ten bedrooms come with ensuites, while other features vary from four-posters to terraces with hot tubs, lounge rooms, minibars and even kitchenettes. There’s room for everyone to gather in the glass-walled dining room that overlooks the surrounding gardens. Or for an even better view, lunch can be served outside from the elevated al fresco dining area with views of the surrounding farmland, vineyards, olive groves and soaring Cypress trees. After lunch, head to the infinity pool for a dip – there are two to choose from.
Sleeps: 30
Price: from about £14,000 per night or £720 per person per night, minimum two nights
ANDREA JONESBorgo Santo Pietro
If you don't have the bandwidth to take over an entire villa, Borgo Santo Pietro is a 13th-century Tuscan villa that operates as a boutique hotel. Book into one of the traditional rooms, where murals adorn the walls and antique furniture features throughout or opt for a spacious garden suite where crystal chandeliers hang over four poster beds and doors lead out onto a lavender-filled courtyard. Breakfast is served in the huge farmhouse-style kitchen or on the terrace with views of lemon trees and the green hills beyond.
Sleeps: two
Price: from about £500 per night
Victor FitzVilla Molinella
It’s easy to get lost inside Tenuta di Murlo, an estate that covers 14,000 wild and hilly acres north of Perugia (for context, Manhattan is about 14,500 acres). Guests are directed to the property’s convivial restaurant, Il Caldaro, where Umbria’s talent and taste for authentic food and wine are given full rein, and a car awaits to take them to their villa. From certain angles the grounds look positively Alpine; other corners conjure the spirit of an Italy normally only seen in faded black-and-white photographs. Villa Molinella is the most recent of nine farm buildings to have been restored for private hire – a former water mill, it’s the only one not perched on high ground. But that’s no loss, as it’s cupped, just as scenically, in a wooded glade by a cool green pool in the shape of a speech bubble. The house can, in theory, accommodate four, but owner-manager Carlotta Carabba Tettamanti prefers to limit occupancy of the estate’s most romantic nook to two. Cushions and curtains bring splashes of colour to wood-beamed rooms that invite guests to curl up with a book, or each other. A cute little sauna, well placed for bracing dips in the stream between sessions, is special enough, but the ultimate wow moment comes on discovery of the glass trapdoor in the living room, which opens to reveal a hidden thermal pool. Lee Marshall
Sleeps: Four, but preferably two
Price: From about £1,285 per night
Marco Guercini/Tuscany Now & MorePieve di Ponsano
A rebellious reinvention of a derelict medieval church in the Val d’Elsa hills, this is the cerebral-minimalist project of two friends brought together 15 years ago by their talent for lighting. When Gabriele Galgani, who worked in hotel design, bought the roofless building from the diocese of Volterra, he gave his friend, Compasso d’Oro-recognised designer Emanuel Gargano, almost complete artistic free rein. The result, inspired by monotone Nordic simplicity and Japanese wabi sabi, is both appropriately monastic – the four-bedroom retreat has limewashed walls, unadorned arches, exposed stone, an egg-like bath and ample reading rooms – and a gallery for Gargano’s designs and art, from giant black canvases of repurposed industrial sandpaper to the shadowy glow of his contemporary lamps. The walls of the open-plan living-dining-entertaining space have been peeled back to the original plaster; a medieval well doubles as a hand basin. There’s an area for holistic massage, and the impressive wine cellar (housed in what was once the village well), state-of-the-art music system, helicopter landing spot and accomplished chefs to hand are a clue to Pieve’s intended clientele, offering plenty of sexily lit yang to all that meditative yin. Stephanie Rafanelli
Sleeps: Eight
Price: From about £8,795 per week
Helenio BarbettaVilla Ala Anita and Villa Ala Bianca
Forte dei Marmi – the Italian Hamptons – has been stylish and exclusive ever since the Agnelli family built a holiday home there in the 1920s. Prominent among the gated properties is Augustus Hotel & Resort, which evokes such carefree glamour that it would be no surprise if Marcello Mastroianni appeared at the breakfast buffet. In its spacious parkland, 10 villas have been erected beneath the umbrella pines. The latest, Villa Radici, opened in June, but last summer came Villa Ala Anita and Villa Ala Bianca, which combine the feeling of a Tuscan farmhouse with the elegant mid-century vibe of the Augustus. Stone terraces wound with jasmine overlook gardens and a private pool; interiors are furnished with heated terrazzo floors, lashings of marble and Foscarini lamps. The great delight here is the warm embrace of the hotel, with maid and room service on tap, a spa and a restaurant where waistcoated waiters serve dishes such as sea bass in a salt crust. But the clincher is the beach club, accessed by a tunnel from the grounds of the Agnelli villa (now also part of the hotel). With attendants ferrying drinks to canopied loungers, this is the pampered world of Italian beach clubs at its most sophisticated. Behind the coast are the Apuan Alps, where Michelangelo used to search for marble. He was the first celebrity to swim on these beaches – droves more have followed. Stanley Stewart
Sleeps: Six
Price: From about £1,280 per night
Philip VilePiantaverna
Tucked in a hillside hollow on the tree-tangled Reschio estate where wild boar and deer roam, the four-bedroom Piantaverna is one of seven farmhouses rescued from oblivion over the past two decades that can now be rented. Count Benedikt Bolza, heir and mastermind of the property’s curated wilderness and castle – which he restored and opened as a hotel in 2021 – has had a hand in every detail and architectural flourish of Piantaverna’s pared-down Tuscan good taste. The result is a constantly evolving world in which nothing jars. Lavish breakfasts and seamless dinners of gazpacho, seafood risotto and estate-raised cuts of meat are whisked up by housekeepers and visiting chefs, leaving guests free to cycle the trails on e-bikes, hire the lake for the afternoon, browse Bolza’s antiques workshop, take part in pasta-making classes, ride Spanish purebreds or simply plunge into the peach-shaped pool, which is wrapped in fragrant lavender and surrounded by pines. The count’s father, of Austrian and Hungarian extraction, bought the largely abandoned domain in 1994, when his son was a young architect, eager to somehow replace the family estate lost in communist Hungary. Reschio’s contemporary story is now woven into the tapestry of the family’s history, and in their pursuit of sheer beauty and magic, the Bolzas have achieved far more than a sense of belonging here, pinning this Umbrian backwater on the map. Lydia Bell
Sleeps: Eight
Price: From about £3,650 per night
Villa Ardore
Tuscany is a place of vistas, and Villa Ardore has one of the finest in Chianti – a cascade of vines, framed by cypress trees, a patchwork of olive orchards and pine woods, and centre stage, on the opposing hills, the medieval towers of San Gimignano. Purchased by two California lawyers longing to relocate to Italy, Villa Ardore has undergone a lavish renovation without veering too far from traditional Tuscan motifs of terracotta floors, timber rafters, stone walls, terraced gardens of rosemary and lavender, and fireplaces the size of a Fiat 500. Neatly sidestepping the failing of many high-end villas where an excess of luxury styling too often creates a bland international look, Ardore feels like a real home, with the admirable personal taste of its owners informing everything from the vintage furnishings – I loved the ornate reclaimed zinc and wood bar rescued from a Parisian café – to the contemporary art, most of it for sale. Though, of course, luxury there is.
With a 60-foot infinity pool, a breakfast chef, a gorgeous hotel-standard spa with sauna, eucalyptus steam room, sensory showers, and sunken hot pool, and a 500 bottle wine cellar of Italian vintages, Villa Ardore can rightly claim to be one of the finest villas in Tuscany. Service options range from five-star hotel-style attention, including a private chef, to leave-us-alone privacy. There have been considerable sustainable efforts at Ardore with its reclaimed woods and locally sourced stone. Wells on the property mean they are independent of the public water usage. They operate a grey water system for irrigation while next year they will install photovoltaic panels for solar power. When it comes to experiences, there is a full bespoke menu: excursions in vintage cars, cycling and mountain-biking, horseriding, cooking classes, pottery making, hot-air ballooning, personalised yoga and wellness programs, shopping sprees in Florence’s designer boutiques, less than an hour away. But the best of the villa experiences is something simpler – sitting on an outside terrace with a glass of wine, the aromas from the private chef’s kitchen on the evening air, admiring that ravishing view while dusk gathers round the towers of San Gimignano.
Sleeps: 16 in 8 ensuite bedrooms across two buildings
Price: From about €56,884 for a week
