Travel and Stay (Italy)

Travel Note

Venue Details

We've exclusively reserved Farmhouse Borgo Divino for our event. Search "Agriturismo Borgo Divino" in Google Maps or follow "borgo_divino" on Instragram for a sneak peak.

Hotel

Farmhouse Borgo Divino

Here are the details of a stay at the Borgo: Duration: 3 nights Check-In: Friday, October 25 - 3:00 pm Check-Out: Monday, October 28 - 10:00 am (room check-out), 12:30 pm (pool check-out) EDIT 5/5/2024: Rooms at Borgo Divino are now full. We will reach out to those on the waitlist if we receive unanticipated regrets and a room opens up between now and the date of the event.

Hotel

Le Mandrie Di Ripalta

Situated in two 18th century homes and decorated with period furniture, this location is charming and peaceful. Located <3 miles from the venue. Book directly on the website - this location is open to the public (no room blocks). Please send us a message at m.and.e.baird@gmail.com if you are staying here and need a lift. We will be arranging travel to and from the Borgo from this location during specific times throughout the weekend.

Hotel

Villa le Calvane

A beautiful, luxury 5-star boutique hotel <5 miles from the venue. Book directly on the website - this location is open to the public (no room blocks). Please send us a message at m.and.e.baird@gmail.com if you are staying here and need a lift - we will be arranging travel to and from the Borgo from this location during specific times throughout the weekend.

Travel Note

Searching for Lodging

Farmhouse Borg Divino is located about 3.7 km from the town of Montespertoli to the south, 5-7 km driving from the town of Baccaiano to the east, and about 3.7 km from the town of Mela to the north. The recommendations provided above are near Baccaiano, but you may look to find lodging in any nearby town. Due to the number of possible locations for guests to stay, we may not be able to provide transportation to and from the venue from every location. However, we would like to provide some shuttle services through Montespertoli and Baccaiano, and are evaluating the volume of transport required. Please let us know where you will be staying so we can coordinate shuttle services. Thank you!

Travel Note

Flying to Italy

EDITED 5/5/2024 While Florence or Pisa are the two closest airports to the venue, you run the risk of experiencing delays flying into these small airports. We flew Chicago > Zurich > Florence and Florence > Frankfurt > Chicago in our recent travel to the venue, and experienced significant delays both flying into and out of the Florence airport specifically. Florence is apparently very sensitive to weather delays. Instead, we will be flying into and out of Rome in October and will take the train to Florence, since there are trains every 20 minutes between the cities from 5am until about 9pm. If you have already chosen to fly through either Pisa or Florence, we hope you leave a day or two on either end of your trip as insurance against delays! Airlines typically offer more direct routes to the Rome airport, which is an excellent option if you're looking to explore more of Italy before and/or after the wedding. Fast and reliable trains run frequently between Rome and Florence. Check ItaliaRail for details: https://www.italiarail.com/pages/routes/rome-to-florence.

Travel Note

Getting to Tuscany

EDITED 5/5/2024 A taxi, Uber or private car service can be taken to lodging in Tuscany. Please call a taxi or car service in advance to arrange transportation to your lodging. If you are staying at Borgo Divino, you are welcome to contact their front desk to ask for their recommendations. If you would like to explore more of Tuscany, a rental car may be preferable, as there are not many public transportation, ride share (Uber) or taxi options in the Tuscan countryside. However, the streets are winding and small in Florence and Tuscany, so we recommend paying for data to your phone if you choose this option so you can use GPS and Maps to navigate. Additionally, traffic can be very heavy traveling out of and into central Florence and parking is very difficult, so we would recommend only using the car outside of "centro" (near the Duomo) if you rent a car. There is plenty of parking at Borgo Divino. For reference, our Uber from central Florence to the venue was about 130 euro, but if you take an Uber from the central train station or airport it should be cheaper. Our private car from the venue back to central Florence was about 100 euro per person.

Travel Note

Transportation to the venue from offsite lodging

EDITED 10/2/2024 We are working with a company to provide transportation from offsite lodging locations to the Borgo and back on Friday evening for the pizza party, Saturday afternoon for the wedding, Sunday afternoon for brunch (limited route) and Sunday evening for the tasting dinner. The detailed schedule with pick up times will be linked here very shortly. We'll be in touch with you if your location is not on the limited brunch route on Sunday.

Travel Note

Traveling Back from Tuscany

EDITED 10/2/2024 We took accounted for all individuals who expressed interest via survey in transport back to Florence from Borgo Divino on Monday morning. Transport will be provided for 25-30 passengers to Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station from Borgo Divino on Monday morning at 9:30am. The journey back may take about 45 minutes. Guests who are flying out of the Florence airport can navigate from the Firenze Santa Maria Novella station by walking across the street to the Buonsignori - Liceo da Vinci tram stop and taking the tram to the Amerigo Vespucci Airport. It's about a 15-20 minute ride. Guests who need to depart Borgo Divino earlier than 9:30am should book transit privately. Uber and taxis are not available on-call in Tuscany, so please coordinate transit in advance. Also, have cash on-hand to pay your driver, as we found our drivers didn't have payment apps! The reception desk at Borgo Divino can provide you with options, and receptionists at your lodging locations can do the same if you are staying offsite.