Choosing the right place to stay in is an important part of the journey (this is why I also write about the places where we stay during our travels) because it weighs on the memory of it. This doesn’t mean you have to stay in a luxury hotel, because there are a lot of wonderful places like B&Bs, farmhouses, unusual hotels… I especially love unusual places!
After some trips to Pistoia, a beautiful and little Tuscan city, I want to give you some advice about where to stay.
Where to stay in Pistoia: Casale dell’Orso farmhouse
Waking up listening to the singing birds, looking out the window to see an emerald green lawn, having breakfast looking at rows of trees, plants and flowers: this will be your staying at Casale dell’Orso farmhouse.
I arrived here in the night so I couldn’t admire the farmhouse’s main entrance: a big wrought-iron gate that opens on a long driveway flanked by green pines that accompany you up to the forecourt in front of the farmhouse’s main door. A little, simple entrance: a wooden door with a welcome sign, just like your house’s door.
I arrived late but they had the foresight of leaving me the room’s key just outside the door.
My room was spacious, with simple furnishings in the same country style of the whole farmhouse. In the bathroom, a long and narrow room, there was all you need: a shampoo and shower gel kit, white towels and a hairdryer.
The breakfast – not a big one, but there was everything you need and also some tasty homemade tart – is served in a big room with large windows looking out at the garden, the entrance driveway and… the hedges that hide the swimming pool!
In a corner of the garden there is also a playground.
The only flaw is the distance from the city: without a car is hard to reach the city and vice versa.
Prices: from 90 euros for a double room with breakfast. You can check it here.
Where to stay in Pistoia: Verde Paradiso B&B
In the B&B Verde Paradiso my accommodation was a makeshift arrangement: all the rooms were occupied and Rosy, the nice owner, set a bed for me in the living room, giving me the key to close the door just like it was a private room.
The B&B is made from an ancient manor house and it is exactly halfway between the city centre and the train station, the perfect place for those who arrive by train and don’t want to walk for long.
I immediately loved the welcoming and the familiar style of the place, as much as I loved having breakfast – a simple breakfast – sitting at a table between cupboards and decorations that seem to come out of granny’s dollhouse and that make your heart smile.
The bathroom is located on the second level, the bedrooms floor, and is shared for all three rooms. It is large and complete with everything, but as in all B&Bs, being it shared, it lacks the bathroom sets that travellers like so much.
Although the room was made in the living room, I slept comfortably and I can only applaud Rosy for her availability and kindness.
Prices: 60 euros per night for a double room with breakfast.
Where to stay in Pistoia: B&B Canto alla Porta Vecchia
A B&B in the historic centre, 2 minutes walk from Piazza Duomo. It is located in an ancient building on one of the center’s main streets, where some days of the week you find the market.
Don’t be afraid: the rooms are quiet!
Here I liked the location and the old-fashioned house: very high ceilings, wooden floors and furniture… maybe a little dated, the wooden doors seem far too old and a bit ruined but I like the environment.
Here the bathroom is shared too (except for a double room that has it private) and it is nothing special: narrow and with the essentials.
The rooms are not too large, but the beds are comfortable. The thing I liked the most is the breakfast room: immersed in books and music. There are ancient sideboards full of books, a sofa with a violin on it and a piano on the corner. A step back in time in a musician’s house.
Breakfast was set on a large table, you just have to sit down and reach out for what you want!
The right place to stay in the centre without too many demands.
Prices: 60 euros per night for a double room with breakfast. You can check it here.
