Agriturismo Acquacalda

The food is a real highlight here: dinner was generous, delicious, and made with local food and wine, and you can ask for as much or as little as you want. The farm and lovely grounds are great for children, and there’s plenty to explore nearby. Montone is a beautiful, authentic hilltop village, and the location also gives easy access to the main road towards Rome. The pool has lovely views, a drinks bar when open, and is close to the rooms. This is a very rustic agriturismo, run by a husband and wife with quite different approaches. It’s comfortable enough, not luxurious, and very well priced for the area. Umbria has a quieter, more rural feel than Tuscany, which suits the setting. Our first few days were spoiled by an oddly unfriendly welcome from the woman owner. Our children had spent 20 hours in a car over two days, and our friends’ children had flown from America, yet they were effectively expected to stay quiet at the pool over the weekend because the owners seemed to have family or friends there who wanted peace. The next day, around 30 Italian children were allowed to make as much noise as they liked. There were also a lot of pool rules: wearing a cap, which seemed to apply to Brits and Americans but not Italians; not crossing a low rope; and no swimming before 10 or after 7, for no clear reason. The man who owns the place was lovely, and enjoyed chatting with us in the evenings and seeing how much we liked his food and wine. His wife was friendly too once she had cheered up. Do bring your own breakfast.