Hotels in the Chianti

If you want to be steeped in history at the most luxurious agriturismo in Tuscany, stay here. This elegant wine estate's 14th-century main villa and its gardens are instantly recognizable as the set used by Kenneth Branagh to film Much Ado About Nothing, but the artistic pedigree goes back much further—this was, after all, the childhood home of a young girl who would grow up to pose for a painting by Leonardo da Vinci and become known as the Mona Lisa... ... » more

If you want to stay in an elegant country villa away from it all, stay here. Along with a horizon pool amidst the olive trees and an excellent Tuscan country restaurant, there is a B&B (the “fattoria,” seven rooms of rustic furnishings, orthopedic beds, and sloping brick ceilings laced with beams) and an elegant, frescoed “villa” (available on a nightly basis only in April, May, September, and October; otherwise, rent either all four doubles on the ground floor, or all four upstairs, as a single apartment by the week)... ... » more

If you want a quiet country escape just off the main road a short drive from Florence, stay here. The villa was built by a French ex-pat in the early 1900s, and many of the original elements remain: octagonal stone floor tiles of red and black, terracotta stoves that once warmed the rooms, and little sitting rooms filled with books, comfy chairs, and the occasional TV set. The Florentine couple that runs it, the Avuris, have added canopied beds, funky lamps, and a swimming pool amid grape vines—not to mention excellent set-priced dinners on the terrace... ... » more

If you want the closest thing to the experience of staying with relatives on their Tuscan farmhouse, stay here. This sixteenth-century Chianti farmhouse set amidst vineyards has seven country-comfy guest rooms with a hodgepodge of painted metal bedsteads, carved wood vanities, and worn terracotta floors. It also has a pair of hands-on owners—Roberto and Silvie—who cook massive dinners then sit at either end of the long table to preside over the lively dinners where all the guests eat, family-style... ... » more

If you want to feel like you've been adopted by an energetic Italian auntie at her fabulous Tuscan country home, stay here. In 1993, the gregarious Elena Nappa (raised in Naples, worked as a fashion stylist in Milan) fell in love with an abandoned, crumbling 100-year-old hamlet in the southern Chianti. By 1998, she had turned it into a lovely hotel hotel with B&B rooms in the main house—furnished with antique wrought-iron beds, deluxe mattresses, handmade quilts, hand-stitched lace curtains, and time-worn terracotta tiles—and three rental cottages in the surrounding houses. She refuses to advertise, or even post a sign by the road, yet each year books up fast with repeat customers, which tells you something... ... » more

If you want comfy but basic (and cheap) accommodations in the heart of the action, with a room overlooking the bustling market square of the Chianti's tiny main town of Greve in Chianti, stay here. The ten guest rooms have modern terrazzo floors and painted metal bedsteads, but the views are lovely. Rooms on the front overlook the bustling square; those on the back (nos. 4–7) have little private terraces with vistas over lichen-spotted roof tiles to the hills beyond (the larger room no. 10 upstairs, with its sloping attic ceilings and Persian rugs, has similar views but no balcony). There's also a popular terrace restaurant... ... » more

If you want to live alongside the locals in the ancient hamlet of a renowned wine estate with a top-rated restaurant next-door, stay here. Fonterutoli is a wonderful example of the kind of old, centralized aristocratic agricultural estate that has vanished from much of Italy, preserved largely because the Mazzei marquises still own, operate, and inhabit it as they have—for 24 generations—since 1435. Of course, these days it no longer take a village of peasants to run even a large farm, so the Mazzei have converted several of the old houses into rental apartments and B&B rooms, installed a swimming pool with vineyard views, and opened a gourmet restaurant to which people will drive the 30 miles from Florence to enjoy... ... » more