Tuscany Family Travel Ideas: Skinted or Minted
by Lynette Lowthian
18 September 2008
Ah, Tuscany! – the very name conjures up images of opulence, great food and wine, age-mellowed hill-towns and rolling vineyards peppered with cypress trees. We concentrated our holiday hotspot search in an 80km radius around Siena, deep in the classic landscape of Tuscany and Umbria. Our mission? To discover one money-no-object destination, and another offering much of the same at a fraction of the cost. Remember that the cheapest way to ‘do’ Europe is to camp, using your own car – though this may change if oil prices keep rising…
Minted
Start as you mean to go on, in style: fly Club Class from Heathrow to Rome airport, when you can pick up a 4x4 (make sure to book one with properly fitted infant/child seats) – vehicles may be over-the-top in urban London traffic but are perfect for the undulating landscape of Tuscany.
As far as hilltop estates are concerned, Tuscany is your oyster. I can personally recommend the Fattoria del Colle near the village of Trequanda, about 60km from Siena and within striking distance of many beautiful Tuscan towns and cities. Built from a cluster of farmhouses around a 16th-century villa, it has 19 apartments furnished in traditional Tuscan style, three pools, a tennis court, an Italianate garden and a restaurant serving typical local fare – plus a weekly programme of fun activities for the family.
Total for 2wks in August 2008 for two adults and two kids aged 2 – 11 = £6,100 (£2,822 BA Club Class Heathrow–Rome, £880 hire of Nissan Trail 4X4 with child and infant seat hire, £2,377 for accommodation at a hilltop estate such as Fattoria del Colle).
Skinted
Yes, you can have it all even if your wallet’s looking a bit lean – you’re just going to have to work a bit harder! For starters, you’re going to drive, so you’re looking at keeping the kids happy in the back of the car for 16+ hours. My advice is to take lots of breaks and make an overnight stop in a family room each way – use Formula 1 or a similar budget chain. You will also need to budget for petrol and tolls, and for meals en route.
Could it be cheaper to book budget airline flights? Well, possibly – but getting to see the see the lovely sites Tuscany has to offer really calls for a car, and car hire in Italy is notoriously expensive.
If you book a basic mobile home for a family of four the camping village of Parco delle Piscine , you get access to three springwater pools fringed with sun loungers, a children’s pool, tennis courts and a pool bar. It also has get free clubs for kids, from toddlers to teenagers, and lots of on-site family activities. If you book with a company such as Canvas, Siblu or Keycamp, your Dover/Calais ferry crossing is included.
Parco delle Piscine is set in hectares of lovely parkland, but if prolonged campsite life gets to you, the town of Sarteano with its medieval hilltop castle is just a short stroll away – here you can shop, drink and eat to your heart’s content in true Italian style.
Total for 12 nights in August 2008 for two adults and two kids 2 – 11 = £1680 (£400 petrol and tolls, £200 overnight stops and sustenance on way, £1080 ferry crossing and accommodation in basic mobile home)
Other Minted/Skinted Suggestions
• A luxury family-friendly hotel in our own glorious West Country – perhaps Dorset’s Moonfleet Manor , or Fowey Hall in Cornwall – or a holiday park run by a firm such as Hoseasons
• A budget flight to Marseille followed by a tour of Provence by motorhome , or a flight to Nice on the Côte d’Azur and then a splurge on five-star, family-friendly luxury at Le Mas Candille
• A club-class flight to Miama, Florida, followed by a hotel stay in the Keys, or an economy flight to New York followed by hiring a camper-van to explore New York State.
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