Our Italian Rental
Renovated getaway in the Tuscan hillside, sleeps 9 or 10 with a hot tub outside.
Max. occupancy: 9 or 101 king bed, 2 queen beds, 1 twin bed, 2 sofa beds4 bedrooms3.5 bathrooms
Welcome to Casa Delle Vista, our beautiful villa in Northern Tuscany in a tiny little town called Pieve di Monti di Villa. It is situated above Bagni di Lucca facing the Alps. You may have heard about the fortress/walled city of Lucca, which is only 30 minutes away. The Bagni di Lucca train station is just 10-15 minutes away in Fornoli.
This multi-floor villa has 4 bedrooms (1 king, 2 queen, and 1 twin, sofa beds) and 3.5 bathrooms, a pizza oven, a private courtyard, patio, and garden area, as well as a large terrace facing a magnificent view of the Alps. An ancient church borders the back of our property and is a lovely piece of history to the area. It is only used for ceremonial uses and is mostly unoccupied.
There is now A/C in the main living area and the master bedroom and a pellet boiler for radiant heat in every room.
The laundry room has a combined washer/dryer and the kitchen boasts an American-sized fridge.
Antique marble tiles in the family/game room with faux fireplace and private terrace as well as access to the private courtyard.
There is a small hot tub in the cellar facing the mountains and antique church.
The primary bedroom has an en suite bathroom and views, and the 2nd bedroom has great views as well and is just a couple steps from the full guest bath in the main hallway, the office/small bedroom is set up for sleep or work with a printer, single bed and desk. The guest suite is private, separate from the rest of the bedrooms, off the courtyard, and has an attached full bath.
Bring the whole family or just do a little getaway for yourself!
The local bar (restaurant) is just steps from our villa and is open most of the year. A brand new restaurant opened up just a few minutes from our house in Pieva, La Corte de Laura. It has traditional Tuscan food, but they do not speak English.
You can relax and enjoy all the stunning places to sit and look at the views, or travel via train anywhere! Go to Lucca and check out the walled city, or just meander your way to the hot springs all along Lucca!
So much to see and do in this lovely area of Italy!
The link to our AirBnB ad will help you select this rental.
Grocery:
- Conad Supermarket: Bagni Di Lucca – (12 min down the hill in Bagni di Lucca) small grocer with all the basics
- INCOOP: Fornoli (14 min) small grocery with all the basics
- New one just opened? (name/address)
Cafe/coffee shop
- Bar Roma di Tomei – Bagni di Lucca (12 min down the hill in Bagni di Lucca)- relaxing spot in the square for coffee, croissants, light sandwiches, also have beer/wine/cocktails.
- Catene Cafe – (14 min down the hill) in Fornoli; coffee, croissants, pizza by the slice
- Bar Italia – Bagni di Lucca (10 min down the hill in Bagni di Lucca) right off the bridge, coffee, pastries, snacks
Restaurants
- Rifugio Fiori – Pieve di Monti di Villa on the main road as you enter the town on the left; local owners, speak English, home style traditional Italian, casual atmosphere (closed Mondays during summer and open on weekends and by reservation during winter -Achille owner 37 3916108
- Ristorante del Sonno – Bagni di Lucca (12 min down the hill in Bagni di Lucca) local old style Italian restaurant, wonderful truffle dishes (pasta and steak), also pizzeria attached. Menu in English. We go there every time we are here.
- II Garfagnino Di Noona Clara (20 min) Family restaurant large portions, steaks, pastas, no English
- Antica Locanda dell’Angelo Lucca inside the walls (45 min) Had our anniversary dinner there, Wonderful food
- Ristorante La Cantina di Alfredo – Lucca – outside walls, easy parking, can make reservati ns on Enjoyed steak Florentine, roasted potatoes, and tiramisu – we will definitely go again
Other Places to Eat we have not tried yet
Inside Lucca city walls (45 min) all recommended by Janelle Kaye Priest
• La Norma – really great food, family is from Sicily.
• Trattoria Da Nonna Clara -Tuscan style, Their Cinghiale Umido (wild boar} is best in Lucca.
• L’isola Che Non C’era -The chef Lori, has a gift for rabbit and duck. Her Coniglio alla Cacciatora is fantastic.
• Vecchia Tratorria Buralli has a gift for cooking pig and a nona who makes pasta all day you can watch her.
• Ristorante Lucca in Tavola – Michele’s wife is the chef and she has a gift for fish and seafood.
Places to Visit:
Italy has so much to see and explore from the famous cities of Florence, Pisa, Lucca to amazing coastal towns of Cinque Terra to the small medieval towns of San Gimignano, Volterra, and Siena.
Train station in Bagni di Lucca/Fornoli (15 min) you can get connections anywhere in Italy. You can park your car at the train station (we did for 8 days when we traveled around Italy). There is also a bus you can take from Pieve.
Lucca: Historic walled city dating back to Romans (45 min car/30 min train from Bagni di Lucca under €10)
Via Fillungo: Main street shopping district in Lucca by the medieval plaza
Piazza Anfiteatro: Main city square built on an ancient Roman amphitheater, many restaurants, shops
Torre Guinigi: climb the tower with an observation deck
We recommend booking Food tour through Tripadvisor or Viator– see most of the main town sites while enjoying local food and recommendations for dinners
Pisa: Historic famous tower complex etc. (1 hr 10 min car/lhour train from Bagni di Lucca – under €10)
Florence: Historic city of the Renaissance (1 hr 30 min car/2 hr 20 min train from Bagni Di Lucca – €15 to €30)
Cinque Terra: Famous 5 cliffside villages on the coast; Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso al Mare. (2 hours by car, 2hr 40min train from Bagni di Lucca €25)
• There is a train that connects the 5 towns (highly recommended as driving and parking at each town is a challenge, if you drive to Monterosso or another town, you can park and then use the train to hop between towns)
• Boat/ferry or kayak recommended to see towns from the sea view
Voltera: 2 hours south famous for alabaster and Roman theatre ruins – GOOD IDEA TO GO TO BOTH Voltera and San Gimnignano on the same day
San Gimignano: 2 hr south Historic center and many towers – some you can climb to the top for amazing views
Bologna: Foodie City (2 hr 30 min car/3hr 30 min train €55)
Other places we have yet to visit:
Pistoia: 1 hour east on the way to Florence (some hiking options Ponte Sospeso di San Marcell P1sto1ese)
Monecatini: 45 min east (Gotta Moona cave with small climbing wall area)
Vicopisano: 1 hour south – castle to tour
Orbetello: on the coast (3 hour drive south on the coast)
Giglio Island: Island off Orbetello above Casentino area So of Arezzo (2hr 40 min east)
Poppi: 3 hours east, past Florence – has Hotel San Lorenzo for 80 Euros)
Suvereto: 2 hours 40 min south on coast – lots of wineries;
Santa Luce Reserve: 1 hr 30 min south (Lake)
Puglia Italy Aberobello: (This is way down near the boot of Italy- need a separate trip)
Hot Springs:
- Spa and Wellness I Visit Tuscany
- Terme di Casciana (1 hour 40 min): nice packages for spa, massage, etc. Home – Terme di Casciana
- La Carretta Terme (2 hours 10 min): Have spa and dinner packages available (4 hour spa plus taster menu for €70. Spa and Dinner with Tasting Menu at Osteria delle Terme – La Cerreta (lacerretaterme.it)
- Grotto Giusti: 1 hr 10 min drive. Highly Recommended by Canadians we met. Website looks Amazing. Thermal grotto – Grotta Giusti (grottagiustispa.com)
Antiques:
- Fair in Arezzo 1st Sunday of each month (and prior Sat)
- Firenze Via Santo Spirito 32/r Florence
- Via Di Tempagnano
Antiques around the Duomo (3rd sat/sun each month) - Lucca