Travel

House Or Rental

Borgo il Castagno

We welcome you to the beautiful and rustic country estate of Borgo Il Castagno (The Chestnut). We have pre-booked the entire estate for the weekend, so that we all can celebrate together most easily. The accommodations are well equipped with ensuite facilities and kitchens. Rooms will cost between $130 to $145 USD per night (120-135€). Once we have RSVPs we will reach out with final prices. We are sure that once you are at the estate you will agree that 3 nights feels too short! If you would prefer to book offsite arrangements, or if you wish to stay longer onsite, please contact us. To send payment, you may use Venmo (@Nicholas-Broten), CashApp ($NickBroten), Zelle ((301)442-4005), or PayPal (nicbennett@hotmail.com).

Travel Note

ETIAS Requirement - Waived for 2024

US Citizens will need an electronic visa called an ETIAS to travel to Europe starting in 2025. It was due to go into effect in 2024, but it has been pushed back. It will not be needed for this October. Please remember that if you are traveling from outside of the Europe, your passport will need to be valid through April 2025 to be allowed entry. Check yours early!

Flight

Booking Flights

The closest airports are: Florence (FLR), 38 miles / 63km and Pisa (PSA), 39 mi / 65km These airports are most convenient, and you can fly to them with a connection through most large airports in Europe, but at this time there are no direct flights from the US. If you are planning on renting a car, and wish to tour Italy a bit, there are direct flights to the USA from the following airports: Venice (VCE): 195 mi / 313km, Rome (FCO): 200 mi / 321km, Milan (MXP): 250 mi / 402km When shopping for flights, we encourage you to make use of flight shopping tools. Google Flights (link below) allows you to see the cheapest flights for a route on a calendar for all carriers. It also allows you to create a flight price alert, and will email you when there are low prices.

Train

Trenitalia

Italy has excellent high-speed train service between Venice, Rome, Milan, and Florence, which is cheaper and faster than driving between large cities. The Florence train station is 39 miles (64 km) from the venue. Link for more information is below.

Travel Note

Renting a Car

We encourage you, if comfortable, to rent a car while in Italy. As the venue is in the countryside, taxis will not service the location. Private transfers are available, up to $220 each way (although the cost can be split among a van of up to 8 people. If you are interested and let us know at least 14 days ahead of time when you are arriving, we can make efforts to create a carpool to and from the airport to share the cost.) Also of note, Uber and Lyft do not exist in Italy. If you do rent a car, you will be able to explore everything that Tuscany has to offer. Expected services such as Enterprise and Hertz serve Italy, as well as a number of local services. An International Driving Permit ($20, available at AAA) is absolutely mandatory for US drivers to rent a car or drive in Italy.

Travel Note

Airport Transfer Services

As noted above, airport transfer services are more expensive than in the US. It will be mandatory to book transfer services before arrival, if you are not renting a car. We will post a few well-recommended services here as we get closer. If you are not renting a car and would like to carpool to split costs, let us know at least two weeks ahead of time and we will try to arrange.

Travel Note

Tau Touring

We have had good luck with this provider of shuttle and tour services. They are available for any needs of a car or van and driver.