Agriturismo Casolare Dei Colli

During a two week 3,000 mile trip through seven countries, we stayed overnight at ten different hotels. Nine of these ranged from quite good to very good indeed. Casolare dei Colle, however, was the one we considered to be absolutely outstanding. Set amongst densely wooded hills northwest of Lucca, south east of Camaiole, and on a winding road that comes to a dead end a few metres further up at Fibbialla, the Casolare scores highly for its beautiful setting and panoramic vistas. That's just the beginning. Someone has put a great deal of love and thought into this place, as typified by the romantic Red Room where we slept. We were the only people staying, so received undivided attention from Julio, who made us a four course dinner including some gorgeous pasta shaped like ships' sails with ragu, and delectable chicken escalopes with lemon sauce.This was eaten on the terrace above the pool, overlooking Lucca in the distance. Wine is included. And as the stars appeared we could only comment that this was truly 'far from the madding crowd'. A really memorable experience and we yearn to return. One thing that should be mentioned is that the Casolare is not signposted, and there is nothing outside the entrance to suggest it is anything but a private residence. It is painted yellow, and if you get to the top of the hill you can see it a little further down!