We stayed 8 wonderful nights at Il Fienile in Radda in the Chianti region. Il Fienile is a charming little villa, once a stone-built hay barn several centuries old, perched on the top of the hill of the surrounding property of Murricciaglia. Surrounding us were the rolling hills of Chianti with the closest property visible as lights across the valley. It is surreally serene and beautiful, especially in the soft evening light.

Il Fienile itself has two proper bedrooms, one with the ensuite on the top floor, and two extra beds in a mezzanine type level you descend through to the living room and kitchen which are both on the ground floor. It is charming, rustic, quirky and very clean. The bedrooms are rustically appointed, with a double bed in the master and 2 twins in the other, all with clean sheets and warmer bedding as required; bathrooms are very clean and the kitchen is adequately equipped for simple meals.

It is located between Castellina (which is the closer) and Radda, two towns which will have all you need in terms of any groceries or daily necessities, and are in themselves very charming little Tuscan towns with eateries, shops, enotecas, and each with its own COOP supermarket. We chose the area because of its central location in Chianti and were not disappointed. It was possible to get to Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca to name a few with minimal effort by car.

Mimma is the gorgeous owner of the property, a 79 year old spritely grandmother who communicates perfectly in English and attended to all our enquiries with incredible promptness, from suggestions about wineries, restaurants, information about the local area, tips about their ZTL restrictions (important for those driving!) She could not have been more helpful and we also had a cooking class with her which ended up not only in a lovely home-cooked meal, but also a bit of a roaming history lesson about the area, stories about life in Italy and her life which are intangibles we will always remember, and about Tuscan cooking.

We spent our time visiting the various towns, and then just sitting in the little garden outside the living room, surveying the rolling hills and the setting sun and watching the stars come out at night. The eternity pool was closed because of the cool weather, but we swopped swimming for walking the estate through the laneways.

It was a sublime experience at Il Fienile, made so by the setting, the charming villa of Il Fienile, and its owner, Mimma.