Most guests come in summer, and we understand why. But if you ask anyone who lives here, they will tell you the best weeks are in winter, when the fog comes up from the Orcia river every night and the hills float on it at dawn.
How to spend a winter week
Get up early once, just once, and walk to the end of the drive before eight. Then do nothing for the rest of the morning. By eleven the fog has burned off and the light is low and gold all afternoon.
In January you can have the chapel at Vitaleta to yourself, and the thermal pools at Bagno Vignoni are warmer than the air.
The fire in the living room is laid every day, the wood oven works in any weather, and the trattorie in San Quirico are full of people who live here, not visitors.