My summer holiday plans for this year? A villa in Tuscany. Why do I always feel I have to make excuses for returning year after year to some of the most idyllic countryside in Europe? And why do we never just check into a hotel and wait for the waiter?
Partly the urge to apologise is Tuscany's indelible association with prime ministers and a certain part of London. Partly it's the villa bit - a bit safe, a bit boring, not really a holiday to go self-catering. But if the Tuscan villa is the ultimate British middle-class cliché (and German, too), that's because it's the ultimate villa experience. So here are five good reasons to go back, which came to me last summer while we sat on our final evening with a glass of wine in the garden of our hill-top villa, Siena's pink and golden towers shimmering in the distance.
The villa
We've made mistakes over the years, choosing villas that seem wonderfully remote for a couple of days and then irritatingly far from shops and restaurants for the rest of the holiday. Last year, we found the perfect situation - 12km south-east of Siena, up a winding track from the tiny village of Ville di Corsano, which had a shop and a small restaurant with a bar for the morning cappuccino. It was near enough to visit Siena for an afternoon ice cream in the campo; far enough away to experience isolation, peace and freedom.
The 16th-century stone house, like so many in the area, had been abandoned by farmers who moved to the town 25 years ago and restored by the present owners. Where the cattle once lived inside the house is now a cool, stone-tiled living area. Upstairs, the beamed rooms were large and airy with spectacular views of Siena. The garden tumbled down into valleys of vineyards and olive groves. We could pick herbs fresh from the bushes and tomatoes fresh from the vine. You could pad around with just about nothing on and no one could see you. The children could shout, scream and play and no one told them to be quiet. No one came to see us except an elderly gardener in the morning mist.
The olive oil
As any expert will tell you, Tuscan olive oil is the best in Italy. Almost every family in the village grows olives, which they harvest in November and take to the village press to make oil for their own consumption. Just about anyone will sell passing visitors a bottle or two.
We bought ours from Luciana and Franco, our nearest neighbours, who told us how they had spent six years doing up their farmhouse, which like ours sat in an olive grove. They bought it as a derelict wreck just before this part of Tuscany (known as Crete Senese, with its distinctive limestone hills dotted with sheep and tall cypresses, less verdant than the forests of Chianti) started being bought up by outsiders, and have painstakingly restored it themselves.
They have lived in the village all their lives, were childhood sweethearts, and told us their friends thought they were mad to buy an old house. Those friends now regret that their families didn't hang on to their 16th-century farmhouses, too. Not least because what cost Luciana and Franco around £23,000 would now sell for approaching £500,000.
The food
It's a truism that the smallest, most humble-looking osteria in a Tuscan village will serve you food that matches many of the finest Italian restaurants back home. If you have very small children, a drawback of the villa holiday is not getting out in the evening (one villa holiday essential: a good cookbook of the country or region you're in, otherwise the amazing supermarket shelves remain a mystery. My bible for Italy is Marcella Hazan's The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking).
But last year, we got that mix of going out and staying in right. Our village's one shop had fresh bread and a fabulous meat counter. But there was also one, newly opened, osteria. We would arrive as it opened at 7pm, baby rocked to sleep by the buggy ride down the track, toddler happy to curl up on a lap, both rapturously welcomed in a way unfamiliar to anyone holidaying in Britain.
By 9pm, three mouth-watering courses later (my favourite pasta dish was called picci, which I'd never tried before - long tubular strands, tossed in chilli, breadcrumbs and olive oil - my favourite secondo a Florentine steak the size of a pizza, grilled with black pepper and rosemary), we were heading up the track again under the peace and beauty of a starry sky. The other glory of a villa for me is early nights, undisturbed by other holiday-makers.
One night, we arranged baby-sitting and headed on to Luciana's recommendation of Pari, one of the ancient hilltowns scattered around the area. We clambered up steep stone steps into a nondescript, brightly-lit room stuffed with knick-knacks. The restaurant didn't seem to have a name, its owners spoke no English, nor did there appear to be a menu. But we were served dish after succulent dish of pasta, meat and grilled vegetables, none of it chosen by us, and all the better for that.
The hilltowns
Villa holidays in Tuscany are about days lounging around the pool, interspersed with day trips to some of the amazing walled towns guarding the valleys, drenched in history and synonymous with wine. In our part of Tuscany, that meant Montalcino in the Val d'Orcia (home of the wine Brunello di Montalcino), described by the guidebooks as a 13th-century paradise with a virtually intact medieval fortress that is now a wine museum; Montepulciano, with its stunning squares lined with wine shops; or Pienza, home to the pope who gave it his name, where Renaissance and medieval buildings rub shoulders and you can nibble on the pecorino cheese made here. Slightly farther afield is the much visited San Gimignano, a bit touristy for some but still worth a visit for a walk around the ramparts, the views over the surrounding countryside, and a glass of Vernaccia, the town's famous white wine.
The Prada factory
You don't need to visit Florence for the best Italian shopping. On a rainy day mid-holiday we headed for the unprepossessing town of Montevarchi. I had read a small reference to this outlet in a fashion diary, but somehow assumed that it was a little-known warehouse in a little-visited part of the region. I realised how wrong I was when we stopped for petrol in the town. Before I could even ask the attendant where the shop was, he helpfully offered me a little map and pointed in the right direction.
A steady stream of cars followed us into the industrial estate, in the corner of which sat the store, black-clad security guards on the door. Prada owns Helmut Lang, Jil Sander and Church's shoes, and prices are discounted by up to 60%. An hour later I emerged from the scrum with two pairs of shoes and a coat, for a lot less than I would have paid at home.
Shortly after we returned from holiday last year, various newspapers reported that the regional government of Tuscany was planning to auction off hundreds of dilapidated rural properties at bargain prices. I thought of Luciana and Franco, and began to fantasise about a lovingly restored property, perched on a hill in an olive grove, where I would sip my wine on a summer evening in the same spot year after year.
It took me about 10 minutes to abandon the idea. You'd have to be seriously dedicated and seriously rich to make something of what in many cases amounts to little more than piles of rubble with views. Let someone else do the restoration. I'm booking next year's villa holiday now.
How to choose the right villa
The pictures in the brochure may be beguiling, but there are still pitfalls to choosing the right villa. Here's a checklist to make sure you don't get caught out:
· Is linen and bedding included? (You don't want to fill your car with duvets).
· Is heating included? (Necessary in spring and autumn).
· Are there any extras like electricity and gas?
· Is there a washing machine or dishwasher?
· How near are the closest shops/restaurants?
Desmond Balmer
Way to go
Getting there: Tuscany Now (020-7684 8884, tuscanynow.com) offers Villa Palmolaia, which sleeps up to eight people, from £2,692 per week. Flights to Pisa with Italian Journeys (020-7370 6002) cost from £219 return. A week's car hire with Holiday Autos (0870 4000010, holidayautos.co.uk) in Siena costs from £129.
Where to eat: Il Ristoro, Ville di Corsano (tel: +0577 377912).
Where to shop: Prada, Località Levanella, SS 69 52025 Montevarchi (tel: + 055 91 901).
Opening hours: from Monday to Saturday 9.30am till 7.30pm; Sunday 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 8pm.
Further information:
Country code: 00 39.
Flight time London-Pisa: 2hrs, 10mins.
Time difference: + 1hr.
£1 = 1.41 euros.
