Villa Sassolini

Activities

• Being in the heart of Chianti, you can easily day-trip to Siena, Florence, San Gimignano, tiny Monteriggioni and dozens of other hill towns, not to mention scores of vineyards. But you will need a car...
  
• The nearest town is Montevarchi (10 mins), Italy's antiques capital, with an extensive market on the 4th Sunday of every month, except July and August. There are also several designer outlets, including Prada (Space)
  
• Also nearby is Coltibuono Abbey, set in atmospheric woods, with a restaurant, wine-tasting and cookery courses
  
• You're only 40km from Siena and 50km from Florence - both offer world-class art and architecture, and are feasible as day trips
  
• Hire a couple of mountain bikes and explore the quiet roads and villages around the hotel (be prepared for some steep lanes, though!)
  
• We also liked medieval Radda (20 mins), with its armorial gateways and curving lanes leading to the Palazzo del Podesta
  
• Bag a sunlounger by the pool and enjoy the calm ambience and peaceful setting; bring a book - it's a lovely spot to sit and read, glancing up occasionally to clock those fantastic views
  
• Book ahead for a cookery lesson at Il Sillabo in San Giovanni Valdarno, about 10 km from Villa Sassolini; they also offer Italian language courses
  
• There's not much to do in the village - it's a great place for enforced relaxation