Our family-run agriturismo is located just outside Pienza and only a few minutes from Montalcino and Montepulciano on a beautiful hilltop where you can enjoy amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Cretaiole is one large farmhouse originally built in the 1400's. It has been remodeled into six spacious, comfortable apartments with independent entrances. Each apartment is furnished in traditional, Tuscan style, with terracotta floors and beautiful beamed ceilings. All apartments have great views, cozy living rooms, fireplaces, and bathrooms. They all have fully equipped kitchens, and guests can pick vegetables from our organic garden (free of charge) and use our barbecue outside. The thick stone walls keep the apartments cool all summer long, making air conditioning unnecessary. Screened windows and electric fans are available. In the beautiful big yard around the house our guests are able to fully relax in peace and quiet, soaking up the sun and panoramic views of the Val d'Orcia. They can choose their private corner to eat, read a book or just enjoy the peaceful atmosphere while tasting a glass of our Orcia DOC sangiovese wine. Our location also makes it easy to make day-trips to many wine-producing towns like San Quirico d'Orcia (5 min.), Montalcino and Montepulciano (15 min.), along with famous destinations like the thermal hot springs of Bagno Vignoni (10 min.), Florence (1 hour 15 min.), Siena and Cortona (45 min.), Arezzo (40 min.), Perugia and San Gimignano (1 hour). OUR SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE... Many of our guests return year after year because they feel a part of our extended "family". We really try to make feel our guests like at home. We stop into Cretaiole every day and assist our guests for any necessity or special request. Isabella is fluent in English and guests call her "a veritable font of local information"! Our aim is to make your holiday a very special experience, not only at Cretaiole but also "outside", that's why personal contact is so important! To help you better explore the area each apartment has a guidebook of over 130 pages written by us (in English) offering information on restaurants, museums, suggested itineraries, and other information. You will be given a calendar that we prepare every week for special events, concerts, exhibitions, and local fairs going on while you stay with us. At Cretaiole you can learn as little or as much as you wish about traditional farming life because we still make our own agricultural products (that you can also taste and buy!), such as wine, olive oil, fresh vegetables, pecorino cheese, eggs, proscuitto, and sausage. During the grape and olive harvest, if you wish, you may join our family at work and take back home one bottle of "your own" olive oil! A very special thing at Cretaiole is our organic vegetable garden. You have free access there and you'll find more than 12 different varieties of vegetables, depending upon the season of your visit! We include a guided tour of Siena, a cooking class, and an olive oil tasting evening at no extra charge for weeklong stays! While there are archaeological ruins and churches dotting the countryside, we are especially proud to take you on a tour of the Hermitage that is located on our private property in Pienza. Originally an Etruscan tomb, it was later used as a hermitage by monks in the Middle Ages. If you also wish to take part in wine tours and tastings, bread and pasta cooking classes, mountain bike and ATV tours, one-day spa treatment programs in the local spas, we'll be glad to organize them for you! These activities will be charged extra, but at very reasonable rates. We always do our best to meet our guests' needs. For example we have extra cell phones for guests to use for free during their stay with us so they are "in touch" with the outside world and with us for any need. [Guests can replenish the phone with additional time in small increments at the local TIM store in Pienza.] Our mountain bikes (free of charge) will help you to take long rides and better explore the area for a romantic getaway. You can take in beautiful views while soaking in a number of different hot springs nearby. We can recommend many cozy, candle-lit dinners at restaurants tucked away in the surrounding towns.