Villa Radicata is ideally situated in Central Tuscany, making it easy to reach using various forms of transport. We hope you find the following information useful. let us know if you find any good websites for flights.


Flights:
The nearest airport to Villa Radicata is Perugia, a small local airport within an hour's drive from the villa. Forli, Florence and Ancona are other small airports within easy reach. Larger airports are Pisa, Bologna, Rome Ciampino and Rome Fumicino and  some guests have even flown into Bergamo, Brescia or Venice and driven down. Rather than spend hours searching through every airline's site we use these handy flight search engines.

dohop.com
ufly4less.com

If you need to leave your car at the airport in the UK, Essential Travel have very competitive airport parking rates. If you have an early check in, staying the night at an airport hotel  can make the start of your journey much less tiring. 


Trains:
If you fly into Italy but don't like the idea of driving all the way to the villa, the Italian rail network is good, efficient and the trains mostly run on time. There are fast Intercity trains, which run the length of the country. Arezzo is the nearest main station. For full info on train times, ticket prices and to book online,  we always use the Italin state railway company's website Trenitalia .

 

Driving & Car hire:
There are a number of excellent resources for driving directions and maps. We use Multimap when planning a trip (for detailed directions on how to get to Villa Radicata, go to our "How to Get Here" page. Alternatively, if you like stopping off along the way at some of Tuscany's fine restaurants, use this Michelin Guide, it works out routes, which pass by the best restaurants, (after all, you are on holiday!).

The company which manages the motorway network in Italy has an excellent, informative website giving traffic information, However, the English version of the site still has some Italian words, which may need explanation.

On the right hand side of their site there are a number of icons.

Traffico" means traffic conditions. This gives real time conditions including webcams all along the motorway system.

"Percorsi" means directions and toll charges. Just enter your departure (partenza) and arrival (arrivo) points and the site gives you a map and directions.

"Meteo" means weather. This link gives you real time weather and driving conditions with several real time webcams to view conditions along your route.

Click on "Organizza il tuo viaggo" for maps, directions, conditions, webcams, tolls etc.

We recommend that you check weather & road conditions before leaving and print out maps & directions etc and bring them with you.

For detailed directions on how to get to Villa Radicata,
see our "How to Get Here" page

Bringing your own car:
Some of our guests decide to bring their own car. If you live on mainland Europe or even in the UK it can be a valid alternative. You are used to your own car, you can visit other countries as part of the holiday and no dashing back to airports to stand in queues. However when undertaking a longer journey, a little pre planning is worthwhile. We recommend joing one of the main motoring organisations, such as The AA , their website has useful advice and tips when driving in various European countries. They also offer European Breakdown Cover giving roadside assistance/emergency repair, 24 hr English speaking helpline, emergency car hire and accommodation and at a great saving if you buy it online. They also have route planners, maps, guides and even emergency breakdown kits. These resources along with our traffic conditions and weather advice should get you to Villa Radicata, safe and sound, ready for a relaxing holiday.



Car hire advice:
Although Villa Radicata is close to a local village, we feel a car is essential when visiting, firstly to get to and from the airport and also to explore the Tuscan countryside and main cities. We recommend Essential Travel as their site compares prices from a number of car hire companies to get you the best deal.

Here is our advice when booking a hire car.

- Always book your hire car in advance – not a good idea to arrive at an airport and hope the car you need will be available. At peak times, especially in smaller airports (ie where the “no-frills” airlines arrive) cars can be limited. Better to be certain you’ve got what you want. It's really no fun having to spend half your holiday searching for a car.

- What type of car do you need? - The normal reply is “something small and cheap” but make sure you’ve considered how much space you’ll need for the number of people plus luggage (plus sports gear) Nothing worse than screeching round hairpin bends halfway up a hill in Tuscany in a little car made for two, stuffed to overflowing with 4 blokes, a couple of sets of golfclubs and a Swedish hitch hiker you just picked up on the way!

- What size of engine? - Is the car just to get you from the airport to your villa or are you planning on travelling around exploring every corner of Tuscany?

- Pick up/drop off point – Most people pick up from the airport the moment they arrive. It’s more convenient, the office will be open, you’re sure you’ve got what you booked and the drop off point is right back at the airport. However, others don’t like the idea of arriving in a new country, picking up a car and within a few minutes being in the middle of a 6 lane ring road at rush hour. It may be worth considering getting a coach or train into the centre of town and then picking up your hire car the next day. Remember, opening hours for city centre pick up offices can vary so check beforehand that they are open.

- Extras – baby seat, roof rack, snow chains. At peak times supplies of extras can be limited so book in advance.

- Documents – make sure your driving licence is valid, your credit card is accepted and has enough funds for the deposit.

Travel games for kids:
For some adults, driving in a foreign country and exploring new areas can be the highlight of the holiday, however, kids impatient to get to the pool can get bored. As a fun solution to cries of "are we there yet!" we suggest some of these great Travel games for kids . There are lots of different games to suit most ages. Mum and Dad might even join in!

DRIVE SAFELY!