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TotalGuide I Tuscany & Umbria Stand in line: cypress trees in Val d’Orcia; the writer’s sons making a splash; church, Sarteano; family lunch in the pergola. Opposite, the tiny Cappella di Vitaleta, San Quirico d’Orcia Famiglia ground Three generations, one holiday! A very special Tuscan villa is home from home for Jeremy Lazell and gang, inside and out… t was a poo that did it. My toddler’s poo, no development. And what to do? Endless gorgeous point of Tuscany and Umbria is that you don’t need floating like a final straw in a Seychelles towns, and the wineries in between, that’s what. AS A FATHER OF THREE, I’VE headliners like Siena. Wherever you go will have hotel pool. The honeymooners didn’t like So you could stick a pin in any Tumbrian villa LOST VILLA DEPOSITS FROM cobbles and churches and grannies hobbling down it. Nor did my wife: ‘Can we please not do brochure page and be happy. Stick it on Casa del Pastore, medieval alleys in their aprons. More importantly, hotels again ’til the kids have left home?’ she though, and you should crack open the Prosecco now. SICILY TO THE SOUTH OF it’ll also have a piazza where you can eat gelati asked. So began our love affair with villas. Fifty minutes south of Siena, lording it over Val d’Orcia while watching the world go by. Because as any parent will tell you, villas Dream day trip: from a heartstoppingly secluded hillside perch, Casa FRANCE — UNBREAKABILITY So that’s what we do. We swim, we read, we have Dream day trip: are the ultimate answer to the age-old THE CROWD-FREE del Pastore is the villa to beat all villas. lunch in the garden, then we go for ice cream in THE HIKE CITY IS THEREFORE A BIG DEAL The Apuan Alps may question: how the hell can you holiday Quieter than the Why? Well, location counts for a lot. A kilometre from towns that no one’s heard of — Sarteano, Cetona, be known for marble, with kids and not die of shame? Villas region’s big hitters, its nearest neighbour, staring out across a cypress-spiked when granny goes to the loo at night; super-thick walls Chianciano — but which all make us wonder but they’re also home are isolation units in the sun, they’re holding pens Lucca is a handsome, valley towards Mount Amiata, Casa del Pastore has so granny doesn’t hear the kids’ early starts; good wi-fi, why the hell we live in Britain. to Tuscany’s best with pools — and there’s that added bonus/drawback low-key city not far location in spades. ‘It’s quite castle-y,’ says the eight-year- even outside; twin dishwashers to keep the workload On our last day, the grandparents offer to take us hike, a five-hour loop from Pisa. Its broad, on a well-marked I(delete as necessary): the grandparents can come, too. tree-lined ramparts old on our first approach down the dusty track. It’s not. down and flies to a minimum… But it would all count out to lunch. ‘Does it have a pool?’ asks the eight-year- footpath (CIA No. 6) There are pitfalls, mind. Too remote is boring; too are the perfect spot It’s a traditional Tuscan farmhouse. But the dizzying for niente if the outside weren’t so good. old. ‘Is there somewhere we can play football while we around Monte Forato posh frays the nerves; too little garden and there will for the classic Italian isolation, the towering views… Castle-y isn’t far off. For starters, there’s the best villa pool I have ever wait for our food?’ asks the 10-year-old. ‘I’d probably from Fornovolasco passeggiata. (see Ring of Monte be tantrums. Not all of them from the kids. We’ve had It’s also decidedly posh. But not prissy posh. It’s solid, experienced. It’s 16m — plenty long enough for proper rather just hang at the villa,’ says the 12-year-old. Beforehand, get your Forato at turismo. overbearing owners living on-site in Andalucía; lorries bird’s-eye view of practical, farmhouse posh, with exposed stone walls, pre-breakfast lengths (and a good 9m longer than the I know exactly how he feels. intoscana.it). Via the crunching gears outside the bedroom on Corsica; on terracotta rooftops chunky terracotta tiles, antique dressers, worn oak tables, Sicilian villa pool where I had to tether my ankles to the For a selection of self-catering options, see overleaf. Tana Che Urla cave Zakynthos, the maid’s son drowned kittens in our pool. from the top of the and well-loved sofas in the lounge. And right off the fence to get a decent swim) and with that vast Val d’Orcia (listen for the Guinigi Tower underground river Then 15 years ago, we found it. The One. Tuscany. And (lemuradilucca.it/ kitchen? Table tennis and table football. ‘Make yourself backdrop for extra Instagram likes. Then there’s the Get me there: Invitation to Tuscany (020 8108 2432, — people used to Umbria. OK — the Two. We found the Two. It was the sheer torri/torre-guinigi; at home,’ it says. ‘You won’t break anything.’ Now, I’m the pergola: we ate every meal here, soaking up the views invitationtotuscany.com) has 150 handpicked properties, think it was the roar abundance of traditional, hilltop villas here that swung £3.50), quirkily father of three boys, and I’ve lost villa deposits from Sicily and frittering away long, Vino Nobile-soaked evenings all visited by locally raised owner Dan Wrightson and his from hell), you’ll reach it: farmers built high to catch the cooling breeze, so now planted with seven to the south of France, so unbreakability is a big deal. watching fireflies fill the warm, cloudless nights. Italian team. A week at Casa del Pastore starts at £2,550 a spectacular stone oak trees — you’ll arch near the you can’t move for villas with mighty views: cypresses need their shade as So, too, are the multi-generational boxes Casa del Which partly explains why we never make it 50 per week (sleeping eight). The nearest airport is Perugia 1,230m-high summit dotting the landscape, tractors pootling between vines, it’s 230 steps up! Pastore ticks: all bedrooms are en-suite, so no waking up minutes north to Siena. I say partly, because the whole (see Factfile on page 78). of Monte Forato. 74 SUNDAY TIMES TRAVEL JUNE 2017 JUNE 2017 SUNDAY TIMES TRAVEL 75 TotalGuide I Tuscany & Umbria La casa nostra Bargain bolthole? Love-nest? Party pad? Luxury hideaway? One of these holiday homes has your name written all over it… Get high: the pool at Villa Carosella is the sprawling estate ideal for big groups; of Murlo. Opposite, hillwalkers’ bolthole clockwise from top Villa Dolcevento; left, alfresco nibbles Castel Monastero at traditional has a spa and Gordon farmhouse Isola Ramsay restaurant; Rossa; stoneflagged Elton John’s fave Casa Fontefaggio for — Castello di bargain-hunters; Santa Eurasia For families pizza oven, toys, pool — in short, family golf course, and footpaths aplenty and antiques, and pool-views towards massive (26m) horizon pool. Modern art For big groups l Run by two Dutch pals who loved heaven. A week from £1,869; sleeps 8. through ancient oak forests hilltop Lugliano. An added bonus is the abounds and a hydraulic roof retracts l Oliverstravels.com delivers quirky Umbria so much they made it their surrounding the castle. Tiglio is the company’s flight-booking service (£30) to let in thyme-scented breezes. properties that don’t cost the earth. Villa home, villainumbria.com knows its For couples couples’ choice, with a private pool, to save you the tiresome online flight A week from £13,187; sleeps 10. Carosella in southern Tuscany is 7km villas inside out. Top pick for young l To-tuscany.com has hundreds of whirlpool tub, and a bathtub-for-two hunt. A week from £1,264; sleeps 8. l Twenty minutes from Siena, Villa from the hilltop town of Radicofani, and families is Villa San Terenziano near villas, but Chianti was its first love, and it gazing over Monte Tezio Valley. Don’t l Central and southern Italy expert Lavanda is a stylish 17th-century comes with eight en-suite bedrooms Pantalla, which has a gated pool, toys, serves this area best. In the hills above Dream day trip: fancy cooking? Request a chef, or essentialitaly.co.uk recommends farmhouse in the grounds of Castel plus a home theatre, sauna, tennis court Dream day trip: THE CAMPARI stair gates and a lovely lawn with Castellina in Chianti (40 minutes from THE EASY BEACH dine in the estate’s restaurant. Casa Fontefaggio as a great, affordable Monastero (castelmonastero.com), and poolside sofas with views over Val a slide. A week from £1,049; sleeps 8. Florence and Siena), Ginestra is a clever Castiglioncello pulled A week from £1,037; sleeps 2. pad for two-family groups, with five a medieval hilltop hamlet turned luxury d’Orcia. A week from £8,022; sleeps 17. SPRITZ STOP in movie starlets in Let’s be honest, any l Scottwilliams.co.uk promises farmhouse conversion with mezzanine bedrooms, four bathrooms, two hotel — so you can still use the spa, l Putting you directly in touch with the’60s; now the snifter, any piazza will ‘unique access to extraordinary houses’. lounge, shaded terrace dining, a pool Livornian town is For bargain-hunters lounges, and loads of nooks for the kids.

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