We took a trip to Tuscany at the end of August. This trip was not the trip it started out as! We didn’t know where we were going to start with. In fact we had been looking at Spain originally. We were looking for somewhere with reasonable flight costs. In the end we found great priced flights to Milan. We were travelling with our friends who are a family of seven. So were started looking for accommodation around Lake Como or Lake Garda. We just couldn’t find anything that was still available that suited what we were looking for. We then stumbled on an amazing villa in Barga, Tuscany.

If I was going to book this again I would travel to Pisa which is far closer. However, the drive was around 4 hours and it was not the worst! There is a lot of pretty scenery and we stopped in Pontremoli on our way down to Barga. This was a lovely town where we picked up lunch and took some time to stroll through the town. There were lots of little shops, market stalls and bars, and our first taste of Gelato!

Another note is that our flight into Milan Malpensa airport arrived at night. So we stayed at the airport hotel overnight and picked up the hire car the following morning. We stayed at the Sheraton airport hotel which was very convenient and comfortable. It is directly accessible from the airport so if you have a very late or early flight it is convenient. We wouldn’t have been able to pick up the hire car and drive all the way to Barga that night without risking having two very grumpy children for the next couple of days! In addition, it has some great facilities such as a gym, indoor pool and plenty of dining options. If you were flying in from further afield this would be a really nice place to just rest for a night and day before your onward travel.

Now on to the best part of this trip – the wonderful accommodation. We stayed at Tuscan Skye in Barga. This a 5 bedroom villa which is everything you would imagine of an Italian home. The rooms were impressive, spacious and comfortable. The kitchen was well equipped and there was an amazing pool area with loungers, chairs and an outdoor eating area. There was table tennis. The children (all seven of them) were in holiday heaven. Mairi, who hosts Tuscan Skye, is amazing. She left treats, brought up pancakes one morning, offered babysitting should we wish and really cared about making the experience perfect for us. It was a perfect base to explore the surrounding area.

Barga itself is a beautiful town nestled in the province of Lucca. Apparently many Scottish Italians can trace their ancestors back to the town! It is small and can be explored within a day, but it made a good base to visit some other cities. In addition, we had some lovely meals in Barga that were good value and child friendly.

Where did we visit?

Pisa – We arrived here around 11am and made our first stop the world famous leaning tower of Pisa. As you would expect – there were crowds of people bustling around to take pictures of themselves holding it up – as did we! We spent around half an hour around here before hiring two quadricycles to take ourselves on a self-guided tour. This was great fun and the children had the best time sat on the front of the bikes, particularly as we caught up with, and took over, the other bike! We hired the bikes for an hour and this was enough time to enjoy the adventure, the sights and for the children to not get bored (or our legs tired).

We then sat and ate lunch outdoors along one of the streets. There are many options for eating in Pisa and plenty of great value options. We found that the price we paid for meals was pretty consistent everywhere we went. We were not on a trip looking for gourmet food on this occasion but I can’t say that we ate anything that didn’t taste good! The girls were in food heaven – Pizza and pasta is their ideal meals so we couldn’t go wrong! Pasta or pizza and a cold glass of Italian white wine went down a treat in the heat of the Italian summer.

After lunch we took a horse and carriage tour where we had a more sedate tour of Pisa with the benefit of some additional information about the city. From this we topped up with ice-cream and headed home. We spent around 4 hours in Pisa which gave us enough to explore without having hot and tired children on our hands. It meant that we reached home in time for them to enjoy playing in the pool and a home cooked dinner.

Florence – another day trip taken. Florence was beautiful – everything you imagine when thinking of a traditional Italian city. We parked up and then walked towards the river. We walked along the river to Ponte Vecchio. Again, it was a busy city full of tourists but it didn’t take away from the experience of seeing a city that is steeped in history and amazing architecture. We essentially took ourselves on a walking tour of the sights of the city, landing on a restaurant and bar on the edge of Piazza della Signoria where we had views of the Palazzo Vecchio whilst enjoying a drink and light snack.

We wandered along the shopping streets and bought some amazing chocolate from Venchi Gelato and Chocolate at Piazza Del Mercato Nuovo. We then arrived at the Piazza Del Duomo with Florence’s cathedral. A sight to behold – the gothic architecture of the cathedral is ornate and a masterpiece. You can climb to the top of the dome for 360 degree views of Florence or you can visit the interior of the cathedral for free. Bear in mind there are long queues to enter.

We then visited the Magnum pleasure store where the children got to create their own magnums with toppings of their choice. It’s definitely over-priced but if you have kids like ours who love a Magnum it was an ideal sweetener for them to continue exploring. As was the Lego store!

We rounded up our day with an early dinner at Il Bottegoni which was on one of the corners of the Piazza Del Duomo. The food was good and very well-priced for the location.

Livorno – This was about an hour and a half from Barga. It is a port city and thus there was an amazing market full of fresh fish. We stopped here and enjoyed some of the produce on sale and then took a walk around the town. I think when we happened to visit it was a quiet period and a number of restaurants appeared to be close. We found Osteria Dagli Amici which squeezed us in to their outdoor seating area. From here we drove north of the town to the beach around Spiaggia La Siesta. This wasn’t a planned stop and we were completely unprepared with no bathing suits! However it was so amazing that it didn’t stop the girls from stripping to their underwear to splash in the sea and Neil having to chase them in wearing his shorts! On reflection we could have spent a whole day here and had a wonderful time. If we had a do over of the trip then this would definitely be on the agenda!

Lucca – We chose to do this as an evening trip – heading out with the first plan being dinner. It was busy and a challenge to find a spot to eat for all 11 of us. But we found a table at a restaurant on the corner of Piazza Napoleone – Caffe Silvia. We then walked along the bustling streets to Piazza San Michele where there was live music in the square and the children danced as the sun set. From here there was only one thing missing – Gelato! We sat and ate ice-cream and then as we continued to walk we found another square with a large stage with locals dancing in formation and a carousel which we enjoyed. We drove home after this. Our friends went on to a fairground from here (as unfair as it seemed on the girls a good sleep was what was needed for them with our flight home the following evening).

It was an amazing trip where I think we managed to strike a good balance of getting out and seeing the nearby places, without being so hectic that the girls were exhausted. I think if the girls were a little older we could revisit this trip and enjoy more of the museums and indoor exhibits. It has also shown what we could get out of a weekend trip to some fo the cities visited. Though our accommodation was out of the way and a ‘one road in and out’ it was a beautiful setting and perfect for our group size. The host made it even more perfect with the added touches mentioned earlier.

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