Podere Capiteto is THE place for those who want to experience the "sui generis" of la Toscana: its simplicity, its art, and the depth of culture. The visitor will not find bells and whistles, but they will find the old olive trees, the unending landscape all the way to the city of Florence, and the proprietors, Mario, the seemingly low-key farmer with a double doctoral degree in agriculture, and Anna, a most gracious Florentina. Podere Capiteto is an ideal place to explore the countryside of LaToscana, particularly its grape and olive agriculture and related industry. Whereas a 2-3 day stay would provide a taste of it to the visitor, I would strongly recommend a 2-4 week booking to get the real thing. No money can pay what you can get from Mario. He knows every geographical, agricultural, historical and cultural corner of Toscana and is forever ready to share it with his guests in Italian, English or French. A retired officer in the Department of Agriculture, he is now the agricultural consultant in the area. And you may not be surprised if Anna, a Toscana by antonomasia, invites you to one of her supreme dinner parties.

Podere Capiteto: delightful place!

We stayed there twice, over 3 years. The proprietors are warm and hospitable, making the place one's own corner of paradise. The grounds are gorgeous, with views of Tuscany and Florence, cyprus and olive trees abound, the hills are alive with Tuscan delights. It is helpful to have a car but not necessary, as there are buses. For shorter visits than ours, just taking in the feel of the place, swimming in the lovely pool, and walking in the agriturismo that makes wine and olive oil is plenty. For trips to nearby Impruneta, or Firenze, the bus is an easy walk and the hosts will help direct you. Our place housed us comfortably in a bedroom, living/dining room, kitchen and bath. One can feel immersed in all that Tuscany offers, filled more with locals than tourists, although there were many attending the Festa dell'Uva, for which the entire town turns out as well. Overall, Podere Capiteto is inviting and engaging, quiet and luxurious in a simple manner, no overt opulence or night life - it's not that kind of place. But if you want a real taste of Toscana with close proximity to Florence and Impruneta (which is the capital of terra cotta making - hard to carry home but well worth visiting the factories), this is a happy place to stay!

I have just returned from a week-long stay here and feel compelled to come straight on here and write a glowing review! I can honestly say it was the best holiday I've ever had. At 25, I have a feeling that we that we may have been somewhat younger than their usual clientelle, but we were looking for somewhere quiet where we could just enjoy good food and beautiful views, and that's exactly what we got. For starters, the apartment was very spacious and absolutely spotless, with a very comfy bed. They provided clean bedding and plenty of towels, and also enough loo roll and handwash to last the week.

We chose this place primarily because we weren't going to have a car with us, and we'd read that we'd easily be able to get to Impruneta or to Florence by bus. That proved to be absolutely true. We made one trip into Florence, and spent the rest of our time in Impruneta. However, it's worth noting that although the bus stop isn't too far away, it is up a bit of a slope from the farm, which means it's not too fun when you're rushing for the bus. The buses aren't very frequent - anything from 30 minutes to an hour apart, so it's important to time them properly if you're not keen on walking into Impruneta. We did walk there and back a few times, which was fine but not something we'd have wanted to do every day as it is a pretty significant distance and a large part of the walk is along main roads with no pavements, making it a little nerve-wracking.

As mentioned by a previous reviewer, another important thing to note is that the last bus is at around 8pm, making dining out in the evenings pretty much impossible. We did have one meal in Impruneta and then walked back in the dark (torch in hand), but we weren't keen to do it more than once. We ended up adapting our initial plan of having a meal out every evening, and instead ate out at lunchtime. We then used the apartment's very well equipped kitchen to cook our evening meals. This is somewhere to go if you want to relax and cater for yourselves a bit, rather than going for slap-up meals with other tourists every night.

However, I've saved the best until last. What really makes this place special is its wonderful owners, Mario and Anna. They were absolutely lovely, very welcoming and so very friendly. On our first evening Mario presented us with a 'welcome bottle' of his own wine, which we very happily accepted. A few evenings later we were invited over to his house, along with the couple staying in the neighbouring apartment, for 'a small drink'. When we arrived we discovered that Anna had prepared an enormous selection of traditional Tuscan dishes which made our dinner plans for that evening completely unnecessary. We were plied with food and drink (lots of drink) for the whole evening, while Mario and Anna very impressively flitted between French and English to converse with us and our neighbours all at the same time. We had a very fun evening and were overwhelmed by their generosity - with Anna even producing a bottle of whisky at the end of the meal to honour my Scottish boyfriend!

It was a fantastic experience and we felt very lucky to have found such a great little place to stay. We hope to go back in a couple of years, but in the meantime will make do with recommending it to anyone and everyone who will listen.

We had an amazing 3 night stay in Podero. We got engaged there and the surrounding olive trees and views of Florence etc made it the perfect romantic venue! We chanced not renting a car and relying on foot and bus. The bus dropped us off at the entrance to Via Riboia and we had to walk about 7 mins to the farm itself which was a little awkward as there were hardly any footpaths but it was worth it when we got there. Our apartment was basic but clean and very comfortable and we had the most amazing views from the windows! The pool was a welcome place in the dead heat of the day and we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! The owners daughter checked us in and herself and the gardener were so helpful to us bearing in mind we had no car. But when we wanted to visit the town to get some groceries in the COOP or eat etc, we just timed a bus (they are very punctual), so we managed fine! The last bus back to Podero from Impruneta was at 19.40 which is early if you're eating out and there don't seem to be any taxies there and it really isn't that safe to walk back to Podero (lack of footpaths and windy roads). But I would recommend it, car or no car!! Absolutely amazing place!