vacation fool Posted August 11, 2011 #1 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have already gotten so much info on planning for our tuscany trip next year so here goes another question. Friends took a tour a few years back where they stopped at a local farmhouse where the family charged a price and just kept bringing out wine and home cooked foods that they had prepared. No menu, just what they had prepared for the day. I am having difficulty locating these type of places. Of course if they have food or wines for sale one can also purchase, but this is different from touring a winery. Cannot even find them on trip advisor. If anyone has been or knows of places can i please have name and website or email address if you have it? Thanks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cberge Posted August 11, 2011 #2 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have already gotten so much info on planning for our tuscany trip next year so here goes another question. Friends took a tour a few years back where they stopped at a local farmhouse where the family charged a price and just kept bringing out wine and home cooked foods that they had prepared. No menu, just what they had prepared for the day. I am having difficulty locating these type of places. Of course if they have food or wines for sale one can also purchase, but this is different from touring a winery. Cannot even find them on trip advisor. If anyone has been or knows of places can i please have name and website or email address if you have it? Thanks :) Usually these types of things are(were) set up through a small cruiseline(the bigger ones just have to many people),and they are offered when you book your cruise and/or if you are taking the ships transportation from say Rome to the port or offered as a tour off the ship. I have not seen to many of them of late,but you could ask your cruiseline if they offer something like this.If it is just yoiurselves going to Tuscany with a guide I am sure they could arrange something for you or stop in a small toen for luncheon.Try Google as well.Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cberge Posted August 11, 2011 #3 Share Posted August 11, 2011 BTW,You may want to post this on the Italy board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksps cruise fan Posted August 11, 2011 #4 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I have already gotten so much info on planning for our tuscany trip next year so here goes another question. Friends took a tour a few years back where they stopped at a local farmhouse where the family charged a price and just kept bringing out wine and home cooked foods that they had prepared. No menu, just what they had prepared for the day. I am having difficulty locating these type of places. Of course if they have food or wines for sale one can also purchase, but this is different from touring a winery. Cannot even find them on trip advisor. If anyone has been or knows of places can i please have name and website or email address if you have it? Thanks :) If the lunch has to be a farm house experience, I can't help you with a personal recommendation. However, I can enthusiastically recommend the lunch and wine tasting at Castello Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti. There are different levels of this experience. We did the "Wine and Food Experience" but there is a somewhat smaller meal option. The tour was interesting, the grounds of the castello are gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the wines were excellent and plentiful. In fact, the wines are so plentiful I do not recommend you visit the Castello as a rent-a-car activity! Incidentally, I found what you're looking for in about 30 seconds. I typed "farmhouse" "lunch" and "Tuscany" into Google. This led me to a website titled "Luggage Tags and Sunblock" -- specifically to a page titled "Lunch on a Tuscan Farm." The post is from November 2010 so this farm is still likely offering meals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Lew- Posted August 11, 2011 #5 Share Posted August 11, 2011 I can enthusiastically recommend the lunch and wine tasting at Castello Verrazzano in Greve in Chianti. Although I have not dined at Castello Verrazzano myself, my daughter and son-in-law just returned from 10 days in Rome and Florence with a group of business associates. They enjoyed dinner at Castello Verrazzano and have not stopped raving about it. We're definitely going to go there on our next trip to Tuscany. I suggest you at least research it. Lew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobalink Posted August 11, 2011 #6 Share Posted August 11, 2011 We were just at Castello di Verranzzo last month. It is beautiful! You must have a reservation for lunch. Check their website: http://www.verrazzano.com/en/ We made our home base in Montepulciano at a farmhouse, and drove all over the Tuscan hill towns. Greve in Chianti was about an hour drive for us, and we took the Autostrada to get there, and then made our way UP the hills to get there. From your other posts that I have read, you were undecided about driving in Italy. If you don't have a rental car, you may be able to find a private excursion to take you there. The day we were there, there were 2 tour buses visiting. We took lots of beautiful photographs of the grounds and the beautiful views. It was a lovely day. We purchased some of their wine at the retail shop at the bottom of the hill. Regarding "lunch at a farmhouse," I hope you find one using a private tour company that doesn't work with the cruise lines. From our 2 experiences - The cruise lines offer "lunch at a farmhouse," but the experience is shared with about 100 others and the food was just okay. Our friends wanted us to join them for the ship's excursion in Dubrovnik that went to a farmhouse, and the place was nice, but the "folk lore" show was hokey, and lunch was okay. When we were on our Baltic cruise, we visited a farm in Finland that raised a special breed of horses, that was an excellent experience. The owners interacted with the guests, the lunch was great and the farm was very interesting. That was a ship's excursion that we did enjoy. Enjoy your visit to Tuscany. I am already making plans to go back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacation fool Posted August 11, 2011 Author #7 Share Posted August 11, 2011 Incidentally, I found what you're looking for in about 30 seconds. I typed the same thing as you did. I have googled, etc. I do not get the page you say you got.I typed "farmhouse" "lunch" and "Tuscany" into Google. This led me to a website titled "Luggage Tags and Sunblock" -- specifically to a page titled "Lunch on a Tuscan Farm." The post is from November 2010 so this farm is still likely offering meals. ya think maybe you could tell me the name of it is ?Thanks for the name of castello verrazzano. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksps cruise fan Posted August 11, 2011 #8 Share Posted August 11, 2011 ya think maybe you could tell me the name of it is ?Thanks for the name of castello verrazzano. Now why on earth would you write "... you say you got"? I assure you I don't make up information and post it on the internet. If your keywords "lunch/Tuscany/farmhouse" didn't work, did you try "Luggage Tags and Sunblock," the name of the website I mentioned upthread? At any rate, here's the link: http://jelyha.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/now-this-is-living/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andym Posted August 12, 2011 #9 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Celebrity offer a 'Tuscan Countryside tour' Volterra and San Gimignano and Lunch at a farmhouse. We have done it twice, excellent value for money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikishel Posted August 12, 2011 #10 Share Posted August 12, 2011 We are planning on a staying a few days in Florence between cruises and I found this company. Sounds similar to the tour your friends took. This company's tours picks you up in Florence. Search for walkabout tours florence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacation fool Posted August 12, 2011 Author #11 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Now why on earth would you write "... you say you got"? I assure you I don't make up information and post it on the internet. umm, not really sure where you are going with this? my statement was meant to be that i could not find what you did- period. it was not a challenge or an accusation. not sure why you would take that so negatively instead of interpreting it that you are more skilled at searching than i am? i have noticed that your responses seem to have an "edge" to them but i chose to ignore it. i am on here seeking information not to spar with anyone. responses should not be geared toward game playing or making another person feel stupid. if you do not want to come out and share the info then why are you on this site? i assure you i am not completely stupid. i have a masters degree. if you interpreted my statement in any other way then perhaps you should not respond to my posts as unfortunate as that may be for me because you do have good information. At any rate, here's the link: http://jelyha.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/now-this-is-living/ thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacation fool Posted August 12, 2011 Author #12 Share Posted August 12, 2011 We are planning on a staying a few days in Florence between cruises and I found this company. Sounds similar to the tour your friends took. This company's tours picks you up in Florence. Search for walkabout tours florence Thanks so much. Will check it out. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksps cruise fan Posted August 12, 2011 #13 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Vacation Fool, Apologies. I am dealing with a serious family medical issue and I let my stress over that situation spill over to my replies to you. However, I will gently suggest that if neither "lunch/farmhouse/Tuscany" nor "Luggage Tags and Sunblock" produced results using a Goggle search, you might want to see if your link to Google has gotten corrupted or whatever the proper technical term is. You also might explore using Bing as an alternative to Google if you're getting disappointing search results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andym Posted August 12, 2011 #14 Share Posted August 12, 2011 This is where we went http://www.torciano.com/EU/winery/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacation fool Posted August 12, 2011 Author #15 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Vacation Fool, Apologies. I am dealing with a serious family medical issue and I let my stress over that situation spill over to my replies to you. However, I will gently suggest that if neither "lunch/farmhouse/Tuscany" nor "Luggage Tags and Sunblock" produced results using a Goggle search, you might want to see if your link to Google has gotten corrupted or whatever the proper technical term is. You also might explore using Bing as an alternative to Google if you're getting disappointing search results. I am very sorry to hear about your family issue and accept your apology :) You really are a great source of information. BTW-i did go back and google and got that link that you got! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vacation fool Posted August 12, 2011 Author #16 Share Posted August 12, 2011 This is where we went http://www.torciano.com/EU/winery/ Thanks, coincidentally i found this last nite and was reading about it. The reviews say it is very entertaining? And is Mama's Lasagne as good as they say it is? lol A question: some folks say that they never rec'd the products they ordered from there to be shipped home and had problems getting refunds on their credit cards. Just wondering if you had such an experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karennella Posted August 14, 2011 #17 Share Posted August 14, 2011 Try googling agriturismo, which is the word for tourist farmhouse, I suppose. We went to a fabulous one last year in Sardinia, found by asking at our hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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