PONTE DI CASTELVECCHIO HOLIDAY HOUSE 'CASA DELLA TORRE' IN CASTELVECCHIO

We had a fantastic time staying in this beautiful medieval hill top village in this lovely traditional village house. The house is very comfortable and cool, as its a traditional old building with thick walls and shutters, so you come back to a lovely cool house at the end of a hot day sightseeing. It has an open plan kitchen/dining room and living room on the first floor, 2 comfortable bedrooms on the top floor, 2 bathrooms and a utility room. There's lovely views from all the windows in the house. The house is at the top of the village, so there is a bit of a climb to get to it, 5 mins or so from where you park the car at the bottom of the village, but it means you are not on the main thoroughfare and its a quiet spot to relax and enjoy the little terrace at the front of the house, which is covered with vines so is cool and private. There is a bar in the village which has a little shop attached to it, where you can also order fresh bread which is delicious. We also liked the local restaurant, you can easily walk to it from the house.

The owners are extrememly helpful and kind and although they don't speak much english and we don't speak much Italian we managed to get by. Alfiero brought us lovely fresh produce from his garden, plus there was a welcome pack in the house for when we arrived which ensured we had enough supplies for an evening meal (with wine) and breakfast. We felt very welcome in the house and the village and loved the little streets packed with gorgeous flowers.

We explored the surrounding area and loved Lucca with its amazing city walls, would highly recommend hiring the bikes and cycling round the city on the walls, our kids loved it. Plus Lucca has so much to offer, fantastic buildings, churches, squares, delicious ice cream and fabulous shops and restaurants.

We also went to Pisa, it is of course packed around the main area by the Leaning Tower, but as you wander into the city and explore the streets around the student area its surprisingly quiet, with nice little cafes and restaurants with reasonable prices. We would also recommend Pistoia, a nice town which is smaller and less busy but has great squares, restaurants etc.

The immediate area around Castlevecchio is also lovely and we explored some of the other medieval hilltop villages nearby, went into the local town Pescia a few times where there is a large supermarket where you can find everything you need plus local wines.

We loved our stay here.