Pontassieve Vacation Rental apartment

We stayed in the Cipresso studio in this newly renovated 15th century watchtower and found it to be the ideal place from which to explore Tuscany and Florence. The studio is of a decent size with a basic but useful kitchen. It's smaller than the Alba & Vista apartments (which we had a quick peek into while we were there, and which are probably better if you're looking at an extended stay of a few weeks/months), but suited the two of us perfectly for the week we were there. The studio's terrace has a wonderful view across the valley and over to the nearby hills; sitting here at dusk with a wine and antipasto bought from Pontassieve was pretty close to the highlight of our Italian trip.

Pontassieve is about 5 or so minutes down the hill by car (it's 30 minutes on foot - we walked it a few times) and is about 20 minutes to Florence SMN by train. Sitting on top of the hill behind the property is the Nipozzano castle, part of the Frescobaldi family's winemaking 'empire' and a good place for winetasting. If you like walking, which we do, there are a number of small towns about an hour's walk from the property - we tramped over to Pelgao - with good eating and drinking when you get there.

Jane & Gianpiero, the owners of the property, are lovely people and were extremely welcoming. We enjoyed their place so much that we extended our stay by two nights. I cannot recommend this property highly enough. If we ever go back to the area, this is where we staying.