From 7 December 2019 to 6 January 2020, come and check out the world’s biggest Christmas tree!! For the first time ever, a tree of lights is being set up on Lake Trasimeno. It promises to be a show like no other. Stay at Casa Leone Italy holiday rental, right next door to the tree.

This part of Italy is home to many orris-producing iris flowers. Orris is a preparation of the fragrant rootstock of an iris. It is used in perfumery the world over and it’s price is higher than gold. It grows throughout Tuscany and Umbria and is harvested by hand in specific farms. The fragrance has been around since ancient times and was a favorite of the Medicis. Find out more about the tradition of growing this plant and preparing fragrances from this BBC Travel article.

The Guardian recommends wine tasting in Tuscany as a great autumn getaway destination – and we couldn’t agree more! Borgo Tre Rose (number 7 in the list) is just down the road from Casa Leone Italy. It is also just about time to come and pick some olives so you can sample extra virgin olive oil – so green you will never find it like that anywhere else. What more to say? Stay with us this autumn and drink your way round Umbria and Tuscany!

One of the greatest perks of living on the border between Umbria and Tuscany is definitely the wide variety of super quality food and drink available virtually everywhere. When you stay in Casa Leone Italy, you will literally have it all on your doorstep as the local restaurants use and promote local produce. If you want to go and find out where the farms and the local producers are, check out this ValdichianaEating website, get some ideas for wine tasting and other activities, and maybe book a tour! Valdichiana Eating is a project designed to develop short supply-chains for food and promote local wine and food specialties – and the lovely Val di Chiana, the valley running towards Florence, is just next door.

This is the theme of our summer here in Castiglione del Lago. We had Picasso last year and now it’s Miro’s turn. Stay in Casa Leone Italy holiday rental and have Miro’ as your neighbour in the castle right opposite the flat!

“The spectacle of the sky overwhelms me. I’m overwhelmed when I see, in an immense sky, the crescent of the moon, or the sun. There, in my pictures, tiny forms in huge empty spaces. Empty spaces, empty horizons, empty plains – everything which is bare has always greatly impressed me.” Joan Miro

It’s time to come to Umbria and stay in Casa Leone Italy holiday rental. This week we kick off the spring season with the Flower Festival (Festa della Primavera previously known as the Festa del Tulipano from 11 to 15 april), then we will have the kite festival (Coloriamo i Cieli – 29 april to 1 may) and then it will be the airplane festival at our local war-time airport (Meeting di Primavera – 11-13 May). Some are already swimming in lake Trasimeno whilst others are making the most of the sunny days to visit the area.

How about spending some time in Italy over Easter? Casa Leone Italy holiday rental is open and an ideal base to visit the many interesting places and ceremonies taking place in Umbria and Tuscany. In Citta della Pieve (20mins away) you can see the Quadri Viventi which are live enactments of Easter scenes, whilst in Cortona (20 mins in the opposite direction) you can experience the Via Crucis Procession, a colourful and unique faith-based ritual up to Saint Margherita’s sanctuary.

Casa Leone Italy holiday rental in the old town of Castiglione del Lago, Umbria, Italy, is open all year round. In fact, we have new double glazed windows and loft insulation, so staying in our apartment in winter is not a problem. If you come at this time of year, you will benefit from freshly pressed olive oil (it really is that green), castagne (chestnuts) and porcini mushrooms galore.

Grapes as in wine, sunflowers as in beautiful yellow fields. Take a wander from Castiglione del Lago and within a few minutes you get views like this (pic by local photographer Ferdinando Maino). If you stay in Casa Leone Italy holiday rental at this time of year you can also make the most of our outdoor cinema – located inside the castle walls no less, and offering films in Italian and in English. Check the programme here: http://www.cinemacaporali.it/