Castello Strozzavolpe

We stayed at the watchtower that is on a small hill near the castle of Strozzavolpe. It was brilliant. Our host, Valter was incredible - he made it all very easy for us and our 4 kids. When we arrived he took us up onto the castle ramparts for some wine and nibbles as the sun set over the Chianti region. He made sure we had a phone and directed us to some special places, including a thermal spring near Siena. He also arranged for us to be part of the procession of the Madonna, including a Tuscan feast at the 11th Century Church which is directly in front of the watchtower and is on the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella. Down the hill is a pre-school and there is a house nearby - it was incredibly peaceful. There are two apartments in the tower, we had the upper one for a week as the lower one was unoccupied. It is spacious with huge views over the vineyards, and surrounding villages - including San Gimignano. Poggibonsi is nearby and while not beautiful it is central to all of the delights of Tuscany and has a well-stocked Coop supermarket with free wifi. To use wifi at the tower you would have to have 3g capacity (which we did not have).