Stefania, her husband and two sons have a little farm that’s as close to Tuscan paradise as you could hope to get - and they are ready to share it with you and your family for a truly special down-on-the-farm holiday!

The busy little market town of Buonconvento is only 4 km away if you want to go shopping, or you can stay home, while away the days under the Tuscan sun and then have Stefania and her son Giulio cook for you. We can promise you that their farm produce, home cooked in best Tuscan style, is a real treat for the taste buds. Their home-produced chicken, beef and pork, their own salami and cured hams, their home-grown veg and fruit, a generous drizzle of their home produced olive oil and lashings of their full red wine ... well, it’s inevitable that every meal is a culinary dream come true!

You’d be staying in the heart of the Sienese hills, with great art and stunning architecture on your doorstep, a play area as well as the pool to entertain the kinds, and every spoiling comfort right there to hand. Who could ask for anything more?

For wine lovers, the delights of Montalcino are just 12 km away, while Montepulciano’s luscious nectar of the gods is a stunningly picturesque 40 km drive away. If you prefer the Renaissance to the Gothic, then you can’t do better than a trip to Pienza (a 30 minute drive away) regarded as the most perfect little Renaissance citadel in Italy. If you want to visit ancient abbeys and handsome churches, then Blessed Bernado’s “grotto” at the Abbazia of Monte Oliveto is a must at only 11 km from the farm. As you drive up, you’ll see it looking much as it did to Pope Pius the second when he visited this Benedictine abbey in 1463. He eulogized the breathtaking setting, and the fresco cycles by Signorelli and Sodoma are pretty wonderful too. The gardens are simply lovely and their cure-all Benedictine liquor “Flora di Monte Oliveto” would make a wonderful gift for grandad. Or drive a little further and you can visit Abbazia di Sant’Antimo. Some say this Benedictine abbey is even more beautiful than Monte Oliveto: we’ll be interested to hear which you prefer! Certainly the monks’ Gregorian chant is hauntingly special and the art treasures and architecture are fascinating. The abbey was a revered place of pilgrimage in 781 AD, it survived ransack and pillage throughout the middle ages and is now a serenely handsome jewel, glowing in a timeless landscape.

If all this sightseeing has made you weary, then hop in the car for a 20 minute drive to Bagno Vignoni. It’s one of the many bathing spas in this part of Tuscany and made a fabulous background in Tarkovsky’s film “Nostalgia”. Enjoy the arcaded beauty of this spot beloved by the Medici, and then trot down the hill to relax in the sulphur pools below the hamlet or pay a modest fee to use the sulphur pool at the 15th century hotel at the side of the piazza. If hot sulphur springs don’t do it for you, drive that little bit further (30 minutes in the car) to Rapolano Terme and indulge in a few of the many massages and beauty treatments on offer there, as you sip the healing thermal waters - considered to be the perfect liver tonic after a day sampling Tuscan wines!

You’ll never be short of things to do at Il Salariato and Stefania and her family are not only a handy mine of useful local information (English spoken!), they are always ready to spoil you with their delicious suppers too. This handsome, very spacious first floor apartment just can’t fail to please the entire family!