Did you miss the other Parts?

Part 1: Rome | Part II: Positano | Part III: Venice

The basics of our time in Tuscany:

  • Tuscany 6 Nights – Oct 4-10
  • Diacceroni – 6 nights, $581 (near Volterra) – PANIERRACI location
    • Wish we could’ve stayed at the main hub for convenience but still worth it at Panierracci
    • Quality of stay – “rustic Italy” accomodations with resort style pool – well kept.
    • Panierracci is literally RIGHT down the road from Diaccerroni it just takes 10 min because the road is VERY bumpy you are off roading on a washed out gravel road. 
    • Kid friendly, beautiful, not the most organized with making plans but pull it all off nonetheless
    • use the app and we got fresh chocolate croissants and limone tea to our door every morning!! to die for.
  • Mosquitos were NOT as bad as Venice

Day 1: Drive from Venice Airport, get Car at DrivItalia, to Panierracci

  • Stop for lunch and tasting on the way:  RivaSud
    • One of the best lunches in Tuscany! Gorgeous place, kind owner, amazing Florentine steak and fresh pasta. Let the owner choose a couple things to bring to your table! We shared from starters, pasta, and steak and it was the most blissful day.
    • Dinner at Diacceroni – hotel restaurant 

Day 2 rest, wine tour / pasta night

  • Breakfast at hotel, order in app by 
  • 11:30 MonteRosso Winery private tour – 30 min away – small snacks and wine tasting included. 65E pp
    • One of the most beautiful wineries with multiple secret wine tasting rooms, built in the last couple of years. Organic wines and Vernaccia typical of the area. They also make grappa which we added onto our tasting. 
    • Plan to stick around they have wonderful outdoor lounge spaces
    • They were finishing up picking the harvest that day so their staff was mostly out in the fields. If you want to see grapes on the vine, keep that in mind for October traveling. 
  • Thursday (Pasta dinner) –  is all buffet style and first come, first seating– no reservations needed. Go when they start and before 7pm as the seating fills fast and you want a table closer to the food line and with a view

Day 3 – San Gimignano day!

  • 9am-dusk – Ebike available from Diacceroni – ended up returning because the bike was rickety and the dirt roads were so washed out with huge rivets I was not looking for mountain biking I was looking for bliss smooth riding through the Tuscan hills and didn’t find it… 
  • 10:30AM- 1:30pm : Lasagna cooking class for 2 adults and 1 baby on 06/10/2023 at 10:30 for a total cost of – 90E pp
    • This ended up being the best pasta we had the entire trip. It is magic inside it and worth the longer time commitment! Then they set you up to enjoy it at the restaurant’s special seating overlooking the fields and it included wine through the class and while you enjoy it. We had leftovers!! 
  • 2:30 leave for San G
    • Parking lots for car available right at the main port entrance
  • 3pm walk around San G
  • 4-6:30pm Guide – https://www.toursbylocals.com/sangimignano
    • Emailed Simonida – $192.67 for tour for 5 people. She was really nice and told us some extra tricks about getting the “world’s best gelato”. She also took us up to the very top view over San G which had a Vernaccia bar at the top of the town – we would’ve never found it without her. 
  • 7:30 Dinner Cum Quibus – Ristorante Toscano
    • Delicious, intimate place for one of our nicest meals – and we got to sit in the dreamy quaint courtyard
    • The Florentine steak is most popular here but we had already enjoyed it at RivaSud!

Day 4, Saturday Oct 7

  • 12:30 Booked: San Donato Wine tasting – Il Colombaio – – 40 min away – available 11:30AM-5:30pm
    • 6 wines + 4 course lunch = 75pp
    • About Locanda Dei Logi – inside former rectory building of San Donato Church The Logi’s Inn consists of a central building with 6 rooms and few common areas, living room, bar area, and tasting room. In a further building nearby a wine bar is also located; there you can taste and buy all the wines from the Colombaio di Santa Chiara.
    • I think this was our favorite wine tasting and lunch!!! All organic wines, everything was stunning and the pasta was so fresh and tasty and typical for the area. They ended with a cheese course that we didn’t love. Make sure you walk around the property too it is unbelievable.
      • walking in the vineyard close to Locanda
      • trekking route through Castelvecchio Riserva that is just behind our agriturismo
  • Saturday (Welcome party at Diacceroni), is all buffet style and first come, first seating– no reservations needed. Go when they start and before 7pm as the seating fills fast and you want a table closer to the food line and with a view… we never had trouble with seating though and we got there late!

Day 5, Lucca wine tour day

  • AM: Breakfast / pool at hotel
  • 11:30 – leave for lunch – 1 hr 10 min drive
  • 1245-215pm – Bimbotti – Lunch on the way : http://www.bimbotto.it/ – we chose this place for a halfway point and had good review on Google but i don’t quite recommend…
    • Was very authentic but do not recommend and definitely do not get their “Nonna’s wine” that is the house wine. 
    • For reservations: For reservations: 0583.971193
  • 230-4:30 Fratelli Urbani Red Gold Tasting – $25/pp with meats and cheese – emailed 7/17 confirmed on August 13 by email originally booked on WhatsApp
    • OK the cutest place to do a tasting – you do it in between the vines. But the wine was not good, the people were WONDERFUL. The food they brought out was plentiful and everything handmade with love – ultimately don’t recommend.
  • 4:50-630 Tenuta Adamo – $30/pp with meats and cheese 1.30min
    • AMAZING wine over a beautiful property. Huge board of meat and cheese came out we did not need dinner after. 
  • Ultimately I wish we had just done Tenuta Adamo and then walked around Lucca in the walls because it was right around the corner.

Day 6, M – Volterra

  • Volterra was SO different than any other town – untouched by tourists it seemed.
  • Volterra walking guide, aperitivo in the main square, and then dinner after all planned by my friends – wonderful stop to go back to – we were some of the only tourists it was so lovely compared to how slammed San Gimignano was. 
  • dinner: Osteria dei Poeti – very rustic and authentic the owners are a lovely married couple. 
  • closest parking lots to the center, with elevator for strollers: La Dogana parking lot (for a fee and a few meters from our meeting point)

Day 7, Oct 10 – T

  • Check out
  • Drive bologna – 2 hour 18 min  drive from volterra – make sure Waze does not say “Avoid tolls”
  • Check in Hotel cavour – one of my favorite hotels, so nice for a great price and great breakfast in a great location right off of Via Indipendenza.
    • Check-in: from 14:00 PM
    • Check-out: until 11:00 AM
    • Breakfast included
    • In case of No-show or cancellation NO REFUND
    • Requested a crib + additional twin bed for adult
    • No freezer in room but Breastmilk can be stored in bar freezer if you email them in advance
  • – Best gelato: Cremeria Cavour. Don’t be intimidated by the line it moves fast. Make sure you ask for the chocolate that they can fill the bottom of your cone with before the scoops. It is like Nutella “nocciiola” hazelnut drizzle inside and it’s not really advertised but look for other people adding it in the line! 
  • Aperitivo options:
    • – The best deal is via Zamboni, first aperativo on the left walking away from due torre. You order a drink and it’s all you can eat small plates and they have a giant parm wheel lol. This is the one all college age people go to (this street is also where the clubs and nightlife)
    • The nicest is to the left of  Caffe Zanarini – my favorite, really nice
    • Or stanze aperitivo
  • 8pm reservation at Emmanuelle’s La Drogheria della Rosa – you can’t leave Bologna without this authentic, fine dining with wine poured all night and a character of an owner! 

Day 8

  • Fly home
  • Car Return – DrivAlia – awful – no signage for returning car ; once we were found we were cursed at in Italian because the car was so dusty… Tuscany was VERY dry and yes the car was covered with the dust from the back roads…
  • BLQ-LHR-MIA -RDU – 2 stops –
    • LHR: avoid at all cost the tram to get to customs check was so long we barely made our flight. 
    • They would not let us call ahead to book the bassinet, or book it with an attendant at check in. We did beg them to give us a bassinet LHR to Miami when we were boarding on the long leg and they were rude but did give it to us. We packed our bassinet sheet to put on top of it and used the Hush for sound machine for him. 
    • We paid extra to book the bulkheads to have a chance at the bassinet. From what I understand if we hadn’t have had the bulkhead seats they would not have let us use it. Bassinet hooks into the left side, center side, and right side on our plane for British Airways. 

Most used items:

  • Baby Bjorn mini carrier – so lightweight and not bulky! Blake preferred the doona up and down the bridges but I preferred baby carrying – after so many times of gripping the doona it was tering up my nails
  • vintage polaroid camera + case – Blake god this for my first mother’s day and all the polaroids make Banks’s baby book. So sweet.
  • Kavu – gender neutral so Blake or I could sling it on, fits diaper + travel essentials, hidden passport pocket inside for cash, passports, etc. very secure!
  • Doona – car seat / stroller 2-in-1 – approval for aviation flights, and approved for EU travel in cars!
  • knit Stroller / nursing cover 3-in-1 –
  • Ceres Chiller – the best on the go pumping / chilling / bottle portation device for travel and back to work
  • Chacos – I rotated between these and OnClouds every day. So comfortable for all the walking. Amazon drops them down to $29 on good sale days!  
  • OnClouds
  • My Amazon Storefront – “Traveling with Baby” shop for everything i brought that is on amazon!