A Guide To Off-Season Tuscany

Instead of battling with the summer holiday crowds, visit Tuscany off-season to experience its magic from a new vantage point, says Francisca Kellett

Off-Season Tuscany: An Autumnal Stay At Palazzo Nelle

There is a downside to visiting Tuscany out of season, but I’ll come back to that. It’s only a minor quibble, and coming here in autumn – when the crowds have gone and the vineyards are golden and the hills snag with mist in the mornings – is probably the dreamiest time to visit.

Dreamy is the right word, because there is something languid and sleepy to visiting in the off season. I came with my husband and two daughters in mid-October, travelling with Tuscany Now & More, a villa operator that has been finding historical villas for 34 years, specialising in family-owned and -run properties with character.

Palazzo Nelle

Our home for the week, Palazzo Nelle, certainly had bags of that, an enormous, higgledy-piggledy country pile dating back in part to the 12th century, with soaring ceilings, brooding heirlooms and 500-year-old trees to prove it. Set in olive groves and rolling vineyards in Chianti, Palazzo Nelle isn’t your average turn-up-and-do-your-own-thing kind of place, though. It’s actually part of an enormous historical manor, with our section ‘hosted’ by a family, which lives in one wing and can be as much a part of your holiday as you wish. 

There’s Giuseppe, who cooked up glorious meals to order (homemade lasagne, roast chicken, tiramisu – the best in autumnal comfort food). Rosanna, his wife, acted as concierge and all round font of local knowledge, sorting out day trips, tour guides and restaurant reservations in her favourite local spots. The charming Elisabetta kept the place spotless and served up breakfasts of fresh fruit, cold meat and pecorino in what they called the sitting room but was really a grand dining hall complete with original stone floors, family crests above the doors and formal seating. Their son Matteo, meanwhile, talked us through a wine tasting, sharing his expertise and top bottles from local biodynamic wineries, including one he produces only for villa guests.

It’s basically like having a boutique hotel to yourself, and various rooms to choose from, including a two-bedroom apartment in one wing, a two-story bedroom on the ground floor or – our favourite – a pretty cottage by the pool in the gardens. If you’re big on ancient heirlooms and heavy drapes, opt for the rooms in the main house; for something a little cosier and contemporary, the pool house, sleeping four, is the one.

But this being off season meant we weren’t there to lounge around a pool all day. Instead, we explored, and the villa – halfway between Siena and Florence – was perfectly positioned to do just that.

What To Do & See

We spent our days zipping about the rolling hills in our hire car, visiting the ancient villages of Castellina, San Gimignano, Radda and Panzana, each lovelier than the last. Quiet cobbled streets, cool Medieval churches, sunny squares busy with Italians out for a stroll and a spot of lunch. In summer you need to book ahead for the loveliest restaurants, but we just wandered into Oltre Il Giardino to sit beneath ancient vines and eat bowls of hand-cut pappardelle with wild boar ragu and drink dark red Chianti. In Castello di Monteriggioni, we climbed up to the fortress walls which ring the entire village, and drank cups of sharp espresso in the village square. 

We did the big hitters too, visiting Siena on one day, strolling through the narrow, winding streets, oh-my-goshing at its wedding-cake cathedral and slurping on gelato in the famous sloped Piazza del Campo, home to the annual Palio races. It was busy but not swamped, mostly with American tourists of a certain age; we watched as one particularly well-heeled couple waltzed beneath the clocktower, lost in the moment.

Florence

In Florence, we opted for a guide – Yulia – organised by Rosanna, to get the most out of the city, and were treated to a walking tour of the headline acts: Medici palaces, Michelangelo masterpieces and Botticelli and Da Vinci marvels that left us staggering along the Ponte Vecchio in a culture-hit daze. Again, the city was busy, but, as Yulia explained, nothing like the craziness of summer. Lunch was at Trattoria Camillo, one of those white-tabled-clothed, vaulted-ceiling places you dream of on raining London days, where we feasted on hand-made tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms and platters of crispy fried courgette flowers. 

Then the rain came – and there’s the niggle. Florence is extraordinary, even in drizzle, but you can’t help but long for blue skies on holiday, no matter the time of year. Still, the rain never lasted long, and made for cosy nights by the fire back at Palazzo Nelle, where one gorgeous evening was spent in the kitchen with local friends of the family, Diana and Allesandro. We donned aprons and were shown how to cook a fantastic Italian feast, from bruschetta and tiramisu to two types of hand-made pasta. I can confidently report that spending two hours kneading and stretching your own pasta is totally worth it – especially when accompanied by Alessandro’s stories about the history of the area and why exactly Tuscans can’t pronounce their ‘Cs’ properly.

And that’s where Palazzo Nelle really excels. It’s not flashy, but the owners know how to connect you to the area, how to bring to life those rolling, mist-snagged hills. And why come to a place so rich in history when you have to share it with so many others? Come out of season is my advice. You’ll go home with zero suntan, but with a real taster of what this corner of Tuscany is all about. Which is about as dreamy as it gets. 

BOOK IT:

One week from £7,874 for five bedrooms. tuscanynowandmore.com